Chronic Pain Linked to Emotions

"Pain and illness that is chronic in nature has a direct link to the emotional centers in our brains."

In recent studies, scientists are finally connecting the dots between chronic pain and the emotional circuitry in our brains. These studies suggest that pain and/or illness that is chronic in nature has a direct link to the emotional centers in our brains. In other words, recurrent stressors create changes in brain chemistry that shift activity from our sensory circuits to our emotional circuits, often resulting in long term pain and illness. These changes in brain activity manifest in areas of the brain related to cognitive disorders such as anxiety and depression.

"What if we could tap into our emotional circuitry and reprogram our thoughts; Can we take the painful pieces of our lives and create a shift in how we feel about them?" 

These studies were done on individuals who had suffered short term acute pain due to an illness or injury, but continued to have pain long after recovery. When the short term brain scans of those participants were compared to those of long term pain, there was a shift in the brain activity in the long term scans, having made the the jump from the sensory circuits to the area of the brain relating to emotional response. This is an amazing breakthrough,as it provides us with clear physical evidence that our thoughts(energy) create our experience. As we are both physical and emotional beings, if our thoughts and feelings about PHYSICAL pain can create such physiological changes in our bodies, it stands to reason that so to can our thoughts and feelings about EMOTIONAL pain.

Let us consider for a moment how and where emotional pain might manifest in our bodies. What if we could "tap into" our emotional circuitry and reprogram our thoughts about certain events that may have caused us pain. Can we take these painful pieces of our lives and create a shift in the way we feel about them? How do we know what specific thoughts or feelings may be at the root of the problem?

"Our bodies reveal to us the truth, no matter how painful it is."

Well, lucky for us, our bodies are brilliant! They have provided us with the road map to the "holy grail" of health. In order to read it, we need to learn our body language. Our bodies reveal to us our truth, no matter how painful it is. Think of it as an opportunity to turn your life around by changing your perception of it. This is a tall order for many people, as self reflection is a difficult task. It is easier to take a pill, rather than confront behavioral patterns. But let's give it a try, shall we? In her book, The Bodymind Workbook, author Debbie Shapiro describes in brilliant detail the manifestations of our energetic vibrations (thoughts) and the effect they have on our physical bodies. I will touch upon a few here to illustrate my point:

We hold in our heads all of our thoughts and feelings about our place in this world in terms of responsibilities, and where we "fit in." Long term repression of emotion in this area will cause constriction of the blood vessels, eventually triggering the "headache" response at best, worst case scenario being stroke related issues.

We stuff everything we have no desire to "look back on" into our spines. It certainly makes sense when we consider the huge percentage of the population with chronic low back pain. This is our foundation. If we do not feel supported, we will manifest pain in this area. The stiffening of the neck is the resistance to reflect on it.

Our shoulders express our feelings about what we are doing with our lives. Here we carry the weight of the world... Are we doing with our lives what we truly desire to be doing? Are we living up to our full potential?

The chest, (or heart center), goes without saying...Here resides our sense of self-love and our desire to be loved by others. Broken hearts build the walls of armor meant to protect it from harm. Unfortunately, those very walls of protection also shut out anyone that could truly love us.

The pelvis is our center of movement, representing our sexual energies (kundalini). Stressful intimate relationships can shut down the flow of kundalini at the the base of the spine, cutting us off from our spiritual power. This essentially creates a sort of spiritual death, as we are cut off from the powers meant to sustain us.

Our legs keep us firmly rooted in our bodies. Weakness here is an indication that there is doubt as to whether or not we feel that we can stand firmly on our own two feet. There is a need here to take control of the direction of our own lives, and not be mislead by others. Stand your ground!

The feet are the balance point of the entire system. The feet are the most "under appreciated" part of our bodies. That is of course until we have problems with them. We would be wise to pay special attention to them, as they are responsible for walking us through this life:)

If you have taken the time to read through this, I hope you have found some pieces of your own personal puzzle. I know I have, and just by the process of writing this, I feel an enormous amount of weight has been lifted from my shoulders. I encourage everyone to journal about their experiences, good and bad. It is a wonderfully effective way to process our emotions without having to tuck them away somewhere in our bodies for safe keeping. They are not meant to be repressed, they are meant to be expressed. EXPRESS YOURSELF!!

Feel free to start by leaving a comment if you wish:)

Image: www.rawforbeauty.com

Many Blessings,

Cyndi is a licensed and Certified Massage and Bodywork Professional, Writer and Energetic Channel in the Greater Boston, Massachusetts Area