The Way Out: A Revolutionary, Scientifically Proven Approach to Healing Chronic Pain

The next time my back hurt, I tried somatic tracking. But this time something was different. I had a clear goal: I wanted the pain to go away. I was no longer exploring the sensation with authentic curiosity. I was no longer enjoying the experience. I was frustrated and impatient and definitely not feeling like a Jedi. And the pain persisted. In th

That’s outcome independence—when we’re able to feel successful regardless of the outcome. The doing is more important than the result. And we want to approach somatic tracking the same way.

Okay, that’s actually a good thing, because we want to explore your pain. So I’d like you to get comfortable . . . close your eyes . . . and bring your attention to your back. All we’re doing is exploring the sensation of pain in your back. You don’t need to get rid of the pain, you don’t need to change it—you just need to observe it.

Paying attention with lightness is an important component of somatic tracking. Scientists study positive affect by having subjects look at happy images, watch funny videos, or listen to joyful music. Experiments like this show that when people’s moods are lightened, they are better at overcoming pain-related fear.

Remember the climactic scene from The Wizard of Oz: Dorothy, the Scarecrow, the Tin Man, and the Cowardly Lion are all tracking the wizard with intensity. Sometimes they’re scared of him, and sometimes they’re angry, but they’re always intense. Meanwhile, Toto has zero intensity. He’s just a curious pup, sniffing around. “Sniff, sniff, sniff. Ooh,

The first component of somatic tracking is mindfulness. Many people associate mindfulness with meditation or Eastern philosophy, but it’s actually quite simple. Jon Kabat-Zinn, who helped popularize mindfulness in the West, defines it as “paying attention, on purpose, in the present moment, non-judgmentally.” And that’s exactly what Janet is doing

One thing that helped with somatic tracking was changing the language that I used. When I thought of it as “pain,” that felt like something I needed to get rid of. I started thinking of it as just “a sensation,” and that helped me feel like I didn’t have to fix it.

Me: You’re just watching your back to see what happens. You’re just an observer. These are completely safe sensations. Your brain may misinterpret them as pain sometimes, but they are safe. What do you notice happening in your back? Janet: It’s not pulsing anymore. It’s steadier. And still more spread out. It hurts less than before. Me: That’s grea

That’s the plot of The Wizard of Oz, but it’s also the plot of Pain Reprocessing Therapy. Neuroplastic pain feels great and powerful. It certainly hurts like it’s great and powerful. It seems scary, like it’s caused by something dangerous in your body. But it’s not actually dangerous. Once we expose it as a mistake made by our brains, it loses its