Pain, Thought, and Consciousness: From Neuroscience to Syd Banks

As therapists, we often sit at the crossroads of two worlds. On one side is modern pain science, grounded in neuroscience and physiology. On the other is the timeless wisdom of mystics and yogis, who remind us that experience itself is a creation of consciousness. At first glance, these perspectives seem far apart. But if we look closely, they are not only compatible—they are layered, with the spiritual view encompassing the scientific.

The Neuroscience of Pain

Over the past few decades, pain science has shifted dramatically. The old model—that pain is a direct signal of tissue damage—has been overturned. Instead, pain is now understood as an output of the nervous system, not an input.

The brain is constantly predicting whether the body is under threat. It integrates sensory input from muscles, joints, and skin with past experiences, emotional state, and context. When the balance tips toward danger, the brain generates the experience we call pain.

This explains why:

• People with severe injuries sometimes feel no pain in the moment (the nervous system suppresses it to allow escape).
  
  
• Others with no tissue damage experience excruciating chronic pain (the nervous system has learned to predict threat where there is none).
  
  
• Placebo and nocebo effects are real and measurable—belief and expectation directly alter the perception of pain.
  
  

For us as therapists, this model is empowering. It means that by changing inputs—through touch, movement, education, and reassurance—we can shift the nervous system’s predictions and help clients experience less pain.

Syd Banks and the Mystical View of Experience

Now let’s step back even further. The Scottish mystic Syd Banks, whose teachings are carried forward by people like Michael Neill, suggested a radical principle: we don’t experience the world directly—we experience our thoughts about the world.

According to Banks, all of reality as we know it is created moment by moment through three universal principles:

• Mind: the universal intelligence behind life.
  
  
• Consciousness: the capacity to be aware.
  
  
• Thought: the creative force that shapes our individual experience.
  
  

In this view, pain, fear, sadness, and even joy are not caused by external circumstances. They are brought into being by Thought within Consciousness. When thought stops, what remains is a direct encounter with reality itself—what yoga traditions describe as sat-chit-ananda (being, consciousness, bliss).

This isn’t just psychology. It’s ontology. It’s saying that experience is thought, and without thought, the world as we know it does not appear.

The Synthesis: A Nested Model of Reality

Here’s the insight: neuroscience and mysticism aren’t in conflict. They are nested.

• Neuroscience describes how the system creates an experience like pain. It explains the mechanisms: predictive coding, neural networks, conditioned responses.
  
  
• Syd Banks’ teaching describes what the system fundamentally is: Consciousness using Thought to generate all experience.
  
  

In other words, neuroscience is a subset of the larger mystical principle. It tells us what’s happening inside the thought-created reality, but it doesn’t address the fact that reality itself is always mediated by thought.

Seen this way, Banks’ mystical view doesn’t replace neuroscience—it contains it. It’s simply a higher level of awareness.

Implications for Bodywork and Pain Relief

So why does this matter for those of us working with pain?

Because our clients’ suffering isn’t only mechanical, or only neurological—it’s also perceptual and existential. Every technique we use, every word we speak, every ounce of presence we bring is interacting with the client on all three levels at once:

1. Mechanical / Practical Level
   
   
• Releasing trigger points, mobilizing tissue, facilitating movement.
  
  
• These change the raw inputs into the nervous system.
  
  
2. Neuroscience Level
   
   
• Shifting the brain’s predictions of threat and safety.
  
  
• Helping the client understand that pain does not equal damage.
  
  
3. Mystical Level
   
   
• Inviting the client into the recognition that their experience is thought-created.
  
  
• Pain is real, but it is not absolute—it is part of a larger field of consciousness.
  
  

When a therapist holds this awareness, the session itself changes. We’re not just fixing tissue or even retraining neural circuits—we are helping another human being remember that their suffering is not the whole of who they are.

Conclusion: Science and Spirit as One Continuum

For therapists, embracing both neuroscience and mysticism opens a broader horizon. Neuroscience grounds us in practical tools and explanations. Mysticism reminds us that the entire human experience—including pain—is thought in consciousness.

These aren’t competing models. They are layers of the same truth. The mystical perspective includes the scientific. And both, when integrated, can help us guide our clients not just to pain-free movement, but toward a deeper freedom in how they relate to their own experience.

As bodywork therapists, we can use more than clinical techniques to help our clients.  We can set the example of our own calm nervous system to downregulate theirs.  We can become so present and aware that we create energetic containers that naturally invite our clients to know themselves deeply, reimagine their experience and help them on the journey back to their soul’s true home.