In the book Awakening Intuition by Dr. Mona Lisa Schulz, I recently read something that felt true to my own experience as a highly sensitive person having lower back pain at certain times in my life.
In the book, Dr. Schulz talks about how lower back pain is part of our intuitive guidance system. It is effectively telling us that something is off balance in our lives. It is, she says, the number one cause of workmen’s disability in the United States, “not just for furniture movers or dockworkers but for white-collar workers as well.”
Why back pain can sometimes indicate more than physical imbalance for highly sensitive people and empaths.
Dr. Schulz talks about how the prevalence of lower back pain has created a boom in the ergonomics industry, and yet, a recent study found that educating office workers in ergonomics did not significantly reduce cases of lower back pain and disability. She says:
“This doesn’t surprise me, because lower back pain is part of our intuitive guidance system, which is telling us that something is out of kilter with a drive we have in the world, in this case a drive related to work. You’re in a job, and you’re ambivalent about staying or leaving, holding on or letting go, and going after something else in the world that’s more in keeping with what you really want to do.”
And then she goes on:
“We create memories, laying down emotions in the tissues of our bodies, without even knowing that we’re feeling them. We might not consciously know we’re fearful or angry, but we feel stiffness or tightness in certain muscles. People who are depressed or unhappy with where they are in life most frequently create more tension and tightness in certain muscles. Backache and increased muscular tension occur when people can’t go after something they want or can’t take steps to resolve a conflict because they’re afraid of retaliation. So they stay where they are, they hold on like Velcro instead of letting go. They suffer the golden handcuff syndrome and assume and maintain a rigid posture, which sets the scene for lower back pain.”
Reading this made me think of all the times when I have been ambivalent about holding on and letting go. It also made me think of how letting go itself might be hard for empaths.
It also made me think of how often my body has brought an internal imbalance out onto the surface. When I was working in my corporate job, there were times when I developed skin rashes. Things were literally getting under my skin.
Maybe, right now, you have some physical symptom that might be pointing to a deeper imbalance. Maybe, like me, you live too much in your mind sometimes. For both of us, maybe it is time to slow down and listen to the obvious truths our bodies our shouting to us.
Are you a highly sensitive person whose body is shouting for attention? What would become obvious if you listened to your body? How might your body be trying to help you?
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Great post. I came across your blog through an article in Tiny Buddha. It was a case of ‘I thought I was the only one!’. I am an HSP and have struggled through friendships and relationships because my brain processes an action in myriad different ways. I have been blamed that I think too much etc… and being a guy its even harder cause I usually hear ‘Oh please, be mature and grow some n**s’. So coming across your website was kind of cathartic. Thank you for writing and sharing.
Thank you! I am happy to hear that this website helped some. I can imagine how much more tough it must be as a man who is also an HSP. I think we are so affected by what’s around us and what culture is pre-dominant. Thank you again for your comment!