Beyond Managing Pain: The Science of Rewiring the Brain for Recovery
You don’t have to just ‘cope’ with persistent pain. By understanding the science of how pain is created in the brain, you can shift from managing symptoms to creating lasting change.
When Sally first contacted me, it wasn’t to discuss her pain. She found me whilst searching for solutions for her daughter—who’d been struggling with chronic fatigue syndrome for nearly seven years.
Whilst doing her research she listened to audio book - Part 1 of the Lightning Process.
That’s when something clicked.
As she listened, she suddenly realised: “Wait… the pain in my leg—that’s been there for years—is this what they mean by chronic pain?”
She had lived with that pain for over a decade. Physios, chiropractors, treatments, scans—you name it, she’d tried it. And yet, the pain remained. When I asked when it began, she remembered an old sports injury from fifteen years ago. That’s when it clicked: this wasn’t an injury anymore. It was chronic pain—a ‘pain memory’ wired into her brain.
That moment of realisation marked the beginning of her recovery. Because once you understand what’s really causing persistent pain, you can finally do something about it.
Why Pain Persists
As humans we generally assume that pain equals injury—that if you feel pain, something must be wrong with your body. But modern neuroscience tells a more empowering story.
The International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP) defines pain as “an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with, or resembling that associated with, actual or potential tissue damage.” (IASP, 2020)
This definition of pain highlights that all pain has a sensory AND emotional experience and can be generated by actual or perceived potential tissue damage. Pain is a real experience - and it’s created and processed in the brain.
The research from neuroscientist and pain specialist Professor Lorimer Moseley and his team shows once tissues have healed, pain can continue—not because the body is damaged, but because the brain’s protective systems are stuck on high alert. The brain keeps sounding the alarm even when there’s no fire to put out.
An insight from the research on recovery shows that education changes pain. Understanding pain biology reduces fear and threat perception - which can reduce pain intensity - literally reprogramming brain activity.
Here are some key insights from modern pain science to help upgrade your knowledge.
The 5 Key Insights That Transform Chronic Pain
1. Pain is real — and always produced by the brain.
Every pain experience, from a stubbed toe to long-term back pain, is generated in the brain. That doesn’t make it imagined or “all in your head”— it’s a genuine brain-based experience.
2. Pain does not equal tissue damage
Pain is a protective mechanism — the brain’s assessment of threat, not a direct measure of tissue state. Most people are surprised to learn that you can have pain where there is no tissue damage. Maybe there was damage at one time, but pain can keep occurring long after the tissue has healed. This is why Pain Specialists classify pain as ‘chronic’” after 3-6 months.
3. Chronic pain is an overprotective system, not a broken body
Pain often persists because the brain’s alarm system has become hypersensitive—not because of ongoing injury. Your nervous system can become sensitised to perceived threat and generate neuroplastic pain - but it can also calm down. Neural pathways that once fired in protection and can be retrained towards safety.
4. Multiple factors influence pain — it’s never just ‘structural’
Pain is influenced by biological, social and psychological factors - so your thoughts, emotions, beliefs, meaning, expectations and environment will influence how painful something feels. Stress, anxiety, poor sleep, fear of injury, or worry about the future can amplify pain - calm and confidence can quieten it.
5. You can retrain your brain and change your pain.
You don’t have to ‘manage’ or put up with persistent pain. Through neuroplasticity—the brain’s ability to rewire—you can reshape how your nervous system responds and switch off over sensitised pathways triggering pain.
Empowering yourself with the knowledge, skills and support to rewire your brain enables you to resolve persistent pain.
The Simple Solution: Retrain the Brain
Once you understand that persistent pain is a learned response—not a permanent condition—you can begin the process of retraining your brain. That’s the foundation of the Lightning Process®: a three-day training that helps people rewire their brain and nervous system to respond appropriately to life again.
Through guided coaching and practical tools, I teach you how to interrupt the old pain pathways and create new, healthier ones. It’s not about ignoring pain—it’s about teaching your brain that you are safe.
Is This You?
If you’ve tried everything—therapies, treatments, supplements and scans, and the pain still lingers. And you’re curious about neuroscience and ready to explore a new, evidence-based approach to healing.
Then this is your invitation. It’s time to step beyond managing pain—and start transforming it.
Join me for the Lightning Process with Liz and learn how to retrain your brain, switch off chronic pain, and rediscover the freedom your body is capable of.
Chronic Back, Neck and Pelvic Pain, Fibromyalgia, Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS), Migraines and more. These are some of the common conditions that people come to resolve.
Start your journey to transforming pain today by downloading Part 1 of the Lightning Process or book a discovery call to chat with me about your particular situation.
Hi I’m Liz.
Health & Mindset Coach and Advanced Lightning Process® Practitioner.
I specialise in empowering people stuck with chronic symptoms with the knowledge, skills and support to reclaim their health and transform their life.
If you are ready to learn how to influence your mind-body connection, join me on my next Lightning Process seminar, either online or in Sydney. Check out the next training dates here.
Want to know more about how we can work together, contact me for a free 20 minute discovery call.
