chris_mom

From the time I was a teenager until my mid-40's, I suffered from lower back pain, upper back pain, neck pain, TMJ, allergies, hives, irritable bowel syndrome, depression, and anxiety, but the worst was the back pain. Sometimes my pain was so severe I'd be on the floor for a week. Other times my pain would be less debilitating but it was still there.

I tried everything short of drugs and surgery: regular chiropractic treatments with probably half a dozen different chiropractors and acupuncturists and I even paid a lot for a series of classes with a posture specialist. I used different types of mattresses, pillows, special seat cushions, back braces, foot rests and would constantly adjust and readjust my work station and try different stretching exercises. Everything either helped only a little bit at first or did not help at all. I basically resigned myself to living the rest of my life in pain.

As for my childhood, things were tough for me growing up. I was bullied a lot for being different (i.e., Asian). My parents had high expectations for me, I can be very hard on myself, and I always try to please others.

In 2013, I stumbled across someone's story about how he healed his back pain with his mind and that is how I was introduced to the work of Dr. John Sarno. After some time of doing both inner work and making lifestyle changes, and thanks to Alan Gordon's program on this site, I started getting better and have only continued to get better at helping myself heal each day.