Give Your Pain A Voice!

What’s the first thing you do when you get a headache? Or a stomachache? Or a kink in your neck? Do you head for the medicine cabinet? Pain remedies offer relief, but they don’t heal. Chronic conditions, as well as other health challenges, are your body’s way of trying to get your attention. A creative, holistic healing strategy is to give your pain, condition, or dis-ease a voice.

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Retreat to a quiet place where you will not be disturbed. Make yourself comfortable. Close your eyes. You may want to use an eyeshade and earplugs to help you turn your attention inward. Take a few slow, deep breaths. Place your hands on the part of your body that hurts. Send your breath into that area and ask the following questions:

                           What are you trying to tell me?
                     What do you need from me right now?
                             What can I do for you today?

Sit quietly and listen. You might want to keep a pad and pen close by and jot down ideas that pop into your head. Before you finish, ask, Is there anything else you’d like me to know? Write down anything that comes forward. Give thanks and lovingly commit to following through on whatever surfaced.

You may also want to have a conversation with your pain or physical discomfort in a journal or notebook. To give you an idea of what this might look like, here’s a conversation I had recently with my clenched solar plexus:

Me: What are you trying to say to me?

Clenched Solar Plexus (CSP): It’s not what you’re doing, but how you do it that needs tweaking. Replace hectic energy with calm.

Me: How?

CSP: Believe in yourself, know that you are enough, and stop racing around. You have plenty of time.

Me: But there’s so much I want to do. How will I get everything done?

CSP: By taking more time for yourself, which will center, ground, and relax you.

Me:  Yeah, I need to relax. I worry too much. How can I quit doing that?

CSP: Exercise; stay in the moment (beware: this is easier said than done—it takes vigilance, commitment, and lots of practice!); continue to cultivate a conscious relationship with your breath; and most of all, have faith!

Me: Why is faith most important?

CSP: Your worries come from your mind and thoughts, which you can control. The mind is like a computer. It gets programmed and can be reprogrammed. It’s an excellent tool, but your mind cannot grasp the spiritual truth that you are safe. Your soul knows this. Your soul is eternal. Your soul is pure love. When you live from your soul, worry is not part of the equation.

Me:  So I should live from my soul?

CSP: Absolutely.

Me: How do I do that?

CSP: You start by placing your faith in your soul, by committing to a soulful way of life. Then you show up, listen, and do what the voice inside tells you to do—as long as what it says doesn’t hurt anybody. Acting on your soul’s suggestions takes courage. Drop down into your heart, connect, and respond from there. Then all you do is repeat the cycle: Believe. Commit. Show up. Listen. Trust your inner voice.

Me: You make it sound so simple.

CSP: It is. But first you must believe!

What is your pain telling you today? I’d love to hear from the wisdom of your body!