Dr. Pedram Shojai
Episode Description:
Most people respond to pain with one goal: make it stop. But Dr. Pedram Shojai reveals that pain isn’t a mistake—it’s a message your body is desperately trying to send you. Drawing from decades of treating patients and studying traditional medicine, he teaches you how to separate pain (the raw sensation) from suffering (the story you tell yourself), and decode the specific signals different pain locations are sending about what’s breaking down in your system. Through a guided practice using witness consciousness, you’ll learn to read your body’s language with precision, track patterns like a detective, and finally understand what your pain is actually trying to tell you.
Listen to the episode on Spotify here or on your favorite podcast platform and check out the Urban Monk Academy here.
Podcast show notes:
[00:00:00] Introduction & Holiday Update
- New “Lights On” course launching next week: 52-week program on consciousness
- Today’s topic: Pain as a Teacher
[00:01:00] The Common Response to Pain
- “Make it stop” vs. “What is this trying to tell me?”
- We’ve been taught pain is the enemy
[00:02:00] Pain as a Message, Not a Mistake
- Where pain shows up, how it feels, when it appears – all specific signals
- We never learned to read that language
[00:03:00] Why We’re So Bad at Reading Pain
- Goal: become literate in your own experience
- Developing interoceptive sophistication
[00:04:00] Pain vs. Suffering
- Pain: the raw sensation, the data
- Suffering: psychological reaction – fear, story, catastrophizing
- Example: sharp low back sensation vs. “my life is over”
[00:05:00] Lost Interoceptive Precision
- Vague descriptions: “my back hurts”
- Like calling 911 saying “something’s wrong somewhere”
- Lost ability to locate, describe, and track patterns
[00:06:00] Understanding Pain’s Purpose
- Pain has multiple functions requiring different responses
- Responding to all pain the same way is like turning off the fire alarm
[00:07:00] Six Types of Pain – Part 1
- Acute warning: immediate danger (stepping on glass)
- Inflammatory: healing protection (sprained ankle)
- Chronic: pattern-related (neck pain from posture)
[00:08:00] Six Types of Pain – Part 2
- Referred: problem elsewhere (shoulder pain from gallbladder)
- Neuropathic: nerve damage (sciatica, diabetic neuropathy)
- Emotional: stored trauma (jaw tension from anger)
[00:09:00] The Body’s Pain Map
- Traditional systems mapped pain locations for thousands of years
- Western medicine fragmented this approach
- No one looking at the whole system
[00:10:00] Framework for Location-Specific Pain
- Body is a whole system
- Pain patterns reveal systemic dysfunction
[00:11:00] Head and Neck Region – Headaches
- Frontal: digestive stress, blood sugar, dehydration
- Occipital: cervical spine, posture, vagus nerve
- Temporal: TMJ, gallbladder, vision strain
[00:12:00] Neck Pain Patterns
- Anterior: thyroid, swallowing, “Plum Pit syndrome”
- Posterior: postural collapse, forward head carriage
[00:13:00] Upper Back and Shoulder Pain
- Between shoulder blades: heart, breathing, posture, emotional holding
- Top of shoulders: carrying burdens, over-responsibility
[00:14:00] Mid-Thoracic and Low Back Pain
- Mid-thoracic: organ stress, diaphragm dysfunction
- Low back: hip dysfunction, core weakness, kidney/adrenal stress
[00:15:00] Pelvic and Hip Pain
- Pelvic floor dysfunction, psoas tension, piriformis
- Questions: hip mobility, core function, kidney health
[00:16:00] Five-Step Detective Approach
- Locate precisely with anatomical landmarks
- Describe quality: sharp, dull, burning, aching
- Track patterns and intensity
[00:17:00] Tracking Patterns and Systems
- When does it appear? What makes it worse/better?
- Connect to other systems: digestion, sleep, energy
- What’s the emotional context?
[00:18:00] Guided Exercise Begins
- Identify area of current discomfort
- Don’t try to fix it, just locate it
[00:19:00] Activating Witness Consciousness
- You are not the sensation, you are the awareness
- Take conscious breaths while observing
[00:20:00] Describing with Precision
- Exact location, size, shape
- Quality and intensity
- Precision creates objectivity
[00:21:00] Movement Investigation
- Does deep breath change it?
- Does shoulder rotation affect it?
- Notice patterns
[00:22:00] Investigating Context
- When did this first appear?
- What makes it worse or better?
- What else is happening in your system?
[00:23:00] Reading the Message
- Based on observations, what is your body telling you?
- Example: tension between shoulder blades = posture, breathing, stress holding
[00:24:00] Determining Response
- Address the pattern creating it
- Not just “take ibuprofen and ignore”
- Change posture, restore breathing, process emotion
[00:25:00] Weekly Practice Recommendations
- 3-minute morning body scan before getting out of bed
- Track patterns in journal
- Investigate when you find something significant
[00:26:00] Stop and Adjust During the Day
- Three breaths, activate witness
- Adjust behavior based on message
- Example: back pain while standing – engage core, adjust posture
[00:27:00] Building Interoceptive Literacy
- This takes time, be patient
- Review pain experiences before bed
- Look for patterns and set intentions
[00:28:00] Closing & Course Announcement
- Holiday wishes and New Year plans
- “Lights On” course launching next week
- 52 weeks of turning awareness around and activating consciousness
Key Takeaways
- Pain is a message, not a mistake
- Separate pain (sensation) from suffering (your story about it)
- Six types of pain require different responses
- Practice interoceptive literacy: locate, describe, track patterns
- Daily practice: 3-minute morning body scan and pause when pain appears
Resources Mentioned
- New Course: “Lights On” – 52-week program launching next week
- Previous Weekly Call: Witness Consciousness practice
- Analog Pain Scales for categorizing pain
This episode is for educational purposes only and not intended as medical advice. Consult with qualified healthcare practitioners for personalized guidance.
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