Back Problems And Pain, The Emotion Connection

Back problems and chronic back pain is one of the most common problems in America today. It is the second most common medical complaint. Over 60% of all Americans have experienced back pain. The toll is immense.

Yet few sufferers or their doctors look for the deeper cause of back problems. Most are simply treating the symptoms without ever investigating the emotional causes of back problems and pain.

It is becoming a more accepted way of thought that many physical problems with the body human have a root connection to the emotions. Thought and belief can affect you in a physical way! Dr. Andrew Weil of the University Of Arizona is becoming famous with his approach to treating the whole being instead of just the body, or just symptomatically trying to eliminate diseasements.

From an emotional standpoint, the main issue that affects our backs in an adverse way is the feeling that one has no support in life. Feeling as if you have no one supporting you emotionally is the leading emotional tie to a back problem. This feeling may be left over from childhood and have no basis in reality as an adult, but the seeds of this have been sown and need to be dealt with.

Looking deep within, and then dragging this feeling to the surface is the best approach. Is it left from your childhood or adolescence? Is it true of your life today?

If this emotion is left from your childhood and has nothing to do with your current relationships, then it is time to release this and let it go. You can write down how you feel about the ways in which you were treated, and then burn them to release them. You can seek some therapy, or try coaching for help. You might even need to actually confront the people that left you feeling as if you never were supported as a child.

If it is true of your current relationships, then it may be time to take honest stock of them and make some changes. It may be that low self-esteem has caused you to seek out and establish relationships with "takers" who never seem to give back. Again, you might need some therapy or coaching to get past this problem. Perhaps just seeing it for what it really is will give you the strength to change your relationships.

Affirmations can help as well. Some good ones to say are: "I am supportive of myself." "I am supporting myself." "I am surrounded by supportive people, and have all the support that I need in life." "I am standing up for myself." "I am standing upright for myself." "I am moving forward in my life, surrounded by supportive people and pain-free."

Eliminating stress from your life is essential to good back health. Stress contributes tremendously to tight muscles, a constant adrenaline rush of "fight or flight" and feelings of helplessness. Look around and do what you can to cut the stressors in your life. Give up the feeling that you must be super-human and that you have to control everything!

For pain relief, try this: put an ice cube on a plate. Find a comfortable, quiet place to sit, relax and just watch the ice cube melt. As it melts, say to yourself that the pain is melting away along with the ice. All stress, pain, fear and worry are just melting away.

Be aware that you are all the support that you really need in your life. You are more than capable of being supportive of yourself if you will only allow yourself to be.

No matter how debilitating your back problems are, if you will work on this, it will help if you can be open to the possibility that it will. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain with the attempt.

Please, feel free to email me and let me know if this helped you or if it did not! sibyl@www.circle-of-grace.com