People often ask the question: What thing will help me overcome my pain?
Which single supplement, herb or lifestyle change will cure your neck or back tension, your shoulder pain or headache?
Humans are programmed towards simple, external cures, as we have been taught that drugs cure all illness. This may be true when it comes to acute conditions, however, chronic symptoms are different. Psychophysiological disorders, of which pain, anxiety, IBS and chronic fatigue are part of, are felt in our body but originate in our brain.
Conditions including post-viral syndromes, back pain or insomnia, the emotional brain is on overdrive. Our nervous system is in a stuck in a state of flight, fight or freeze. Our brain misinterprets benign sensations as dangerous. As uncomfortable as that may feel, it's actually a very healthy response to a perceived threat called modern life.
Nowadays, we aren’t running from lions anymore. Our threats come in form of Social Media overload, work demands, trauma, social isolation, racism and political polarisation. They activate an almond shaped structure deep within our brain called the amygdala.
When our day to day life stress becomes chronic, stress-induced symptoms become chronic too. We start to obsess over them, and whatever fires together wires together. Avoiding activities, and socially isolating reinforces our brain's perception that there is actually something wrong with our physical body.
EEG scans of people with persistent back pain show that the emotional centers of the brain light up like a christmas tree. There is proof that emotions drive chronic symptoms, particularly fear, anger and guilt.
Unfortunately, medical professionals not trained in psychophysiological disorders may attribute our symptoms to a torn rotator cuff, degenerative disc disease or Epstein-Barr virus—all findings that show up routinely in asymptomatic people who feel perfectly healthy. The brilliant physician John Sarno called these “normal abnormalities.” A mind-body approach to healing, acknowledges that psychological stress can manifest in physical symptoms.
The great news is that recovery is very possible, as long as we address the underlying cause. Once your physician has ruled out pathological causes like a broken bone, tumor or infection. Here are six steps I all my Pain patients.
You can use the same steps on your journey to a pain-free life:
Knowledge is Power. There's nothing wrong with the body, so it’s counterproductive to try to fix it with physical remedies. It’s important to learn about this new paradigm so you believe it. Learn more about psychophysiological disorders here.
Change your relationship with the symptoms - Your symptoms are unpleasant, but they are not dangerous. You can stop fighting them. Our primary goal is to lower fear. One way to do this is to learn to feel safe in your body.
Allow yourself to feel the feels - Ask, what emotions am I feeling right now? See if you can name the emotions cognitively (i.e. I am frustrated) and feel them somatically (i.e. pulsing and burning in my stomach).
Connect to your body through a lens of safety. Somatic meditations are so helpful to calm the amygdala (your fear center). Click the button below, and receive your FREE Bodyscan Meditation today. Also return to your breath several times throughout your day.
Gradually expose yourself to activities in small, graded steps that feel safe. Avoiding activities teaches the brain that they’re dangerous, while challenging your triggers grows capacity.
Relinquish habits that unnecessarily activate your brain and dump stress hormones like cortisol into your body. Some ideas: stop checking your phone before you’ve had breakfast, verbally assaulting yourself. Stop reading the news, and if you struggle with that one, swap out negative news with positive ones via this link.
How we are treated and how we treat ourselves affects our physical health in a very real way.
Research shows that adverse childhood experiences such as emotional abuse or neglect increase our risk of chronic symptoms later in life. This is also known as Adverse Childhood Events. Mind patterns of catastrophising and self-criticism also activate our survival state and increase pain signals.
So as yourself, what habits cause me to unnecessary add stress to my life? Anything that triggers our brain's threat system can trigger real physical symptoms including shoulder pain, neck tension, back pain and headaches.
Perfectionism and self-criticism can push you into exhaustion
Worry and rumination is an effective comping strategy to avoid feeling emotions. Some put other people’s needs consistently before their own, which is a common trait of the fawn response (one of the 4 stress responses).
Let's imagine instead of eating a tray of brownies because I’m angry at my boss, I catch myself and ask: How am I feeling emotionally? How does this emotion feel in my body? Does it have a shape, a texture, a colour? Next I ask, what is my unmet need beneath this attempt of eating comfort food? The answer may be to rant to a friend or take a quick walk in the park before talking to my boss.
As I follow my desire to move through this emotion, I experience less anger, muscle tension and sleep disturbance. Self-awareness heals us. We can only ignore our emotions and maladaptive patterns for so long before we can see and feel the physical consequences. The only way through it is through.
Healing from psychophysiological disorders can feel like a daunting task. However, you don't need to heal on your own. I've been there, in the depths of pain, dizziness, anxiety, IBS and despair. Let me help you to get started on your healing journey by booking your 30 minute complimentary Healing Strategy Call. Click the button below, and let's get you better.
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