Body-Mind Healing: A Holistic Approach to Chronic Pain & Illness
In a recent poll, some of you asked about body-mind healing. As it happens, this is something I feel aligned with; countless times I’ve needed to release psychological trauma to heal my body.
Firstly though, I want to assert that your pain journey is your own, not all pain is necessarily psychological or linked to trauma and vice versa, and in my experience, one method of healing rarely works without the other. An integrated approach is best, and an approach bespoke to you, your body and your personality.
Only you know what’s going on for you, and it will likely be a case of trying lots of different things before reaching a method that works for you.
But if this tugs at something in you, then it’s probably helpful to hear and expanding your healing journey toward a holistic approach will be beneficial for you. I know it is for me, but only you can decide for yourself.
I also want to note a trigger warning, because I speak about someone close to me taking their own life. Please don’t read on if this is likely to have a negative impact on your mental health. Instead, you can skip to the end for methods to manage chronic pain and illness.
What I Know
When I’m stressed I have more pain in my body
My body holds emotional trauma (as I’ll provide an example of)
Reaching the root cause of psychological issues has relieved physical manifestations of dis-ease for me
Before you read on
True healing is founded in love and acceptance, so before you read on here’s a free short course for you to try, providing you with three exercises to generate lasting self-acceptance.
Reaching the Root Cause
Reaching the root cause of pain or dis-ease instead of treating the symptoms is key - whether that’s adopting different physical positions, postures and habits, or healing emotionally and mentally. In my experience, both are best.
A helpful example to frame this is the condition known as Fibromyalgia. A recent massage client of mine was diagnosed with this and we discussed her condition before the session. Typically people with this condition experience pain throughout their body and joints. The pain moves around the body and it’s not possible to necessarily pinpoint the affected area. Medical experts are unable to find a cause but a common link in Fibromyalgia patients is past trauma, something my massage client also confirmed.
Physical treatment such as massage relieves pain and reduces stress, whilst counselling and psychotherapy can assist the psychological aspect and root cause.
Countless times have I learnt that in order to release physical pain, I have to look deeper and release emotional pain, or find the reason why I’m holding onto the pain or dis-ease.
Questions you can ask: ✔ What is it teaching me? ✔ Why am I holding this in my body? ✔ Is it helping me in some way? ✔ Is it allowing me to avoid something?
Personally, even if I hadn’t experienced physical expressions of trauma in my body, I would still find the methods in this blog helpful for conscious healing of trauma, illness, pain in general and stressful experiences.
My Personal Experience
I have done lots of body-mind healing in my life, and one day I’ll write about them all. But for the sake of space, I’ll share one recent example because it clearly demonstrates the connection between physical and emotional pain.
My cousin took his own life last year, then his baby was born a month later. We were close to him and his family at the time and were providing support for them. His death came as a complete shock, I had no clue he was going to do what he did. It took a very long time to get my head around his decision, especially given that his baby was due so soon. We continued to support his wife and now two kids.
Straight after he died I began to feel what I can only call grumbling in my womb area which over time grew stronger. Through this time of grieving, I had developed a deep womb infection, something I’ve never experienced before. The funeral took about 6 weeks to prepare and my doctors’ appointment happened to be scheduled on the morning of Arran’s funeral. At this point, the infection was relatively mild, uncomfortable, yes, but nothing really painful. The doctor confirmed it was a womb infection, gave me some medication, and I went on to the funeral afterwards.
The day after the funeral, I was completely floored with grief and physical pain in my womb. It literally took me down. I thought the funeral would be a release. But in fact, it was more like a pressure cooker boiling over, and my womb exploded with pain.
I can only explain it as this; the emotional pain, shock and turmoil that Arran would leave his newborn baby and 4-year-old kid went into my body. At the time I was holding a lot of emotion for others - supporting the family, being a bridge between our families - and my clever body stored the trauma away for me so I could be strong and supportive. But at the end of the day, it had to be released, and as the funeral passed, my body asked for some care for itself.
My Healing
So I spent the next 2 weeks intentionally healing. I called upon all the wise women in my life (grateful to have many) and talked through everything that had happened, cried a lot, chowed down on kombu (seaweed) and umeboshi which are known to be deep healers. Kombu especially is said to be good for womb issues, deep in the body like they live deep in the ocean.
I wrote poetry about Arran’s passing, did healing meditations specifically on gratitude to my body for protecting me, then invited my body to let go of the pain, reassuring it that I’m providing a safe space for release. I stayed still as much as possible (in the first few days I couldn’t move so that was easy) and sat with my feelings, I allowed them to be seen and felt. I connected to Arran through meditation, then as I cried for him I visualised the feelings releasing and letting go. I focussed on my heart chakra and sacral chakra, cleansing and realigning my energy. I connected to my asana practice for slow and mindful movement.
Other tools that have helped me move through trauma in the past are:
✔ Deep tissue emotional release massage (with a trained healer) ✔ Journaling (a lot of this) ✔ Self-study ✔ Dream interpretation ✔ Yoga & meditation ✔ Cacao as medium for heart healing ✔ Goddess cards ✔ Shadow work (shadow work goes deep I plan to write a blog on this soon, it must be done from a place grounded in love)
How Physical and Mental Pain Interrelate
So what are we really talking about? How does psychological pain accumulate in the body? Well, the jury’s largely out. Some research suggests that it’s possible for the brain to interpret psychological pain as physical pain. In fact, the neuropathways for physical and mental pain are very close and occur in the same area of the brain. Physical pain is rarely (if ever?) just physical - if I bang my head on a door frame, I’m both physically hurting and emotionally angry or annoyed. So it works the other way round as well. If someone is rude to me, I feel rejected or angry, but instead of lashing out and expressing the emotion, I hold it in. Then later feel tension in my neck and shoulders or pain in my chest, hence the saying - ‘a pain in the neck’.
Alan Fogel PhD proposes that our brains have adapted to take the easy route and apply the same neural system to detect and feel pain - regardless of whether mental or physical.
Physical pain is harder to ignore than mental pain. Often we ignore traumatic events and emotions such as frustration, anger, fear or sadness because they have negative social connotations, are too painful o look at, or infer powerlessness. We’d rather push them to the bottom of our consciousness and get on with it instead of recognising, processing and releasing the emotional pain. Plus, our medical system doesn’t acknowledge the need to treat emotional pain as it would physical pain.
Over time, psychological stress can build and finally express physically. I perceive this as our bodies showing us that there’s something that needs addressing. Some psychological conditions that can result in physical pain are: anxiety disorders, bipolar disorder, depression, and stress (Sean Grover L.C.S.W.) After all, the brain and body are intrinsically connected.
Stress is particularly guilty because it causes inflammation in the body. Inflammation is a common symptom for 75%-90% of diseases, conditions and illnesses. Reducing stress reduces inflammation so dis-ease is less likely to express physically.
Increasingly, medical practitioners are calling for a more holistic approach to healing that includes mental and emotional aspects, recognising that the current modality of drug prescription isn’t serving pain patients. There are deeper roots to pain than surface abrasions.
What Can We Do To Alleviate Pain?
1 . Stress reduction and relaxation techniques
Stress causes inflammation in the body which increases the pain experienced. Also, inflammation is a symptom of many chronic diseases. Relieving stress through relaxation and intentional breathing is helpful.
✔ Guided relaxing meditations ✔ Breathwork practices ✔ Mindfulness ✔ Yoga / tai chi ✔ Relaxing music ✔ Peace and quiet ✔ Massage ✔ Art/creativity
2. Intention - align your mind for healing.
You’ve got to believe that the treatment will work. The placebo effect is a glowing example of how powerful our minds are and how effective believing in something is.
If you believe in it, you’ll experience it.
✔ Daily affirmation - ‘I’m healing every day’ ✔ Before you have any treatment think of all the reasons it’s going to help
3. Treatment
A combination of treatment styles is best, and many of the practices listed below overlap to address physical, mental and energetic healing.
Physical treatment
Physical treatment is important. It may take experimentation to find the best therapy for your specific condition. I recommend seeking therapists that understand the body-mind connection. Here are some ideas:
✔Massage ✔Physiotherapy ✔Chiropractic therapy ✔Kinesiology ✔Craneosacral therapy ✔Medication ✔ Hydrotherapy ✔ Occupational therapy
Psychological treatment
There’s a strong relationship between chronic pain and the inability to be aware of, experience and express painful emotions such as anger, sadness, and despair. Some psychological treatments are:
✔ Counselling ✔ Phsycholtherapy ✔ Yoga (self-study) ✔Acceptance and commitment therapy ✔ Cognitive analytic therapy ✔ Cognitive behaviour therapy ✔ Shadow work
Energetic treatment
Energy healing is based on dis-ease deriving from an imbalance in our energetic fields. Energy practices consider body, mind and spirit to balance energy in the patient for integrated
healing. Some examples are:
✔ Reiki ✔Yoga therapy ✔Qigong ✔Crystal healing ✔Accupressure ✔Therapeutic touch ✔Chakra work
4. Positive thinking
When we get ill or in pain, it’s easy to get fixated on what we’re unable to do, however, a negative mindset means we’re less able to take action which is important for intentional healing.
✔ Accept where you are, avoid fighting your circumstances, acceptance is the start of your healing journey
✔ Focus on what you can do - if you’re feeling low and unable to do anything, there is always something you can still do. Ie. breathe, write, make nourishing dinner, call a friend - write these things down.
✔ Trust this moment is not forever, everything is transient.
5. Self-compassion
The cornerstone of all healing and growth in my (and others) humble opinion. Self-compassion teaches us to:
✔ Practice self-kindness vs self-judgement ✔ Recognise your common humanity vs isolation ✔ Practice mindfulness vs over-identification with negativity (Neff Self-Compassion)
Read this article for more information on why self-compassion is so important for healing and growth.
