When Your Body Becomes The Teacher

There are seasons when your body stops whispering and starts shouting. Mine is speaking loudly these days. Nathan’s too. And when life gets that loud, the invitation is inconveniently simple: listen.

Lately, our home has felt like a mix of medical charts and morning prayers—part healing, part surrender. Test results on the counter, supplements by the sink, new routines scribbled on sticky notes. It would be easy to turn it all into a crisis. But something in me knows better. Something greater is happening. Our bodies are always speaking, and when we move too fast, we miss what is being said.

I recently began working with a functional medicine practice and am incredibly inspired and surprised by what we discovered. As a 47 year old woman there were a number of “results” that returned with predictable data. And then there were some surprises. I feel excited to have found a supportive and aligned care team that has mapped out a comprehensive plan for me to follow—this girl LOVES a plan.

It’s tempting to see health, or a health issue, as a project to complete. For me, a more empowering context is to hold health as a relationship I get to tend to, with the care I would show for another. When I received my recent lab results, I could watch the choice point—get curious or get overwhelmed. The choice was easy. A new adventure is before me and I am so ready to learn my body newly at this very new stage of my life.

Curiosity is a gift that I rely on heavily. I sat with the data, asked questions, and let my own wisdom rise to meet it. I was really present with the new understanding of my inner world. What some may have related to as a “problem” I experienced as an opening, and an opportunity to trust myself to be available and accept new solutions that are best for me.

A Turning Point

This new adventure of self discovery that I am on isn’t just about lab work or doctor’s visits—it’s about how I relate to life itself. When something unexpected happens, when the plan dissolves, when the body or the world won’t cooperate, can you stay in relationship rather than retreat into control?

Presence doesn’t change the facts, but it changes the experience. It softens fear into clarity. It reminds you that life, even when messy, is still on your side.

Responsibility isn’t about control; it’s about participation. Every choice—what I eat, how I rest, the thoughts I entertain—is a small act of devotion. It’s how I say to my body, I’m here for you. Not to perfect it, but to be in right relationship with it.

Our bodies are always trying to bring us home.

Sometimes that looks like energy and ease. Sometimes it looks like inflammation, fatigue, or pain. The form doesn’t matter. The message is the same: Pay attention. Something is asking to be seen.

When we stop fighting our symptoms and start listening to them, they stop being enemies and become guides. The ache, the tension, the exhaustion—all of it becomes sacred data. And when we meet it with compassion instead of frustration, something subtle but profound shifts. The body no longer needs to scream.

Let’s Practice

Here are simple ways to begin listening:

1. Pause before you fix. When something feels off, resist the urge to solve it right away. Ask instead, What is this wanting to show me?
2. Name what’s real. Write down one sensation a day—buzzing, clenching, aching, throbbing. The act of naming builds awareness.
3. Respond, don’t react. Choose one small, nourishing action: a glass of water, a walk, a stretch, a deep breath.
4. Practice consistency, not intensity. Tiny, repeated gestures of care rebuild trust with your body far more than grand plans you can’t sustain.
5. End with gratitude. Each night, place a hand on your heart and say, Thank you for another day of carrying me.

Your body has always been on your side. Sometimes it just has to raise its voice to get your attention.