Let’s clear something up. The problem was never that you weren’t trying hard enough. You’ve done the planks, the core exercises, and tried every rehab tip out there. But maybe all that effort was focused on the wrong thing. With long-term back pain, it’s less about your muscles and more about your nervous system getting stuck in a protective mode. I know talk about the nervous system is everywhere these days, but stick with me. I’ve used Pilates to help the nervous system for years, well before it became a popular trend.
Is Chronic Back Pain All in Your Head? Here’s What’s Really Happening
I want to make one thing clear right away: saying your nervous system is involved doesn’t mean your pain isn’t real or that it’s just in your head. You really do feel pain in your back. But pain is actually an output, a message your brain creates from the signals it gets, and its main job is to keep you safe.
When you first hurt your back, your brain gets a signal that something’s wrong and responds with pain. That’s normal—the pain is there to protect you and stop you from making it worse. But over time, your nervous system can get stuck and keep sending pain signals, even when there’s no real danger anymore. Your body keeps getting the message to stay tense, as if something bad is about to happen.
How Pushing Through Back Pain Can Keep You in Pain
If you’re anything like I was, you might still doubt that your pain is coming from a nervous system that’s stuck. Maybe you’re thinking, "That’s not me. I’m not scared to move," or "I don’t let pain stop me. I always push through."
You might have heard of pain-avoidance theory, which says that people who avoid activities because they’re afraid of pain are more likely to end up with chronic pain. There’s a lot of research behind this, and it’s often the first explanation doctors use for chronic pain—“It must just be fear.”
But there’s another way people get stuck in pain. Some people, called “endurance responders,” don’t avoid movement—they actually push themselves too much. Their motto is “don’t let fear or pain win,” but sometimes this attitude can slow down their recovery.
I remember dealing with my own chronic injury—not my back, but the same kind of nervous system problem. When I first got hurt, I was determined not to become afraid of movement. So I did the opposite and kept pushing, even when my body was telling me to stop. I thought I was being tough, until my physio calmly told me:
"You know your nervous system doesn't trust you anymore. It keeps sending you these signals that it's not ready, but you keep ignoring it. So it has to keep making the signals louder — sometimes even when it's safe."
The penny finally dropped.
What Your Nervous System Needs for Chronic Back Pain
So if it's not your back that needs strengthening, and you don't want to avoid movement, but you also don't want to push through pain and ignore it — you may well be asking, "Where does that leave me?"
The answer is simple, but not easy.
A nervous system that’s on guard won’t respond to force. If you keep pushing when your body is already tense, it just pushes back harder to protect itself. You can’t fix this by just thinking positive. You can’t talk your nervous system into feeling safe—it either does or it doesn’t. If you keep ignoring what your body is telling you, it will take time for your nervous system to trust you again.
Here’s the truth: If you’re used to ignoring your body and pushing through, being told to listen to it can feel frustrating. But that’s how your nervous system learns to trust you again. If you keep fighting your body instead of working with it, your nervous system—and your pain—will stay stuck.
Why Reformer Pilates Can Help With Back Pain
So why does a Reformer help so much with back pain? People used to think it was just about strengthening your core. That can happen, but the real benefit is how the Reformer helps your nervous system get unstuck. That has to happen before you can really build strength.
The springs on the Reformer aren’t just there for resistance, and the moving carriage is more than just a balance challenge. The Reformer acts like a big feedback tool, giving your nervous system more information. When you pay attention and respond to that feedback, your body can find movements that feel good. This skill is called interoception, and research shows it can help with pain. You don’t need to remember the term—just know that when you listen to your body, your nervous system starts to trust you again and doesn’t need to shout for your attention.
There’s another part of this skill—interoception—that’s important to mention. Many of us with chronic pain have started to rely on “experts” for guidance, thinking our physio, trainer, or Pilates instructor always knows best and needs to watch us move. As a physio, I used to think I had all the answers. But as I learned more about interoception and the nervous system, I realized my job wasn’t to tell people exactly how to move. Instead, I needed to help them explore movement and listen to what their own body wanted. When I started teaching this way, I finally saw real progress in my clients.
Why a Reformer at Home Might Be Better for Back Pain
So if you're thinking, "Yes, I want to try the reformer, but I don't have anyone to teach me in this way for my back pain," rest assured: a home option doesn't have to be the booby prize.
In fact, for what your nervous system needs, home might be the better option.
Look back at what I've just described. The skill isn't performing a movement correctly while someone watches and changes your position for you. It's learning to read your own body and respond to what it's asking for that day. That's not something another person can do for you. An instructor can guide you to explore, but they don't need to be physically present to correct you.
Having a Reformer at home means you can adjust your workout to what your body needs each time. In a studio, you have to follow the schedule—if it’s a high-intensity class but your body wants to stretch, you can’t ask the instructor to change the plan. At home, you can pick the class that fits your back’s needs right then. Your back will thank you.
And that's where someone like you — someone who pushes — finally gets a different response.
I want to show you exactly how this works—how the springs help your body relax, what listening to your body really means in practice (and no, it’s not just meditation and candles), and why this approach can help when nothing else has.
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You’re not the same person you were before your first back spasm. But you’re not weak, and you don’t have to stay stuck. Your nervous system lost trust in you, but you can rebuild that trust. Let me help you get started.