Dear Neck Tension: It Was Never About the Pillow (It Was the Pain I Never Said Out Loud)
✨ Content is free—but crows like snacks.
🖤 A Love Letter to the Pain That Was Never About My Pillow
“The body weeps the tears the eyes refuse to shed.”
— Dr. John Sarno (aka the OG TMS Whisperer)
Neck tension is the friend who overstays their welcome. Shows up at 7AM uninvited. Wears your hoodie. Drinks your coffee. Sits heavy on your shoulders like a ghost of guilt and says, “Remember that thing you didn’t say? I do.”
And I used to blame everything else.
Wrong pillow.
Bad posture.
Not enough yoga.
Too much yoga.
Heavy bags.
Heavy burdens.
Bad genes.
Bad luck.
Bad mattress.
Bad vibes.
But eventually, the timeline cracked.
And I had to admit—maybe my neck wasn’t broken.
Maybe it was just holding on to truths I refused to carry consciously.
🧠 So What Even Is TMS?
Let’s drop the mystery curtain.
TMS = Tension Myoneural Syndrome (coined by Dr. John Sarno), aka when the body plays translator for feelings you’ve denied, repressed, or slammed into a shame drawer labeled “Not Now.”
“The body is not a battlefield. It’s a billboard.”
— Steven Ray Ozanich
TMS symptoms are real. Not fake. Not in your head. But the cause? Often emotional—not structural.
Your back pain?
Might be a boundary issue.
Your jaw tension?
Unspoken resentment.
Your neck stiffness?
The psychic weight of being the one who always holds it together.
🧠📦 The Neck: Storage Unit for “I Should’ve Said Something”
Louise Hay once said neck pain represents refusing to see both sides of a situation or stubbornness. And honey, when I heard that, I cracked louder than my chiropractor ever could.
Because the neck is the bridge.
Head to heart.
Logic to feeling.
The mind that knows better vs. the body that still hurts anyway.
I realized I was holding decades of:
Words I swallowed so others wouldn’t feel uncomfortable
Guilt over things I couldn't undo
Fear of being wrong or too much or not enough
I wasn’t sore from sleeping wrong.
I was sore from self-abandonment.
😅 The TMS Pattern: A Loui Crow Translation
TMS doesn't ask, "What's wrong with your body?"
It asks, "What are you still carrying for someone else?"
And because the subconscious is a drama queen with a flair for symbolism, your pain shows up like a stage play:
Neck = What are you turning away from?
Shoulders = What are you carrying that isn’t yours?
Jaw = What aren’t you saying?
Back = Who stabbed you, and did you forgive them or just file it away?
✨ Healing Is Not Linear. It’s Weird. It’s Emotional. It’s Real.
I didn’t “cure” my pain by doing neck stretches or icing my spine.
I healed by sobbing in my car after finally speaking my truth.
By journaling the words I never sent.
By screaming “NO” into a pillow and laughing hysterically afterward.
I healed by realizing:
My body wasn’t attacking me.
It was defending me.
From feelings I didn’t feel safe to feel.
And once I gave myself permission to feel them?
My neck finally exhaled.
My shoulders dropped.
My back sighed like an old man on a porch swing.
📜 The Loui Crow Spell for Neck Tension (TMS Edition)
🪽 What to do:
Write a letter to the person you’ve been holding tension about.
(Don’t send it. Burn it, bless it, flush it.)Stretch—not to fix, but to feel. Let the emotion move, not just the muscle.
Put one hand on your neck and say: “This isn’t punishment. This is protection that’s ready to retire.”
🗣️ What to say:
“I forgive myself for the silence.
I release the story that pain keeps me safe.
I hear my body. I trust my truth.
I don’t need to carry this anymore.”
🎬 Finishing move:
Turn your head gently, left and right.
Say, “I’m allowed to see things differently now.”
🪶 Exit line:
Pain speaks in metaphors.
I’m finally listening with love.
🧠 Want More?
▶️ Watch: Healing Back Pain – Dr. John Sarno
📚 Read: The Great Pain Deception – Steven Ray Ozanich
🎤 Listen to Your Rage (but don’t marry it)
📌 Bookmark: Louicrow.com/eat-feel-repeat
