In energy healing, spiritual counseling and other alternative approaches to health and mental health, the body is regarded as a screen upon which the patterns of the mind play out. When we feel pain in our mind, with enough time, eventually, it comes out in the body. If someone comes to be with a physical pain, although, for sure, they should pursue physical treatment, there is often an underlying emotional conflict that causes or makes them vulnerable to the condition.

John Sarno is an MD that works primarily with patients displaying what he has termed TMS (Tension Myositis Syndrome). TMS is a mind-body condition characterized by pain in muscles and tendons, radiated outwards, caused by oxygen deprivation and is caused by repressed emotion. This can often cause numbness or a loss of range of motion in particular parts of the body. Sarno’s theory is that many ‘diagnosed conditions’ are actually TMS masquerading as something far more serious.

Dr Sarno wrote a book called Healing Back Pain: The Mind-Body Connection that, because I tend to take the mind/emotion approach to physical ailments, I find myself recommending to clients quite frequently. It is an eye opening read into how we create the discomfort we carry in our bodies. Although the book is titled ‘Healing Back Pain’, it covers a whole gamut of physical symptoms

The pain that one experiences is VERY real and could be VERY debilitating. However, that doesn’t mean that it has a purely physical cause. This book is a guidepost on the way to realizing the source of the pain and resolving it once and for all. Although it’s not a how-to or a do-it-yourself healing book, even reading the theories and research it contains is a huge eye opener. Once someone has read the book, I often recommend that clients repeat the ‘Daily Reminders’ out loud – a quick, powerful way to decrease the pain.