Let’s be honest: most of us treat our bodies like a car with a warning light. We notice the light, we get annoyed, and we hope it goes away on its own. But what if those symptoms, the headaches, the tight shoulders, the cranky digestion, the exhaustion that sleep can’t fix, are your body’s way of getting your attention?

In my practice, I spend a lot of time listening for what a symptom is saying, and not just what it is.

The Book That Was Passed Down to Me

Some people want the jewelry or the furniture. I begged my mother for two things: her book and our family shortbread cookie recipe.

The book belongs to her, and it has been handed down through the women in my family. It connects physical symptoms with their possible underlying meanings, the kind of emotional and life themes that a symptom might be pointing toward. I’ll be honest, I love it. It smells like old paper and years of use, and it carries my family’s way of seeing the body.

And yes, the shortbread recipe is a close second in importance. Some things are just sacred.

How I Use It in My Practice

Here’s where it gets practical. When I sit down with a client, I take a full intake: symptoms, history, sleep, digestion, stress, fears, cravings, the whole picture. Then I like to read through what they’ve told me alongside that book.

I’ve found it helps me enormously, not because it hands me answers, but because it hands me better questions. A symptom on its own is a data point. A symptom plus a thoughtful question (“what has been weighing on you lately?” or “what feels hard to let go of?”) can open up a conversation that a checklist never would.

The Body Speaks in Its Own Language

Here are a few examples of the kinds of questions I find myself asking. They aren’t diagnoses, just doors you can knock on.

• Tight, achy shoulders: What am I carrying right now? Do I feel like I’m holding everyone else up?
• Digestive trouble: What am I struggling to process or take in? What can’t I seem to let go of?
• Constant tiredness: Where am I giving more than I’m getting back? When did I last truly rest?
• Headaches: Where is the pressure coming from? Am I thinking too much and feeling too little?
• Trouble sleeping: What is my mind chewing on when the world goes quiet?

Sometimes the answer is “nothing, I just need a nap.” And sometimes a question lands in a way that makes a client go very quiet, and then say, “Huh. I never connected those two things.”

What I’m Not Saying

I want to be really clear about something. I’m not saying your symptoms are your fault, or that you are causing your own illness with your thoughts or feelings. Your symptoms are real. Pain is real. Fatigue is real. Some things need medical testing and treatment, and I will always encourage you to see your doctor, especially for anything new, severe, or that doesn’t resolve.

What I’m offering is another layer of listening, a way of being curious about your whole story alongside the care you receive from your doctor.

Try This Tonight

Next time your body gets loud, pause for a minute and ask yourself three things:

1. Where do I feel this, exactly?
2. When did it start, and what was going on in my life then?
3. If this symptom could talk, what would it ask me for?

Write down whatever comes up, without judging it. You might be surprised.

Want Someone to Listen With You?

If you’d like to explore what your body might be telling you, I’d love to sit down with you, in person at the clinic in Calgary or online from anywhere.

Email: wellnessexchangeinfo@gmail.com

P.S. If you’re nice, I might share the shortbread recipe. Maybe.