Your Symptoms Are Not Your Enemy

Reclaiming the Regenerative Wisdom of Your Body

“A symptom is not a mistake. It is your body speaking in its oldest language,
asking you to listen.”

Shantree Kacera, RH, DN, Ph.D.

In our modern culture, symptoms are often viewed as adversaries. They are seen as interruptions, as inconveniences, as forces that disrupt our carefully scheduled lives and must therefore be conquered, suppressed, or medicated away. This way of relating to the body has been ingrained in us so deeply that many of us rarely pause to question it. A cough, a headache, or a sleepless night arrives, and almost immediately the thought arises: how do I get rid of this?

But symptoms are not accidents. They are not punishments. They are not betrayals by the body. They are language. They are signals of intelligence. They are the living voice of our inner ecosystem, reaching out for attention.

To silence them without listening is to miss the deeper invitation they carry. Over many years of working with the intelligence of plants, with the wisdom of the body, and with practices such as tongue assessment and bioweaving, I have come to see that symptoms are not our enemies. They are guides. They are teachers. They are doorways into a fuller understanding of ourselves and into a more profound intimacy with life.

Rethinking Symptoms

When we see symptoms only as problems to be solved, we enter into a battle with ourselves. The head pounds, and we fight it with a pill. The stomach aches, and we drown it with antacids. The nerves tremble, and we smother them with sedatives. While such approaches may provide temporary relief, they rarely address the deeper reason the body is speaking in the first place.

The cultural story we have inherited is one of conquest. We are trained to dominate nature, to master the body, to push past limits to achieve, perform, and produce. Rest is undervalued, slowness is frowned upon, and vulnerability is dismissed. In such a culture, a symptom is interpreted as weakness, as failure, as something to be eliminated as quickly as possible so that the business of life may continue undisturbed.

But the body is wise beyond measure. It does not waste energy sending messages without cause. Every signal, whether subtle or loud, is an attempt to bring us back into balance. When ignored, these whispers grow louder until what was once a minor discomfort becomes a chronic condition, a dis-ease, or a crisis that can no longer be overlooked.

The first step is a shift in perception. Instead of asking, How can I get rid of this symptom? We ask, What is this symptom asking of me?

Herbalism: Listening Through Plants

This is where herbalism shines. True herbalism does not treat symptoms as isolated events. It recognizes that a symptom is always part of a larger web of relationships, a reflection of constitution, lifestyle, emotional well-being, ancestral inheritance, and the way one lives in relationship with nature.

When someone comes to me with a symptom, I do not simply reach for a plant known to erase that discomfort. Instead, I listen to the story the symptom is telling. Herbs are not blunt tools to silence the body. They are living allies that weave themselves into our processes, restoring harmony where it has been lost and vitality where it has been drained.

Take the example of insomnia. In the conventional model, sleeplessness is a disturbance to be eliminated with sedatives. Herbalism looks deeper. Is the sleeplessness arising from an overactive mind, a restless spirit, or a body depleted by exhaustion? Is it a heat condition, where thoughts race and the body cannot cool down, or is it a deficiency, where the system is too weak to fully descend into rest? Each expression of sleeplessness calls for a different plant ally. Lemon balm may quiet racing thoughts. Valerian may release tension in the body. Ashwagandha may rebuild a depleted system. The symptom is not the problem; it is the key that opens the right doorway toward renewal.

Another person may arrive with digestive upset. Instead of simply masking the discomfort, I look at the broader picture. Is this a symptom of dampness, of stagnation, of heat, or of depletion? A bitter herb like dandelion may awaken digestion where sluggishness has set in. Warming spices like ginger or cinnamon may bring flow where coldness and stagnation linger. Nourishing plants like marshmallow root may soothe where inflammation burns. The digestive symptom becomes the pathway that reveals what the whole being is asking for.

The Tongue as a Living Map

One of the most profound tools in this work is the tongue assessment. The tongue is a living map of the body’s inner terrain. Its colour, shape, coating, and moisture provide clues to the state of the vital forces within. It is as though the body has painted a picture of its inner condition upon the surface of the tongue for all to see.

I remember a woman who came to me with years of digestive struggles. She had tried elimination diets, supplements, and medications, yet the bloating and discomfort persisted. When I looked at her tongue, I saw a thick coating and teeth marks along the edges. These patterns spoke of dampness and weakened digestive fire. Instead of focusing on suppressing the bloating, we worked with bitter herbs to awaken digestion and warming spices to move the stagnant energy. Over months, the symptom that had been her constant enemy softened, not because we silenced it, but because we listened.

The tongue reveals not only digestive imbalances but also the state of the blood, the nervous system, and even the heart and spirit. A pale tongue may point to depletion of vital energy. A red tip may reflect agitation in the heart or mind. A dry tongue may reveal heat-consuming fluids, while a wet, swollen tongue may show cold dampness lingering within.

Learning to read the tongue is like learning to read the poetry of the body. Each sign is a verse, each shade a metaphor, each contour a clue. Together they form a language that teaches us how to respond to the body’s needs with clarity and compassion.

Bioweaving: Seeing the Whole

Bioweaving is another way of listening. It is the recognition that no symptom exists in isolation. Every discomfort, every imbalance, arises out of a larger matrix of physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual life.

A headache may be connected to muscular tension, but it may also be linked to an inner resistance to change or to suppressed creative energy. Digestive issues may be aggravated by poor diet, but they may also be woven with unprocessed emotions or difficulty assimilating life experiences. Skin eruptions may reflect internal inflammation, but they may also speak of emotions trying to find a safe outlet.

Bioweaving asks us to step back and see the pattern. To ask: how does this symptom thread itself into the whole fabric of this person’s life? What is it connected to? What meaning does it carry?

I recall a young man who came with chronic headaches. He had tried every remedy, from painkillers to alternative therapies, yet nothing offered lasting relief. As we worked together, it became clear that the headaches often arrived during moments of creative frustration. He longed to write, yet his work life left little space for expression. When he began to honour his creativity, not only with herbs to release tension but with daily practices of writing, the headaches gradually dissolved. The symptom had been carrying the message: create or suffer the consequences of suppression.

This is the essence of bioweaving. Symptoms are not problems to be erased. They are threads asking to be followed. They show us where energy is stuck, where vitality is leaking, where a deeper shift in life is waiting to occur.

Plant Allies and the Symptom’s Invitation

When we listen with this perspective, the plants become powerful allies. They do not force the body into submission. They harmonize with its intelligence.

Chamomile calms both belly and mind, reminding us to soften. Nettle nourishes the blood and strengthens the constitution where depletion has taken root. Holy basil lifts the spirit and helps the body adapt to stress. Hawthorn supports the heart, not only physically but emotionally, reminding us of the power of openness and courage.

Each plant is more than a remedy. Each carries a story, a teaching, an energy. They do not attack symptoms. They accompany us as we listen more deeply. They support the process of returning to harmony.

Trusting the Wisdom Within

At the heart of this work is trust. Trust that the body is not broken. Trust that symptoms are purposeful. Trust that there is an intelligence at work in the weaving of life far greater than our conscious minds can grasp.

This trust does not mean doing nothing. It means responding with partnership. It means slowing down enough to hear the messages. It means offering nourishment, rest, plants, breath, movement, and honest reflection where they are needed.

To embrace symptoms as allies is to enter into a deeper partnership with life itself. It is to understand that discomfort is not the enemy but the teacher. It is to see that every signal, however inconvenient, carries meaning and direction.

Living on Life Force

This is not only healing. It is remembering. Remembering that we belong to the great web of life, where nothing is wasted and everything serves transformation. Remembering that plants are companions, not commodities. Remembering that the body is a living, breathing, intelligent being that speaks to us with great clarity when we choose to listen.

And this is exactly what I will be exploring more deeply in our upcoming Free Webinar on Herbal Immunity, Thursday, the 25th, and also our Living on Life Force series. Together, we will dive into how to shift your relationship with symptoms so that they are no longer enemies to fear but allies to embrace. I am beginning a 9-week course on Ayurvedic Tongue Diagnosis on Oct 1st , a simple yet profound way to see what your body is communicating through its most accessible map.

If you feel called to explore your body’s wisdom and to learn how to read the signs of vitality woven into your very being, I warmly invite you to join me. This is more than information. It is an invitation to reclaim your partnership with the life force, to awaken to the intelligence that has always been within you, and to walk the path of wholeness with the support of plants, the wisdom of your body, and the guidance of your own symptoms.

“Bioweaving teaches us that nothing in us is separate. Every ache, every tear, every spark of joy is part of the greater pattern.”