Module 3: Pain Education
Neuroplasticity and Healing
The brain is constantly changing and adapting based on our experiences. This ability is called neuroplasticity. It’s how we learn new skills, form habits, and even recover from injury. The same principle applies to pain. When pain is experienced over and over again, the brain becomes more efficient at producing it. Just like a well-worn path in the forest, the more a pain signal travels down a certain pathway, the stronger and faster it becomes. Eventually, the brain can start to activate that pain pathway even when there’s no injury or physical reason, simply because it has learned to do so.
This is how chronic pain develops. The original injury may be long healed, but the brain has become conditioned to expect pain, and the nervous system remains stuck in protection mode. These pain pathways are not a sign of damage, but of a brain that has learned to be overprotective.
The good news is that what has been learned can also be unlearned. Through repeated messages of safety, we can begin to teach the brain and nervous system that the threat is no longer present. This might include calming practices, shifting the way we think about pain, reducing fear, and gradually returning to activities we once avoided.
When we stop reinforcing the pain pathways and start forming new ones based on safety, confidence, and movement, the brain begins to rewire. These new pathways take time and repetition to develop, just like learning any new skill, but with consistent practice, the brain starts to deactivate the old pain circuits and rely more on the new, safer ones.
Neuroplasticity means that pain is not fixed. It is real, but it is changeable, and the brain has the power to change the story it tells.
JOURNAL PROMPT
How much time of your day do you spend thinking about your pain or symptoms?
Awareness
Awareness is the first step toward change.
To begin shifting toward a state of safety, we first need to recognize when we are engaging in automatic habits, fear-based thoughts, or behaviors that reinforce a sense of danger. I like to think of this process as using a magnifying glass. Whatever we focus on becomes amplified.
When we constantly think about our pain or give it excessive attention, the brain interprets it as important and potentially threatening, which can make the signals feel louder and more intense. This does not mean we have to ignore the pain or pretend it is not there. Rather, it means we are making a conscious choice to shift our focus toward the things in life that bring us meaning, connection, and joy.
The more we redirect our attention in this way, the more we send our nervous system a message of safety. Over time, this teaches the brain that there is no danger, helping to turn down the volume on pain and reclaim more of the life we care about.
Felt Sense
Understanding Felt Sense and Tuning Into the Body
The felt sense is the subtle, internal awareness of what’s happening in your body beneath the surface, often before we even put it into words. It’s a kind of “inner knowing” that gives us access to sensations, emotions, and experiences that may be unprocessed or just below conscious awareness. Felt sense might show up as a tightness in the chest, a lightness in the belly, a buzzing in the arms, or even a vague sense of unease or calm.
Learning to tune into the felt sense means slowing down and listening inward. We begin by bringing gentle attention to the body, noticing without trying to change anything. You might scan through different areas of the body and ask, “What’s present here?” or “What wants my attention right now?” With practice, you become more fluent in your body’s language, recognizing signals like tension, heaviness, spaciousness, or warmth as meaningful information.
This awareness becomes especially powerful when we pair it with positive experiences. When something good happens, whether it’s a moment of connection, laughter, relief, or pride, we can pause and notice how it feels in the body. Maybe there’s an opening in the chest, a lightness in the stomach, or a sense of groundedness in the feet. By connecting these emotional experiences to physical sensations, we reinforce safety and well-being in the nervous system. This is how we begin to rewire our brain’s association with safety, pleasure, and ease, not just intellectually, but physically.
Tuning into the felt sense creates a bridge between mind and body, helping us respond to our needs more intuitively and allowing positive experiences to leave a lasting imprint.
JOURNAL PROMPT
Take a moment to tune into your “felt sense” you are experiencing right now. What do you notice? How can you describe these experiences? Write them down!