Pain Can Be Our Teacher—Only If We Would Listen
Have you ever wondered why your body speaks to you through pain?
In his groundbreaking work "The Body Keeps the Score," Dr. Bessel van der Kolk reveals how our bodies hold onto experiences, emotions, and trauma—often manifesting as chronic pain, tension, and physical discomfort. Your body isn't betraying you; it's trying to communicate something vital.
What Is Your Pain Trying to Tell You?
Pain serves as our body's sophisticated alarm system:
Immediate Protection: A cut signals the need for care and healing
Movement Guidance: A sprained ankle teaches us to rest and recover
Safety Alerts: Touching something hot creates instant learning
Deeper Messages: Chronic neck tension may be holding years of stress, unexpressed emotions, or trauma responses
When we truly listen, pain becomes a teacher rather than an enemy.
Three Limiting Beliefs That Keep Us Stuck
Despite pain's protective purpose, modern society has conditioned us to misunderstand its messages:
1. "Pain as Pathology"
The biomedical model treats pain as purely negative—something to eliminate quickly through medications or procedures. While these approaches have their place, they often silence the body's voice without addressing the underlying message or "root-cause."
2. "Toughing It Out" / "No Pain, No Gain"
Our productivity-obsessed culture glorifies pushing through pain. From childhood, many of us learned to suffer in silence—a pattern that can manifest later as chronic tension, anxiety, or disconnection from our bodies. Moreover, high pain tolerance is often praised or viewed as a traditional masculine trait.
3. "Fear-Avoidance Paralysis"
When fear of pain becomes overwhelming, we can become trapped in cycles of avoidance, creating more tension and disconnection from our body's wisdom. Some might withdraw from exercise or social activities, further deepening their isolation from healing.
A Different Path: Mind-Body Based Healing
What if instead of fighting or ignoring pain, we learned to decode its messages?
In my practice, I assess and identify the likely cause(s) of your current condition, then address it based on my findings using the most suitable modalities for you as an individual.
This could include acupuncture, postural restorative exercises, manual therapy, breathwork, and more. When needed, I collaborate with practitioners from other disciplines.
Key areas we focus on:
Regulate your nervous system and facilitate your body's innate healing ability
Release stored tension and trauma held in the body's tissues (bones, tendons, muscles, organs)
Transform pain patterns at their energetic and emotional roots
One popular Chinese Medicine teaching states: "When there is blockage, there is pain."
When I first learned this saying in school, I thought it only referred to physical obstruction—like how a swollen sprained ankle causes pain. Today, I understand that blockage can be physical, emotional, and mental.
Our body is trying to tell us something important. It is up to us to listen and act accordingly.
If chronic pain has been tapping your shoulder but you're struggling to understand the lesson, I'm here to help.