Dictionary
You sometimes look for a cause. This dictionary gives none. Each complaint opens a listening lead, written here. It is not a diagnosis. If there is a symptom, see a doctor.
Lexicon of signsAuthors and sources
Not a medical cause.
Place
Lower back
Often a weight carried too long: one’s place in the family, ground that is missing, the sense of having to hold everyone. Listen to what weighs.
What am I carrying that I did not choose?
Not a medical cause.
Place
Knees
Often a direction that bends: to move forward, to kneel, or to refuse to give way. Listen to the step that has stopped.
Before what do I bend, or refuse to bend?
Not a medical cause.
Place
Legs
Often a rhythm held too tight: standing without a pause, moving on without feeling the ground.
Where can I stop, today?
Not a medical cause.
Place
The whole body, in the morning
Often the right to stop that one does not grant oneself. This does not explain a medical fatigue.
What has had no rest?
Not a medical cause.
Place
Lower belly, at the time of the period
Often what wants to flow and is held back: an emotion, a desire, a creation. Listen to the flow. Pain that lasts belongs with a doctor.
What wants to pass, that I am holding back?
Not a medical cause.
Place
Lower belly
Often an intimate bond held too tight: to keep or to let go, to create or to hold back.
What is alive, that I do not dare let move?
Not a medical cause.
Place
Lower belly, when urinating
Often an intimate limit too close: what comes in, what one wants kept at a distance. This does not explain an infection. Burning that lasts is for a doctor.
Which limit have I not said?
Not a medical cause.
Place
Desire, the pelvis
Often a pleasure set aside in order to hold a role. Listen to what is still alive, without forcing it.
Which desire is still here, even a small one?
Not a medical cause.
Place
Stomach
Often a piece of life too large to digest: a decision, a swallowed anger, an “I must” without an “I can”. It is neither a meal nor care.
What can I not digest, in my life?
Not a medical cause.
Place
Stomach, upper belly
Often something one refuses to swallow. Listen to the refusal, not to a food.
What do I no longer want to swallow?
Not a medical cause.
Place
Stomach, behind the breastbone
Often an anger or a limit that rises because it was never set. This does not explain reflux.
Which limit was not set?
Not a medical cause.
Place
Belly
Often holding in: a decision, a word, a letting-go that does not come.
What am I keeping that could come out?
Not a medical cause.
Place
Belly
Often letting go too fast: a fear, a situation one no longer wants to hold. This does not explain a bowel disorder.
What do I want to be rid of at once?
Not a medical cause.
Place
Chest
Often a bond too full or too empty: giving without receiving, protecting without breathing. Pain in the chest is told first to a doctor.
What do I give, and what do I not accept to receive?
Not a medical cause.
Place
Upper back, between the shoulder blades
Often the weight of those one carries on the back, instead of a bond face to face.
Whom am I carrying, when I could stand beside them?
Not a medical cause.
Place
Skin
Often a contact too near or too far: the bond that itches, the limit of the skin. This does not explain a skin disease.
Which contact is too near, or too absent?
Not a medical cause.
Place
Chest, breath
Often an emotion with no room to pass. A new shortness of breath belongs with a doctor.
Which emotion had no air?
Not a medical cause.
Place
Throat
Often a sentence held back, or said too loud. Listen to what was not said. A throat that hurts and lasts needs care.
What have I not said yet?
Not a medical cause.
Place
Jaw
Often holding a word, or biting what one is not allowed to say.
Which word stayed between the teeth?
Not a medical cause.
Place
Voice
Often a word that no longer has its size: too small, or pushed too hard.
Which sentence is right, neither too loud nor too small?
Not a medical cause.
Place
Throat, upper chest
Often something that wants out and scrapes. This does not explain a cough. A cough that lasts belongs with a doctor.
What wants out, that I swallow back?
Not a medical cause.
Place
Neck
Often a refusal to turn the head: not wanting to look aside, or not being able to say no.
Which way do I not want to turn?
Not a medical cause.
Place
Head
Often too many stories held at once. Listen to what asks to be seen, simply. This does not explain a headache.
What do I not want to see?
Not a medical cause.
Place
One side of the head
Often an image too strong, a light one can no longer bear, a story kept apart from what is there. A migraine is treated with a doctor. The lead is not its cause.
Which story am I holding too hard?
Not a medical cause.
Place
Eyes
Often a gaze with no pause left: too many screens, or too many inner images. Listen to the need to close the eyes.
What could I stop looking at, for a moment?
Not a medical cause.
Place
Nose, brow
Often something one senses and does not want to recognise. This does not explain sinusitis.
What do I sense, and not want to name?
Not a medical cause.
Place
The night, the head
Often a watch that goes on: to keep watch, to replay, not to let the day go. This does not explain a sleep disorder.
What am I still watching, once the light is out?
Not a medical cause.
Place
Head, balance
Often an inner ground that is missing: too much meaning to find, and no landmark left. Dizziness belongs with a doctor.
Where is my landmark, when I no longer understand?
Not a medical cause.
Place
Ears
Often a silence one can no longer bear, or an inner alert with no word. This does not explain tinnitus. The ears belong with a doctor.
Which silence, or which alert, do I not hear another way?
Not a medical cause.
Place
The top of the head
Often the duty to find the meaning, at once. The centre asks for a stop, not an answer.
What remains, when I no longer explain?
Not a medical cause.
Place
Meaning
Often a meaning forced until exhaustion. Listen to the silence, not to a lack to fill. Discouragement that lasts belongs with a doctor, or with a listening line.
Which silence would do me good?
Sept Seuils is a guide for reading the body, and for personal reflection. It is not a diagnosis, nor care, nor a treatment, and it does not replace a medical opinion. A sign that is strong, new, or worrying belongs with a clinician. Emergencies: 144 (Switzerland), 999 (United Kingdom and Ireland), 911 (United States), 112 (Europe). To talk: 143 (Switzerland), 116 123 (United Kingdom and Ireland), 988 (United States).