We are taught to become experts at almost everything except ourselves.

Think about it.

When we get sick, we go to the doctor.

When we want to eat better, we go to a dietitian.

When we want to get fit, we hire a trainer.

When we want to quiet our minds, we find a teacher.

There is nothing wrong with any of that.

Knowledge matters. Experience matters. Experts matter.

But there is another expert who often gets left out of the conversation:

The person actually living inside the body.

Nobody Else Has Lived in Your Body

Nobody else has lived in my body for my entire life.

Nobody else has felt every ache, every burst of energy, every moment of exhaustion, every breath, every hunger signal, every feeling of fear, excitement, stress, peace or joy.

That does not make me the expert on every medical question.

It makes me the expert on my experience.

And there is a big difference.

Listening to yourself doesn’t mean ignoring good advice. It doesn’t mean deciding you know more than a doctor, nutritionist, yoga instructor or anyone else who has spent years learning their field.

It means you participate.

You ask questions.

You pay attention.

You notice what happens in your own body.

You become curious instead of simply following instructions without thought.

My body deserves a seat at the table.

I deserve a seat at the table.

Your Body Is Not a Project

That realization changed the way I thought about health and life.

Yoga, meditation, breathing, movement and stillness taught me something I had somehow forgotten:

My body is not simply something to control, fix, punish or reshape until it meets someone else’s definition of acceptable.

It is the place where I experience this life.

It is my home.

That changes the conversation.

Instead of constantly asking, What’s wrong with me?, maybe I can ask:

What am I feeling?

What has changed?

What does my body need right now?

What am I doing that makes me feel better?

What am I doing that makes me feel worse?

What question haven’t I asked yet?

That’s a very different relationship with yourself.

Curiosity Changes Everything

Learning to listen does not mean believing every thought or obeying every sensation.

It means becoming curious.

It means noticing.

It means learning the language of your own body.

Sometimes the answer may be to rest.

Sometimes it may be to move.

Sometimes it may be to eat.

Sometimes it may be to change what you are eating.

Sometimes it may be to see a doctor.

Sometimes it may be to ask another question.

Sometimes it may be to say no.

Sometimes it may be to say yes.

There isn’t one answer because there isn’t one version of us.

Stop Pretending Your Body Has Nothing to Say

This is where I think we can change the way we approach our health and our lives.

We don’t have to choose between listening to ourselves and listening to people who know more than we do.

We can do both.

We can seek knowledge and remain curious.

We can accept help and still ask questions.

We can listen to an expert and also pay attention to what happens afterward.

We can learn from someone else without giving away responsibility for ourselves.

The point is not that the body always has the answer by itself.

The point is that we stop pretending it has nothing to say.

Maybe taking care of ourselves begins there.

Not with having all the answers.

Not with another set of rules.

Not with trying to become perfect.

Just with pulling up a chair.

Paying attention.

Asking questions.

And becoming an active participant in the one life and the one body we’ve actually been given.

You deserve a seat at the table.

Make sure you take it.

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