“Your back isn’t broken — it’s speaking. The question is: are you listening?”
It started with a twinge. You told yourself it was nothing—just a bad night’s sleep or maybe too much time hunched over your laptop. But then that twinge turned into a dull ache. And the ache became something louder, something that didn’t just hurt your back—but started to affect your mood, your sleep, and your sense of freedom.
Sound familiar?
You’re not alone. I’ve been there, too.
Hi, I’m Alison—holistic therapist, body-mind nerd, and someone who knows first-hand how back pain can slowly take over your life. But more importantly? I know how to take that power back.And no—this isn’t a blog about miracle stretches or magic posture fixes. This is a story about something deeper. About how your back pain might be trying to say something… and how you can start listening.
For a long time, I thought back pain was just… well, physical. I believed it was about injury, structure, bad posture, or weak muscles. And sometimes it is. But what I kept seeing—first in myself, then again and again in my clients—was something no X-ray or MRI could explain.
Someone would come in, completely fed up with their pain. They’d tried the painkillers, the physio, the hot water bottles. Sometimes the scans were “normal.” Sometimes they weren’t. But either way, the paindidn’t go away.
And then we’d start talking—about their life, their stress, their relationships, their grief.
And that’s when things started to shift.
I remember one woman who came to see me—we’ll call her Emma. She had this deep ache in her lower back that never really let up. She’d been told her posture was the problem. So she tried everything—ergonomic chairs, yoga, even a standing desk. Nothing helped.
One day during our session, she burst into tears talking about her job—how trapped she felt, how unsupported, how much pressure she carried. And as she cried, she instinctively clutched her lower back.
That was it.
Her pain wasn’t “just” physical—it was emotional, too. Her back had become a storage room for all the tension she couldn’t release in her daily life.
Here’s what I want you to know: pain is real—but it isn’t always about damage. Sometimes, it’s about overload. The body trying to communicate what words can’t.
Think about it: have you ever had a stressful day, and your shoulders ended up around your ears? Or gone through heartbreak and felt a literal ache in your chest?
It’s the same with back pain. When we feel emotionally stuck, unsupported, overwhelmed… the body holds that. And often, it holds it in the back.
Not because it’s broken—but because it’s trying to speak.
Now here’s where it gets tricky. When you’re in pain, the last thing you want to do is move. You want to protect. Stay still. Avoid.
That makes sense—our brains are wired to avoid danger.
But here’s the catch: the more we avoid movement, the more our body thinks it’s unsafe. Muscles stiffen. The nervous system stays in red alert. And pain becomes the norm.
But gentle movement? Oh, it’s a love letter to your nervous system.
Start small. A walk around the block. Reaching your arms overhead and taking a few deep breaths. Twisting gently side to side. Rolling your shoulders back.
Try it now. (Yes, right now! If you’re safe to do so.)
Notice anything? A tiny bit more space? A little more ease?
That’s how it begins.
Here’s something we don’t talk about enough: our beliefs can either keep us stuck—or set us free.
If you’ve ever said to yourself,
“I have a bad back. I’ll never be able to run again. My spine is damaged.”
—please know this: those thoughts are powerful. They shape how you move. How you breathe. How your nervous system responds to everyday life.
But what if you started telling yourself something different?
What if you believed:
That’s not false hope—it’s neuroscience. When your brain believes movement is safe, pain can decrease. Your body starts to trust again.
One of my clients—let’s call him Sam—had been living with back pain for over five years. He’d been through every scan, tried every therapy, and was starting to lose hope.
But when we began exploring the emotional patterns behind his pain, something shifted. He started journaling, tracking when flare-ups occurred (almost always during work stress). He began daily walks, just ten minutes at first. He practiced breathing when the pain hit, instead of bracing.
And one day he said to me,
“I’m not afraid of my back anymore.”
That’s when the real healing began.
If any of this resonated, here’s a gentle challenge for the next 7 days:
If you’re curious to try something new, here’s a short tapping (EFT) practice to help calm your nervous system and support your healing.
Start by tapping the side of your hand and say:
Now gently tap through these points:
Finish at the top of your head.
Take a slow breath in… and out.
Feel what’s shifted.
If no one’s told you this today: You are not broken. You are not imagining your pain. And you don’t have to stay stuck.
Back pain might be part of your story right now—but it isn’t the whole story.
✨ Want more? You can listen to this full story on my new podcast (Episode 7) available on the ‘Withme’ platform ‘Tapping2Connect’
📝 And yes—the full transcript is included, so whether you prefer to listen, read, or both, you can access it in the way that supports you best.
Until then…
💚 Be kind to your body.
🧠 Stay curious about your pain.
🚶♀️ And keep moving forward—one step at a time.
