Our Bodies Don't Have Words To Ask For Support

My daughter, Rachel, feels her body in really big ways. A stubbed toe, an eyelash in her eye, an itchy back in the middle of the night (unfortunately much more frequently than this tired mama would prefer) are all important and looking for immediate support. The underlying concern and urgency is very real for her. 

Last month when Rachel broke her ankle, I thought it might be a lot for us to navigate. Her body’s process of healing would need to be much longer than the stubbed toe. 

But here’s the fascinating part: throughout the whole injury and healing process (we’re almost done, only five more days in her boot), she’s only used one, single, 200 mg ibuprofen the night of the injury. 

While she continued to feel many sensations (discomfort, swelling, watching her ankle transition through a kaleidoscope of hues from the bruising), she felt able to navigate them without feeling the need to resolve the pain.  Understanding what was going on significantly impacted her felt experience and made it easier to trust her body to heal – as bodies are made to do.

Like little humans and beloved pets, our bodies don’t have words to use to ask for support. They instead call out for attention through their language. Their words sound like pain, nausea, sadness, confusion, brain fog, numbness, tingling, constipation, diarrhea, rashes, etc. Our culture and the western-medical system typically call these communications “symptoms” and tell us that they are a sign that something is “wrong” and “need to be fixed.” 

Understandably, seeing our bodies “broken” leads to fear. 

When we don’t understand something, fear grows and holds on. Our school systems, focused on math and “correct” grammar, and the capitalist 15-minute medical appointments don’t hold space to teach us about our amazing and intricate bodies. 

We may even believe we aren’t “smart enough” to understand our bodies, perpetuating the fear and unknowability. From that space of worry, you may reach out urgently to medical providers, your preferred internet search engine, or an AI bot, looking for reassurance that you’re okay or what you’re feeling is true and can be “fixed”.  

Over time, you may try to stop noticing your body communications because of the fear that builds when you do. Or you may be told by medical providers that “you couldn’t be feeling that”, so you stop believing you are. 

As our bodies get louder, we may see them as against us or hating us. Often our medical system chooses to quiet, suppress or “control” our symptoms rather than teaching us to connect with curiosity and follow the path to understanding. One thing I’m sure of, bodies do NOT like being controlled and suppressed.

If my words above resonate with your lived experience please know that:

I see you. 

I trust you. 

Your felt experience is true. 

I fully believe that we can unlearn these harmful stories, gain understanding and develop the embodied trust that opens us to aligned healing.  

It is from this space of trust, curiosity and the knowledge that trust grows from increased understanding that Your Body is Yours to Know was created. 

I made it so you could get real support in your journey towards embodied trust and understanding.