Written by: Nicky Abell-Francis, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
Opening the debate with this insightful article exploring the connection of body and mind. Get ready to challenge your perceptions and discover the truth behind this intriguing question!
Is pain real or in the head? How powerful is the subconscious mind?
We explore the fairly unknown link between our body pain and how powerful our mind can be creating subconscious pain; When no injury is present. Our guide on how to activate the subconscious mind, allows us to understand the role of hidden emotions and experiences. Why they have influence on the creation of actual physical discomfort.
Let me introduce you to empowering strategies to address what might really be occurring. Say goodbye to suffering and embrace a harmonious mind-body connection for a pain-free life. What lies beneath is sometimes the real answer. Why is the subconscious mind so powerful?
The Mind / Body connection – is pain real or in the head? How to activate the subconscious mind.
The mind /body defence mechanism is thought to be a simple way to create a diversion for our conscious mind. Allowing us to avoid awareness or have to confront challenging feelings, that have been supressed. Either via societies expectations or our own personal beliefs. Thus, creating guilt or shame if we allowed to surface. All sounds a smoke and mirrors situation but a lot of research and acknowledgement is accepted on how intelligent our conscious and subconscious minds are in affecting our bodies.
Panic attacks are a physical reaction to strong anxiety. Creating actual symptoms. Clamminess of the skin, rapid breathing, dry mouth, palpitations. Some feel so bad they think they will pass out or have an actual heart attack. We can see how dramatic an emotion can be, so why can't pain not be created from feeling guilt, anger or shame? Anxiety is a perceived fear. Of course it can.
What's really going on that we ignore the obvious?
One example is looking after our parents. We need to be seen by others to be caring and is expected of us by society. We may be stressed with work, children, and now our parents.
Resentment can kick in. We become angry at situation and others who don't have this burden. We know we cannot just run away and do nothing. So, suppression of the emotion occurs. It does not disappear though.
Our relationship may have been hard with our parents, traumatic, narcissistic, but we have to forget all these factors and carry on. Suddenly we start to feel poorly, finally we may suffer severe pain somewhere. No injury or disease is ever found but still it niggles away, coming and going. You may notice it flares up after a visit or challenging episode of caring. But still nothing is wrong scans, tests all negative. The body appears to try and prevent you doing the job. Deep down shame and guilt is there but you cannot openly say to the family I don't want to do this, so you ignore what you really feel and the subconscious mind exerts its power and carries on with the distraction. Keeping the peace.
The opposite side of emotions are feeling abandoned, causing us to feel anger at being left by our loved one who dies or possibly our child leaving home as they grow up. Both unexpressed feelings.
Subconscious mind exercises
Pain can be for many reasons and these options are extremely useful to try. But as with any pain it must be checked by a medically trained person for all diseases or injuries and ruled out before the conclusion can be considered.
Simple solutions to find that subconscious pain link
Wake up your creative subconscious
Early morning journaling. Our subconscious mind has only just awoken. Now is the time we are able to pour out on the page anything that comes to mind. No census of content, some content may make sense, other words or subjects not so. DRAW if you prefer. Get creative and see what comes up. Sometimes hidden messages or meanings arise to help us tackle what really is lying deep sub-consciously. Ask yourself what is my pain or discomfort trying to tell me? Am I feeling the urge to remove myself from a situation? Do I feel a martyr or walk over at home?
Relationship focuses
If you are aware of relationships that are currently or have caused you stress in the past. Observe and write a letter to them. Do not send it, just allow what you really want to say out loud and express this. Many situations that cause distress are just not being heard or understood by the other person. If a conversation or disagreement falls on deaf ears, we are battling to get through our viewpoint. Our anger and frustration can be supressed, due to politeness but never really disappears. Known as displaced anger. It can come out subtly by making us easily irritated by trivial things. The traffic, service at the restaurant. We really want to blow up at our partner but rein the emotion in to avoid an altercation.
This expression of unsaid words can be used to write to someone who has passed even. Who you miss or who you had a difficult relationship with. Locking emotions down can allow our little old subconsciousness to think. 'I don't want to feel bad again, lets distract us so the memory box remains hidden.
Get it out in the open, even if cannot be said to the person direct. Repression of any feeling is never good. You never know when it will leap out and cause a right ruckus. We need to get our head round this subject, 'Is pain real or in the head?
Creating situations where you can have a laugh is great for just letting go. Anything you know might help. A film, time with a friend reminiscing over past escapades, trying something new for fun. Learning can be a fantastic distraction. Just allow mistakes to be made with no pressure to be perfect. Break the cycle of perfectionism.
Analyse your beliefs break the word up and yep you got it lie lives right in the middle. Challenge yourself or with the help of a coach to look at are they really true or a good way to live for me now? One common belief is we have to work like a maniac to be successful? What we view in our childhood we believe is true. Look around and you will observe some have a great life balance. Success can be passive income strategies to earn on the side of your main job. Start to see how to blend your viewpoint of the world. Soften the lens.
Believe in yourself, that you can improve your health. Open that mind to explore some great techniques from EMDR, MATRIX REIMPRINTING Hypnotherapy or EFT (Emotional freedom technique, a simple tapping exercise, using affirmations). Preferably be taught by a therapist aware and with an understanding of the principle psychosomatic pain and our subject 'is pain real or in the head.'
Positivity is the key
Get more informed about the subject of subconscious pain connection. STOP researching the pain start looking at how your thoughts, beliefs, values the whole caboodle that makes up you, could be hiding the reason of your discomfort.
Negative thinking banishes from your vocabulary. Try to think positive thoughts. Even when we struggle to see a silver lining, there's always a learning curve to be had. Painful shoulders are you feeling you are carrying the world on your own. Don't let it drop and spin off. Find out what could be the real burden.
What is the subconscious mind doing to produce pain?
It is thought the mind is triggered by certain unconscious emotions that we avoid dealing with causing abnormal autonomic activity. We can't control this consciously or aware it’s even going on.
A reduction of circulation to an area of blood causing ischemia. Lack of nutrients and oxygen is not ideal causing burning sensations, damage and so on.
Mild oxygen reduction leads on to:
Muscle, nerve, tendon pain, numbness, weakness and tingling sensations.
Of course, this gives us the impression we have an injury and damage has occurred for no reason. It sounds an illogical response and very dramatic to cause severe pain in some cases, all down to ignoring how we react or feel about an emotion.
But our mind fears far more the fallout from the emotion. Cleverly stopping us in our tracks, delving deeper. If we can become aware or even acknowledge other options might be present causing the discomfort, then the subconscious has no need to cause a physical distraction. Pain subsides. We are aware nothing needs to be hidden.
Book a free 30-minute health call.
Functional wellness coaching could be the eye-opener to success for you.
Get the low down on how your mind can cause subconscious pain via physical symptoms.
This great interview with Doctor John Sarno, on YouTube really does explain this process simply.
Nicky Abell-Francis, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Nicky brings her drive and force to the fore in Functional wellness coach programmes. Specializing in recovery support for specific conditions of ME (CFS), Fibromyalgia & long covid. Her supporting work covers bereaved clients trying to find freedom to move on. Helping to ignite the spark to progress forward once again. Having lost her own husband suddenly, their daughter within months crashed into developing ME(CFS). Nicky went on to train with the Chrysalis Effect programme. Seeing how burnt out & highly stressed clients can tip into crash phase. Developing chronic fatigue and numerous widespread health problems. Over the past ten years Nicky set up her multi therapy clinic.
