Sometimes pain shows up in one place, but when we slow down and pay attention, the body tells a much bigger story.
During a recent private session, I was working with someone experiencing persistent shoulder pain.
As we began, I noticed how much tension she was holding in her hands. There was a gripping quality there – a sense of the hands holding on tightly – and that tension seemed to continue through her forearms and up towards her shoulders.
So rather than beginning with the painful shoulder, I started with her hands.
Very gently, we worked with what was happening there. There was no forcing and no trying to make the body do anything. I simply allowed time for the hands to soften and for movement to gradually return through the forearms and towards the shoulder.
As the session continued, I could feel the quality of the tissues and movement changing beneath my hands. What had initially felt held and guarded began to feel softer and more mobile.
It was a beautiful reminder that the place where we experience pain is not always the only place worth paying attention to.
Our bodies work as a whole.
If we are habitually gripping our hands, clenching our jaw, lifting our shoulders or bracing our stomach, we may not even realise we are doing it. These patterns can become so familiar that they simply feel like us.
And sometimes they may be part of the body’s way of protecting us.
In Pain Reprocessing Therapy, we are interested in the relationship between pain, the brain and the nervous system.
Persistent pain is real. But for some people, particularly when structural causes have been ruled out or the level of pain cannot be fully explained by tissue damage, the nervous system can become highly sensitised.
The body may become very good at protecting.
Holding.
Bracing.
Watching.
Gripping.
And this is where I find the combination of Pain Reprocessing Therapy and energy work particularly interesting.
I am interested not only in where does it hurt?
I am also curious about:
What is the body doing around the pain?
Where is it holding?
What happens when we introduce a little softness?
And does the body feel safe enough to let go, even slightly?
We don’t need to force an answer.
Sometimes we simply notice.
There was another small moment during this session that stayed with me.
My client had arrived early in the morning carrying a bottle of Lucozade. As we talked, I happened to ask her about it and she simply said,
“I was thirsty.”
Straight away, the words “a thirst for life” came to me.
I shared this with her, not because I thought it necessarily meant anything, but because sometimes during energy work a word, feeling or phrase will come into my awareness and I have learned to be curious about it.
And so we became curious together.
What might a thirst for life mean for her?
Perhaps looking forward to a new chapter. Wanting things again. Feeling a little more open to life and, importantly, safe enough to enjoy it.
It was only a small part of our conversation, but somehow it seemed to sit beautifully alongside what I had been noticing in her body.
Hands that had been gripping.
A shoulder that had been hurting.
A body gradually allowing a little more movement.
And perhaps, underneath it all, the possibility of feeling safe again.
We live in a culture that often approaches pain with the question:
How do I get rid of this?
But sometimes I think another question can be equally powerful:
What happens when my body no longer feels it has to hold on quite so tightly?
That doesn’t mean pain is “all in your head”.
And it certainly doesn’t mean that every painful shoulder is caused by stress, emotions or a sensitised nervous system. Pain should always be appropriately assessed where necessary.
But for those living with persistent symptoms, becoming curious about our patterns of tension, protection and bracing can sometimes reveal something we hadn’t noticed before.
The hands may soften.
The breath may become easier.
The shoulders may drop.
Movement may feel a little less threatening.
And underneath all of that, perhaps there is an invitation to begin trusting the body – and life – again.
Not forcing.
Not fixing.
Just gently discovering what becomes possible when we feel a little safer.
Where science meets spirit.
If you’re living with persistent pain or symptoms and would like to explore whether my approach could support you, you’re warmly invited to book a free discovery call. I offer private sessions in Aberdeen and online. It’s simply a chance for us to talk about what you’re experiencing and whether working together feels right for you.
Or, if you’d prefer to begin in your own time, you can download my free Safe in the Body guided recording — a gentle practice to help you slow down, reconnect with your body and begin exploring a greater sense of safety.