Part 2: When Your Health Is Talking, Are You Listening?

You already know that ignoring your body never ends well. But most of us do it anyway. We chalk up that headache to not enough water, that tightness in our chest to stress, and that digestive issue to something we ate. And we keep going. Because there’s always something that needs to be done.

But be honest with yourself, your body has been talking for a while now, right? And it’s not whispering anymore. It’s groaning. It’s exhausted. It’s yelling at you. Waking you up (often at 3am), not because you’re too full or too hot or too stressed, although maybe it’s all of those, but also because it’s carrying too much without your help.

In Part 1, we talked about the emotional weights we carry all day long. One of the heaviest is health stress. And not just the fear of illness, but the burden of managing your health without enough time, energy, money, or support to do it well.

For many of us, it’s not that we don’t care about our health—it’s that we’ve had to put it on the back burner to take care of everyone else.

And that decision, whether conscious or not, always comes with consequences.

We Were Taught to Push Through It

In our families, “pushing through” was considered a virtue. Tired? Keep going. In pain? Walk it off. Sick? Pray about it and get back to work.

Many of us learned early on that rest was a luxury and doctors were a last resort. Going to the doctor meant something must be really wrong, and even then, someone might ask, “Do you really need to go?”

This mindset helped generations survive. But it’s not helping us thrive. And it’s definitely not helping us sleep.

You can’t rest deeply if your body is quietly (or loudly) struggling.

So that means poor health and poor sleep feed each other. The more worn down your body is, the more broken your sleep becomes. And the more broken your sleep becomes, the more your body struggles to heal, balance hormones, repair tissues, manage inflammation, and stabilize your mood.

Health Stress Isn’t Just About Diagnoses

You don’t need a diagnosis to be stressed about your health. Sometimes, it’s the not knowing that’s stressful.

You feel off, but you can’t name it. You keep saying, “Maybe it’s just stress,” but deep down, you wonder if it’s something more. And even if you’ve gone to the doctor for that non-descript illness, they kept telling you it’s just part of aging. So, once again, you push through.

But in the back of your mind—your unconscious brain—you’re still wondering if it’s something more.

That wondering becomes a weight of its own.

Men, in particular, often give up on trying to figure it out. “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” they say—or in this case, if it ain’t that broke, don’t fix it. It’ll be alright. So they ignore it, sometimes long enough for it to become unfixable.

Women, on the other hand, often do want to fix it. They ask for help. But society has taught the medical field to ignore Black women’s pain. So eventually, she gives up on finding the root cause and just takes the medication. She tells herself she’ll get back to it—after she’s done taking care of everyone else.

Once the kids are grown, the parents have passed, and no one needs her to care for them anymore—sometimes after her husband has passed too—then she starts listening to her body.

And when she finally sits still long enough to notice what hurts?

It’s a lot.

The joint pain. The high blood pressure. The sleep apnea. The racing thoughts. The thinning hair. The hot flashes. The missed steps. The lack of drive. The fatigue that never quite lifts.

These aren’t just symptoms. They’re signals.

Your body is asking for help.

You Can’t Heal What You Don’t Admit

One of the biggest barriers to managing our health is denial. Not the kind that’s dramatic and obvious, but the quiet kind.

The kind where you convince yourself that it’s “just aging” or “just stress” or “just part of life.”

But aging doesn’t have to mean constant discomfort. You don’t have to wait until you collapse, can’t move, or can’t focus to finally take your health seriously. There is power in prevention. Power in catching things early. Power in treating your body like it matters now, not just when it gives out.

So Where Do You Start?

Start with what your body has been trying to tell you.

• That fatigue that feels like you’ve been hit by a truck, could it be burnout, or hormone imbalance, or your endocrine system?
  
  
• That pain in your knees—could it be inflammation from your diet?
  
  
• That brain fog—could it be poor sleep, dehydration, or even unresolved grief?
  
  

You don’t have to figure it all out alone. But you do have to slow down long enough to listen.

Even if you can’t afford all the tests or don’t have access to great care, you can still:

• Keep a daily journal of your symptoms and habits.
  
  
• Drink more water and eat foods that don’t cause inflammation. (eat right for your blood type)
  
  
• Move your body in a way that feels good, even if just a walk around the block or a morning stretch routine.
  
  
• You already know this but I’ll remind you, cut back on sugar, caffeine, and heavy meals (especially too close to bedtime)
  
  
• Try a regular bedtime and wind-down routine.
  
  
• Be honest with a trusted advisor about what you’ve been ignoring.
  
  

These are not solutions to everything, but they are steps. And that’s where healing starts—in the steps, not the shortcuts. One step you could take to practice taking care of yourself is to Control the Controllable. I have created a meditation series that is a 10-day step-by-step guide that teaches you to gain control by letting go.  Here is a link [click here] with a $20 coupon code attached. 

The coupon is good for 10-days, but don’t wait. Take back control now. Get Control the Controllable today. 

Let This Be the Moment You Decide to Listen

Maybe you’ve been trying to fix everything else in your life so that you can finally rest. But what if you flipped that around? What if you started with rest, and let that improve everything else?

The truth is, your body isn’t the problem. It’s the messenger.

And when you finally start listening, that’s when things start shifting. Sleep gets deeper. Pain feels manageable. Focus returns. Energy stabilizes. You stop crashing mid-afternoon and start waking up with less dread.

You deserve that. And it’s not too late to get there.

Next week, we’ll go deeper into the next major weight: money pressure—even when you’re not broke. And for those of you who have worked with me before, you know that this is my favorite subject. 

But for now, ask yourself:
What would it take for me to listen to my body? The answer might surprise you.

And if taking action and taking back control is the answer, get Control the Controllable meditation series today. It walks you through the process of putting yourself first. And you can do it on your own time, in the privacy of your own home. And feel proud of yourself. 

You got this and you are not alone!