Master the Art of Being Okay

How I’m using the mindbody approach to heal from seven years of chronic back pain

Writing at a cafe. Photo of the author.

Right before I left Japan, one of my best friends asked: If Japan was a chapter in the book of your life, what would be its title?

The answer was obvious: Phoenix Era.

Living in Japan for two and a half years surpassed my wildest dreams. But something happened which eclipses the travel, the exploration, even the friendships I made.

I began to heal from chronic pain. Maybe I had to be in Japan for the stars to align. Perhaps they would have no matter where I was, and it was just this moment in time. Who knows? It doesn’t matter, because one thing’s for sure: I’m feeling better than I have since I was twenty-one.

Life is good.

“You’re too young to have back pain.”

I’ve dealt with chronic back and hip pain for seven years, believing my body was broken in a way I couldn’t understand. Physical therapists tried with what knowledge they had, but their expertise helped little.

“You’re too young to have back pain,” was something I heard frequently.

Thanks, but that doesn’t help, I’d think to myself, their comments only perpetuating the fear…