Pain is never just about the body. Whether it’s a stiff shoulder, a tight hip, or a lower back that flares up at the worst times, chronic pain often tells a story—one that involves more than muscles, joints, and nerves.
It's a story about fear, frustration, and the quiet conversations between our brain and body that often go unnoticed.
Understanding those conversations is at the heart of somatic tracking, a practice rooted in neuroscience that invites us to relate to our pain differently—not with resistance or urgency, but with curiosity and compassion. At its core, somatic tracking teaches one of the most radical lessons in healing: sometimes, the way we think about pain can turn the volume up or down more than anything else.
The Story Beneath the Symptoms
Imagine a person with a healed injury—say, a back fracture from years ago. The bones have knitted, the MRIs are clean, yet the pain remains. It’s not uncommon. This kind of “invisible” chronic pain can feel defeating and mysterious.
But it’s not mysterious to neuroscience. In fact, thousands of functional MRI (fMRI) studies now show that people with chronic pain process pain in different regions of the brain—not in the sensory areas, but in areas related to memory, emotion, and fear.
Pain becomes learned. Not made up—not imaginary—but amplified and ingrained. The nervous system becomes overprotective, sending loud alarms even when no physical danger exists.
This understanding doesn't deny the reality of pain. It reframes it: pain is real, and it’s coming from the brain.
How Pain and the Brain Interact
Nerves in the body don’t feel pain directly. They detect pressure, heat, stretch, vibration, and other inputs. These signals are then sent to the brain, which interprets them.
And here’s the catch: the same nerve signal can feel very different depending on how the brain perceives it.
Take two people stretching their hamstrings. One might feel a soothing release. The other might feel a sharp, alarming jolt—even though their bodies are doing the exact same thing. The difference isn’t in the stretch. It’s in the brain’s interpretation of the stretch.
This is why past injuries, stress levels, emotional memories, and even your beliefs about pain all shape what you physically feel.
The Fight-or-Flight Loop
Our nervous systems are wired to protect us. But when the body is stuck in a chronic stress state (fight, flight, or freeze), the brain becomes hyper-vigilant. It starts interpreting neutral sensations as threats.
Something as simple as sitting on a plane, walking on a beach, or bending to tie your shoe can feel dangerous to a nervous system that has been conditioned by pain, injury, trauma, or fear.
And in these moments, many people spiral:
“Why is this happening again?”
“I’ve done everything right—why am I still hurting?”
“I can’t trust my body.”
These thoughts aren’t just mental noise. They are part of the physiological pain loop. Neuroscience has shown that fear, worry, and self-criticism are three of the biggest amplifiers of chronic pain.
The good news? This loop can be interrupted. That’s where somatic tracking comes in.
What Is Somatic Tracking?
Somatic tracking is a psychological technique that helps calm pain by observing bodily sensations in a non-reactive, non-fearful way. It’s not about ignoring pain or pretending it doesn’t exist. It’s about creating space between the sensation and the story we attach to it.
Rather than fighting pain or catastrophizing it, somatic tracking teaches the brain:
“I feel this… and I’m safe.”
Here’s how it works.
Technique 1: Notice, Name, and Note
This technique begins with tuning into the body calmly. When a sensation arises—tightness, heat, buzzing, ache—you:
Notice it without judgment.
Name it with a word: “throb,” “sharp,” “tight.”
Note it like an observer, as if watching a leaf float down a river.