Healthy through mindfulness - when the body whispers something to us

Not every ailment automatically leads to a visit to the doctor's surgery. Particularly in the case of diffuse complaints, intolerances or chronic ailments, something else plays a decisive role that is often neglected in hectic everyday life: conscious awareness of your own body - in short: listening to yourself.
If you carefully observe how your body reacts to certain foods, exercise patterns or everyday situations, you are often able to recognise irregularities or warning signs in good time, long before they develop into real symptoms of serious illnesses.

Mindfulness instead of alarmism
However, you shouldn't be too hard on yourself either. A pulling sensation in the stomach after eating, a sinking feeling in the morning, sudden tiredness after eating certain foods - much of this is not a health warning sign, but an indication that something is simply not working properly. If you recognise recurring patterns, you can often find out for yourself which intolerance or lifestyle habit is behind them.
A classic example: reflux (heartburn). The causes are as individual as the people themselves - eating too late, too much coffee, combinations of foods. Although medication alleviates the symptoms, keeping a close eye on your own diet may help better in the long term than any acid blocker.

Helping people to help themselves - useful for many illnesses
Even with type 2 diabetes, osteoarthritis, high blood pressure or digestive problems, mindful self-care cannot avoid medical treatment, but it can provide crucial support. A food diary or conscious observation of daily routines is often enough to find out what is good for the body and what puts a strain on it.

Of course, self-observation is no substitute for a medical diagnosis. However, it helps to confront the doctor with the individual problem in a more targeted way, with specific questions and a better understanding of one's own feelings. And: self-assessment relieves the already strained system.