Your Back Isn’t Broken — But It Might Be On High Alert

If you’ve been living with chronic low back pain, you’ve probably learned to move carefully. You think twice before bending, brace your core without realizing it and constantly scan for warning signs. During a busy, end-of-year season filled with travel, gatherings and long days, that constant vigilance can feel even heavier. That’s not weakness — it’s a nervous system trying to protect you.

Recent research looking at Cognitive Functional Therapy found something surprising. People didn’t improve because their spine was “fixed.” They improved because their body stopped feeling under constant threat.

As pain eased, people became less afraid to move. They weren’t holding their breath, clenching their muscles or moving with constant caution. Their nervous system finally got the message that it was safe to stand, bend, walk and live again.

This approach focuses on changing how pain is understood, how the body moves and how stress and emotions feed into pain — not by ignoring symptoms or pushing through them, but by restoring a sense of safety and trust in the body.

That’s also the foundation of my Mindfulness for Chronic Pain course. We explore why pain sticks around, identify habits and thoughts that amplify it and gently retrain the nervous system to calm down. We focus on pacing daily life, rebuilding confidence in movement and breaking the cycle of fear and flare-ups — without forcing anything.

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The goal isn’t to eliminate every sensation or pretend pain doesn’t exist. It’s to stop letting pain run your life. When the nervous system feels safer, pain often becomes quieter and movement more natural.

As the year comes to a close, this can be a powerful time to choose a different relationship with your pain — one that supports you moving into the new year with more ease and confidence.

You don’t need a perfect back.

You need a body that feels safe enough to move.

Lauren DeYoe

Doctor of Physical Therapy

Reiki Master

Owner Reiki PT

O’Keeffe M, O’Sullivan K, Purtill H, et al. Mechanisms of change in cognitive functional therapy: A longitudinal mediation analysis of the RESTORE clinical trial for disabling chronic low back pain. Pain. 2024.