I don’t expect this while I’m hiking, but there it was. 

Taking a left instead of going right as usual, the surroundings made an unexpected shift. 

It was nothing major. The sage brush started growing taller than me (that’s normal here). The air didn’t move. The views of Carter Mountain in the distance were beautiful. 

But everything felt off. It’s that little whisper I talk about often, where a feeling shows up and you should really listen to it.

There is nothing in that area that would explain my instincts telling me to get out of there. I listened anyway. 

I have seen what happens when I ignore that feeling. I have seen what happens when I listen to that feeling. 

I know you have had this feeling. Whether it was a place, a person, a food, a situation, or something on TV. 

This voice/feeling/inkling, whatever you want to call it, is always there. I spend a lot of time teaching patients how to hear that whisper again. 

I want you to be able to feel if you should eat that food or avoid that glass of wine tonight. 

Or to walk into a space and know if this is a good place for you to be or if you should leave. 

And especially, I want you to be able to know, to your very core, when you are being told lies about how your health works. 

It would be easy to assume that knowing what’s true about health is easier for me because of what I do. But here’s the thing, even before I became a doctor, it is that voice that led me to this place of health. 

Medical doctors were busy doing very painful tests on me, suggesting medications with horrible side effects, or writing me off as just pretending to get out of gym class long before I was a doctor myself. 

What saved me was my inner knowing getting louder and louder, telling me this is not the way. That is what ultimately led me to the path of true healing. The same path you are pursuing. 

If you feel like you don’t hear your inner voice, your instincts, start small. Start paying attention how different places you go to make you feel. Which ones do you like? Which ones just feel wrong? 

Same with people. Who makes you feel good? Who are the people where you know you’ll just end up feeling stressed and yucky? 

What health messages resonate with you? Is there a tiny feeling of “oh, that sounds right” when I tell you your body heals itself? When I tell you we just have to remove interference and nourish you? 

Start listening for that little voice. And when you hear it, try to start acting accordingly. 

This isn’t about what your brain has to say. You won’t always have a logical reason for it. 

This is your heart and gut. They have the same neuronal tissue like your brain. But they can’t be persuaded by outside forces. They just know. 

How do you Handle Negative Emotions?