Our body has something to say. Often we don’t make ourselves available to listen. We speak over it. We take its message and translate, dismiss, interpret, label it. Or we simply ignore it. It seems we have forgotten to simply pay attention to it.

When we are wrestling with something, experiencing a change, being challenged, exploring a question or simply living, our bodies will be speaking to us.

Maybe we have a tension in our shoulders, a dry mouth, a tummy that is churning, tingling in our toes, a numbness in our legs, breathing that is shallow, a heartbeat that is racing…?

Our mind takes over. Thought swamps the sensation. Emotional labels mask the core body feeling. Distraction. Control maintained. Human system managed. This interpretation, rationalisation or control amounts to sticking our fingers in our ears and going blah blah blah to our bodies. I’m not listening. You’re not important.

Yet in one way, the physical sensation is the only thing that is real. Undeniable. My mouth is dry. My palms are sweaty.

My rationalisation of what this signifies, fabricated. Invented. Created from a myriad of past and present analyses, my brain labels the sensation with a feeling – I’m anxious. Are you? My brain then engages the thoughts about why, what I can do, what I should do, what will work, what won’t. It tells me about the patterns. “Well this is what always happens isn’t it?” it says.

What would it be like to stay with the physical sensation? To spend a few moments, with the dry mouth? Not to label it, dismiss it, rationalise it away. But just notice it. Listen to your body. It too has a voice. It speaks a truth.