Anatomy, brain, Chronic pain, Mindfulness, Yoga

What Is Pain? Understanding the Mind–Body Experience of Chronic Pain

Our next group offering, Managing Chronic Pain through ACT, Mindfulness, and Yoga, is designed to help answer some of the most common—and often frustrating—questions people living with chronic pain ask:

  • What is pain, really?
  • Why does my body perceive pain the way it does?
  • How can I experience less pain, move better, and function more fully in daily life?

Today’s post focuses on the first question: What is pain?

Defining Pain: More Than a Physical Sensation

Merriam-Webster defines pain as:

“A localized or generalized unpleasant bodily sensation or complex of sensations that causes mild to severe physical discomfort and emotional distress and typically results from bodily disorder (such as injury or disease).”

While helpful, this definition still frames pain primarily as a physical symptom.

In July 2020, the International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP) revised its definition to better reflect what research and lived experience have long shown:

“An unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with, or resembling that associated with, actual or potential tissue damage.”

IASP also added several key clarifications that are especially important for anyone living with chronic pain:

  • Pain is always personal and influenced by biological, psychological, and social factors.
  • Pain and nociception (nerve signaling) are not the same thing.
  • Pain cannot be understood by sensory input alone.
  • A person’s report of pain should always be respected.
  • Pain may serve an adaptive role, but it can also negatively affect function, mood, and relationships.
  • Inability to communicate pain does not mean pain is not present.

Pain as a Protective Experience, Not Just a Warning Signal

One of my favorite explanations of pain comes from Neil Pearson, published in Yoga Therapy Today. He writes:

“Pain is both a complex experience and a complex biological process. Pain exists when neural circuits conclude that danger exists and that action is required. As such, it is so much more than a symptom or a message telling us that there is something damaged or diseased in the body. Pain is an experience. It motivates us to stop or change our behavior.”

This perspective helps explain something many people with chronic pain already know intuitively: pain is not a single signal, and it’s not always a reliable indicator of damage.

Why Pain Comes and Goes

We often think of pain as straightforward—like touching a hot stove and instantly pulling our hand away. But chronic pain behaves differently.

For example, imagine sitting quietly on the couch. Your low back starts to ache. You shift positions, maybe take some ibuprofen, and mentally review everything you should be doing to prevent this pain from returning—better posture, better lifting mechanics, more core strength.

Now imagine that a loved one suddenly cuts themselves badly and needs stitches. You’re grabbing your keys, driving to the ER, focused entirely on helping them.

What happened to your back pain?

Did it disappear?
Yes—and no.

Your body didn’t suddenly heal your back. Instead, your nervous system reprioritized. Pain is perceived when the brain decides something requires attention right now. Sitting still gives your system space to say, “Hey, we should address this posture issue.” An emergency tells your brain, “This can wait.”

Pain, in this way, is a decision made by the nervous system, not just a direct response to tissue damage.

Pain and Emotions Speak the Same Language

This is where psychotherapy—and ACT in particular—becomes so relevant.

I often tell clients that emotions are messengers from the subconscious:

  • Fear asks us to protect
  • Anxiety asks us to prepare
  • Anger asks us to set a boundary
  • Joy tells us to keep going

Pain behaves similarly. It delivers information. It motivates action. But—like emotions—we don’t have to obey it blindly.

For example, if you’ve been in a car accident, your fear may insist that driving is dangerous. Therapy helps you gently remind your nervous system that while accidents can happen, the evidence shows you’ve driven safely many times. You acknowledge the message without letting it run your life.

Pain can be approached the same way.

Choice, Language, and Relationship with Pain

What stands out most to me—and what this group is built around—is the idea that there is choice. Sometimes conscious, sometimes not, our bodies decide every day how much pain we perceive and how loudly it speaks.

We already know our thoughts influence emotions. Research now shows that pain is influenced in similar ways. When we develop a new relationship with pain—and the language to communicate with it—we often find that suffering decreases, even when sensations remain.

That is exactly what we’ll explore in Managing Chronic Pain through ACT, Mindfulness, and Yoga:
learning how to listen to pain, respond skillfully, and move toward a life that is fuller and more functional—with or without pain present.

For More:

You’re invited to join our Members-only Bonus Content Library, where you’ll find a variety of PDFs, recordings, and other resources to support your wellness.

A recent addition is an audio version of a guided meditation for cultivating body awareness and breathing through physical sensations with openness and compassion.

If you’d like to explore this meditation, a free PDF is also available through our newsletter. Sign up by Friday to receive a copy. This PDF will be uploaded to our Bonus Content Library next week if you missed it. For $5 a month you can have access to all we send out. (Sign up for newsletter is below or on our home page. Sign up for Bonus Content in the subscribe button on our homepage or in the link above.)

Articles Referenced and further resources on Chronic pain:

Neil Pearson. “Neurobiology of Pain.” Spring 2016.

Adhana McCarthy, et al. “Mediational Analysis of Yoga’s Effect on Chronic Low-Back Pain in Veterans: What Factors Really Matter?” 2022(32).

Peter S. Myers, et al. “Yoga Improves Balance and Low-Back Pain, but Not Anxiety, in People with Parkinson’s Disease.” 2020(30).

Neil Pearson, et al. “Pain and Yoga Therapy: Part 3. When Pain Persists.” Spring 2020.

Neil Pearson, et al. “Pain and Yoga Therapy: Part 2. The Lived Experience of Persisting Pain.” Winter 2020.

Neil Pearson, et al. “Pain and Yoga Therapy: Part 1.” Summer 2019.

Mindfulness, Wellness topic, Yoga

6th and 7th chakraThird Eye & Crown Chakra Yoga: Intuition, Awareness, and What Remains When We Let Go

Completing the Chakra Journey: The 6th and 7th Chakras

After a brief hiatus, I wanted to return and complete our chakra series by reflecting on our most recent group, which focused on the 6th chakra (third eye) and 7th chakra (crown).

The yoga sequence for this class was intentionally structured in two parts. We began with a flowing practice designed to open all chakras, allowing energy to move freely through the body. From there, we shifted into a slower, more focused practice that brought attention to the third eye and concluded with restorative postures and meditation.

Clearing the Path to Intuition

The intention of this practice was simple but profound:
to reduce physical and mental distractions so that intuition can emerge more clearly.

Stress, tension, and unprocessed emotion often act as “blockages” in the body. When energy cannot flow freely, it becomes difficult to access inner wisdom or clarity. By first tending to the body, we create the conditions necessary to quiet the mind and begin discerning what truly matters.

In Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) terms, this is the space where we reconnect with our core values — the things that give our lives meaning beyond productivity or obligation. When the nervous system settles, clarity often follows. From that clarity, true rest and restoration become possible.

Mantras for the Upper Chakras

During this practice, we worked with two simple mantras:

  • “I am connected.”
  • “I rest in awareness.”

These phrases supported a shift away from doing and toward being — a theme that carried into our closing meditation.

What Remains When Nothing Needs to Be Done?

We ended with a final reflective prompt:

“What remains when nothing needs to be done?”

This question often brings up discomfort for many people. When the distractions fall away, clients sometimes notice feelings of anxiety, emptiness, or sadness — especially if much of their life feels superficial or disconnected from passion or purpose.

This is where the wisdom of the upper chakras becomes especially relevant.

What remains is awareness.
What remains is the experience of witnessing life — seeing, sensing, and participating in the world as it unfolds.
What remains is connection.

On a broader level, this can include a sense of cosmic connection — the understanding that we are part of something vast and interconnected. We share this planet together. We come from the earth and, eventually, return to it. On an even larger scale, we are part of the universe itself — quite literally stardust.

For some, this realization brings deep peace and belonging.

When Cosmic Connection Feels Like Too Much

For others, however, focusing on the crown chakra can initially feel isolating rather than comforting. If physical or emotional connection is lacking, cosmic connection may feel distant or hollow.

In Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, this level aligns with self-actualization. But self-actualization cannot be sustained without the layers beneath it.

This is where the third eye chakra invites us to see clearly:

  • to notice where community already exists,
  • to recognize opportunities for connection,
  • or to acknowledge that we may need to actively build community through small, intentional steps.

Working Up — and Down — the Chakras

If clarity or connection still feels blocked, it’s often helpful to move downward through the chakras rather than pushing forward:

  • 5th chakra (throat):
    Do boundaries or unmet needs need to be voiced?
  • 4th chakra (heart):
    Is there work to do around self-compassion, self-talk, or allowing love in?
  • 3rd chakra (solar plexus):
    Is it time to build momentum, confidence, or take action toward what you want?
  • 2nd chakra (sacral):
    Are emotions asking for attention, expression, or understanding?
  • 1st chakra (root):
    Is there a need for grounding, safety, and reassurance — the reminder that you have the right to be here and to feel secure?

Self-actualization is not a straight upward climb. More often, it requires moving up and down, listening carefully to where energy feels blocked, and meeting ourselves there with patience.

Integration, Not Perfection

All of these layers are interconnected. To access higher awareness, we often must tend to foundational needs first. And as those foundations strengthen, clarity and meaning naturally rise again.

Continue the Practice

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  • the full yoga sequence for the 6th and 7th chakras,
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  • and audio recordings of guided practices.

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Finding Our Voice: Balancing the Throat Chakra

This past week in our Chakra Balancing Group, we focused on the throat chakra — the center of communication, self-expression, and truth.

One meaningful shift in this session was the intentional use of voice as a core part of the practice. I’ll admit, chanting in front of others doesn’t come naturally to me. Still, I knew that working with the throat chakra called for sound. Instead of traditional chanting, we explored audible exhales, filling the room with long, open “haaa” sounds.

This simple practice brought awareness directly to the throat and helped anchor our intention throughout the session. There was something powerful about letting the breath be heard — no words required — just presence, vibration, and release.

Our journaling prompt continued this theme of expression. We reflected on:

  • What we want to say
  • What holds us back from saying it
  • And what we hope might happen if we allow ourselves to speak our truth

Balancing the throat chakra isn’t about saying everything perfectly. It’s about building confidence, courage, and trust in our own voice — qualities many of us are quietly longing to strengthen.

I’ve truly enjoyed these sessions, and this week’s focus was a reminder that sometimes the most healing practice is simply giving ourselves permission to be heard.

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