Let me just apologize right off the bat, here.

The solution to mid-back pain I am about to suggest isn’t easy.

Truly, it isn’t for the faint of heart. Actually, this solution for mid-back pain is for the opposite of the faint of heart.

It is for the warriors.

It is for the courageous people willing to face their feelings, willing to face their fears.

For those willing to face their own hearts.

Perhaps you’re ready to stop reading right here, just hearing the word warrior and the word heart.

Maybe that isn’t what you’re looking for, and I wouldn’t blame you at all.

Just the words “face your own heart” would probably have me running, as well.

But here is what I know as an energy healer and self-awareness junkie and a well-qualified people observer:

Our heart chakras wrap around our entire upper body. And when I have a person on their stomach on my massage table and this same person is reporting mid-back pain, I place my hands on their back and what I feel is a sore heart.

A repressed heart.

I feel pain shoved away, pushed back, hidden where it thinks it can’t be found.

Maybe, emotionally, it feels fine that way for the person. Maybe it feels like life is fine and dandy, if not a little boring and dull—if only that throbbing pain in the middle of the back would go away.

If this is you, life feeling fine except for that nagging back pain, you could try pain killers, swallowing a capsule to start and end the day. That is totally an option.

Or, there is something else you could try.

Investigation.

Checking in about what you’re really feeling.

Looking at the emotional places that hurt, the places the heart is restricted.

This could be done alone, or with a friend or with a professional.

But if the middle of your back is hurting I would bet there is a pain in your heart that has been shoved away, and your heart and your back will thank you for bringing that pain up to the surface of your awareness.

Because as the saying goes, we “can’t heal what we can’t feel.”

Here is an exercise for some very productive heart healing:

Lie on a yoga mat on your back with a bolster or a pillow under your rib cage, this will arch your back slightly. Put a pillow under your head if necessary.

Feel your chest expand as you inhale and exhale, slowly and intentionally.

Now ask yourself—what hurts in my heart? Just ask gently and quietly.

Then listen for the inner voice to answer. When you hear the answer just welcome the answer and say a little thank you and then ask again. No need to analyze or judge the answers. Just keep asking what hurts my heart and welcome whatever answer comes.

This heart opening is a work of healing and a work of generosity and it will benefit everyone you encounter. So, let me thank you in advance for your courage as you get rid of your mid-back pain through the process of opening the heart.

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Editor: Emily Bartran

Photo: Pixoto