Your body speaks to you in a thousand ways each day, and illness is no exception.
As one of the most frustrating, draining, and in some cases, debilitating experiences you can have in life, sickness can leave you feeling helpless.
And if you continually receive negative results on tests with no clear underlying cause for what youโre going through, your illness can be even more infuriating and insufferable.

Spiritual Wanderer Course:
Being a lone wolf and a spiritual wanderer is a sacred calling in life โ a unique and alchemical path of awakening. You donโt need to feel lost, alone, or stuck on your journey any more. Itโs time to meet your soulโs deep needs for clarity, self-acceptance, and empowerment. Let us show you how โฆ
I am not a medical doctor and Iโm not prescribing medical advice here, but I have experienced numerous โunsolvedโ illnesses before with no clear biological cause.
What Iโve learned is something that many medical professionals now agree on and studies prove: that the mind and body are intimately connected.
Not only that, but our aches, pains, and health struggles can actually be a spiritual wake-up call if we learn to observe them deeply enough. (This is spiritual psychology 101.) Iโll explain why our illness can be a wakeup call in this article โ and what healing avenues might bring you some relief.
Table of contents
What is a Psychosomatic Illness?
A psychosomatic illness is an illness for which there are no biological causes (such as physical injuries, hormonal imbalances, viruses, etc.). In other words, a psychosomatic illness is an illness triggered by a mental state such as anxiety, stress, anger, depression, and so on.
Perhaps more simply, a psychosomatic illness โ psycho meaning mind and somatic meaning body โ is a mind-body ailment.
โItโs All in Your Mindโ
Please note that just because a psychosomatic illness is triggered by a mental state such as grief, fear, and so on, it doesnโt mean that itโs โnot real.โ
As one who has suffered from psychosomatic illnesses such as intense chronic fatigue syndrome, chronic pain, and recurring GI issues in the past, I know how painfully real such experiences can be.ย
Shadow & Light Membership:
โญ๏ธโญ๏ธโญ๏ธโญ๏ธโญ "Receiving these messages is a beacon of light and hope for me in currently very challenging times. The words of wisdom speak right to my soul, guiding and encouraging me further on my path. I highly recommend Shadow & Light to everyone who seeks to develop and cultivate a relationship with the Inner Self." โ Karin
If you canโt seem to pinpoint the exact cause of your physical suffering, and if all the tests come back saying everything is โnormal,โ it doesnโt mean youโre delusional or a hypochondriac. Instead, it likely means that your illness is psychosomatic in nature.
Not only that but likely, some kind of trauma may be the underlying cause.
Trauma & Psychosomatic Illness
The body keeps the score โฆ the memory of trauma is encoded in the viscera, in heartbreaking and gut-wrenching emotions, in autoimmune disorders and skeletal/muscular problems.
โ Bessel Van Der Kolk, MD
(The Body Keeps Score)
When we’re traumatized โ whether as a child or as an adult (or both) โ we often havenโt been able to recover from something known as the freeze response.ย
Iโm sure youโve heard of the fight, flight, and freeze response before. Such behavior has been studied by sociologists, psychologists, anthropologists, zoologists, and so on for a long time.
The fight response happens when our bodyโs sympathetic nervous system is triggered, generating adrenaline that makes us want to attack, kick, punch, and so on. Think of a person getting into a street fight.
The flight response happens when we have the irresistible urge to flee: to run away as fast as we can. Think of a zebra that is being chased by a lion in the wild.
The freeze response, on the other hand, immobilizes us in the immediate threat of death or pain (whether physical/mental/emotional) so intolerable that we shut down.ย
Clinical psychologist and trauma researcher Peter Levine says that freezing helps to offer a reprieve from the pain of death (as a natural analgesic). But also, if we donโt manage to shake off that freeze response from our nervous systems, we become traumatized.
Levine writes:
โฆ trauma occurs as a result of the initiation of an instinctual cycle that is not allowed to finish. When the neocortex overrides the instinctual responses that would initiate the completion of this cycle, we will be traumatised.
In other words, we need to be able to โcomplete the cycleโ (or shake off the energy and return back to normal) within us to discharge the intense energy generated by the life-threatening (or chronically endangering) situation we experienced. If we donโt, if our neocortex (thinking brain) takes over and mentally spirals, we experience what Iโll crassly call the โblue ballโ effect.
Would you like to save this?
Your information will never be shared.
The blue ball effect happens when our nervous systems become frozen full of so much undischarged energy that this causes us to stay in a traumatized state. (On a side note, observe animals in nature that have experienced a traumatic brush with death. What is the first thing they do? They shake off the energy, and so must we according to Levine.)
How does this frozen trauma manifest?
Like a valve on a pressure cooker, there must be some kind of release for this pent-up inner energy. The result is โ you guessed it! โ the occurrence of psychosomatic illness (often accompanied by mental and emotional disorders).
Psychosomatic Illness Examples
So what types of psychosomatic illnesses are there?
It would be impossible to list them all, but Iโll give a few examples below:
- Insomnia
- Fibromyalgia
- Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
- Chronic muscle tension
- Heart palpitations
- High blood pressure
- Skin issues (acne, dermatitis, etc.)
- Gastrointestinal issues (e.g., Irritable Bowel Syndrome, indigestion)
- Sexual dysfunction (e.g., erectile dysfunction)
- Headaches and migraines
- Pelvic floor issues
Essentially, psychosomatic illnesses can impact any area of your body, whether inside or outside.ย
A Call to Adventure
As distressing as psychosomatic disorders are, thereโs a deep calling inherent in them:
Theyโre a call to awaken the healer within us; to go soul searching, uncover what is distressing us, listen to our soulโs deeper needs, and find freedom again.ย
Of course, some people might understandably be skeptical about attributing any โhigherโ meaning to their illness. That is fine, at the end of the day weโve got to take what resonates and throw away the rest.ย
But Iโve personally found, not just with myself but others too, that unveiling the deeper meaning behind our suffering and seeing it as what mythologist Joseph Campbell calls โa call to adventureโ is empowering and healing.
Holocaust survivor, neurologist, and psychiatrist Viktor Frankl refers to the transformative power of finding meaning โlogotherapy.โ Indeed, finding a deeper purpose behind his own horrific pain and trauma in the nazi death camps helped him to survive, and eventually, find the will to thrive.ย
Pain as a Spiritual Wake-Up Call
To build on top of the previous section, another reason why pain can manifest in our bodies is that it is serving as a spiritual wake-up call.
So many of us live our lives constantly dissociated from our bodies, disconnected from the present moment, and living in the world of the mind. Such an existence is what Buddhists would call โdukkha,โ that is, fundamentally unsatisfying, stressful, and empty.ย
If along with physical pain, you regularly experience sensations of feeling empty inside, feeling alone, and feeling like youโre lost in life, your physical suffering may be serving as a loud spiritual wake-up call.
Perhaps hearing that our pain is a wake-up call may sound a little silly, crazy, or even sadistic to you. โRight. But isnโt there a better, more gentle way of having a โwake-upโ call?!โ we might protest.
Illumination Books Bundle:
Illuminate the depths of your heart, mind, and soul with our series of premium books covering sensitivity, solitude, shadow work, the spiritual awakening journey, and more!
The answer is that when weโre profoundly entrenched in mental stories, emotional programming, and various forms of negative societal conditioning, sometimes the only thing that can get our attention is pain โ and a lot of it!
After all, how else would you wake someone up who was deeply asleep? Would you gently whisper to them? Probably not. They wouldnโt hear you! No, youโd probably speak loudly or even shake them awake! The same is true of psychosomatic illnesses, they shake us to awake us!
How to Discover What Your Psychosomatic Illness is โTrying to Tell Youโ
So what is the hidden message behind your pain?ย What is it trying to tell or teach you?
Of course, pain can sometimes just be pain โ its function may simply be to get your attention so you can alleviate it, and thatโs it.
But sometimes psychosomatic pain has a lesson or message for you. It might, for instance, teach you about:
- The undigested emotions associated with it
- The unmetabolized trauma you need to process
- A decision in your life that you need to examineย
- Something you need to let go of ASAP
- A part of your shadow self that you need to explore
- A negative habit you need to correct
- An opportunity for self-love and self-care you can take
- An ancestral wound youโre carrying
Keep in mind the above list isnโt exhaustive and there could be many other lessons buried in your pain.
So how do you discover what your psychosomatic illness is trying to tell you?
The best methods Iโve found are journaling, meditation, visualization, and breathwork. Here are some practices you can try:
- The hand-resting technique (best for specific pain). Get into a relaxed state. Close your eyes. Place your hands over the part of your body that is causing you pain. Send some mindful, soft breaths into that area to release any tension. Then ask internally or out loud, โWhat are you trying to tell me?โ Note any memories, flickering images, words, or sensations that bubble up on the surface of your mind. You can take this mental material and journal about it and ask further clarifying questions such as โWhat does that mean?โ
- The body journeying visualization. In this visualization, youโll be meeting your bodily pain as personified by a garden and a gardener. Relax by lying down somewhere and listening to soft ambient music (sounds of nature are the best to add to the experience). Imagine that youโre standing in a field full of soft grass swaying in the wind. In the distance is a tall gate with a long fence stretching out either side. You canโt see whatโs behind it so you move closer. As you go to open the heavy gate you notice a sign hanging off it saying โWelcome to Your Body.โย You swing open the gate and peer into the garden in front of you. What does it look like? What stands out to you? Take a moment to look around and acclimatize yourself. Suddenly, in the distance, a gardener approaches you. He or she says, โHello, welcome to this garden.โ You then ask whatever questions youโd like to know the answers to. For instance, you might ask, โWhat do I need to know about how to take care of this garden (my body)?โ โWhat does [x,y,z] part of the garden mean?โ and so on. Once youโve finished the conversation, thank the gardener and leave the garden, closing the gate behind you. Once youโre back in the grassy field, return to normal consciousness. Journal about what you learned.
- The body dialoguing journaling technique. Dialoguing with your body can be a simple but illuminating way of uncovering the meaning and lessons behind your psychosomatic illness. Begin your journaling session by addressing the part of your body causing trouble (or whole body if itโs generalized pain). You may like to write, โDear back, neck, chest, etc. what would you like to share with me?โ Close your eyes, let go of any thoughts in your mind and let yourself write without stopping (this is also known as the stream of consciousness technique). Try not to judge yourself, correct your spelling, or stop for any reason, just let your writing flow unhindered. Once youโve stopped, think of another question to ask your body. Keep the conversation flowing until you are satisfied. Thank your body at the end. Reflect on your discoveries.
Sometimes it takes a little practice to tune into the voice of your illness and create that mind-body connection. But choose one practice and keep at it โ you might be wildly surprised by what you discover!
How to Release Psychosomatic Trauma
Trying to suppress or eradicate symptoms on the physical level can be extremely important, but there’s more to healing than that; dealing with psychological, emotional and spiritual issues involved in treating sickness is equally important.
โ Marianne Williamson
As I mentioned earlier, psychosomatic illnesses are often caused by unreleased/unresolved trauma in the mind and frozen in the body. Some psychologists refer to this as โsomatizationโ which is when our inner states of anxiety, heartbreak, and anger are converted into physical distress in the body.
Releasing this frozen energy often requires professional assistance, such as EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) or Somatic Experiencing psychotherapy.
But to equip you with some spiritual resources in the meantime, I want to offer you some ways you can experience relief:
- Hydrate properlyย
- Take an inventory of what you eat (aka. what unhealthy foods can you eliminate and replace with more wholesome options?)
- Exercise each day, even if that just involves gardening or housework
- Try breathwork techniques that help to soothe the mind and body (e.g., pranayama or yogic breathing like Nadi Shodhana)
- Practice consciously shaking your body โ explore TRE or the Tension and Trauma Release Exercise
- Do self-massage each day (my favorite tools are the acuball, acupuncture mat, and theracane)
- Make sleep your priority
- Practice mindfulness and meditation (progressive muscle relaxation and body scanning may be particularly helpful for you)
- Do some gentle stretching or yoga each day (my favorite simple asanas for body pain are cat-cow, childโs pose, seated twist, butterfly pose, and seated forward fold)
- Walk barefoot in nature (if you have grass in your backyard or live near the ocean, let the grounding energy of the earth soothe your body!)
I canโt promise that any of these practices will be a โmagic solutionโ for you, but they have certainly helped me and those I know of who have suffered psychosomatic illnesses.
Final Words
Chronic illness can make us feel debilitated, confused, and weak. And yet, for some, it can trigger a positive existential crisis โ a quest for healing or a call to adventure that awakens the healer within them.ย
For others, psychosomatic illnesses are like wake-up calls that shake us out of our normal autopilot state and sparks the desire to go soul searching.ย
Whatever meaning you attribute to your illness (or not), just know that it can be transformed into a โsacred woundโ that enables you to grow and evolve. Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh once wrote about โbells of mindfulnessโ that occur in our everyday lives, and pain is most certainly one of them!
Do you suffer from a psychosomatic illness? What do you think its purpose, origin, or teaching is? Iโd love to hear from you below in the comments.
Three paths to inner transformation โ hereโs how I can help you go deeper:
1. The Spiritual Wanderer Course: Are you feeling lost, adrift, and unsure of your life's purpose? Gain clarity, focus, and direction on your inner path by uncovering the five archetypes of awakening within you. Learn how to navigate the highs and lows of your inner journey and chart your unique path with 3+ hours of audio-visual content, workbooks, meditations, and a premium test.
2. Shadow & Light Membership: Do you crave consistent support on your spiritual quest? Receive weekly intuitive guidance and learn to embrace your whole self, including your shadow side. Cultivate deeper self-love with our affordable, personalized support.
3. Spiritual Awakening Bundle: Ready to embark on a profound soul-searching adventure? Dive into our collection of essential transformative resources! Explore five illuminating eBooks and seven in-depth journals, plus unlock two special bonuses to empower your spiritual growth.
Beyond Thank you or Kudos on the back for You Both.
Having You as Aussie any of All Angels of my Heart of my being, actually I need You more then ever now…
Hugs First I’m a hugger..
I want to invent a POSITIVE POOF AP…sounds So simple Yet I try not to believe it couldn’t or wish or could cause I sure in Hell would..
No one is PERFECT ..
You can’t buy love ..yet believe to be TOLD to be Thinking true Was All a lie.. go bed at night and wake up in other people’s misery in am…in different states & minds!
Movie material or Book?
Thank you Diana โก
Wonderful articulated and useful. Few times I find articles with content and purpose. Bravo! Keep spreading light & love.. myself I have been experiencing lower back pain since I remember myself young. My path led me to
Be a dancer, a somatic mover and now bit by not intuitive Healer. What amazes me is despite all injuries due to my career, I found out still that pain is constantly relates to be unbalanced, not respect own borders and emotional aware! Never ending process . Yet so blessed that there are so many great people out there and tools to work through trauma and memory of cells!be well dears
“I found out still that pain is constantly relates to be unbalanced, not respect own borders and emotional aware! ” โ wow, this is fascinating Sandy, I love this interpretation (it makes total sense). Thank you for sharing and reading! :-)
My experience of psychosomatic illness has been Persisting and changing states for the last 14 months. My lifestyle definitely has greatly impacted my physical health, but I learned to just flow with it because it was clear to me that my mind is where my focus needed to be. If I focused on my physical self I would have neglected to address the source of my discomfort. Luckily I was in tiptop shape at the beginning of all of this. So mind over matter was the approach I took. I ended up with what is called tortured veins. The result from that was what I believe is referred to as myxedema. During this time I refused to seek medical attention. I still stick by that decision because the one thing I found out about my reality is, my ability to self heal is so greatly powerful. And I contribute that with the fact that I discarded my entire belief system at the beginning of this process. So I accepted that anything I can imagine is possible. So self healing Not only became possible, but it absolutely manifested into my reality. In 2012, my life changed completely. I met the love of my life and weeks later I was diagnosed with HIV. The reason I contracted the disease was crystal clear to me. Because much of my entire life, I knew I would contract it. In the moment I felt I had finally been worthy of receiving this personโs love is the moment I subconsciously imagined what could happen to destroy it. If only I realized then, How powerful of a manifester I was. Through this entire process, I have been able to realize exactly how the universe works in my reality. In 2019, Less than 24 months after my marriage, the end of the relationship is what my next manifestation was. We do not manifest anything on accident. The word accident might as well not even exist in my reality. In fact, Chance is just a name of a person for all Iโm concerned. But I am now starting each day as the new first day of my life until I reach a point where I can wake up and start the second day of my life. And I will do this as many times as it takes. I no longer see anything Iโve ever done in life as a mistake. I see only the idea of making a mistake can transpire when I know itโs a mistake before i make it. I let go of desired outcome. That is to say I can still desire outcome, but no matter what the outcome, I assign equal value to it. Like energy, which is everything, itโs just in one state or another or somewhere in between. But it always in balance and as long as I perceive it that way, it will always remain in balance.
Stay FOCUSED
Simply stunningly beautiful! This is the way we should try to live. Thanks for sharing!
I appreciate you sharing your experiences and perspectives Scott โค
Many thanks to the responses of all! Iโm not making any recommendations or seeking to advise anybody with my statement. It is just my reality. I am not a professional healthcare provider of any sort. I should probably make that clear. Thank you for providing a safe space for sharing.
Thanks so much for this. Iโve become so despondent about my health, both mental and physical, and I know something needs to change. I had a baby last year and I think the upheaval has really triggered some of my past trauma. I would love to know if there is a spiritual guide or someone I could work with, I find it so hard to do the work alone (especially when the baby hasnโt slept well and we are both knackered). I want to heal for both our sakes now โฅ๏ธ
Hi Jeannette, I hear you โก I highly recommend you look into TRE (trauma release exercise) which you can find examples of on youtube โ I think that might be a helpful and simple place to start. You might also like to look into body-centered psychotherapy by doing a google search (there are practitioners who offer online and in-person sessions). Hakomi, somatic experiencing, and bioenergetic psychotherapy are some terms you could look for. Does that help?
It appears that you have covered all the bases of the Psychosomatic Illness quite well.
Perhaps it is a wake up call to gaining a better understanding of self for some people. But not all advance or change at the same rate and time. So perhaps this is one more self discovery to be understood and added to the program.
So thanks for the email on this subject. Stay safe and well.
Be Well To you as well
Thank you John, stay safe and well too โฅ
This is an amazing article and I am amazed at the abundance of information! Thank you! I have suffered from adrenal fatigue for at least 4 years. I went to Dr. after Dr. and no answers. I decided to take a different approach only after I noticed it had gotten worse, to the point my face and lips tingled. I would be exhausted to the point of wanting to collapse. I would also get cold shivers. Since taking a lot of b-12 and have seen a Dr. of alternative medicine I’ve seen an improvement but not complete healing. Since quitting my job last July I feel a little better. I think this article is going to be the cherry on top of healing my body the rest of the way. Many blessings your way!
“I think this article is going to be the cherry on top of healing my body the rest of the way. ” โ beautiful, this is so wonderful to hear Megan. Thank you for reading and sharing! May your healing path bring you exactly what you need most. <3
I wouldnโt know where to start with my lifetime of trauma, but itโs been since childhood. Iโve been riddled with Fibromyalgia because if it. Now, Iโm dealing with estrangement from my adult child who feels that if he canโt treat me poorly, we shouldnโt have a relationship. I have heart pain and shortness of breath and each time Iโm told itโs anxiety. I have a broken heart. I do everything I can to stay here another day; to heal, eat right, exercise, do my deep work, and Iโm still sick. Over 50 years of working on myself while everyone around me remains the same and just as happy as they can beโฆ until I put up a boundary or need to talk about the situation. Iโm so tired. Itโs not that I donโt love myself. One would have to love themselves to make it through what Iโve been through, but Iโm so bitter to have everything Iโve worked hard on to turn out this way. No parents. No child. Barely a marriage. All because I put my foot down and said I wasnโt taking poor treatment or abuse anymore. Iโve been in and out of counseling all my life, have done every program, e-course, book, yoga, tapping, etcโฆ So, it looks as if Iโm too sick to leave and too sick to stay? Now what?
Hi RL, I’m sorry to hear of all the suffering you’re going through, I can sense in your message how much it’s weighing you down. For those who are stuck and haven’t found anything to work or help them, I always recommend the possibility of seeking out plant medicine under the guidance of a trained shaman or facilitator. If you haven’t considered this as a possibility I would think carefully about it and begin doing your own research, it can have the potential to truly transform deep-seated pain. It is an intensely powerful and direct method of healing.
RL, I nearly cried when I read your comment. I also have fibromyalgia, heart palpitations, get short of breath. (Along with other conditions: Lyme, arthritis, anxiety, depression, food allergies, digestive issues, etc.) My heart is also deeply broken. I so relate to your story. I am older as well. But at least you continued to put your foot down. And I am proud of you for doing so! I attempted to set boundaries several times early in my marriage and was met with hostility over and over. I weakened and just “broke”. I have feelings of fear at night, that comes from accumulated trauma. And I’m so burned out, but I push through fatigue and other times I’m so anxious that I’m running on adrenaline. So, no real solutions here, but just reaching out to say that your story touched me so much! And you are not alone! I sincerely hope that you heal!
This was a great article, learning about the spiritual explanation for unexplained illnesses was very thought-provoking. Thank you!!
I’m glad to hear that this article was thought-provoking for you L!
Hi Tammy, I also had a spot on my breast. Went to see my doc and had a biopsy and it turned out to be a B-cell-lymphoma. The doc, a specialist in skin diseases, told me to take antibiotics, which I declined. Instead I told my homeopath about it, and she gave me a remedy. Now, two years later, the spot has almost vanished (of course the specialist told I wouldn’t get rid of it without antibiotics). I never worried too much about it. But I did care about it mentally, I looked up what a B-cell-lymphoma is and how these things occur.
So, your spot is not nessessarily cancer. See your doc and check for it, and see and feel inside what you can do for yourself. Face it! I do hope it’s not cancer!
I am surprised to read this article now.
This is exactly what made me โbreak from the matrixโ completely.
I got a neurological autoimmune illness that affected my eyesight (and I am an illustrator!) โ I did get treatment, but after that, I became a different โ better person.
Luckily, my illness is gone now. I did all sorts of tests, and to this day, no one knows why this happened to me.
This is what this article is about. Wowโฆ
Thank you for sharing this vital information!
P. S. I want to let you know that you helped me through this painful period โ I was reading your articles in the hospital :) And now I have recovered and achieved things I never thought possible.
Thank you, Luna and Sol!
To others in a similar situation: keep going, no matter what. It will be hard, but it will be worth it. No matter how painful, long, or debilitating your illness is, donโt give up. I believe in you.
“I want to let you know that you helped me through this painful period โ I was reading your articles in the hospital :)” โ wow, this means so much Val, I am so deeply honored to hear this. Thank you for your wise words and sharing โก