By HR professional in Healthcare, London, UK
We have a phenomenon called ‘evidence-based’ which we use in medicine, research, science, and other communities. Some herald this evidence-based approach, and whilst it can have value, what if the traditional, scientific, randomised control type evidence is not the only valid form of evidence, and what if there is a far greater wisdom we can draw from? The evidence of our bodies.
I work in environments e.g. health, and universities where when you make a statement or comment, people often say ‘where is the evidence for that?’ This attitude can actually suppress us from saying what we think and feel, for fear of not having the ‘evidence’. I know in my earlier years of working in those environments I felt small and stupid if I didn’t have evidence to back up something I said. There was an air of ‘superiority’ in some people who wouldn’t listen unless there was this particular type of ‘evidence’.
Now I live in a way where I listen to what my body is showing me as evidence of what works and what does not work. e.g. I ate something the other day and my body reacted to it very quickly, telling me it was not right for me. When I pushed through the other evening to complete some work my body had already signalled it was time to wind down, I over rode it and I didn’t sleep so well, as I was unsettled and over tired. These two simple examples say to me that there is a form of living evidence – a way where the body constantly shows us the ‘cause and effect’ or ripple effects of our daily life choices – and so far since I have begun to listen to my body (inspired by Serge Benhayon and whole body intelligence – https://sergebenhayon.tv/episodes/whole-body-intelligence/) and to heed its messages it has not let me down – it always seems to know what is true for me.
So in relation to evidence, the particles and cells that are in my body already have a PhD in being evidence-based, and my body doesn’t need a lab or a set time period to incubate, or a team of scientists – offering evidence is its natural default position. The body has an innate knowing of what is true or not – an evidence base from which it can discern.
So, we live in this crazy situation where, we are actually ‘evidencing’ life all the time – what works, what doesn’t, what supports, what doesn’t (even if we don’t take any notice) and it is our natural way – yet we can give our power away to what others say is the ‘evidence’ such that we recoil or shut down rather than hold to the truth we know in our own bodies.
How is it that we are all living PhDs in evidence from the intelligence of our own body, yet we rely often on a minority (e.g. scientists) to tell us what we need and what we don’t need?
How is it that one type of evidence is given more value than another, e.g. evidence-based science or medicine is regarded with more weight than what we experience in our daily lives through our own body?
What is it about this ‘evidence base’ that makes us shut down the authority of our lived experience – our living evidence?
Whilst there is a place for evidence-based medicine, it is not the only way of knowing what is healthy and what is not for our bodies. Having observed in academic and medical circles how much kudos is given to scientific evidence – and having also observed that the rates of illness and disease in our world continue to increase – I am left wondering what sort of ‘evidence’ there has been that says that this ‘evidence-based’ way of science is actually working? Surely if it was working, illness and disease rates worldwide would be decreasing? And how different might the world be if first and foremost we allowed the intelligence of our bodies to be the evidence upon which we based our way of living…?
Read more:
Medicine and Serge Benhayon 
I am discovering that if I push and get caught up with work by going into drive and into my mind to get something done, I start to get a sore throat and feels as though I’m going down with a cold. At first I didn’t believe this could be happening but I stopped and rested, went for a walk and I felt my body changing as I walked. It is quite hard for me not to go up into my head while working as this has been such a way of life for years. I’m slowly re learning that I need to be with all of me not to be in parts, and when I’m with me my cold like symptoms go away. My body knows much more than I will ever know and all I have to do I have discovered is to listen to it.
“…. what if there is a far greater wisdom we can draw from? The evidence of our bodies.” This is such an important question to ask. I always thought science was based on observation and adjusting a hypothesis to what is seen. An orthopaedic doctor was condemned recently because he advised his diabetic patients to cut sugar out of their diets (and as he wasn’t a nutritionist he was thought to be out of order…) to reduce the number of amputations he carried out on his patients. He was ridiculed and sanctioned. So-called ‘evidence based medicine; gone mad!
The simplicity of what the living evidence which our body is offering us is looked over and is underestimated and will be so as long we have this overemphasis on the intelligence that comes from the mind.
I totally agree with you Annelies If I look back on my life I overrode what my body was clearly telling me in favour of my mind. One example was drinking alcohol when I was 16 I was working away from home and was with a group of people I worked with, they had invited me to play a game of darts at the local pub. Everyone was drinking beer. I tasted it and quite honestly it tasted very bitter and I declined to drink it. My body had said clearly no. Then someone suggested putting Lemonade in the Beer, this made the Beer sweet, this is called a Shandy and the Lemonade disguised the bitterness and I didn’t want to be left out of the group fun everyone was having so I drank it even though my body was still saying no thanks. This was me tricking me into something my body didn’t want in the first place. I have lost count of the times I have over ridden my body by listening to my mind. I have discovered the mind does not care one jot for the body and does its hardest to keep the body less, so the mind has control.
In always requiring evidence we relinquish responsibility to know from what we feel and simply know intuitively which is the greatest form of intelligence – what that will truly serve us rather than maintain that current ill way of life we have come to assume as normal.
Interestingly I just saw an article where the headlines state steroid injections may lead to more long term harm than previously thought, new studies reveal. Patients and Doctors should be aware if they are hoping to use steroid injections to relieve the pain associated with Osteoarthritis – Published in the journal Radiology.
There is much research that is conducted, only for some to be refuted years later as more information comes to light. In some cases it brings into question the quality or integrity of the research conducted by the scientist? Is it possible we are giving our power away to scientists because we see them as being more intelligent than us because they have a degree or several degrees and so we all go along with the research they have conducted, without questioning the validity of it or including the evidence of our bodies regarding healthcare decisions.
“to heed its messages it has not let me down” – When I watch a movie before bed I can’t sleep. When I don’t watch a movie, I am ‘out like a light’ it takes seconds for me to drop into deeper sleep. I don’t need studies conducted to tell me that stimulation before bed is bad for me, because my body has already told me. I really love how much my body talks to me.
Some valid points raised in this blog, and I pondered on the whole concept of why people live by scientific evidence when the question I would pose, is how full proof is the research itself. Man/woman conducts these researches, so how full proof is it really? And when literature backs the research, it kind of feel like a complicated spiders web, drawing on a tiny piece of string that links one another.
We have underestimated the evidence of our bodies, a living piece of evidence. that walks, breaths, talks and it right there in front of you…One day science will be proven differently, we will have no choice but to research those that are living their lives with responsibility.
I love these words – “the particles and cells that are in my body already have a PhD in being evidence-based” and if anyone chooses to challenge them they are actually choosing to ignore the truth that is right in front of their eyes. Twenty years ago I made the choice to change my life, especially the way I was eating, as my health and my well-being was suffering enormously. Today my body is feeling more healthy and more alive than it did back then – and I’m 20 years older!. This is all the evidence I need to know that the self loving changes I made worked and for anyone who knew me 20 years ago the evidence is very hard to ignore.
Ingrid I don ’t know your age and it sometimes hard to guess, but I’ve observed things about you that a woman in your age bracket would probably be the opposite. And you stated it yourself, that you’re 20 years older, and your choices are more nurturing for your body but for every cell in your body. Now that’s full proof evidence…
I will be 70 very soon Shushila, and instead of feeling older as societal beliefs try to convince me I am, I am actually feeling much younger by the day. This might be going against the accepted norms of ageing but for me, it is my normal. And this normal has been slowly and lovingly built over the last 20 years by making as many choices as I can, self-nurturing ones. And yes, the way I now feel and live is “full proof evidence”.
I so agree Ingrid and I know many people who have made similar adjustments to their lifestyles, including myself. I have no need of any evidence based medicine to show me that how I choose to live now is preferable to how I used to live – and feel far more healthy. Maybe science will catch up one day.
Can I add myself to this list of people that have found that making adjustments by listening to my body has changed my whole life. I am full of vitality at 63 then I have ever felt when in my 30’s to 50’s. Is it possible that if we studied all those people who have made changes by listening to their bodies rather than their minds we may find a trend that is beyond what evidence based science currently understands.
To ignore the evidence from the body is to completely disparage and dismiss truth.
Figures Lie and Liars Figure. Evidence-based has become bastardised to have the evidence supplied to support the outcome expected. Everybody is the same, but we are all unique, and our body is the only true source that knows what it requires. The medical world is still needed to assist our vessel. The two form a relationship that truly supports us.
When I had surgery a few years ago and recovered more speedily than anticipated by the doctors, I found it interesting that they said ‘keep doing whatever you are doing’, but didn’t ask me what I was doing to enable this!
The question of what you were doing to recover so quickly would open a can of worms for those exclusively steeped in and crushed under the yoke of evidence-based medicine, so called.
“… my body doesn’t need a lab or a set time period to incubate, or a team of scientists – offering evidence is its natural default position. The body has an innate knowing of what is true or not – an evidence base from which it can discern.” I love this HR – It’s so true. Observation and awareness of my body give me all the evidence I need for when I’m going off track – or when I feel healthy and well.
Recently a colleague who lives in the USA shared with everyone on Facebook that during the lockdown incurred because of the Covid-19 they stopped drinking alcohol, eating dairy and gluten started exercising and after some weeks of this new way of living feel so much better in their bodies, they feel energised and full of life. This is truly evidence based on how their body felt after making the changes to their diet.
Not listening to my body gets me into all kinds of messes, some of which I am still working my way out of. It doesn’t pay to ignore the intelligence of the body, it knows what it’s doing!
When we look at the evidence – the rates of illness and disease in the ‘developed world’ – and the test of time, it would appear that evidence based medicine is not working. If it was we would see an improvement to health and well being not an improvement to function and a rise in lifestyle illnesses.
“offering evidence is its natural default position”, yes I love this and therefore our body needs to be treasured, honoured and cared for in the same way we would a very expensive delicate piece of equipment. The awareness and wisdom on offer is life-changing.
We do have to question evidence based science if humanity is so very ill. Even if evidence based science is supportive in some respects, and I’m definitely not against it, how could it be supportive for people to ignore their bodies and give their power completely to studies? If we are making choices that our body is registering as harmful or beneficial, that is a form of evidence, and if our aim is health and wellbeing, it makes sense to listen to our body as our primary source of evidence.
There are two phrases in this article which really tickle me. ‘Living evidence’ describing our bodies’ consistent feedback and sign posting about what does and does not support us to be well and vital. I have a sense that one day this will be a phrase that is understood and embraced into the way we live. And the other one is about our particles having a PhD. This magnificent intelligence is something we have with us 24/7 and it makes the madness of ignoring this to jump into a book by an expert all the more farcical.
While I’ve never done one, those around me who have or are doing a PhD, it’s not easy. All that hard work to rely on PhD’s when the bodies particles know far more with none of the hard slog…hmm…
I personally feel we give our power away to scientists who claim they have the answers to our dilemmas. Well years ago society was told and encouraged by the scientists to smoke cigarettes as they were good for your health because they helped to de-stress the body, calm the nerves etc. Then we had the doctors who went to university for at least 5 years to get their degree informing society it was beneficial for us to drink alcohol in this case wine as it was beneficial for our health as it helped to reduce the risk of heart disease. Then the scientists told us sugar was beneficial for our health, later it was discovered that this research was paid for by the sugar industry. So my question has to be can we trust what the scientists are telling us, given that if we take a closer examination of what we are told then we may discover that there is a different agenda occurring, one that is very subtle and actually corrupt. But because we give our power away to them they are not held accountable for their research.
I couldn’t agree more with you Mary, don’t forget the drama about eggs being harmful and reducing to two a week which has now been overturned, or that dairy is high calcium yet the western world where we have such high consumption has high rates of osteoporosis. The list goes on and on. Even with its best, pure intentions science is not perfect. The body however is never confused, it’s absolute in its truth, it offers constant feedback on our lifestyle choices and it’s a simple way to transform our health and wellbeing by listening to and honouring the body.
I so agree Mary – and more examples from Melinda also show how tragic it is when we give away our power. The ill health of western nations illustrates how evidence based medicine sure doesn’t have all the answers. The current statin controversy is another case in point.
A great place to start by listening and responding to our bodies ‘And how different might the world be if first and foremost we allowed the intelligence of our bodies to be the evidence upon which we based our way of living…?’
‘ yet we can give our power away to what others say is the ‘evidence’ such that we recoil or shut down rather than hold to the truth we know in our own bodies.’ I have a medical diagnosis and yes I want to hear what the medical profession say, yes absolutely, but I’m not going to ignore my body because I’m living in my body and it lets me know about things way before they escalate because I’ve ignored the signals and carried on with harmful behaviour.
So true Ariana. Learning to listen to my body is one of the most important things I have done in my life. That and honouring the messages I receive and then acting on them.
I’ve never understood why the ‘evidence’ of my body – and that of many others – can’t be used to show how changing lifestyle can make such a difference. Though I know it took over twenty years for it to be acknowledged that smoking can be a cause of lung cancer… But what of the deeper reason – why people smoke in the first place?
Maybe we could research where the evidence base gets it funding from and see if there is any collusion between parties that is simple to expose?
Absolutely Greg. It’s so easier to manipulate statistics to show ‘good results’ and leave out negating ones that don’t support the funder’s viewpoint.
Exposing the corruption is well overdue.
Yes great question as I have heard of this a many a time. For example sugar companies backing and financing (which in turn leads to directing) research to say sugar is not bad for us. Such bias and corruption will never allow truth or transparency.
And apparently the sugar lobby called out that fats are bad for us when it is the exact opposite and we had to live with this lie for forty years. Fats in small amounts is okay and the latest research shows that even the smallest amount of white sugar is not good for us.
The corruption in the sugar industry and the collusion of science is a perfect example of what happens when anything (money, status, etc) is placed before the care of people. Decades of lies were promoted about sugar which had a serious (and continuing) impact on the health of humanity. What Serge Benhayon offers is a business model that places people first, and this is sorely needed in the world of science.
And when you add the years of government tariffs and propping up by subsidising it gives us the reality check of what our corrupt systems are all about.
The moment we look for evidence outside of our lived experiences (as in scientific statistical experiments) there is a dishonoring of what is our natural innate sense of what is supportive or the truth for us, and this ability can be clouded by the belief that other people are ‘experts’ more than our own bodies. I can see how much I have done this in my life and how it has resulted in a kind of atrophy of my inner truth meter, even though on some level our body always knows the truth.
Michael I agree with you because so many of us rely on what the scientist say because after all they have taken the time to study and we have not. So we look upon them as the ‘experts’. But we now know that smoking is detrimental to our health and that alcohol is very damaging too not just to our bodies but it has a negative impact on families and communities in so many ways. And yet the scientist who did all the research initially said that cigarettes and alcohol were good for us?
There is definitely a place for evidence from our bodies as well as scientific evidence. The two need to marry together again to bring the truth back to research. There is evidence all around us that research at present is not serving us.
This last sentence is a show stopper. ‘There is evidence all around us that research at present is not serving us’. This exposes how we cherry pick the evidence we acknowledge/accept, to suit what keeps life comfortable – that does not rock the boat as it were.
Yes I agree. When research is done, many companies leave out the less than optimal results, presenting what they want the medical profession and public to hear. Not helped by the incentives given to doctors to prescribe certain drugs.
There is nothing wrong with taking medication to support ourselves, but it tends not to bring great changes without us looking at the choices we’ve made that got us in a certain situation in the first place.
And when people take a combination of drugs – which have not always been tested together – they can result in dire complications. We need to take a greater responsibility for our health and question why certain pills are necessary. I was shocked recently when asking a client what his medicines were for – and he didn’t know.
Our bodies hold an intelligence way beyond our very limited comprehension. They understand the vastness of the Universe and are involved in a constant back and forth communication with it. The fact that we often only see our bodies as a means with which to get around the place or worst still as a dumping ground for our pain and grievances is tragic. Resurrect the body and we resurrect our understanding of life.
I love what you write here Alexis, the way forwards is a deeper connection to our bodies. When we are in our heads, it can seem tricky to comprehend, but when we feel from our bodies, we can feel this communication with the Universe.
Not only is it ‘tricky to comprehend’ the communication from the Universe when we are in our heads, it’s actually impossible. Our heads don’t have the means with which to either give or receive universal communication. Our bodies on the other hand are absolute masters in Universal communication.
Resurrect the body, love and cherish it and we begin to live a life renewed and appreciate what we have.
Our bodies are our portals to God. Trash the portal and it’s harder to hear God. Restore the portal and God will come through loud and clear. For everyone.
Super simple, yet little realised, we only get out what we put in.
With responsibility, we take utmost care to not dismiss as flawed all evidence-based research, some of which has sound ethical foundations, practised with diligence and integrity. Equally, the science and medical community must be willing to listen to evidence gained from the lived medical practice of everyday people and not dismiss it outright as lacking validity. To dismiss outright another’s position, based on right and wrong and judgement takes us nowhere. Health is owned by all of us equally and we take it to the next level by collaborating and learning together.
Well said kehinde2012. We are not intelligent when we discount another’s position based on right and wrong. We need to work together and consider what is happening energetically bearing in mind our body’s internal workings use energy as its source of fuel.
I have come up against the arrogance of some learned people who are very disdainful about certain ideas or opinions because they may not be backed up with research or match their own lived experiences. I have also had some interesting conversations with the same people how they are very aware that research can be very flawed. They do not seem to match these two principles together.. research is flawed but we rely on our knowledge from research…it doesn’t make sense.
This is so true, ‘my body already has a PhD in being evidence-based’. The body has greater intelligence than the mind can ever have and there is so much to learn from it if we were to get out of the way. For too long we have been ignoring the communication that is there ready to come out from our bodies, in the favour of a lesser version of intelligence.
‘The body has greater intelligence than the mind can ever have’ When I listen to my body’s intelligence I know I am connected to a greater wisdom. Mental intelligence feeds instant and short-lived gratification the body’s intelligence supports me to nurture my body at the deepest level and there for the long haul.
The combination of science and the evidence of physical experience has the potential to be utterly dynamic nd change the face of how we understand science and health.
This statement is so true..’the particles and cells that are in my body already have a PhD in being evidence-based, and my body doesn’t need a lab or a set time period to incubate, or a team of scientists’. The body has all the answers we ever need, we simply have to listen to it.
When we listen to our bodies would we dare to drink alcohol, as I am sure everyone has overridden the initial feeling and total rejection our bodies gave us to drinking this poison.
It would be great to collate the evidence of our bodies. In one conversation yesterday a group of health care professionals were talking about how they find their bodies bloat when they eat bread. There was a shared consensus that this was a common experience.
Thank you for this article and for all the questions posed. Without being judgemental I also find it really interesting to look at the state of health of our ‘top’ research scientists and medics. Because, as you have stated, if all this evidence based research was offering us true answers, surely those at the heart of it should be paragons of health and well being.
We need evidence for sure but not so that it blinkers us with its rules and regulations and stops us from sensing what we know to be true. Simply because there may be no evidence yet about something, we can know in our bodies that it is true and an evidence base will catch up with it at a later date.
There is a kind of rank that happens with intellectual intelligence, and a scale of superiority and inferiority. Whole body intelligence on the other hand is something equally accessible to all, and brings us back to a more loving way of living.
The current model of evidence certainly has its place, however if the people promoting it and claiming it’s the only way also smoke, eat unhealthily, don’t sleep well, and self neglect or self abuse in other ways, then this really highlights the need for whole body intelligence as part of more wholistic view of what evidence encompasses. And, a body that is listened to, respected, honoured, cared for and loved will find it easier to treat other people the same way, whereas a body that is abused and neglected will find it easier to abuse and neglect others. Whole body intelligence therefore does not just have a personal effect, but a community one. Based on the fact that there is corruption within evidence based science it could then be said that without whole body intelligence as its base, evidence based science will lack the integrity and purity it should have to truly serve communities.
It seems very unwise to discount the ‘PHD’ of our particles! How did we get to do so on such a large, collective scale?
It relates to power and control. To give our power away to scientists, researchers and medics believing them to be more superior and knowledgeable, makes us easy fodder to be controlled and manipulated. In truth we are the all knowing ones, but sad so many have forgotten this.
It’s crazy to me to think that we have become accustomed to always taking the findings of a scientist, even if it over-rides what we have felt for ourselves in our own bodies.
It feels like evidence based medicine has become an intellectual game; exactly how the question is asked makes a huge difference, biases towards the person paying for the evidence in how it is collated, as something can be proven and then disproven. Evidence from the body needs no such set up, it is there for us all for record what we feel.. simple.
And isn’t it interesting that we bow to all the complication of evidence based research and its inevitable variables and biases and dismiss the simplicity of our bodies’ evidence and wisdom? Hmmm. maybe not so intelligent.
Maybe it can seem easier to listen to someone’s advice or evidence when we actually don’t like what our bodies are telling us and the responsibility it asks from us to make different choices. Like with alcohol for instance we know how our body feels the next day and how that is clearly a message that it is not good for our body and well-being, yet then there has been (if I remember correctly) ‘evidence’ that one glass of wine a night/week is good for your heart. So if you want to drink alcohol that is the easier one to go by.
We ignore our body at our peril.
Exactly Gill, and what if many bodies experience the same or similar… the unquestionable evidence is right there.
‘a way where the body constantly shows us the ‘cause and effect’ or ripple effects of our daily life choices’ Yep it is our personal barometer .. how much more evidence do we need than our own body!!!
Listening to our bodies – this is imperative. Imagine being ignored while you are giving all sorts of advice and warnings, what happens, the body talks louder and louder. The question we need to ask is – how loud do we want it to get?
I do not believe we should give our power away to people who may be basing their scientific findings from the funding they are receiving for the research.
“And so far since I have begun to listen to my body … and to heed its messages it has not let me down – it always seems to know what is true for me.” We actually have very little understanding of the depth of intelligence that resides within our bodies, a depth that Serge Benhayon at least has the wisdom to encourage people to respect and honour without attempting to own or ‘double blind’ test it. The results of responding to our bodies’ feedback are quite astonishing – people the world over are making huge inroads in recovering their own health and wellbeing, often beyond recognition.
Old values and beliefs are a bit like scientific evidence. They can be narrow-minded and not body sourced.
Knowing our own bodies is our greatest evidence base, from there we can feel the truth of what we live – our choices lived through our bodies.
The real truth about the body is that “offering evidence is its natural default position.” The body is really a sitting duck in this regard, how can it not reflect the quality of daily choices we make living within it. Every choice to nurture or disregard our body will clearly manifest itself in the quality of our health, vitality and wellbeing. All we need to do is observe the outcome and understand which choice resulted in each particular experience and repeat or jettison as required.
Not surprising to see history repeating itself when new medical advances and discoveries are introduced. Edward Jenner, pioneer of the smallpox vaccine and immunisation, discovered that a milkmaid infected with cowpox was immune to smallpox and many were prevented form getting the disease and dying. But because this method threatened the then accepted form of inoculation known as variolation. Jenner met violent opposition, ridicule, attack by the media and ostracism by the medical establishment. It took fifty years before vaccination for small pox in the UK was formally recognised and variolation banned.
Thank you Kehinde, your comment reminds me of this quote “All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident.” (By Arthur Schopenhauer)
I loved reading this because it really highlights the ludicrous situation we have when ignoring what is felt in our bodies and deferring opinion to a group of experts who don’t have the direct connection with that body. It begs the question of whether I listen to my body as well as what’s touted in the world by some research or other as good for me, especially when bodies of research are often contradictory.
Perhaps the greatest form of gathering of evidence is therefore available through an understanding of true observation.
Interesting how we experience things/energy but dismiss what we feel because received knowledge says that it is false. If I have experienced something and have felt it in my body no one can tell me that I didn’t – true observation is receiving what is there without judgment.
How boring is evidence-based anything? Is it not like reading the end of a book first?
Listening to the sensitivity within my body is all the evidence I need; it is a forever deepening of the acceptance and trust in myself to that which the body is communicating with me.
Our bodies share so much and always have, so it is amazingly simple to feel again when we eradicate our numbing behaviour and start to feel again, which allows us to become a scientific study of our own bodies again, because none of us are stupid and our body will share.
It’s amazing how our bodies never let up their sharing. As soon as the numbing behaviour stops they’re there saying hey! I’m realising we can only delay that communication, only make it super loud after numbing out because they won’t not tell you about that as well. Wouldn’t it be much lovelier to choose to hear a gentle knock at the door, open it to a small child and hear and respond to what they say? To continue the analogy, rather than have the door burst open by Police and feel like you’re being taken prisoner and resisting arrest, wanting to continue your disharmonious ways?
Absolutely Karin, we have become masters of the proverbial-numb-ness and thus we must also understand the opposite, so it must be totally-possible to live in harmony and feel the love coming to the door and be prepared with the door open so the greeting and response is most Joy-full!
We have a body that is perfectly created to communicate with us. It is designed to be personal and to communicate without delay. This body offers us an opportunity to work hard, to have fun and play, to offer so much to our world and our community and yet it also asks us to listen to its wisdom as the homeostasis can be wobbled if we do not listen to its more subtle communications. That is the evidence base we should adhere to over all others but we have, on the whole, lost that delicate sensitivity in favour of keeping up and fitting in. Coming back to building a relationship with whole body intelligence and considering an evidence base from that space means we are discerning about the evidence being produced and will find it either confirms our body or challenges. I wouldn’t write off evidence based medicine, I would simply be very discerning about what the incentive is behind the research and ask my body how at ease it is with the recommendations.
Often the simplest remedies are ones readily discredited by the establishment. It makes sense and is natural to call on the body’s exquisite radar and resourcefulness to guide us through life. It is immediate, wise, free and lifelong.
Simple remedies, like whole body intelligence and the self care that comes from honouring the body, don’t make money for the pharmaceutical companies or medical professionals.
I agree Melinda. It is also about power and control, those who honour their own bodies through self care hold a power within but also seek medical support when required. Those who don’t often feel dis-empowered when it comes to their own health
A basic introduction to statistics as part of my degree was enough for me to see how evidence based research is not as tight and infallible that it claims to be, even under its own model! It was obvious that however much you may intend to allow for all possible variants, you very likely would not allow for critical factors if you don’t even know about them.
Since then I have seen actual evidence of how some aspects of medicine have over the years provided humanity with false results through deliberately using this exact weakness.
The evidence of our bodies has and will always be the purest and most honest evidence we can ever have – one that can not be bought, manipulated and falsified by any invested party. I am not surprised there is so much opposition and contempt for this level of wisdom and awareness.
That is really interesting Golnaz, and it reminds me of institutionalised religion and the creation of a middle man, i.e., an external authority like a priest who you go to to access God, when everything you need and the purest connection to God is actually already within yourself. Ditto science, to quote you “The evidence of our bodies has and will always be the purest and most honest evidence we can ever have – one that can not be bought, manipulated and falsified by any invested party.”
“Whilst there is a place for evidence-based medicine, it is not the only way of knowing what is healthy and what is not for our bodies.” So true. Evidence based medicine has certainly produced some very effective ways to deal with illness and disease. Responding to our body’s intelligence empowers us to deal with the root cause underneath the disease. When both are applied in equal measure, true health can arise.
Thank you. Another level of understanding. Not to ignore evidence based medicine but to bring it alongside the evidence of our bodies and a willingness to be honest about the choices that lead us to any given point.
The strict rules for scientific measurement don’t fit our body. We can be awake or asleep, feel hot or cold and hungry or not. All of these can be studied, but they are all part of the whole. Our bodies are very complicated in how they work but, how they communicate to us is simple.
‘And how different might the world be if first and foremost we allowed the intelligence of our bodies to be the evidence upon which we based our way of living…?’ It would be pretty cool ✨
Since I have begun to consult my body I have learnt so much from the wisdom it offers. We should trust our body as it is offering us God’s pure love.
‘…since I have begun to listen to my body (inspired by Serge Benhayon and whole body intelligence – https://sergebenhayon.tv/episodes/whole-body-intelligence/) and to heed its messages it has not let me down – it always seems to know what is true for me.’ I can say the same is true for me. It can be so easy to override the body’s messages, yet when we truly listen and respond accordingly it feels pretty good!
When we listen to our bodies, it is an undeniable truth, that we have to will-fully choose to ignore.
I feel every day what is happening to my body when I override my knowing of what it needs and how to look after it. The dulling is immediate as are the symptoms of my body as it tries to rid itself of the poison I have dumped into it; my choice to support my body to the detail it needs, no one can do it for me.
The evidence of my own body has an integrity that needs to be honoured, alongside that of science.
We have to take care that recommendations made because of evidence based medicine do not overrule all the options available. Sometimes evidence can be skewered, and they may only be guidelines not rules. We are able to have the final say about our own lives.
Building our own relationship with our own body and tracking its journey through life is foundational for true health. Nothing compares to this.
It’s a shame that this fundamental relationship with ourselves is not taught to us when young… it is foundational for true health and if studied at school there is no question that our health and wellbeing as adults would shift for the better.
We don’t have to refer only to research studies to know what works well for our bodies. The body is our wise guide, teacher and friend. Stop to listen to it, and we’re guided to know what to eat, when we’re tired or have taken on too much. It constantly feeds us information on what works and does not work for us and to ignore this incredible resource is to our detriment.
“… a way where the body constantly shows us the ‘cause and effect’ or ripple effects of our daily life choices.” When I started to pay attention to this science, the quality of my health has gone from being very poor and easily tipped into illness, to very robust, consistent and vital. This to me is true evidence – pay attention to how I feel in relation to my daily choices and adjust as necessary based on the degree of resulting vitality or not. Simple, free, astonishingly effective.
Yes, simple and FREE and astonishingly effective. Seriously, we should all be encouraged to build this honesty with our bodies from young so we don’t financially break the health system which is there to support our health when things go wrong. Living that way demonstrates responsibility for our own health and the health of our community.
“Yes, simple and FREE and astonishingly effective.” That sums up in a nutshell the power of evidence based medicine working with esoteric medicine.
Yes – listening to our bodies is a science in its own right. It should definitely be studied and on the school curriculum, if not at GCSE!
Have we gone down the road of Occams razor by basing our medical care of evidence-based results, rather than just listening to our bodies?
One day we’ll remember that our bodies are king and when we do our whole experience of life will change. Our experience of life is manifested through our relationship with our bodies. Treat the body like rubbish and that’s exactly how life will be.
Sometimes I have found the response of another quite challenging when I have been asked to prove what I can sense. However what I am learning is to not react but hold myself in the knowing of what is true and realise I do not have to give my power away or contract like I have done in the past because of another’s need/belief for evidence as this is so dishonouring of me and what I am clocking or picking up on.
When we consider just how old humanity is, evidenced based medicine is quite a new approach and one that is not fail safe. I would say that anecdotal evidence has been around for far longer giving it a validity and history that goes way back, beyond the Pyramids in fact, to the days when it was the most natural thing in the world to be in tune with what our bodies were feeling in response to how we lived in them.
“it was the most natural thing in the world to be in tune with what our bodies were feeling in response to how we lived in them.” Simple and true Rowena and yet a tragedy that humanity has forgotten the wisdom of the ancients, when medicine was a way of living that was in harmony with the body. Modern medicine has its benefits, but should not foster dependency on medical practitioners at the expense of supporting us to equally refer to our own inner-wisdom.
Today when we buy something off the WEB how often do we use customer reviews as a source of information. Why should we not use the same information we receive from our lived experience and what our body tells us.
And so every one of us is equally a scientist.
No what if – it is true that “there is a far greater wisdom we can draw from” – “the evidence of our bodies.”
I noticed the pattern of scientific evidence being turned on its head a few years later while I was studying my degree. It is interesting that “Those that control the definition of evidence based don’t care about that and do not want it pointed out”
I find it similar to those who want to ban various natural remedies because they have not gone through the labour intensive and very costly process of proving that they work. They fish out a handful of cases that have been harmful to patients without narrowing out what those cases are so they can conveniently tar all natural remedies with the same feather. While they ignore the complications and at times death of millions due to prescription of medicine that have gone through the rigorous approval system.
“What is it about this ‘evidence base’ that makes us shut down the authority of our lived experience – our living evidence?” A great question Jane. Shutting down authority of our lived experience and placing it in the hands of ‘experts’ is designed to dis-empower. True authority lies within ourselves and once connected to empowers us to seek medical help when called to, but also be our own physician in the everyday, reading and listening to our body, as well as caring for and nurturing it.
Yes it is very empowering and I wonder if this is the bit that, eons ago, was why the wisdom and communication of the body was discounted, because then a few people who wanted to control the people would have more power. Looking back now I have enormous appreciation for the history teachers in my life who have taught me that so much of what has led us astray in life is the need to have power over another by instilling fear and therefore the need for someone to come and save us.
Yes Lucy, much of this revolves around the desire for power and control over others. A question to ask is why so many of us willingly give away power that is intrinsic to us and in so doing dis-empower ourselves.
Modern medicine is not true medicine if it does not take into account and listen to the lived experience of thousands of people who, having responsibility for their own health, choose to live in harmony with their body, feeling, listening and learning from it. And what an own goal, if lived evidence was accepted and validated, perhaps doctors waiting rooms would not be overflowing with patients unaware of and dis-interested in the cause of an illness or disease they seek help for.
Scientific studies like to drill down to a specific group to find an answer they are looking for. What if there is a study group of individuals that cover most of the ages, genders, jobs and locations on the planet that are listening to their bodies and are living a healthier life. But, the information is dismissed by the scientific method people, because it can’t be measured by their standards.
“Surely if it was working, illness and disease rates worldwide would be decreasing?” So it seems time for us to evolve our model, because while our evidence based approach has furthered our medical techniques and remedies, it is clearly not getting to the root of our issues. Perhaps its time to bring in something new that allows our bodies to opportunity to voice their opinion about the way we treat them.
We are literally walking evidence of all of our lived choices … how simple it that!
The more we walk and talk our lived experiences, we will be heard as a vital source of information.
When I began to change my diet, and the way I was living, there were many who wanted to know what ‘evidence-based medicine’ I was I using to say that my body would benefit from the new choices, and why I couldn’t stay living the way I was. I was actually quite puzzled as these questioners had witnessed the ill-health and exhaustion I had lived with for a very long time. And even when my health and well-being began to markedly change, they were still asking for evidence, even though the true evidence was right in front of them in the form of my changing body and my blossoming life.
The more I listen to my body and the evidence it provides, the freer I am from theoretical rules that have no relationship with my lived experience. We are our own ‘living evidence’ and we simply need to look around to see that our current model is not working… we appear to be getting sicker and sadder.
It is quite simple really. Neither type of research can exist without our bodies. When we select the ‘evidence based approach’ we are attempting to separate the Being from the Human. When we include the Being, we give voice to the intelligence that can accelerate the results of the experiment beyond expectation.
‘..we are attempting to separate the Being from the Human.’ Interesting how little we acknowledge the being in he body but if we were to stop just for a moment to feel the being within we would have a very different relationship not just with ourselves but with our bodies too.
It’s simply common sense to listen the evidence of our body’s messages. Without undervaluing the traditional scientific based evidence, using the evidence of our bodies is something very empowering and really useful in our daily lives by its immediacy and also as a way of deepening in the awareness and responsibility we have on our health.
We have all heard it said, it just doesn’t feel right, but it is disregarded because it can’t be scientifically proven. What if we put all the scientific type sensors they put on a lunar lander on a person’s body, filmed, measured and recorded everything it did and the effects it had on the body? The problem is, the lander doesn’t get headaches but can cause them in others when it doesn’t work.
Even when we allow our bodies to be the evidence on our scientific research, we make it more about the research, rather than truly listening to our body of the source of the evidence. We need to be aware that any experiment imposes treatments to test a hypothesis according to one or a number of variable/s. This means that it is a situation that we have set up to try to isolate and test elements we have chosen according to our own pre-conceived idea of what will happen. These things are essentially all impositions that we have put in place and yet we expect all elements in the experiment to behave as they would normally despite this. Quantum physics has shown that as soon as we start to study particles their behaviour changes as a result. It seems to be worth exploring and understanding more greatly that we are creating our own results in this process and a new way is required to come to the truth of the questions we seek answers to.
The medical establishment’s resistance to truly seek answers to solve catastrophic illness and disease rates is part of the problem. Much evidence-based medical research is designed to promote the reputation of researcher, university or charity, not serve humanity and save lives.
‘Quantum physics has shown that as soon as we start to study particles their behaviour changes as a result. It seems to be worth exploring and understanding more greatly that we are creating our own results in this process and a new way is required to come to the truth of the questions we seek answers to.’ Quantum physics is revealing so much about our current perceptions and how false they can be. Even with the amazing discoveries quantum physics has made how open are we to addressing what it is exposing about the consciousness we have aligned to?
“How is it that we are all living PhDs in evidence from the intelligence of our own body, yet we rely often on a minority (e.g. scientists) to tell us what we need and what we don’t need?” Maybe its because we have invested too heavily in our scientific economy to allow such simple science to share the same playing field.
The greatest science lab, the consequences of one’s lifestyle choices on oneself and the impact of which ripples out to impact others, is our own body.
Everything in life is experienced, felt and sensed through the body. It makes total sense therefore to take the body into account in the full equation of life in every moment that we experience it.
“I am left wondering what sort of ‘evidence’ there has been that says that this ‘evidence-based’ way of science is actually working?” Surely the evidence is that it is not working?
Amazingly simple really and so beautifully expressed Jonathan. We do seem to be failing to get on top of a lot of illness and disease so clearly something in our scientific model is not working.
When we can get past the arrogance that says ‘we have the answers/we know what we are doing’ as a way of owning knowledge we may get open to humbly seeing the full picture of the total mess that is really before us – it isn’t just bad it is beyond bad. At what point do we stop giving our power away to an energy that has us doggedly hanging on to something that determinedly doesn’t do what it says on the tin?
Indeed, how transparent is this? For example is there a company funding the trial that wants (or needs) a particular kind of evidence in order to thrive. However, if we truly made it about people with genuine care we could not go wrong here as this would be the foundation not profits or money which would then be exposed. Something obviously is not working otherwise our illness and dis-ease rates would not be increasing. So it is great to have articles like this that bring it back to the simplicity of the body and feeling what is going on and the fact that we are our own scientists and can change our health just by changing our choices.
True Gill but even on this level as a system supposedly for public protection it has been corrupted and biased according to funding, grants and desired outcomes from at times preconceived agendas. Listening to our bodies lets us gather evidence which is first hand and tested through living.
My body gives me an enormous amount of evidence of what is love and what is not in this world every day.
What will the scientific foundations do when we have a machine that that can measure the love that is within us? Will this have the same effect as when it was proven the world was not flat?
Great blog! And you are spot on, “we are actually ‘evidencing’ life all the time – what works, what doesn’t, what supports, what doesn’t (even if we don’t take any notice).” The evidence is clear – it’s seeing the wisdom of the body or, seeking paid for science to get the results you want, even if you know they are a lie.
It’s great to question ‘evidenced based’ science as it currently stands. As you say, evidence is also our lived experience… that has to count for a huge amount.
Yes it is great to question things. To explore long held beliefs, traditions or accepted practise and apply some fresh common sense, unblinkered and willing to be honest about how things currently are.
If we honestly answered your questions, and we should for the benefit of health and wellbeing, will we be on the path to truth. Ironically we must connect to our body to answer the questions.
The thing about what we call research today is that it’s a selective process where we look at the things we want to see but not at what we don’t. It seems we will keep going until we realise that conducting biased shams of apparent investigation is cheating ourselves out of so much glory and true advance.
I rely on the evidence of my body to know what is true and what is not. Much research is currently paid for by vested interests and so just gives paid for answers that have little value. Science needs to reclaim its truth before it is able to regain its full integrity.
“….. the particles and cells that are in my body already have a PhD in being evidence-based …..” Love it!!
Yes and even way beyond a PhD … for our particles have access to the universe and its intelligence which can make a PhD look like kindergarten.
It is not that they ‘can make a PhD look like kindergarten’, they do. The wisdom and intelligence that they access is beyond our comprehension as it is the intelligence of the Universe.
Over the past 12 years I have paid more attention to the experiments I run on my body everyday of my life as a consequence of those simple daily choices – what to eat, how much or how little exercise to take, what time I go to bed, what happens if I stop drinking coffee or eating gluten and so on. The list goes on and on, only these days I am paying more attention to the results, favouring those that put a sparkle in my eye and a spring in my step over those ones that make me feel sluggish or under the weather. I don’t need a scientist to tell me what works for my body in this respect, my body has no hesitation in sharing the results.
Yes, if we all did this it would solve the NHS crisis.
When everything can be known in and from our bodies it is crazy that science is willing to discount them unless they can control the ‘experiments’ to fit a models which is not truly giving us full answers.
We surely are the experts on our own body and what supports it or not?
Evidence for me is any genuine open observation and that includes life experience.
Yes unfortunately with a lot of scientific research it is biased to begin with because there is a pre-arranged agenda or result that is wanted and so there is a pressure on the perception or interpretation of the results rather than a completely open, honest observation of the facts and experiences.
The conundrum! ‘How do we know how much we don’t know when we don’t know it?’ And if we think we know everything how will we ever be willing to learn or see something else … aka the truth. I agree in that humbleness is the way to go here and allowing us to reconnect with our innate connection within.
Awesome article I can feel just how suppressing this environment is with what you share. It is a very rigid way of thinking. When we are constantly looking on the outside for answers or confirmation we disconnect from our innate wisdom within. Also not to be cynical but with a lot of trials etc are they not backed up with money from organisations that want specific results? Therefore there is an investment for a particular outcome so really what sort of ‘evidence’ is that. I feel our body has far more than a PhD ‘So in relation to evidence, the particles and cells that are in my body already have a PhD’ it is divinely constellated and has a specific order and flow. For example I am sitting here typing this yet am not fully aware of the magic, order and flow that is happening within my body right now with all the systems and every single cell. It is quite Amazing to say the least. If anything this has helped me to see just how important it is to listen and respond to the body.
“The body has an innate knowing of what is true or not” and whilst this is true, unfortunately we as human beings are absolute masters at convincing ourselves that something is true when it’s not. I convinced myself for twenty years that strenuous exercise made me feel good. What I actually felt was a kind of intense electric buzz, this wasn’t truly ‘good health’ but I convinced myself that I was in top form from my early twenties through to my forties. Had I been questioned about my health during those years I would have sworn blind that I was in amazing condition and that a large part of that was down to strenuous daily exercise and bucket loads of raw salad. The great health that I am in now feels very different to the ‘great health’ that I thought I was in back then and yet both then and now I am convinced that the evidence is coming from my body.
I loved the questioning at the end of your blog for if ‘evidenced-based medicine’ was working then illness and disease would be reducing but this is not the case. It is very easy to allow ourselves to be undermined by the wealth of information out there currently but once we start to observe the small communications of our body and live by these, then over time these small observations become big observations and the way of our livingness changes to the most amazing experience. It is all medicine when we chose to make choices that are deeply loving and caring of our whole ‘being’, our number one priority.
‘So in relation to evidence, the particles and cells that are in my body already have a PhD in being evidence-based,’ I love this confirmation you bring about the body’s innate and very deep natural wisdom. Who needs a degree to prove our intelligence when we can listen to the sagacity of what is known from within without any effort?
The particles and cells of our bodies are naturally imbedded in life, they are not separate from it. They therefore know when a substance is consumed that does not allow them to stay settled within the backdrop of life, they register when a movement jolts them from their connection to the All, they notice everything that seeks to pull them away from their naturally integrated existence with everything else. Our bodies are quite literally a living part of the Kingdom of Heaven. No less.
‘How is it that we are all living PhDs in evidence from the intelligence of our own body, yet we rely often on a minority (e.g. scientists) to tell us what we need and what we don’t need?’ I love what you are bringing to the table here. This cuts through the elitist arrogance that says it knows better because it has gathered evidence, so called. We never discern the authenticity of this evidence and we give our power away to this authority without working out what actually works for us. One such example is with the case of food groups and how we need something from each of them. How many of us actually experiment objectively with this and consider if these foods are really needed by how they make our bodies feel, or whether we simply eat them because we have been told they are good for us?
It is not evidence per se that is the problem but when certain people or groups of people try to own the word evidence and try to control the definition of what is acceptable and not acceptable evidence, that’s when the problems start and that is exactly the situation we currently have in medicine and science.
I agree Andrew. Scientific evidence can be a great support to our level of understanding, but it has sought to dominate this understanding in not allowing credence to other forms of evidence. This, as a result, means that we only have one perspective of the answers to the questions we ask and therefore are not going to receive the full picture.
The wisdom of the body is truly awesome when we begin to realise we are all living in a living, breathing science laboratory that feeds us back what is true for it to remain in harmony. Great to observe and listen to the body and have more understanding of widening our vision to encompass the bigger picture of natural evidence the body brings.
“The body has an innate knowing of what is true or not – an evidence base from which it can discern”.
I wonder how much sicker the world needs to be before those who tout evidence-based medicine as the only guide needed for treating people’s health conditions begin to wonder why things aren’t changing? With the profusion of this focus, and the shocking rates of illness and disease showing no signs of abating any time yet, maybe it’s time for those involved in all aspects of the medical system to open up to the possibility that people’s lived experience is showing them what they really need to see to bring change to the health of the world.
It doesn’t make sense with all the advancements in medical science that we are getting sicker and sicker as a population. Curing the symptoms maybe but not halting the exponential rise in illness and disease. At some point we will have to ask where illness and disease comes from, but until we do we are attempting to hold back an incoming tidal wave without acknowledging that we are already drowning – not just through the illness and diseases we have but also in the cost of trying to meet them.
‘Now I live in a way where I listen to what my body is showing me as evidence of what works and what does not work.’ This I love, using the body to let us know what is working and what is not, this is evidence of fact, not paid for science.
It seems to me that with the rate of illness and disease being where it is, we have nothing to lose by giving the body a louder voice and taking the opportunities to listen to it.
“Whilst there is a place for evidence-based medicine, it is not the only way of knowing what is healthy and what is not for our bodies.” Perhaps some of the resistance is that those who have invested large amounts of money and time in their education are reluctant for people to take responsibility for themselves in what they feel and what feels true for themselves.
There is no greater wisdom, intelligence or evidence than that of my body no matter what evidence is presented to me. It’s not that I don’t listen to evidence based facts; the evidence I sense coming from my body makes it real and true for me.
“Having observed in academic and medical circles how much kudos is given to scientific evidence …..” and learning that much of the so-called ‘evidence; is corrupt, based as it often is on funding from corporations who apparently fit the results to suit their agenda -and their pockets. Who can trust this sort of evidence? ..
This is another whole can of worms, yes. What is the intention, investment and bias that sits behind each piece of evidence based research?
A case of we already know the answer we want to present, now let’s stage a research project to prove it. Corruption at its most insidious.
“Now I live in a way where I listen to what my body is showing me as evidence of what works and what does not work. ” Me too HR. Surely this is the best kind of individual evidence required, as we are all different unique beings and what suits on will not suit another
I wonder if this need for ‘evidence’ is a cover-up for the lack of presence. Perhaps, if we were present and connected with our own body, it would be just so obvious like – the sky is blue, the grass is green, and the body hurts when we override it, and we would not even consider to ask for an ‘evidence’ for that to be accepted as truth.
“The body has an innate knowing of what is true or not – an evidence base from which it can discern.” I really can relate to what you have shared HR. With discerning what my body needs and wants made my life a bit easier and not so complicated as it was before, because if I was overriding my body I had to deal with the consequences which resulted from not listening to my body. Now I am less ill and less exhausted. I love my evidence-based medicine from within.
It gets even uglier. If you recommend as a health professional something that is not evidence based, does not have back up of RCT (randomised controlled trials) or is not in the NICE guidelines you get in trouble. A lot of trouble. No matter how many hundreds or thousands of anecdotal evidence you can gather, or how many centuries something has been working for the health and well being of human beings, if there is not a guideline or an expert or a research that says it is advisable, you have no basis and can be taken to court or made your work very difficult. The way of medicine has got narrower and narrower. To the detriment of everybody. We all can change that by connecting to our inner intelligence of the body and not giving our power away to other people who are supposed to rule on our health.
“The way of medicine has got narrower and narrower. ” We live in society that seeks to control all knowledge and experience, then shape and validate it under RCTs. It is prescriptive, mechanistic, controlling and blocks openness and sharing of testimonies and lived experience of thousands of people who are their own research project every day of their lives and yet given no voice by medical authorities. Still many guided and inspired by their own inner intelligence.are not silenced or shackled.