You know the feeling. A deadline lands, a hard conversation happens at home, and within days your neck seizes up or your lower back gives out over something as small as picking up a pen. It can feel random. It almost never is.

In this episode of Finding Sanctuary, chiropractor and clinical Pilates instructor Theodora Ghali and osteopath Sami Karam sit down with Debbie and Nat to explore a question many of us have never been asked: does your body hold your emotions?

Key Takeaways

  • Your nervous system was designed for short bursts of stress, not constant pressure. When it stays switched on, chronic pain can follow.
  • Unspoken emotional stress often shows up physically first, in tension, headaches, poor sleep and injuries that refuse to heal.
  • Sleep, diet and exercise are the entry point to recovery. Get those three right and you have sorted a large part of your health.
  • Breathwork calms the nervous system and reconnects the mind with the body.
  • You are not meant to carry stress alone. Community, professional help and faith all have a place in healing.

Your Nervous System Was Built for Short Bursts, Not Constant Pressure

Theodora explains it simply. Your fight or flight response is like the gas pedal in a car. When stress hits, your heart pumps faster, your muscles tense and your body readies itself to act. Then your rest and digest system is meant to take over and calm everything back down.

The trouble starts when that switch never flips. Stay in fight or flight long enough and your body keeps producing adrenaline and cortisol, your muscles stay braced for a battle that never comes, and blood flow to those muscles drops. That, Theodora says, is how chronic pain develops.

As Debbie puts it in the episode, the body ends up always preparing for battle.

When the Body Says What You Will Not

Sami has spent more than twenty years in private practice, and he is clear about his role. He is not fixing anyone. He moves things out of the way so the body can regulate itself.

What he sees again and again are patients presenting with seemingly ordinary complaints, back pain, neck pain, an injury that will not settle, where the real story sits underneath. He describes it as layers of injury, like an onion. The physical problem is real and deserves care, but there is often emotional stress wrapped around it, slowing recovery down.

For many of us, especially in communities where mental health is still hard to talk about, a sore back is easier to admit to than a heavy heart. As Nat observes, sometimes the physical is the only thing we can metabolise. The emotional load gets pushed aside, but we carry it anyway. It has to go somewhere.

Two Stories That Show the Body Keeps Score

Theodora shares the story of a teenage patient with relentless headaches and nausea. Every scan and blood test came back clear. Then, mid treatment, Theodora put a hand on her shoulder and asked one question: how is school? The answer poured out. She was being bullied, and her body had been saying so for months. With the right support, and a change of school, her symptoms eased within the year.

Sami tells of a middle aged man whose back pain simply would not resolve. Every answer in his case history was anchored to one event: before my father passed away, after my father passed away. His grief had become his timeline. Naming it, gently and directly, opened the door to real recovery.

Sleep, Diet and Exercise: Your Entry Point Back to Health

So where do you start if stress has taken up residence in your body? Sami offers a refreshingly practical answer. Look at the low hanging fruit first. Sleep, diet and exercise are the three biggest levers you can pull, and getting them right sorts out a large portion of your health, including your mental health.

Rather than trying to unravel everything at once, start small. A regular walk. A proper breakfast. A consistent bedtime. The body is geared for survival, Sami reminds us. Sometimes you just need to get out of its way.

The Breath Connects the Mind and the Body

Theodora found her way to clinical Pilates through a simple discovery: you can help someone by teaching them how to breathe. Focusing on breath and controlled movement quiets the mind, calms the nervous system and rebuilds the connection between how you feel and how you move. Many of her clients walk out sore but lighter.

You Are Not Meant to Carry This Alone

Perhaps the most important message in this conversation is the simplest. Stress is not the problem. As Theodora says, the problem is not recovering well from stress. And recovery rarely happens in isolation.

Seek help when you need it. Talk to your GP, your allied health practitioner or a psychologist. Lean on your community. And if faith is part of your life, Sami offers this: prayer is powerful, and it is always a good starting point.

Take the Next Step

If this conversation resonated with you, listen to the full episode of Finding Sanctuary. And if stress is showing up in your body or your home, Hills Sanctuary House offers support, community and resources for individuals, couples and families. Visit hshl.org.au to find out more. You do not have to carry it alone.