Signs I look for
- The pain moves. It lives in your lower back one month, and in your neck or your stomach the next.
- It follows your life. It flares when you are under pressure, and it softens when you are away, or lost in something you love.
- It began during a hard time. A loss, a move, a breakup, burnout, or a season of political grief, when the world's pain became too much to hold.
- Your scans don't explain it. They are normal, or they show something that doesn't match how much it hurts.
- It has outlasted healing. It has gone on far longer than tissue usually takes to recover.
- Relief never lasts. Treatments help for a while, and then the pain returns.
- Other symptoms come and go. Headaches, gut trouble, fatigue, things that appear and disappear without a clear cause.
If you are reading this list and recognizing yourself again and again, your body may be trying to tell you something.
When should I see a doctor instead?
I wrote more about this in Do I need to see a doctor first?
Before starting this work, I always recommend seeing a doctor first. This will help us rule out serious conditions that need medical attention and enable us to move through our work with deeper confidence.
How it was for me
My pain ran from my lower back down my right leg. For almost a year, I could barely walk. I went through endless medical treatments, each one promising an answer, none of them giving me my body back.
At a time where I was getting no real help from the medical system, I found Dr. John Sarno's work. I read, I journaled, and for the first time, I stopped fighting the pain and turned toward it. I let myself listen for what it had to say.
Within two weeks, the pain lifted completely. That told me everything about where it had been coming from.
Everyone's timeline is different. For some people it shifts quickly, and for others it unfolds slowly, layer by layer. Both are healing.
A short self-check
- Did your pain begin within a few months of a stressful or painful time in your life?
- Has it ever disappeared completely, even for a moment, like on a holiday, while laughing with friends, or when you were absorbed in something?
- Has it moved to new places, or switched sides of your body?
- Does just thinking about a movement or activity make you brace for the pain?
- Is it worse at certain times, like before work, on Sunday evenings, or before seeing certain people?
- Do you tend to put everyone else's needs before your own, or hold yourself to very high standards?
- Growing up, did you often feel you had to hide what you were feeling to stay safe or keep the peace?
- Do you spend a lot of time checking, researching or worrying about your pain?
If you answered yes to several of these, your nervous system is likely playing a big role in your pain. The free 50-minute class is a good way to start exploring.
With love,
Leyla
