How do I know when to trust my body's signals versus seeing a Western doctor?

This question sits at the heart of how we live in our bodies. I've spent decades watching people oscillate between dismissing their physical experience entirely and dismissing medical guidance out of distrust. The truth is less either-or. Your body speaks constantly—tension, fatigue, restlessness, ease. These signals are real data. They often arrive before anything shows up on a test. But they're not diagnostic. A persistent ache might be tension, inflammation, postural, or something requiring intervention. You can't know by feeling alone. I think of it as literacy in two languages. Learn to listen deeply to your embodied experience—what Westerners often ignore completely. Simultaneously, develop a working relationship with someone trained in biomedicine who listens to you. Not blind faith in either direction. Not ping-ponging between extremes. Start with: Does this symptom interfere with my daily life? Has it persisted beyond two weeks? Am I guessing? If yes to any, get it assessed. Meanwhile, practice what actually settles your nervous system—stillness, gentle movement, attention to breath. These aren't substitutes for diagnosis. They're how you tend the ground while you're learning what's actually happening.