What Your Body’s Pain is Telling You

When you feel pain, it is a positive signal in the body that something is wrong. Yes, a positive one! In fact, aches and pains have been described by one wellness practitioner and author as, “Cries of the Body, Messages from the Soul.”

“Pain is a message that the brain is sending to us,” says Howard Schubiner, MD in his Psychology Today article, Pain Is a Message: How Our Brains Try to Protect Us. “All pain has a message of some kind, whether related to a physical condition or a psychological situation…..If medical evaluations do not reveal a clear cause…the problem might not be in the body, but in the mind.”

Meditation and mindfulness eases the emotional impact of pain

According to the U.S. Pain Foundation, an estimated 50 million people live with chronic pain, pain that lasts six months or more. Among their recommendations are to use meditation and mindfulness for coping with the emotional impact of pain.

In my practice, I see many clients whose pain is both physical and emotional. Often, when we gently explore the reasons why their emotions may be causing or exacerbating pain, they feel a gradual release of it, helped by modifying their nutrition, sleeping and other daily habits.

Connection between emotions and the nervous system

There is a connection between emotions and the nervous system, which impacts our health. Emotions produce a physiological reaction in the body. Experiencing an emotion can create a temporary change in body chemistry and parts of the body can hold emotions too. Your body responds to your emotional and physical reality. Even imagined events can affect your emotions and have a dramatic impact on your body chemistry.

If you feel recurring pain and have not been able to identify the source through medical exams, consultations, and tests, you may have unresolved emotional pathways that are affecting the body’s ability to heal.

As a certified Neuro Emotional Technique (NET) Practitioner, I help my patients address such physical and behavioral stress-related conditions as headaches, body pains, phobias, general anxiety, self-sabotaging behaviors, organ dysfunctions and so much more. NET does not cure or heal the patient, but rather, removes blocks to the natural vitalism of the body, “allowing” the body to repair itself naturally.

So, when your body sends you messages of pain, welcome them. They are calling for you to take time to focus on your health, well-being, and quality of life. To listen, act and heal.

Dr. Kristina Wodicka is a Nyack, N.Y.-based holistic chiropractor who incorporates customized healing and integrative wellness techniques into her practice. Follow her on Facebook.