A Pain in the Neck

Well, this week was a weird one. I randomly woke up and coughed my way into a pinched nerve Wednesday morning. That was fun let me tell you. I spent the entire day horizontal alternating ice packs with heat.

It is, and has been, my firm belief that back/neck pain is a result of your emotions. And for those of you who don't believe in the mind body connection, it is real. It has been thought that our brains are separate from our bodies in some way. But I beg to differ. If you could actually see the nervous system, it touches every part of our body. If you were to isolate you would see that it is literally as prominent as our veins. How do you think you feel pain when you burn your finger? Nerves.

So then how can our emotions effect our health? Well, emotions are chemical reactions that take place in our brain due to the types of thoughts we are having. But emotions cause physical feelings too. Think about when you lose someone you love, you actually hurt. Or when you are nervous about something your stomach becomes nauseous. Everything is connected.

I know exactly why I got a pinched nerve. I was already under stress (self imposed I might add), which I hold in my neck and shoulders. I woke up on the wrong side of the bed due to some really kreeeepy and upsetting dreams (happens more often than not) and then I had some things that I didn't want to deal with. So I stuffed all that, and voila! Pinched nerve in my neck.

The Moral: It's better to speak your mind even if it will upset someone else than to stuff it and end up with paralyzing neck pain.