The Meaning of Pain

“My neck hurts.”

It was a simple statement, one that told me everything I needed to know about his life. He literally had a “pain in the neck” situation going on at work, and it showed up as a physical pain. When I first got my master certification in NLP and hypnosis, I was instantly drawn to a different type of coaching – working through emotions by working through pain.

Most people don’t know that pain is connected – much less that NLP can solve these kinds of problems. NLP is mostly associated with persuasion, as in sales. But it can also be used to persuade your brain to process information differently. Pain is caused by the brain having a thought which causes an emotion. The emotional strain on the cells in the affected area become constricted, which causes that neck, back, leg, foot, shoulder, stomach or headache pain (the list goes on and on).

Last week, I helped a man overcome 10 months of chronic stomach pain in 45 minutes. He released his pain very quickly once he connected the emotional state he was feeling. At first, he said he was having no emotion (and a high level of pain). Soon he got in touch with his emotions and the pain started to go. And then it was gone.

So here are a few things you should know about pain or physical symptoms and their meanings:

Neck pain – Stubbornness, Inflexibility. What is giving you a pain in the neck?

Back – The back has 3 sections (lower, middle and upper.) And it’s about being supported

Lower Back – Worries about financial support.

Middle Back – Guilt. Carrying all that stuff on your back. Maybe you’re taking responsibility for more than you need to?

Upper Back – Emotionally unsupported – lonely. Take a look at your relationships.

Knees – Your ego and pride is in the way. Left means the past and right means moving forward.

Headache – Making yourself wrong – criticizing yourself. Where do you need to appreciate yourself more?

Stomach – Afraid of new things. Maybe huge life change is coming and you don’t know what’s next?

Feet – Understanding of ourselves and others and letting change happen. Feet keep you moving.

Shoulder – Lack of joy in life. Feeling like you’re shouldering the load?

Of course, there are literally hundreds of meanings for pain and illness, so I just wanted to share a few with you today. Maybe it will help a little bit to figure out whatever needs detangling right now in your own life.

By Stephanie Frank