The Body Always Finds a Way to Speak

What if your symptoms aren't your body's way of failing you—but its way of trying to reach you?

In this episode of Up Your Total Glow, I explore the Ayurvedic understanding of symptoms as communication, share my personal journey following a brain aneurysm at age 15, and invite you to see your body's signals through a lens of curiosity rather than fear.

If you've ever wondered whether your fatigue, digestive issues, anxiety, or recurring symptoms might be asking something of you, this episode is for you.

✨ Take the free Vitality Imbalance Quiz:
 https://www.ithriveforhealth.com/ayurvedic-dosha-quiz/

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:09

Hello and welcome back to Up Your Total Glow. I am so happy that you're here today. And today is an episode that I've been carrying around for quite a while before actually feeling ready to also record it and put it out there. And honestly, I think it might be one of the most important conversations that you and I have had together so far. But before we have this conversation, before we begin, here's my gentle reminder that this podcast is for education and inspiration only, and it's not a substitute for medical advice or personalized mental health support. So please make sure that you seek professional care where you need it. And the perspective that I share today, it's based on my personal experience and on Ayurvedic understanding. And it's not intended to explain or diagnose any specific medical condition. And I want to start today with something that I believe in very deeply in every fibre of my being. And it is something that Ayurveda has understood for thousands of years, and it is also something that I've experienced myself in my very own life. Your body is always communicating with you, always. Through your energy, through your digestion, through your sleep, through your emotions, through your symptoms, through your sensations, and through the things that keep showing up again and again. Now that doesn't mean that every symptom has a simple explanation, and it certainly doesn't mean that I'm inviting you here to ignore medical care. But I do believe that your body is not randomly working against you. Never ever. In fact, your body is always for you. Your body is always trying to help you. It's trying to get your attention. It's trying to tell you something. So what if the real question isn't how do I make the symptom go away? But what if the question is, what is my body trying to tell me? And that's what I want to explore with you today. Because the moment we stop treating symptoms as our enemies, and instead start becoming curious about them, something very powerful shifts. And your relationship with your body changes, and often that's where healing begins. Actually, quite the opposite. I take full responsibility for my healing and for my choices and for I've for how I've moved through my life. And even more than that, I genuinely believe my soul chose exactly the experiences I needed. Not necessarily because those experiences were easy, and not because I would wish them on anyone, but because they taught me things that I could not have learned any other way. They taught me about self-worth and they taught me about belonging. And they definitely taught me about love. And they taught me what it means to stop proving yourself and start knowing your value. So I don't share this story because I'm trying to blame anyone here. I share it because it helped me understand something very profound about the way our bodies speak. And you probably know my story already. You might know that at the young age of fifteen I had a brain aneurysm, and what followed was an emergency brain operation. And what followed then were days spent drifting in and out of consciousness. And when I woke up, I had to relearn how to walk, how to speak, and how to function in a body that felt very unfamiliar. And for years I saw this as something that happened to me. A medical event, a terrifying experience, something random that I survived. And while I always felt grateful for it, still I saw it as something that just had happened. But over time my understanding of this event changed. And when I look back now, I can see that my body had been carrying far more than anyone realized. And yeah, the first ten years of my life felt lonely. I didn't feel wanted, and I didn't feel safe being completely me. And I spent so much energy trying to get things right, and trying to be enough, and trying to earn love, trying to become someone who would be accepted. And if you've ever lived like that, you'll know how exhausting it is. And the problem was that I had nowhere nowhere to put these feelings, no language for them, no way to process them, no understanding of what was happening inside of me. But my body understood. My body was paying attention the whole time, and it started with whispers, with gentle messages, but I didn't listen, and so it got louder, and eventually it spoke in a way I simply couldn't ignore. So today I don't see my aneurysm as my body failing me at all. And I don't see it as something random that happened to me. For me, looking back, it feels like part of a much bigger story that my body had been trying to tell me for years. A story that said, you can't carry this alone anymore. Something here needs attention. Something here needs a change. And maybe most importantly, it's time to come home to yourself. And somehow, despite everything, I decided to stay. To stay in this life. And over the years that followed, I slowly learned how to listen, how to listen to my body. So one of the things that I love most about Ayurveda is that it sees illness differently. It doesn't usually ask what's wrong with you. It asks how did we get here? Because according to Ayurveda, the body rarely goes from healthy to seriously unwell overnight. Usually there are stages, usually there are signs, usually there are whispers before there are shouts. So maybe your digestion changes or your energy drops. Maybe your sleep becomes lighter, more restless, or your skin starts reacting. Maybe you feel anxious all the time and can't work out why. So it is my experience that your body usually starts quietly. And if those signals don't get your attention, it tends to get a little louder. And not because it wants to punish you, but because it's trying to help you. Think about it. If someone was trying to speak to you and you didn't hear them, what would they do? They'd repeat themselves, probably a little louder, and your body does exactly the same thing. And I see this all the time with my clients. Someone has a recurring symptom that they've been battling for years. Maybe a skin condition or digestive issues, fatigue, migraines, pain that keeps moving around, and often underneath it there's a story. Not always, but very, very, very often. A period of chronic stress, unexpressed grief, years of people pleasing, a life spent pushing through, a nervous system that never feels safe enough to switch off. And in Ayurveda, we often see connections between emotional experiences and particular areas of the body. So for example, grief is very often linked with the lungs and fear with the kidneys and lower back or anger with the liver. And these aren't rigid rules, but it's like a map. It's a way of understanding the relationship between your emotional life and your physical experience. And whether you see that through an Ayurvedic lens or simply through your own lived experience, I think most of us know what it feels like when our body carries something that our mind hasn't fully processed yet. So here's the reframe that I want to offer you today. What if your symptoms are not your enemy? What if your body isn't trying to ruin your plans? What if that fatigue is asking for something? What if that anxiety is pointing towards something? What if that recurring symptom you've been fighting with for years is actually trying to get your attention? Again, this doesn't mean you don't seek medical support if you feel that would help you. Please do. Medical care and body awareness can absolutely exist side by side. But alongside the treatment, what if you also brought curiosity? What if you asked, What are you trying to tell me, dear body? What do you need from me? What have I not been listening to? Because the moment you ask those questions, the relationship changes. You stop fighting your body and you start listening to it. And going into partnership with your body is the most powerful partnership that you will ever engage with. And I want to pause here for a moment. So if there's a symptom you've been dealing with recently, I would like to invite you to bring it gently to mind without judgment. And try not to include frustration here. And try not to solve anything, just notice it. And then place one of your hands somewhere on your body. Do that intuitively. And then take a slow breath in. Simply, what are you trying to tell me? And you don't need an answer right now. Sometimes the shift begins simply by asking the question. So please take another deep slow breath in. And as you breathe out, consider the possibility that your body has never been working against you. In fact, that every signal that it sends to you is an attempt to care for you. And I would also like to give you a few questions to sit with this week. Is there a symptom that you've been trying to silence without ever becoming curious about what's underneath it? And can you think of a time when your body reacted strongly during a difficult period in your life? And looking back now, does that connection make more sense? And finally, if your body has been trying to get your attention lately, what do you think it has been saying? And here's my affirmation for you. And as always, you can say it silently or say it out loud. My body is wise. Every signal it sends carries information and I'm learning to listen with curiosity, with compassion and with trust. And then take a deep breath in and as you breathe out let the affirmation settle. And if today's episode opens something in you and you'd like to understand more about what your body may be communicating through its current patterns, you'll find my free vitality and balance quiz in the show notes. And this is a beautiful place to begin this journey. And if you're ready to go deeper, there's also the link to my vitality reconnection session in the show notes. And in this session, I offer a space where we can explore what's happening in your system together and then create a personalized path forward. As always, please never ever forget, always remember, you are love, you are light, and you are already whole. Much love, keep glowing.