One of my clients came to a coaching call with me complaining of intense abdominal pain whenever she ate a meal. She was frequently hungry but was hesitant to eat because she didn’t want to be doubled over in pain.

Another client shared that she just couldn’t shake a persistent cold and cough she’d had for 7 weeks. She was sick and tired of feeling, well, sick and tired.

Another client of mine wanted to release roughly 65 pounds of weight she’d been carrying for about 3 years. She’d tried everything she knew to do, but the weight just wouldn’t budge. She was frustrated and on the verge of despair.

It’s easy to look at each of these scenarios and think one is a digestive issue, one is an immune system issue, and one is a weight issue. And yes, on a surface level, you’d be right.

But when you look at the deeper, underlying cause for each of these scenarios, all three of them have something in common.

And if that underlying issue isn’t worked with and addressed, then the symptoms are likely to return, worsen, or another symptom of a more urgent nature will present itself.

This is because STRESS is the common underlying issue for each of these clients.

My client with the frequent abdominal pain was in the midst of a nasty divorce. Her sleep had become disrupted, and she was in a state of deep worry about what her future was going to look like.

*This is BIG stress!*

My client whose cold and cough had lasted for nearly 2 months had recently taken on more work at her firm, which pushed her former 50 hour work week to an eye-bulging 80+ hours of work a week.

*SO stressful!*

And finally, my client who was trying her best to release the extra weight she’d been carrying was in an intensive period of healing deep trauma. She was voluntarily revisiting some of the most painful parts of her past on a regular basis.

*Deeply stressful stuff!*

Here’s what modern day medicine is still failing to address: Our emotions cannot be separated from the rest of our physiology.

It’s rare for a doctor to ask a patient about what is happening in their lives. More often than not, physicians are treating pain, persistent colds and weight gain at face value without taking into consideration the psycho-social factors that are having an impact on their patient’s health.

Life’s ups and downs can feel stressful to our bodies, and over time, that stress can really take a toll on our overall vitality and health.

The way I see it, our symptoms are a way that our bodies are communicating to us – telling us that something in our lives needs more attention.

Maybe you require a healthy outlet for your anger and fear as you navigate your divorce.

Maybe that work week, in addition to your parenting responsibilities, is too much for even a 2-paren’t household. Maybe you require more support at this time in your life.

Maybe weight gain is a way your body is protecting you as you re-visit a painful past.

Maybe your symptoms aren’t wrong or bad, but simply telling you something you need to hear.

I believe it’s not always our job to eradicate uncomfortable symptoms. But I do think we owe our symptoms the attention they are asking for so they can teach us what we need to know.

When I worked with each of these clients we got curious about each of their symptoms within the context of the rest of their lives. I asked bigger picture questions, and we dug under the surface.

As we uncovered the river of truth that was flowing beneath each of my client’s symptoms, we learned there was a “rightness” to their health challenges and weight issues.

And from that place of “rightness”, we were able to address not only the symptoms, but the root causes that were crying for attention.

Something truly powerful happens when we learn to trust the wisdom of our bodies.

Instead of making our bodies wrong, or trying to control our bodies, or making an uncomfortable symptom go away, we can work with them and find answers that not only transform our health for the better but help us to grow and evolve into the beautiful humans all of us can be.

So many women today are dealing with health issues and stubborn weight. I can name 12 women in my life who are dealing with a laundry list of symptoms that are nearly sidelining them in both their personal and professional lives.

We have to get out of the habit of only looking at and addressing the surface of what’s happening inside our bodies, and instead look at the whole picture of our lives and how everything is impacting us.

Because this is so very often where the answers live. This is how we can create the lasting results and relief we want.