𝗛𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗣𝗮𝗶𝗻 - 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗠𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗕𝗼𝗱𝘆 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻

For nearly two decades, I dealt with recurring physical pain that deeply affected my life. It began after I gave birth to my older son in 2004, triggering severe back pain that became a constant burden. Desperate for relief, I spent five years exploring countless treatments—pain medications, acupuncture, physical therapy, chiropractic care, and homeopathy. Yet, despite these efforts, nothing seemed to address the root cause, as every approach only sought to alleviate the symptoms.

The pain became a relentless companion, making even daily tasks like driving an ordeal. My husband frequently had to take time off work to accompany me to MRIs and numerous medical appointments. One day, his manager inquired about his extended absences. When my husband explained the ongoing struggle to manage my pain and the lack of solutions, his manager empathized. He shared his own story of battling chronic pain despite being athletic and undergoing two back surgeries.

With that, my husband’s manager offered him a book titled Healing Back Pain: The Mind-Body Connection by Dr. John E. Sarno. The book presented the concept of Tension Myoneural Syndrome (TMS), explaining how chronic pain often stems from unresolved stress, anxiety, and other psychological factors rather than physical abnormalities. He credited the book with helping him overcome his pain, and I decided to give it a try.

That Thursday night, my husband brought the book home. By 1 a.m., I had read it cover to cover. In the process, I uncovered the deeper cause of my pain. In May 2004, during my high-risk pregnancy, my father passed away suddenly. Unable to travel to India for his funeral, I was left isolated and grief-stricken, staying at my aunt’s house while my husband attended his brother’s wedding in India. To complicate matters, visa extension issues delayed his return to the U.S. for a month.

During this period, my relatives insisted that I suppress my grief, saying it wouldn’t be good for the baby. As a first-time mother, I didn’t know better. I bottled up my emotions, avoided crying, and shut down conversations about my father entirely. Even years later, when my son noticed that his best friends had both sets of grandparents and questioned why he only had one grandfather, I found myself unable to explain.

On Friday, after finishing the book, I placed pictures of my dad on the fridge. When my son returned from school, I sat with him, shared memories of my dad, and allowed myself to cry—nonstop for an hour. That one hour of release unraveled five years of suppressed grief, and something miraculous happened. The debilitating pain that had controlled my life vanished.

Since then, I’ve embraced exploring the connection between emotions and their influence on the mind, body, and spirit. Through reading, workshops, and courses, I’ve gained deeper insights that I now share with others, helping them on their own journeys of healing and self-discovery.