The True Origin of Pain: Discover How to Heal from the Inside Out
LIFESTYLE
Written by Rachel Mehaffey
The Site of Your Pain Is Almost Never the Origin: Finding Where Healing Truly Begins
Pain is a complex experience, often more than just skin deep. It's rarely about where it hurts right now; instead, it usually stems from a place far away from where we feel it. Healing, then, isn't about focusing only on the site of pain but about tracing it back to its source.
It's tough, isn't it? To distinguish where our pain is in the moment from where it originally came from. We tend to zero in on the pain's current location—the throbbing, the ache, the cut—and assume that's the root of our suffering. But in many cases, the pain we feel now is just a reverberation of something that happened long ago.
Unlike a visible wound, where the cause and effect are immediate and clear, internal pain—whether it's physical or emotional—isn't so straightforward. It's like a river that begins far upstream, picking up twigs, branches, and all sorts of debris along the way. By the time it reaches the dam—our emotional or physical block—the waters are murky, and it's hard to see where it all started. In natural medicine, there's a principle that healing must move backward to truly address the origin. It might sound counterintuitive, but when you think about it, it makes perfect sense.
To heal properly, we need to start from the inside out, from top to bottom, and in reverse order of how the pain first appeared. This means tracing our symptoms like a map, following them until we find the X that marks the spot of our dis-ease.
This concept applies not just to physical healing but to emotional and psychological healing as well. Our feelings and reactions are rarely the result of a single moment. More often, they're the culmination of many moments building up over time.
The Echo of Past Pain
Take, for example, your first heartbreak. Most of us have experienced this—whether it was a high school crush or a more mature relationship, that initial shattering of our heart is unforgettable. When you move on and start to feel something for someone new, you're usually more cautious. You might think you're being careful because of something this new person does or doesn't do. But really, it's often the unhealed wounds from that first heartbreak affecting how you approach love now.
The pain you're feeling today isn't just about what's happening right now. It's a shadow from the past, a hurt that lingers from something long ago. This is actually a positive realization. Why? Because it means there's hope and potential for healing.
The Power of Looking Back
First off, if the pain you're feeling now comes from the past, it's something you can identify and heal. Knowing that your current pain is not the entirety of your experience means it's part of a larger picture. It's not as overwhelming as it seems when you're in the thick of it. It's easy to catastrophize, to think that this pain is everything, that it's all-consuming. But in reality, the pain is just a small part of a much bigger story. It's a sign pointing back to a previous time when you felt hurt, a reminder that there's still some healing to do.
By recognizing this, we can put our current feelings into perspective. The pain we're feeling now is part of a whole, not the whole sum of its parts.
Surviving and Thriving
Here's the best part: If the pain we're feeling now isn't the original cause, then we have already survived the worst of it. We've been through the initial hurt, and we're still here. This means we have the strength to face it again, to work through it, and to heal. This current discomfort is just a reminder of a past pain we've already navigated. It's a signal that there's an opportunity for healing, a chance to go back and address what started it all.
So, the next time you find yourself caught in a wave of pain, remember—this isn't the start of your suffering. It's a continuation, a chapter in a story that began a long time ago. You've already proven you can survive this because you've done it before. And now, you have the opportunity to go deeper, to heal more fully, and to find peace where it all began.
By looking back, understanding the true origin of your pain, and committing to healing from the inside out, you'll find that you have more resilience than you ever realized. And in that resilience lies the key to moving forward, not just surviving, but truly thriving.
I'm Rachel Mehaffey
Hey, I'm a Single Mumma raising her little lady while running her own business & teaching others it's never too late to start again.
I love working at home in my trackies with my 2 pups snuggled in my lap. My mission, to help others back themselves to live the life they want with no doubts every darn day!
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