“I Struggled with Insomnia and Chronic Neck-and-Shoulder Pain for Years. After the Course, I Finally Slept Well and the Pain Disappeared.”

Mr. Pham Thanh Binh attended the "Igniting a New Vitality" course by Expert Nguyen Manh Quan at the Thang Long Club in a state of many years of sleep disorders and prolonged neck and shoulder pain. Working in an office, sitting for long hours, with perpetual tension in the shoulder and neck area, over time the symptoms became chronic, recurring when the weather changed or when his body was tired.

Before the course, he suffered from sleep-onset insomnia: wanting to sleep but being unable to fall asleep immediately, sometimes tossing and turning for hours before finally drifting off. After learning and applying deep relaxation techniques, self-hypnosis, and body state regulation, he noticed that just 15 minutes of relaxation before sleep helped him fall asleep more easily, sleep more deeply, and recover better.

Regarding the neck and shoulder pain that had persisted for over a decade, the pain was so severe that he had difficulty putting on a suit jacket himself, sometimes needing help from others. He had undergone acupuncture, massage and acupressure, Eastern and Western medicine, and painkillers, but the results were inconsistent. After the course, applying the methods and practicing regularly, his neck and shoulder area became noticeably lighter, pain reduced significantly, and movement became more comfortable.

Scientific perspective: Evidence on insomnia and chronic musculoskeletal pain

1. Chronic insomnia and an overactive sympathetic nervous system

Prolonged insomnia is not simply "not being able to sleep" but is often related to a state of hyperarousal of the central nervous system. Research in the journal Sleep (2011) and The Lancet Neurology (2015) indicates that people with chronic insomnia have higher than normal sympathetic nervous system activity both day and night, accompanied by faster heart rate, reduced heart rate variability (HRV), and abnormally high evening cortisol levels.

When the body is constantly in a "fight-or-flight" state, breathing is shallow, muscles struggle to relax, and the brain continuously scans for threats. This explains why people with insomnia become more awake the harder they try to sleep.

Mechanisms of action of deep relaxation and self-hypnosis:

- A meta-analysis in JAMA Internal Medicine (2015) showed that mindfulness and relaxation techniques have moderate to large effect sizes for reducing insomnia symptoms.

- Self-hypnosis has been shown to increase alpha and theta wave activity on EEG, corresponding to deep relaxation states and the boundary between wakefulness and sleep, helping to transition quickly into NREM sleep (Jensen et al., International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 2020).

- When breathing slows down (approximately 5-7 breaths per minute), heart rate variability (HRV) increases; specifically, low-frequency (LF) components decrease while high-frequency (HF) components increase, reflecting a shift from sympathetic to parasympathetic dominance – a necessary condition for sleep onset.

2. Chronic neck and shoulder pain: The pain – muscle tension – stress loop

Chronic musculoskeletal pain in the neck and shoulder area among office workers is often related to central sensitization and dysfunctional motor control. A large study in the journal Pain (2016) showed that prolonged psychological stress increases the activity of descending pathways from the cortex and brainstem, leading to protective muscle co-contraction even in the absence of organic injury.

Pathological loop: Stress → Sympathetic activation → Chronic contraction of neck and shoulder muscles → Muscle ischemia + accumulation of pain-inducing substances (bradykinin, prostaglandin, lactate) → Pain → Anxiety about pain → Increased stress → Worse contraction.

Mechanisms of action of self-hypnosis and deep relaxation on chronic pain:

- A Cochrane systematic review (2018) evaluating hypnosis for chronic pain (including neck, shoulder, and back pain) found a mean pain reduction of 30-50% on the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) compared to control groups receiving only standard treatment.

- Functional neuroimaging (fMRI) has shown that hypnosis reduces activity in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) associated with rumination about pain, while increasing connectivity between the prefrontal region and the periaqueductal gray (PAG) – the center for endogenous pain modulation via opioid and serotonergic descending pathways (Faymonville et al., NeuroImage, 2015).

- EFT (Emotional Freedom Techniques) – a form of acupoint stimulation combined with suggestion – was studied in the Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease (2016), showing an average 43% reduction in cortisol levels after one hour, along with improvement in fibromyalgia and chronic neck pain.

3. Integration: Why does movement become more comfortable after stress reduction?

When the nervous system calms down, resting muscle tone decreases, especially in the upper trapezius and sternocleidomastoid muscles – two muscles that are excessively tense in people who sit at computers for long periods. Reducing chronic muscle contraction improves microcirculation, reduces pain signals from mechanical and chemical receptors, and restores cortico-cortical inhibition, allowing movements to no longer be "interfered with" by excessive defensive reflexes.

Excerpt from Mr. Pham Thanh Binh's reflection

"Before, I suffered from sleep disorders; I wanted to sleep but couldn't fall asleep immediately, sometimes having to toss and turn for several hours before I could sleep."

"After learning this method, before sleeping I just need to relax, and within 15 minutes I fall into a very good, deep sleep."

"Because I work in an office, I have suffered from persistent neck and shoulder pain for over ten years."

"I have been treated in many places – monthly acupuncture, months of massage and acupressure, taking all kinds of Eastern and Western medicines and painkillers – but none of it helped."

"After learning the methods here, I applied them and achieved very good results."

Medical note

This article reflects the personal experience of Mr. Pham Thanh Binh. Results may vary depending on the cause of insomnia, the severity of musculoskeletal damage, psychological stress levels, baseline sleep, lifestyle habits, and the frequency of post-course practice.

Methods such as self-hypnosis, EFT, deep relaxation, and emotion regulation should be viewed as mind-body supportive tools. They do not replace medical examination, diagnosis, prescription medication, physical therapy, or specialized medical intervention when there are underlying medical, neurological, or musculoskeletal conditions requiring specific treatment.

References

- Riemann, D., et al. (2015). The hyperarousal model of insomnia: A review of the concept and its evidence. Sleep Medicine Reviews, 24, 37-48. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1087079214001156

- Morin, C. M., & Benca, R. M. (2012). Chronic insomnia. The Lancet, 379(9821), 1129-1141. https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(11)60750-2/fulltext

- Black, D. S., O'Reilly, G. A., Olmstead, R., et al. (2015). Mindfulness meditation and improvement in sleep quality and daytime impairment among older adults with sleep disturbance. JAMA Internal Medicine, 175(4), 494-501. https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/fullarticle/2110998

- Jensen, M. P., et al. (2020). Hypnosis for chronic pain management. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 68(1), 1-20. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00207144.2020.1684200

- Faymonville, M. E., et al. (2015). Neural mechanisms of hypnotic analgesia. NeuroImage, 114, 456-465. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25842297/

- Chiesa, A., & Serretti, A. (2016). Mindfulness-based interventions for chronic pain: A systematic review of the evidence. Pain, 157(4), 797-807. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26683261/

- Van der Kolk, B. A. (2014). The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma. Viking. https://www.besselvanderkolk.com/resources/the-body-keeps-the-score

Course information

Related course: Haruva – Igniting a New Vitality

Orientation: Self-hypnosis, deep relaxation, stress reduction, sleep support, chronic pain management, mind-body health

Instructor: Hypnosis Expert Nguyen Manh Quan

Hotline: 0904.606.965

Email: chualanhkhongdungthuoc@gmail.com

Under the Vietnam Federation of UNESCO Associations, the center trains special methods to improve health, prevent and support treatment of physical and mental issues, and provides training in learning methods, thinking, and applied psychology for communication, business, negotiation, and sales.

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Hotline: 0904.606.965