The Body Is Always Listening

Learning to Notice the Quiet Signals That Guide us Back to Ourselves

She wrote a lovely poem about the color blue — how that word can describe both sadness (I feel blue) and happiness, even unconditional love, symbolized by blue skies.

As I read her words, I found myself thinking about the throat chakra. Blue is traditionally associated with this energy center — the place connected with communication and expression. Writing a poem, a story, or a memoir is itself a form of expression, words rising from that place within us that longs to be heard.

This morning — the day of Craig’s birth — I woke with a knot in my throat and knew immediately what it was.

But it wasn’t always this way for me.

Some years ago, I became very interested in essential oils. A doctor friend spoke about how these oils, not just known for smelling good, could actually change lives. I was all in. I was actively searching for ways to stop the pain I’d been carrying around for years.

I had been to therapists, read books, attended workshops. Intellectually, I knew life could be different. But still the pain lingered. It often seemed the best I could do was simply cope.

Then along came this doctor — a woman I trusted and admired — offering a tool, a way not just to cope, but to work through the suffering we all carry.

Her doorway into healing was something I had never really considered before: energetic vibration.

I took a deep dive into this new-to-me subject and discovered something both ancient and surprisingly modern. Many traditions have long taught that everything in existence is a form of vibration — matter, thoughts, emotions, all of it.

What astonished me most was realizing that the body listens to absolutely everything.

If we slow down long enough to feel what is happening within our bodies, we begin to notice something remarkable.

Anxiety leaves a knot in the stomach.
Fear creates a lump in the throat.

What we call emotion is often the body’s way of asking us to pay attention.

For most of my life, I didn’t understand this. Sensations in the body were something to push through or ignore. If my stomach tightened, I assumed I was simply stressed. If my throat closed, I tried to swallow the feeling and move on.

But when I began exploring the energetic nature of the body, something shifted. I started slowing down long enough to notice what my body was trying to tell me.

Now when a strong sensation appears — a tightening in my chest, a knot in my stomach, a lump in my throat — I pause and ask a simple question:

What just happened?

Almost always the answer appears right away.

Maybe something I read hurt.
Maybe someone’s words touched an old story.
Maybe fear slipped in quietly.

The body had noticed before my mind did.

And that moment of awareness becomes a doorway.

Listening to the Body

Many ancient traditions describe the body as having subtle centers of energy along the spine. In yoga these are called chakras. Each one relates to different aspects of our human experience — safety, love, expression, intuition.

The throat center, often symbolized by the color blue, is associated with communication and expression.

Which is why that poem about blue stayed with me.

This morning, the day of Craig’s birth, I woke with that familiar tightness in my throat. I knew immediately what it was.

Grief.
Love.
Memory.

Instead of pushing the feeling away, I allowed it to be there. I listened.

And in that quiet listening, the knot softened.

You don’t need to know anything about chakras or energy work to begin this practice.

The next time you feel a knot in your stomach or a tightening in your throat, pause for a moment.

Notice.
Ask gently: What is my body trying to tell me?

You may discover that healing often begins with something very simple: paying attention.

Because the body listens to absolutely everything.

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This reflection lives alongside the larger body of work I’m shaping in my forthcoming book, The Seven Gates of Inner Light.