Is Physical Pain Medical, Spiritual, or Both

Don’t you just love the moments when you meet yourself in all your folly and glory…sometimes at the same time? 

 The Medical 

I‘ve suffered with back pain since my late teens due to a mild genetic form of spina bifida not detected when I was born, when it could have been surgically corrected.  It led to chronic neck and back pain in spite of all the medical courses of action I have taken and some I still take (Chiropractic, Physical Therapy, Osteopathy, surgery, exercise, stretching, energy work, Acupuncture, etc.)  Some of this has slowed down the progression, but eliminated nothing.

 The Spiritual 

I‘ve read a lot about the possible spiritual implications of back and neck pain as well.  I learned that it occurring on my right side represents giving.  I have been accused of giving too much, so hmmm, maybe.  The slight scoliosis it caused is spiritually about needing to flow with life, eh…?   The neck issues have to do with not seeing what is going on back there, HUH?  And on, and on…all Interesting, but not terribly illuminating, probably because I am not able to really understand how to apply all I have researched.  

 Self-Coaching 

During a recent conversation with friends, I made the comment that as a child, I always wanted an older brother, a sort of protector, at least in my mind that is what I thought it would be, because I have always wanted to feel someone had my back.  “Even as a little girl,” I recounted, “I used to put pillows against the wall my bed was against so I could lie on my side leaning back into them at night and feel the comforting physical support of the wall.”  

Suddenly, I made the connection to my spiritual/emotional need for support being manifested in my physical world.  Because I was born with the physical issue, did it also cause the emotional one, or could it have lain dormant forever if I had gotten the support I craved?  That, I will never know, but I do know that the result was that I became extremely independent to compensate for the lack of support I felt growing up, which only led to less support, because I didn’t seem to need it.  And I didn’t…NEED it, I just wanted it.  So now what?  I am still determining that, but what a hoot!  All the reading and theories about spiritual causes of my back pain, and the answer has been right here within me all along.  It’s even more ironic because that’s what a life coach does; we help our clients find their own answers waiting right there within the self to be discovered by our asking the right questions.  While I certainly am no physician, this sure is a variation on the saying, “physician heal thyself.”  

 Your Turn

Are you looking for answers in your own life? Perhaps you could use a little objective help in finding the right questions first.  Schedule your FREE EXPLORATORY SESSION here.  I promise, there will be no hard sell.  I have no personal attachment to the outcome of our conversation beyond your feeling better for our having had it. For more information about living authentically, click here and get your FREE copy of my “GUIDE TO AUTHENTIC LIVING: Ten Things People Who Live Authentically Know And Do…And So Can You.”