Making the Mind, Body, Spirit Connection.

Pain is the body's way of telling us something is wrong. It's a red flag, signalling "I need help!" Emotional pain works the same way. When we feel angry, resentful, ashamed, guilty, or afraid, these emotions are a message from our soul, "I need help!" Unfortunately, many of us ignore both kinds of pain, or try to medicate it away at the encouragement of the medical experts, or numb it with alcohol or street drugs. The problem is that taking a painkiller or an anti-depressant will mask the pain temporarily, but it won't cure what's hurting, what's actually causing it.

Looking at why something hurts emotionally is hard work and many of us don't have any idea how to begin, so we bury it, try to pretend it doesn't exist. We try to just keep going, "tough it out". Which is fine until you just can't anymore. A nervous breakdown or anxiety attack occurs, or depression hits thanks to all the feelings you're repressing. Or your body starts to manifest these emotional ills physically so that you can't ignore the issue any longer. This is how many serious illnesses begin. It's recognized by medical science now that cancer, heart disease, strokes, brain aneurysms, etc. can all be caused by unaddressed emotional issues. I've learned this the hard way in my life, diagnosed with a stomach ulcer at age 12 from repressing my worry and feelings over my mother's health issues. I was literally swallowing my feelings, terrified to let them out, until they ate a hole in my stomach lining.

For the last 2 years I've suffered periodically with severe lower back problems. The medical explanation is that I have an old injury and my muscles tighten to protect that area and the scar tissue there. I've been in and out of physical therapy, tried regular deep tissue massage, muscle relaxants, dietary supplements, yoga, and exercise. Nothing has worked, long-term. For the past 2 months I've been having a flare-up. I was so tired of being in pain, and had no idea what else to try, I guess you could say I'd "hit bottom". So I asked the Universe to please help me heal this......coincidentally, (except I don't believe in coincidences!) I won a gift box from an inspirational website. In the box was an amazing dvd by Louise Hay, called "You Can Heal Your Life". In it she talks about the direct link between physical issues and our thoughts and emotions. It made so much sense to me. I guess I was finally ready to consider that my back pain might be related to my thoughts, and not something that was confined to just my body, that I might actually be creating this situation somehow. If that was true, maybe I could also heal it! I began to really look at this, analyzing when the pain flares up, and seeking to uncover the underlying emotional causes.

After doing some really hard work, lots of journaling, meditation, and using some transactional analysis-inner child techniques, I found the source of the problem. An old emotional wound is causing deep-seated fears, triggered when I allow myself to be vulnerable with another. My fears were causing me to tense up, literally a "fight or flight" response, so much so that I was causing my back to completely seize up. As soon as I realized this, I was able to start working on those fears, and my back immediately responded by relaxing. Now, two weeks later, my pain is almost completely gone.

What an incredible gift, and lesson. Our thoughts are powerful beyond our wildest dreams, and can be used for us or against us. Awareness is the key. So the next time you have pain, either physical or emotional, stop for a minute and consider that it's possible that you can heal your life.

Sending you love and light.