If we can understand pain signals and the healing mechanisms at work when we feel pain, we can begin to understand how the protective mechanisms of the body can often become overprotective. Pain has a “threat value” that on a primitive level seeks to insure our survival. Yet, the threat sticks around often long after
Is it possible to transform pain into optimal health? Yes, absolutely. In fact, most of us do not make an effort to optimize our health practices without the help of pain signals to bring our attention to problem areas. Intense (even life-threatening) pain and disease can give us permission to seek out alternatives and to make lifestyle and dietary changes that would otherwise be outside our comfort zone.