I had this persistent ache in my shoulder blade that no massage, stretch, or doctor could explain. They said it was muscular tension, maybe stress. It had been over a year. My therapist once said, almost offhandedly, “Who are you carrying on your back?”
I couldn’t stop thinking about that. So I tried something weird. I’d lie in bed and picture my dad—not the version I knew, but a younger version of him, maybe 10 or 12 years old. I’d imagine hugging him and saying, “I release you. You don’t have to carry it either.”
It wasn’t dramatic. I just did it every night for about a week.
Then one morning I woke up and it was just… gone. No tension. No pinch. No pain. I waited for it to come back, thinking it must be a fluke or placebo. But it didn’t.
It’s been six months now. I haven’t felt that pain again.