Years ago, when I was taking the prerequisite science and math courses for my doctorate, I felt like a fish out of water, swimming upstream in someone else’s stream.
And my body knew it.
I started getting a sharp, burning pain right at my solar plexus, that place just beneath the sternum. It showed up in class, while studying, when I felt unsure. I eventually got an endoscopy. The verdict? “Start taking Prilosec.”
But something told me to pause. To listen. I was only 24 afterall, and I had a suspicion that this sudden shift in my environment had jolted me into fight-flight-freeze for a prolonged period. I hadn't yet discovered mindfulness, but I had just returned from a yoga teacher training in India, and I started to be very regimented with the skills I had learned there. Breathing. Feeling. Regulating.
And eventually… the pain went away. Well, mostly.
To this day, that same sensation sometimes returns, not as a medical emergency, but as a message. It’s become my body’s way of whispering:
“You’re pushing too hard.”
“You’re feeling out of alignment.”
Now, when it speaks, I say:
“Thank you. What are you trying to show me?”
🌍 What the Research Says
It’s not just me. Or you. Or one culture.
A study conducted by Nummenmaa et al. (2014) found that people across 5 cultures consistently mapped emotions to similar areas in the body. For example:
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Anger lit up the chest, arms, and head.
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Sadness showed up as heaviness in the chest and limbs.
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Anxiety and fear clustered as tightness in the chest and gut.
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Happiness radiated warmth in the chest and head.
Even without words, our bodies are telling us stories.
The language of sensation is universal. And we should be using it to our advantage.
🧘 Why Mindfulness Matters
The body is constantly speaking, but we often override it.
We numb. We analyze. We push through.
Mindfulness doesn’t ask you to fix the signal. It just asks you to notice it.
To ask:
“What is this sensation trying to tell me?”
“Is there an emotion here I haven’t acknowledged?”
“Can I respond rather than react?”
The more you listen, the more you learn.
And often, the body softens, not because the sensation vanishes, but because it’s finally been heard.
💡 Try This
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Take 30 seconds right now to scan your body. Where are you holding tension, heat, hollowness, tightness? Is that sensation telling you something? Place a hand there. Say: “I see you.”
- Next time you are feeling a big emotion, pause and scan your body. How does that emotion show up, and where? Again, place a hand there, or on your heart, and examine it with compassion.
You don’t need to solve it. You just need to listen.
Your body knows more than you think.
With warmth,
Ready to take the next step? Book a free call and we’ll explore how pain science and mindfulness can support your goals.
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