4 ways to start listening to your body, and why

Your body speaks to you all the time. Do you listen to what it is saying? Here's some reasons to tune in.

• One of the truisms of life is that a problem ignored is a problem that will soon grow worse.
• A lot of people seem to get by just fine ignoring their symptoms and health problems. But that isn't healthy.
• Perhaps your stomach pain was merely a bad reaction, or maybe it meant that your stomach is beginning to have serious troubles. You just don't know.
• This holds true in relationships, the workplace, the government, your home and with your own body.
• Your body constantly alerts you to potential health trouble ahead. Your job is to listen and respond.

It's easy to categorize health into three parts:

1. The everyday. This includes issues like like food, exercise, sleep, stress control and energy.
2. The big diseases. These includes diabetes, arthritis, asthma, cancer, and hundreds of other diagnosable chronic conditions. These are the age robbers, the killers, the conditions that each of us wants to avoid.
3. Small health problems. The symptoms and the nagging health issues that fall between being healthy and having a serious, chronic disease.

• Starting around the age of 45, most adults start experiencing more nagging symptoms than when they were younger.
• After four decades of life, natural wear-and-tear is beginning to catch up with you.
• Suddenly, your joints hurt more, your digestion isn't so reliable, your hearing is not as sharp, and your alertness is in decline come mid-afternoon.
• More often than not, these health issues are small.
• By taking strong action to remedy small health issues now, you are taking strong action to lengthen your life and stay vibrant when older.

• Symptoms are exactly that: the way an emerging problem reveals itself to you.
• The pain isn't the real problem, for example, it's the cause of the pain that often matters more.
• Or take a cold. You may be focused on stopping your runny nose, but that's not the important task — it's stopping the underlying virus from spreading.
• Looking after symptoms rarely removes the root issue, which can lead to more problems.

Long-life living is more than just eating well, exercising, and maintaining a great attitude. It also includes listening to your body, and responding quickly and thoughtfully to what it is telling you.