When Pain Has An Emotional Root

In this talk, I share a different way to look at pain, especially if yours keeps coming back no matter what you try. I’ll walk you through how I spot when something deeper is going on and why your body might not just need another physical fix. I'm also so honoured to share a real story that shows how powerful it can be to address the emotional side of pain.

Transcript

Hi, I'm Dr. Kim and I help people heal chronic pain. I work with people whose symptoms have not responded to traditional treatments, Helping them reconnect with their bodies through somatic movement, Breathwork, Meditation, And nervous system healing. Today, I want to gently open your awareness to something that may shift the way you understand pain. Pain is not always physical. Now, Of course, Pain can have a purely physical cause. This is the type most of us are familiar with. Say you lift something the wrong way in an awkward twisting position and suddenly your back seizes. The cause is clear here. The tissue has been strained and the body responds with pain. In this case, The cause is physical and will most likely respond best to rest-specific movement or manual therapy. Pain can also be chemical. This means that imbalances within the body, Often related to nutrition, Can cause the discomfort. For example, A deficiency in magnesium can lead to muscle tightness, Cramping, Or even nerve irritation. Low levels of certain B vitamins can contribute to nerve pain. In these cases, Supporting the body with the correct nutrients can significantly reduce pain. But there is a third layer of pain that is often overlooked by most health professionals. Emotional pain. This type of pain is often much harder to detect. It doesn't always come with a clear cause and effect story. Instead, It leaves clues. One of the biggest clues I look for in my clients is this. They have had multiple physical treatments like chiropractic, Physio, Massage, Injections, And while they may experience a temporary relief, The pain keeps returning. It becomes a cycle. It gets better and then it gets worse. Relief and then reoccurrence. When I see this pattern, I know that there is something laying hidden deeper below the surface that the body needs to process. I'd like to share a story with you to illustrate this. One of my long-term online clients, Rob, Who I've worked with for almost two years now, Came to me a couple of weeks ago with a new pain. He described it as a sharp stabbing sensation right on the right side of his upper back and he felt like it was a rib that had popped out of place. It hurt when he took a deep breath and it was severe enough to keep him awake at night. So in our session, We worked on approaching the problem physically. We used gentle movements and breath patterns designed to help the rib reposition and release tension. After the session, He did feel better. Two days later, The pain returned. He then went to see his in-person chiropractor, Kelly. She adjusted the rib and once again, He felt relief but the next day, The pain came back. Now at this point, It all becomes very interesting. He had two different physical interventions, Both effective but none were lasting. This is when I start to listen more closely. In our next session, I asked him a simple question. What has been going on in your life lately? He paused and then shared with me that it was the anniversary of a close death in his family. He shared that every year around the same time, He feels the deep weight of grief. He also mentioned that he had been waking consistently at around 4am every night, Often with unpleasant dreams. These details matter. In traditional Chinese medicine, The lungs are most active between the hours of 3 to 5am. Waking during this time can indicate an imbalance in that system and emotionally, The lungs are associated with the emotion of grief. The location of his pain, The breathing discomfort involving the lungs and the timing of his waking all pointed in the same direction. So in that session, I shifted my approach. Instead of focusing on the physical body, We moved into a deeper somatic release process using breath, Imagery and gentle acupressure points for the lungs. At one point, I guided his subconscious to show him a representation of what his body was holding. What he described was so powerful. He saw an image of a young girl crying intensely. He said there was grief there, But also anger, I guess more similar to anguish. A strong cocktail of emotions that were sitting so heavy inside his chest. As we continued the practice, Breathing into the sensation and using the acupressure points, He noticed the girl's face slowly starting to fade away. And then something so crazy cool happened. Without any physical movements, Just the breath and awareness. He said that his rib audibly popped. The pain began to release. The image then started to fade completely. And in its place, He then felt this sense of lightness overcome his body. When I checked in with him two days later, The pain was completely gone. Between this emotional release session and another physical chiropractic adjustment, His body was able to fully release the pain. This goes to show the power of addressing pain at its root cause, Not just physically, But emotionally. I want to extend a huge thank you to Rob for giving me permission to share his story. I share this with you to expand your understanding of pain. If you have pain that keeps returning, If it never fully resolves, Or if it seems to coincide with a particular feeling, It may be worth asking a different question. Not just what is wrong with this muscle or this joint, But what is my body trying to say to me? Your body is never working against you. It is communicating. And sometimes pain is simply the language it uses when something deeper needs to be felt, Seen, And then released. If this talk resonated with you, I invite you to share it with someone else who may benefit from hearing this perspective and story. Thank you so much for your support, Your reviews, And your follows. I truly, Truly appreciate it. See you next time.