backaches are the new ulcer:

My first experience with back pain occurred several years ago while going through many emotional challenges all at the same time. It was at this particular juncture that I began studying Dr. John Sarno's philosophy about healing back pain. I first heard about Dr. Sarno in the late 1980's, when many of my clients at my dance studio experienced miraculous results after consulting with him, in an effort to avoid going under the knife. In fact, in his book The Mindbody Prescription, Dr. Sarno believes that only 5% of back sufferers truly need surgery and the rest can receive the relief they crave by understanding TMS or Tension Myositis Syndrome. He states: "By shifting one's attention from the realm of the physical to that of the psychological, a physical symptom is banished."  Dr. Sarno believes we all have unconscious rage and the lack of this basic fact helps to account for the pain epidemic and a variety of other disorders in our Western society. Like Dr. Sarno, I have always believed our emotions have the power to stimulate physiologic reactions of all kinds, proving that the mind and the body are undeniably inseparable. Each of us carry our tension, stress and deep emotions in certain parts of our body that then become the house of our pain, tightness or discomfort. The upside to this philosophy is believing we can heal ourselves through a deeper, more profound understanding of this magnificent organism of infinite complexity and wonder that we call our bodies and to constantly embrace opportunities to know ourselves at a deeper, more profound level.