Firekeeper,
Namaste...
I agree with your comment on the recipient's intention to get relief from their pain as being relevant. On some level they are pulling the energy where the real problem lies to get relief.
I wonder if that could be more of a utilization of meridians, etc. as in other modalities like acupuncture that link "sites" together. For example, I'm having headaches because my spine is out of alignment type thing.
You would start on the head because that is where the recipient states their discomfort lies but if the spine is the issue, it would seem logical that the spine would pull the energy because that is the real "root" of the problem.
What do you think?
Abundant blessings,
Kathy