Listen to Your Body

June 22, 2024 by Doctor Vernon Coleman

Forty years ago, when I wrote my book ‘Bodypower’, I created the phrase ‘listen to your body’ to explain one of the book’s underlying principles. The following essay is taken from Bodypower which was first published in 1983 and which is available via the bookshop on www.vernoncoleman.com

Learn to listen to your body
If you will learn to listen to it, your body will be able to tell you a great deal. Many minor symptoms which we regard as a nuisance and which we hurry to treat are early signs that something is wrong. Other signs are simply ignored because we are not aware of their importance or because we aren’t aware even of their existence.

For example:

1. If you are lifting or moving something and you feel a twinge of pain, consider that a warning. If you persist you’re probably going to end up with a strained muscle or a damaged joint. If you’re digging in the garden and your back begins to ache, that’s an early sign. If you’re lifting heavy boxes and your back begins to hurt, treat that as a warning. Most episodes of pain should be regarded as early warning signs – the longer you ignore a pain, the more likely you are to end up with a serious problem.

2. Vomiting and diarrhoea may be extremely inconvenient, but they are important defence mechanisms employed by your body for specific purposes. If you develop either of these symptoms without any other signs, the chances are that you have acquired some form of gastro-intestinal infection. Remember that any treatment you choose to employ to control your symptoms may also ensure that the infection stays in your body for longer.

3. The cough reflex is a sophisticated defence system designed to eject unwelcome foreign matter from the respiratory tract. You should help your body, therefore, by spitting out anything that you cough up. If you have a persistent or recurrent cough then you must have a persistent or recurrent infection or irritation in your lungs. Or there must be an irritant of some kind in the air you breathe.

4. If you develop an unusual or unexpected skin rash the chances are high that you have been in contact with an irritant. The reaction of the skin is a result of the fact that the skin tissues, recognising the irritant as a threat, have produced chemicals designed to counteract it. You can probably ease the resultant rash by using powerful drug therapy to oppose the body’s reaction. But it is far more sensible to identify the irritant and avoid it.

5. If you develop cramp in your legs it is usually because your circulation has been impeded. The cramp pains develop because the waste products from the metabolic processes which occur during muscle use have accumulated. The slowing down of the circulation has meant that the blood has not been able to clear the wastes away. The cramp pains tell you to change position. Once you have acted the blood will flow more easily. The waste products can then be washed away, and the pain will disappear.

6. Eat the wrong sort of food or eat too quickly and you’ll develop indigestion. Your stomach is telling you that you’re doing something wrong. You can solve the problem temporarily by using antacids or by taking tablets. Do that, however, and the pains will probably come back. To get rid of the symptoms permanently you must listen to your symptoms and take notice.

7. If you are for ever having accidents, it may be that you are constantly under too much pressure. There is a strong correlation between accident proneness and stress.

8. A woman who has irregular menstrual periods may well be worried about something. Girls who are taking examinations often have delayed periods – and so do girls who think they may be pregnant.

9. When a pregnant woman is under stress her baby may suffer. There is a strong correlation between maternal stress and babies born with low birth weights or congenital abnormalities. Pregnant women should be on the look-out for signs of stress.

10. Blood pressure often rises when an individual is under pressure. Taxi drivers, schoolteachers and casualty surgeons are far more likely to develop high blood pressure than accountants, church ministers or farmers. It is perhaps a sad reflection on the way most Western people live that a third of the entire American nation is said to suffer from hypertension, while two of the diseases most commonly associated with high blood pressure, strokes and heart disease, are common among men in their twenties and thirties. The reason for this is simple. When an individual is under pressure his heart will beat faster in order to ensure that his tissues get a better supply of blood. As far as the heart is concerned, it is doing the tissues a favour. Unfortunately, of course, few modern stresses can be resolved with the aid of a faster heart rate and better oxygenated muscles. The man who is under pressure because he is unemployed, worried about his bank loan or threatened with eviction will not benefit from his body’s reaction – but he will be warned.

NOTE
The above essay is taken from Vernon Coleman’s international bestselling book `Bodypower’ which is available from the bookshop on www.vernoncoleman.com.