Becoming Greater Than the Pain: A Lesson from My Back

Sean Greenspan
May 28
2 min read

Nine days ago, I hurt my back. Not in a dramatic way—no fall, no injury to write home about. Just enough to linger, to constantly remind me it’s there. Enough to dominate my thoughts.

But at the same time, I’ve been immersing myself in the teachings of Dr. Joe Dispenza. And that’s when everything shifted.

Dispenza teaches that real transformation begins when we become greater than our body, greater than our mind, and greater than our environment. That means breaking the habit of being our old self—the self that reacts, overthinks, and identifies with pain, fear, and the past.

And it hit me: this pain is a test. A perfectly designed opportunity to apply what I’ve been learning. To choose a new response.

Here’s the science behind it:

A brain made up of countless interconnected neurons.

Our brains are hardwired through repetition. When we repeatedly focus on pain or stress, we reinforce those neural pathways—essentially programming our body to expect discomfort, which then sustains it. This is neuroplasticity in action, for better or worse.

But the opposite is also true. When we intentionally shift our focus—especially to elevated emotional states like gratitude, joy, or wonder—we begin to rewire our brain. We signal to our body that we’re safe, and even more than that, we start to change our biology. Studies show that emotional states influence hormones, immune response, and even gene expression.

So I started practicing. Instead of obsessing over my back, I visualized.

I pictured the coconut trees I lay under in Miami. I saw the golden sunrise cresting over the beach. I imagined how the clouds drifted by overhead. I thought about my fiancée’s joy as she looked at wedding rings. And something remarkable happened.

Looking up at the blue sky and coconut trees.

In those moments, the pain faded.

Not because it was physically gone, but because my attention—my energy—was no longer feeding it. According to Dr. Joe, this is key: the moment you stop firing the same thoughts, feelings, and behaviors, you stop being your “old self.” And the moment you step into the present moment, free from distraction, you open the door to change.

This is how people heal—not just physically, but emotionally and spiritually.

When we enter that deep present moment, our brain shifts from high beta (stress, survival) into alpha and theta—the brainwave states associated with calm, creativity, and deep learning. In this state, our bodies begin to respond differently. The stress hormones lower. Inflammation decreases. And our body, no longer in fight-or-flight, begins to heal.

A man looks toward the distant mountains.

So this back pain? It’s become a blessing.

It’s been my gateway into presence. Into learning how to choose my thoughts, rather than be ruled by them. Into proving to myself that I can be greater than my physical state.

Becoming greater than the pain, that’s what this journey has been about for me.

I don’t believe this happened to me. I believe it happened for me.

And I’ll take that over comfort any day.

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