Train Your Brain Away from Pain

Posture and movement specialist Sukie Baxter was interviewed by Julie Bjelland for Julie’s Sensitive Empowerment group, and I thought what Sukie said about pain was fascinating.

Sukie said if you are not in touch with your body and attuned to its signals, your nervous system can develop a sort of tunnel vision that begins to only recognize pain signals. That then pulls you into a negative loop, where the pain activates the Sympathetic Nervous System (fight/flight/freeze) response), which then makes the pain more pronounced, so that you focus even more on the pain–and so the negative loop goes.

What is the way out?

Noticing contact points is a quick way to ground yourself.

Broaden your awareness of body sensations, Sukie says. Regularly tune in to every sensation your body is feeling. For instance, while sitting up against a wall, or lying on your back on the floor, knees bent and feet on the floor, what do you notice about the points of contact with the wall and/or floor? What points are not in contact? Just noticing everything–pleasant and neutral sensations as well as pain–will broaden your body’s perceptions. If you do have pain anywhere, you likely won’t be as focused on it.

Checking in with your body often, giving it what it needs to be comfortable, calming yourself and draining the “stress barrel” when you notice stress building up, can all go a long way toward preventing illness and disease, and/or healing if you are facing a health challenge.

I believe you can extrapolate this also to your emotional “body.” Emotions are actually bodily sensations. Allowing yourself to feel your emotions as they arise, rather than ignoring them, will keep you from storing that energy in your body.

If you grew up with Childhood Emotional Neglect, where you were not taught how to tune in to your body or emotions, this can be challenging. But it’s entirely doable, and crucial to your health and well-being.

Take a lesson from animals. Ever notice how often cats groom themselves? Or a dog shakes itself? One of my clients told me that animals literally shake off the negative energy. We would do well to learn from them! They seem to regularly tune in  to their body and get rid of stress.

I think this is one reason The Healing Codes are so effective. The practice gets you to get in touch with your body and emotions, and to spend time basking in the positive via a Love Picture or Truth Focus Statement. This trains your brain and body to move from the negative thing you’re trying to heal, and infuse that positive. (Did you know it takes 0 seconds for a negative to register in the brain, but 15-20 seconds for something positive to sink in?)

To get the most out of The Healing Codes, make sure you check in with your body and heart before you start. “What’s bothering me? What feelings do I have about that? Where do I feel that in my body? When was another time I had that feeling, either the emotion or the sensation in my body?” Some people find it easier to answer these questions than others, but practice makes it easier for anyone.

Another idea to stay in touch with body and heart is to take time several times during the day to check in with yourself (perhaps when you use the bathroom). How is your body feeling? Are there any points of tension, pain? How do you feel emotionally?

Then ask yourself, “What do I need?” Do you need to stretch, drink some water, take a walk outside, eat a snack, talk to a friend, do a Healing Code? Do you just need to take some nice deep breaths to switch off your SNS for a bit? Naming and attending to your need empowers you and further broadens your focus from any pain you may be feeling.

Taking time throughout the day to tune in to yourself will help you process what’s going on in your body and heart so it doesn’t build up and get trapped.  (This is especially important if you have the trait of High Sensitivity, by the way. Because you take in more than other people do, it’s crucial to make sure you take time to process it all.) As one book title has it, Feelings Buried Alive Never Die. They end up causing disease.

I’ve written several articles on the importance of listening to your body and heart. Your body and heart contain an intelligence that is unmatched by your intellect. The more you can listen to your body and heart (which are dynamically connected), the more you will be steered toward what it right for you. Practice tuning in. Practice mindfulness.

And be well.

If you would like more help in identifying and healing heart issues, check out the resources at HealingCodesCoaching.com.

Related articles:

What Is Your Body Trying to Tell You about Your Heart?

What Your Body Knows

How the Body Heals: Two Views