How Neck Pain is Connected to your Limiting Beliefs
As I mentioned last week, this month I will focus on fun and summer vibe topics rather than my usual deep dive on the self-healing journey. All these sunny days this year must be affecting me more than ever 😊!
Since I was 17, I have struggled with various neck and back issues, including hernia, scoliosis, and meniscus. Today I want to focus on one of those areas, the neck, and what it can mean when you are experiencing NECK pain, especially when you are anxious and stressed.
Common Belief: Neck Pain is a New Age Office Disease
Neck pain is often seen as a common office disease, as we spend most of our time looking at the screen with no movement. And I have often found it to be true that my own neck pain increases when I have had a heavy workload. For some people this can easily be remedied or released with massage or regular stretching.
However, I used to find that I was also struggling with neck pain when I was on holiday and away from work and I have had many clients tell me that they suffer with neck pain even though they don’t work in front of a computer. So we have to be careful not to only blame the computer when we are suffering with this, as we might miss the root cause and therefore an opportunity for healing…
What does neck pain want to show us?
We have quite a lot of limiting beliefs around our self-worth, self-confidence, guilt and shame. Two beliefs that are linked to the neck area are:
1. Need of ‘being right all the time’ or ‘getting approval that we are right”.
For example:
I need to be right in front of my children, otherwise I question if I am good mother
I need to be right in front of my partner, otherwise he/she doesn’t love me
I need to be right in front of my boss otherwise I can never get promoted
I need to be right in front of my colleagues, otherwise they might think that I am an idiot
Any of those sound familiar to you? If yes, you know where to start working 😀 If no, then maybe this second one will resonate more with you.
2. Fear of CONFRONTATION
When you look up the meaning of “confrontation” in the dictionary, it says “a hostile or argumentative situation or meeting between opposing parties.” Confrontation is perceived as negative, mainly because people tend to confront others not about pleasant things but about painful, unpleasant things.
When we are scared to discuss the issues that we think we are right, our neck pain sends signals in order for us to see things from different angle.
What techniques do I use to overcome neck pain?
I wish I could say that I don’t suffer from neck pain anymore and paint a picture to you of a perfect miracle cure! 😀
However, it would be complete lie! Healing is a journey and as Buddha says “Pain is real, suffering is a choice”.
I have various techniques that I alternate between in order to ensure that I move forward and don’t stay stuck in the suffering and I can proudly say I have improved significantly. How do I know it? I used to carry Cataflam (a muscle relaxant pill) in my purse and was using it 3-4 times a week; I could never travel without it. My mum used to send me 5 boxes every 3 months. Now, I use less than a box in a whole year and only when the pain is too unbearable and I cannot work on it.
There are 3 main things, that helped me to release my neck pain;
Deep healing on my limiting beliefs, especially with regards to the 2 topics that I mentioned above
Adding some simple weekly exercise to my routine
Body workout techniques, such as massage, acupuncture or Reflexology, that can help support you as an outside influence.
I have previously written a lot about deep healing in previous newsletters as this is really the ultimate source of wellbeing for me. If you would like to read some of my previous articles on this subject then reach out to me 😀 After all only you are accountable for your wellbeing!
Some other body workout techniques I have tried are cupping therapy, chiropractor, different types massages. Most of them have been very enjoyable but the one that has worked best for me over the others has been Reflexology.
This is Baba, the local Reflexology master I found in Bali (just before lock down, good old days of travel!) He is an amazing healer and an artist!
On that trip to Bali I only went to see him three times, but it was such a powerful experience for me! Between each weekly session I focused on what part of my life I should release around ‘being right and looking for confirmation’. This combination of techniques produced the most wonderful holistic effect on my body and soul! In fact, I managed to record a before and after 😀
You can see in this video when he touches the places related to my neck and back pain, my reaction 😳! I didn’t cry in the second session and by the third session I was smiling 😀