Pain is a friend—an ally—who has come to give us a message
Pain in any area of your body is a signal that something is out of balance. You need to pay attention and listen to what the pain has to say.
– Are you doing too much and stretching yourself too thin?
– Are you forcing something instead of allowing things to just be?
– Are you going in the wrong direction in one or more areas in your life?
– Are you repressing strong emotions, like resentment or anger?
– Are you feeling overwhelmed or without support?
– Are you longing to rest and be taken care off?
The pain is not an enemy! Your body is trying to communicate with you. The pain is a friend who has come for a visit to alert you of something. It wants to show you what needs changing.
You need to stop and listen! One way to do that is to surrender to the pain and to enter into its core. Sit or lie with the pain and breathe deeply into it. If we hold our breath, or if we go into a fear mode about the pain, we add tension and the pain gets worse. Emotional and mental tension causes more nerve and muscle tension.
Make yourself comfortable and begin to breathe all the way into your belly. Let you breaths be slow, deep and complete. Breathe out any tension, let all parts of your body drop and relax, especially the area in which you are experiencing the message. On each inhale, breathe in relaxation, ease and acceptance of what is. On each exhale, let go of tensions. Silently in your mind welcome the pain as a friend and ally. Then begin asking questions and let the painful area talk to you.
Deb Shapiro in her book “Your Body Speaks Your Mind” gives us different questions to ask ourselves when we are in pain:
- Are you unable to ask for help?
- Are you feeling trapped by negative feelings, such as revenge, resentment, guilt, or shame?
- Is there someone or something you are holding on to?
- What part of your inner being is hurting so badly?
Louise Bourbeau’s key questions from her book “Your Body’s Telling You: Love Yourself!” are:
- What is this illness/pain preventing me from doing and/or having?
- If I allowed myself to achieve these desires, what would I be?
- If I allowed myself to be _______ (fill in answer from previous question) what unpleasant situation could happen to me AND what would people think of me?
In my next blog I will elaborate more on headaches and communicating with the pain in our head.
To uncover emotional and mental aspects of our physical issues contact me