Facing Our Deepest Emotions Is the Only Way to Heal Chronic Pain

I won’t fight it, or freeze, or flee from the pain anymore

Image created with Copilot

For the past six years, I’ve thought my body was broken. Not a day went by where I didn’t feel consumed in some capacity by chronic back pain. As a healthy young man in my twenties, I simply could not comprehend it. I did practically every physical treatment besides surgery, and nothing helped.

A couple of months ago, I hit rock bottom. From there, I could only go up; it was time for my life to shift completely.

Through a truly remarkable sequence of events that can only be described as fate, I came to realize that the pain derives from repressed emotions.

I have what is known as TMS (the mindbody syndrome), a process where the brain creates actual pain in the body to distract you from unconscious emotions. The only way to heal TMS — which very much of chronic pain is — is to first realize you have TMS, and that there is nothing physically wrong with your body.

If you’re in chronic pain, you’ve probably been to the doctor, the chiropractor, acupuncture, physical therapy, alternative medicine, Rolfing, the list goes on. If nobody can figure out what’s going on with you, that’s your clue. An acute injury or illness is one thing. These…