Here's what I know about pain: it shows up loud to get your attention.
Before it actually becomes pain, your body's been trying to get your attention in different ways. Whether that's a nudge, whether that's a gut feeling, whether that's a "go here" or "don't go there."
Your body's been trying to do that for a very long time.
But what happens is we don't want what the body's trying to say. So we come up with reasons why it couldn't be this way, why it shouldn't be this way, why it must be a different way.
And so we lose ourselves. We lose the connection to our truth because we don't want to face what we believe is the inevitable outcome.
My Journey with Chronic Pain
I struggled with chronic pain for decades. Since I was 14, if not earlier.
My period would hurt like hell. And I'd go to the doctor and they'd tell me, "Well, your period hurts because you need to be on birth control. And also you have a thyroid problem. And also these panic attacks that are leaving you collapsed on the floor—here's some more medication."
And I realized I don't want to live like this.
So I pursued a different path. I tried yoga and meditation and breath work and alternative and functional medicine and all kinds of different pathways that led me to, fortunately, WEL-Systems®.
In that journey, I discovered that a lot of the stuff helped. Like yoga, for example. Of course it helps ... BUT it doesn't leave me with an intentional process that I can engage in the moment where my body feels so foreign I am itching to escape it.
You see, your body's aches, cramps, pains in the neck or hip, or even chronic pains ... are all here as messengers to me about what's going on in my thought structure.
What's going on in what I believe about myself and what I believe about the world.
Pain Is the Messenger
Here's the thing: pain is not the enemy. Pain is the messenger. So no matter how hard we try to avoid it, it just keeps coming back, doesn't it...
persistent pain vs 'go away' tactics
Start listening differently by learning how to decode the pain or the information that the pain is desperately trying to give you.
That's how you gain clarity.
Where your symptom shows up is the place where you want to begin to explore. For that, you need to know which line of inquiry am I going to engage in to be able to get an answer.
Because if you don't engage a line of inquiry that expands your worldview, you might insist on wanting to make the pain go away.
And here's the thing: it's not going to do that.
It's not going to do that because it has a message. It has a message to give you.
Will you choose to listen?
That's the question.
October's Workshop: Pain As Portal
Instead of circling the same loops, you learn how to hear what your body's telling you in real time. You begin to learn what questions to ask yourself to unpack what the symptoms mean.
And in that you might actually notice that you're regaining trust in what you've always wanted.
Which is a healthy relationship with your body.
This is exactly what we'll do together in the Pain as Portal workshop.
You'll learn:
The specific questions to ask depending on where pain shows up
How to decode the messages your symptoms are holding
How to stop resisting and start listening
Why your pain won't disappear until you hear what it's saying