Where is your inner voice? Can you hear it or has it been muffled by all of the aggravations, problems, and insecurities that you’ve faced throughout the years?

Your inner voice is your body’s way of communicating with you—like a train conductor making an announcement to the passengers in the last train car. They can’t see each other, yet the driver can send the passengers an important message. The passengers can choose to stop what they’re doing and listen, or simply ignore it. Clearly, ignoring the announcement could cause repercussions—what if the train line is under construction, or there is a large delay ahead and you missed your change to get off at a more convenient time?

Often times, we don’t stop and listen. We get so distracted with the stressors in our daily lives that we push that little voice aside until it turns into a whisper and then, ultimately, goes silent. The problem is, once the voice becomes unrecognizable, the body gives you another way to hear and digest the message—through physical symptoms.

So, stop what you’re doing—turn off the computer, put down the phone, leave the dishes in the sink—and take a deep breath. Then go to bed nice and early (even if that to-do list has not yet been completed for the day). Take some time to nurture yourself and to truly listen to what your body is trying to tell you. You will soon find that the aches and pains turn back into simple messages. And once you’ve trained yourself to listen to that inner voice, you will feel a much stronger connection to your body as a whole.