The Top Five Subtle Body Treatments for Back Pain
Don’t laugh when you see me walking down the street. In my life I have broken my neck in a hard bicycling fall and had rods inserted into my lower spine after plummeting to the ground in a skydiving accident.
I walk a bit funny because they put my leg back together crookedly. It was not the doctor’s fault – he did the best he could. I am not about to get my leg fixed. I’ll wear it crooked, thank you very much. I feel very lucky just to be alive and walking at all. In fact, I am completely functional and pain free, and I’m the one laughing as I consider those two major accidents, countless minor ones and the amount of major metal now in my body.
My life took a very different turn over a decade ago that led me to study and experience my subtle body energy or what some call our chakra system. This has taught me lessons to help address my pain and made obvious what I once would not have believed. In this article I’ll share what I’ve learned through first-hand experience and outline some concrete steps you can take to help tackle your pain.
Our back and other parts of our body have a very specific language or way of communicating with us. Many times the expression can be quite literal, such as painful hands resulting from our holding tight onto something and the fear of letting it go. This happened to me.
A few years back my hands and the inside of the forearms began to hurt for seemingly no reason. Over a few months it became so bad that I could no longer pull my pants up, so I had to wear loose, stretchy shorts. I happened to run into a very wise old soul who I told about the pain. She touched my hand and said, “You are afraid of losing your job. Just let go and do your best.” I worked on letting go of that fear, and the pain went away as mysteriously as it had arrived. A few months later, a friend told me about similar pain and I had the answer. His went away as well.
The underlying premise of the discovery is that our body will express for us the emotion that we cannot process. Interestingly enough, our bodies use of language is amazingly consistent, regardless of race, nationality or gender. Our body communicates without bias, so lessons learned can be applied universally.
These energetic systems run throughout our body but the adverse expression of emotion felt in our bodies is a topic greater than can be covered in just this article. We’ll focus our discussion today on the back, since back pain is so prevalent worldwide and the third most common reason people visit the doctor’s office in the U.S., according to a major study conducted by the Mayo Clinic.
While there are no “silver bullets” and nothing works 100% of the time, I have discovered that simple, specific realizations can relieve back pain. Once I understood the function and location of chakras within the body, I was able to map these energy centers to the cause of the pain. Through trial and error with thousands of people, I’ve identified the most common resolutions for addressing back pain.
It’s not a coincidence that most people’s back pain emanates from the mid- to lower-back. From a chakra point of view, these areas correspond to the more base parts of life – money, sex, pleasure, relationships and power. These are the focus of most of humanity’s fear and doubt.
Finally, in this stage the instructor guides us not to seek the primordial seed outside of us. It is, as Jesus and so many others have taught, within us.
Here are five common areas of back pain and the top five realizations for making that pain go away. Identify one or more areas where you’re feeling pain under “Pain Location” and simply walk through the steps listed under “The Relief” for three to five minutes. See what happens. Hopefully you’ll be laughing with relief soon.
#1 – Pain Location: Very base of the spine. Note that it will often radiate to the sides of the spine, hips and legs.
The Relief:
- Ask yourself how bad is your pain right now? Rate it on a scale of 1 to 10.
- Note how old you are now and recognize that for all of your life you have always had a place to sleep, something to eat and clothing to wear. This is true since birth, right? (For most people, this is true.)
- Note that you focus on fear of financial doom. You tend to focus on your bills and what would happen if you don’t have enough to make it. You don’t see how you are going to make it.
- Look back at your life. You have had this fear many times but the truth is that somehow, some way you made it….month after month, year after year, decade after decade, you made it, right? The truth of your life is that the fear was false. You addressed the issues, adjusted and made it. Right?
- Now apply this to every real financial concern you currently have. Apply it to all of your loved ones.
- You most likely learned this fear from your parents and they from your grandparents. Not true for them too, right? They made it too, right?
- Apply the truth of your entire lifetime of experience to your current fear and frustration around all financial issues. Let go, you are going to make it again. So too will your loved ones. Do this for every financial concern.
- Rate your pain on a scale of 1 to 10 again.
#2 – Pain Location: Lower back – area across from the belly button
The Relief:
- How bad is your pain right now? Rate it on a scale of 1 to 10.
- Think of someone you love non-romantically, it could even be a pet. Allow yourself to fully feel that feeling of love for them.
- Give this feeling very specifically to the person(s) you are related to that irritate you. Do not hold back, give this to them 100% even though they don’t deserve it. Do this for 3 to 5 full minutes.
- Rate your pain on a scale of 1 to 10 again
- Bonus – Let go of the feeling that you are not safe enough to enjoy the physical pleasures of life. Give yourself permission to fully enjoy.
#3 – Pain Location: Mid-back – area across from the solar plexus
The Relief
- How bad is your pain right now? Rate it on a scale of 1 to 10
- Let go of all of your fear of someone controlling you. Do this by letting go of your fear of the worst- case scenario. This is most often work-related but does not have to be. Imagine the worst case scenario as if it has happened, you fully accept it and are moving on to the new phase of life. If you let go of all of your fear no one can really control you. Feel it.
- Let go of your insistence that things have to be done your way. Allow others to be, do and say as they wish. Feel that you are now doing that.
- Rate your pain on a scale of 1 to 10 again
#4 – Pain Location: Upper back – area between shoulder blades, behind heart
The Relief:
- How bad is your pain right now? Rate it on a scale of 1 to 10.
- Let go of your judgements of others, any and all judgements no matter how small.
- Notice that every time you were hurt by love it was when your love went from unconditional to conditional
- Let go and allow yourself to make it now unconditional again, feel it…just for 3 to 5 minutes.
- Rate your pain on a scale of 1 to 10 again
#5 –Pain Location: Neck
The Relief:
- How bad is your pain right now? Rate it on a scale of 1 to 10.
- Let go of being right and making others wrong around you.
- Realize that they simply have a different perspective from you.
- Allow yourself to see the others’ perspective. Do this while making neither one of you right or wrong. Let go, feel it. Do this for 3 to 5 minutes.
- Rate your pain on a scale of 1 to 10 again
Why does this work for so many people?
Your chakras are energy centers that are related to different aspects of life, emotion and even organs and glands. Chakras open and close like flowers, in love and trust they open, in fear and doubt they contract. Meridians in the body are as hoses with energy flowing through them. If you get a kink in the hose then the energy cannot flow. If the energy is not flowing, then you might feel it as pain, or possibly, if it continues long enough, as disease.
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Energy comes into our chakra system in love and trust. We mess it up with fear and doubt. Each chakra performs at its optimum when we apply thoughts and feelings of love and trust to the aspect of life that the chakra controls. All we have done is just un-kink your hoses and open your flowers.
About the Author:
Bill McKenna; Creator and Founder of Cognomovement, has helped countless individuals find relief from physical, emotional, energetic and even spiritual discomforts. He is the author of The Only Lesson and regularly leads seminars on pain relief. Bill has made multiple appearances as a guest on Open Minds with Regina Meredith. Learn more about Bill and where to experience other methods of profound healing. Get in touch with Bill today.
1) Mayo Clinic Proceedings, January 2013, Volume 88, Issue 1, Pages 56-57
About the Author
5 Methods for Energy Healing
The one thing that is undoubtedly universal amongst all of us is energy. It is the pervasive force that allows for life to exist and flourish, yet our Westernized minds are often reluctant to embrace it as something that should be considered in medicine. Meanwhile, it is the focus of many ancient Eastern health practices and remedies for the things that commonly ail us, and it can be used as a supplement to the prescribed medicine that we know to be tried and true. So what is energy healing, and how can you implement it into your life to benefit your health and wellbeing? These five different methods should give you a good idea.
How Does Energy Healing Work?
Depending on the method, energy healing focuses on the life force that flows through all of us; that force that dictates our mood, health, energy, and ability to connect with other beings. In Chinese and Japanese culture that force is referred to as ki or qi (pronounced: chi). In India, it is known as prana the energy that spins and flows through the chakras, an intangible force that cannot be comprehended in the materialist sense.
Although the perspective of western science and medicine often labels energy healing as pseudoscientific, the perception is starting to change as scientists and academics begin to understand the principles behind the techniques and benefits that have been known to eastern cultures for centuries. The learnings and breakthroughs in quantum physics have brought the understanding of the pervasiveness of energy to the forefront of western thought. Not only do our bodies consist of and run on energy in every aspect of their function, but there is an omnipresent field of energy throughout the universe that is now being studied via quantum field theory. This universal energy known to eastern cultures and the newly discovered quantum field are talking about the same thing, disagreeing simply over semantics.
Influencing this flow of energy by implementing physical and mental awareness and intention, can bring about profound and replicable results. Through meditation, physical touch, and exercise our energy bodies can be altered to provide higher states of health, consciousness and, you guessed it, energy. These energy healing techniques can help you find an approach that is right for you and lead you on a path to healing and sustained health, either as a primary or supplemental modality.
Qigong
One of the fundamental practices of energy healing and exercise based on the Chinese concept of qi, qigong is concerned with balancing the flow of energy throughout the body. Much like Tai Chi or yoga, qigong cultivates the life force through a series of body postures, breathing, and meditation. It is also used as a foundational practice for martial arts, as it develops balance, agility, and muscle strength.
Qigong practitioners aim to develop higher levels of awareness, reduced anxiety, and a clearer vision of one’s purpose in life. It is often used as an effective practice in sports medicine, particularly with the elderly, due to its slow and controlled movements that aim to develop stability and ease tension. It has even been endorsed by the Harvard School of Medicine for its therapeutic benefits.
Qigong works by opening up blocked meridians, or the routes through which qi flows, in order to allow for unimpeded movement of energy throughout the body. The philosophy of qigong posits that blocked energy is the cause of illness and disease. By opening up these passages, we can prevent ailments or reopen the flow of energy to begin the healing process when we are sick.
Chinese Meridians and Acupuncture
The meridians are a map of routes within our body, through which qi energy flows. These meridians correspond with the connections and routes of muscles, endocrine glands and the nervous system. There are over 600 points on the body that acupuncture targets with thin needles that are directly connected to major organs and bodily systems. These connections are made through the meridians and collaterals, the vessels associated with meridians.
Knowledge of these meridians and collaterals is thought of very highly in Chinese culture and is considered equally as important as a doctor’s knowledge of our anatomy. Acupuncture is thought to promote the release of certain adrenal hormones like ACTH and cortisol that can help with certain bodily pains and organ function. It is even thought to have the potential to cure or help with overcoming addictions.
Of all of the different types of Traditional Chinese Medicine, acupuncture has gained the most notoriety, specifically as a complimentary modality to modern medicine. It has been widely embraced by doctors and patients throughout the western world, and could be one of the keys to a broader acceptance of eastern alternative medicine. Though needles are involved, the process is virtually painless and often relaxing.
Acupuncture has been found to treat a number of mental ailments like depression, anxiety, and negative moods. It has also had a positive impact on deeper physical issues like digestive problems and chronic pain.
Reflexology
Reflexology finds its roots in the Chinese focus on balancing the flow of qi, but primarily targets the hands, ears, and feet. Different locations on our feet and hands are thought to have direct connections through the meridians to different organs and systems in our body that can be detoxed and positively influenced. Through a targeted and sometimes intense massage, reflexology frees up blocked energy through stimulation, muscle relaxation, and the encouragement of lymph flow.
Reflexology is said to cleanse the body of toxins, boost the immune system, balance energy, and increase circulation. After a reflexology foot massage, one might feel like they are walking on air or feel lighter in their stride. Though these immediately noticeable effects can be fleeting, the unseen, internal effects can provide a longer lasting benefit.
Chakra Healing
The Chakras are the ancient Indian conception of our body’s primary energy centers and are very similar in nature to the ancient Chinese conception. The word chakra translates literally to wheel and is thought to be one of seven spinning centers of energy found in our bodies. Our chakras, based on their location, are connected to key endocrine glands and areas of nervous system function throughout the body, much like the Chinese meridians.
The seven Chakras are located in alignment from the top of our head, to the base of our spine and, when functioning in synchronicity, allow for a steady flow of energy throughout the body. Much like the Chinese yin-yang balance of qi, the energy in our chakras must be properly balanced. It doesn’t make sense to have an overabundance of energy in one chakra and a deficiency in another. Chakras also have the ability to open and close, allowing for the outward and inward flow of energy. Our chakras tend to close when we experience negativity, sadness and anger. In order to open up chakras we use breathing techniques, meditation and intention to eliminate negativity and open up to the flow of positive energy.
The seven chakras are as follows:
- Muladhara or Root Chakra: Base of Spine (tailbone)
- Swadhisthana or Sacral Chakra: Two inches below the navel
- Manipuraka or Solar Plexus Chakra: Three inches above navel
- Anahata or Heart Chakra: Located at Heart
- Vishuddhi or Throat Chakra: Located at Throat
- Sahasrara or Third Eye: Center of Forehead/Middle of Eyebrows
- Brahmarandra or Crown Chakra: Top of Head
Reiki
This Japanese technique was developed in the early 20th century by Mikao Usui based on the five principles of Japan’s emperor, Meiji. They are:
- Don’t get angry
- Don’t worry
- Be grateful
- Work diligently
- Be kind to others
Reiki is also based on the idea of the flowing life force known in Japanese as ki. The practice was developed to help people realize the importance of making an intentional effort to heal and be conscious of their health. This concept of self-improvement and self-discipline, that is a characteristic of Japanese culture, encourages Reiki practitioners to incorporate energy healing into their lives, but to also take an active role in healing oneself.
Reiki is a spiritual practice with its root word, Rei, roughly translating to “God’s wisdom” or “a higher power’s wisdom,” though it is not religious. Rather, it is based on this recurrent concept of the unseen life force that flows between us that can be channeled and used for beneficial means. Reiki uses palm-healing or hands-on-healing to transfer, balance, and realign energy from the healer to the recipient. Some universities throughout the US have even begun to incorporate reiki classes into certain curricula.
There are many commonalities that can be seen between these different methods of energy healing and it makes sense that they are all so similar. Though these time-tested traditions varied semantically, they all understood the flow of energy throughout our bodies and its importance in our health and wellbeing. Which one of these methods have you had success with and which will you implement in your life?
