Why Your Chronic Pain Might Be Brain-Based—Not Just Physical (Part 1)
Understanding the Nervous System, the Stress Bucket, and What It All Has to Do with How You Move
Let’s get real for a second: if you’ve ever woken up with a stiff neck and thought, “Did I injure myself in my sleep?” or pulled your back while unloading the dishwasher, you’re not broken — but your nervous system might be a little overloaded.
Here’s a surprising truth: those random aches and pains that show up even when you haven’t done anything "wrong" may start in your brain and nervous system, not your joints or muscles.
Before you roll your eyes—no, it’s not all in your head—the way your brain processes stress, movement, and sensory input has everything to do with how your body feels day-to-day.
The Brain’s Job: Keep You Alive, Not Help You Win Yoga Class
It’s easy to forget that your brain’s main priority isn’t comfort or graceful movement. Its #1 job is survival. That means the brain is always scanning for anything that might seem unsafe — whether you’re walking into the grocery store or trying a new workout app.
Enter the neural hierarchy — a chain of command in your nervous system:
Brainstem (base level): Handles survival basics — breathing, heartbeat, staying upright.
Midbrain (middle tier): Scans for danger. This is your fight/flight/freeze zone.
Cortex (top level): Where the magic happens — logic, calm thinking, smooth movement, creative ideas.
Ideally, you spend most of your time up in the cortex, feeling balanced and capable. But when your system’s under pressure — think chronic stress, poor sleep, hormonal shifts, or just “life in your 40s” — your brain may slide down the ladder into survival mode.
That’s when your body starts to react like this:
Everything feels tighter than it should,
Balance is off (hello, tripping over nothing)
You forget why you walked into the room,
Movement feels clunky, hesitant, or just off.
What’s Filling Up Your Stress Bucket?
Imagine your stress like a bucket. Every source of stress — physical, emotional, environmental — drips into that bucket. A few drips? Fine. But when it starts to overflow? That’s when symptoms appear.
Some things that sneakily fill your stress bucket:
Too many tabs open in your brain (or on your browser)
Hormone swings (hi again, perimenopause)
Old injuries or lingering inflammation,
Not sleeping well,
Parenting, caregiving, work stress, mental load,
Even things like screen time or too much coffee.
Once the bucket overflows, the nervous system gets twitchy. Your brain might say, “Okay, shut it down — let’s stiffen those hips, tighten that back, and make sure she doesn’t get hurt doing something silly like Zumba.”
That’s protective behaviour, not malfunction.
The Surprise Culprits: Vision and Balance
Now for the plot twist: your visual and vestibular (balance) systems have a HUGE influence on how safe your brain feels.
These two systems provide constant input about your environment. If your eyes aren’t working well together (think: too much screen time, scrolling, past concussions), or your inner ear is slightly out of sync, your brain starts getting noisy signals — and interprets them as danger.
This can lead to:
Upper back and neck tension
Dizziness, lightheadedness, or clumsiness
Headaches or eye strain
Poor posture (even after your Pilates class)
General unease or anxiety you can’t quite name
It’s like trying to drive with a foggy windshield — your brain slows you down just to stay safe.
So, What Can You Do About It?
Here’s the good news: your nervous system is changeable. You can retrain it, gently and effectively. You don’t need to do intense workouts or stretch for hours to feel better — you just need to speak your brain’s language.
Stay tuned for Part 2, where we’ll walk you through simple drills you can do at home to:
Calm an overloaded nervous system
Improve how your eyes and balance system work together
Feel more confident and steady in your movements (and your day)
And nope — it won’t involve ice baths, boot camps, or giving up your glass of wine.
Until then, take a breath. Literally. Slow nasal breathing is a great way to start giving your nervous system the signal that it’s safe.