search blog posts
How to Heal Chronic Pain
Learn the foundations of pain science and why understanding pain reduces the threat level and is essential to healing.
connection
This fall, I'm offering an 8-week series focused on CONNECTION starting October 19th. We'll be exploring connection from multiple angles, including connection to self, connection to community, and connection to spirit. We'll also be learning a practice focused on the connective tissues that will help you feel grounded and expansive, with greater capacity to hold space with compassion and presence.
At the Root
It's fall, and Mother Nature is showing us how to practice radical self-care. If you don't know, the etymology of the word radical is "at the root." Self-care isn't trying to heal chronic fatigue and burnout with a bubble bath; When we are in critical condition, we need a much stronger medicine. Self-care is a preventative practice so we don't get to the critical stage, and it is being modeled by nature right now.
Revealing Your Gifts
You were born with specific gifts that will enable you to fulfill your purpose in this life. When you are situated in yourself, which is the Ayurvedic definition of health, your energy flows freely, and your gifts naturally emerge.
Revealing those gifts begins with inquiry.
EMERGE
I believe that we have the answers we need within, and my business is built on helping people connect with their inner wisdom. I also believe that community support is essential for wellness, especially for those of use who are caregivers or healers in our personal and/or professional lives.
This free offering is an opportunity for us to gather as a community to support each other. This is NOT a space for us to offer each other advice or to process our stories, but rather a space for us to allow our own wisdom to emerge from within.
The Radical Lesson in Running Out of Gas on the Highway
I ran out of gas one time in the middle of the night on I-89 in Vermont. It was pretty scary. Exits are far apart in that corner of the world, and I had to sit in a dark car on the highway hoping that any passing traffic would be able to see me. It wasn't a quick or simple fix.
I came close to running out of juice in my life a few years ago. The pandemic did a number on many healthcare providers and caregivers, and I was not immune. It took me a long time, and intensive effort, to recover because my tank was essentially empty.
I see this happen all the time. Self-care doesn't work when you have already crossed over the line: It only works when it is preventative.
Don't wait until your tank is empty to refuel.
If you do, you have to start over every time.
It is hard to revive something that is depleted.
MAINTAIN instead of DRAIN.
I'm leading a Restorative Yoga & Marma Therapy workshop on Sunday, August 25th from 6:30 - 8:30 pm on Zoom. Think of it as a way to recharge your gas tank before it is on empty.
2nd Birthday
Lotus Yoga & Integrative Health turned 2 this week! I've been reflecting upon all that I've learned (and re-learned) this year, and feeling so grateful for all the ways you have supported the growth of this practice.
My First Podcast!
I was a guest on my first podcast! I had the honor of speaking with Dr. Kim Quinn who is the founder of Mindcraft University. She teaches mindfulness for everyday life to help people become the boss of their brain.
We nerded out on neuroscience and how to integrate the mind and the body. We talked about some of my favorite subjects, including how the nervous system tries to protect us, why pain is actually a good thing, and how to know what your body needs in order to heal. It was a blast to record! Give it a listen and like and share if it resonates with you.
Be like a sloth
Being able to adapt to our environment is one of the hallmarks of a healthy nervous system. When the nervous system is well-regulated, we can tolerate greater deviations from the norm. When the nervous system is maxed out, we have little room to accommodate to change and are more easily provoked.
Today’s Workshop
The main elements of summer are fire and water, and we have had plenty of both this year. Fire and water combine to make a hot, spreading oil that can really agitate the body and the mind. Here are some signs that you are overheating:
Spicy Tuna
Fire and water must be respected because they can easily consume everything in their path. If you ever become "spicy tuna" you know that there is a fine line between fire that fuels and transforms and fire that destroys, and between water that soothes and water that rages.
What are your Activators?
The body makes more receptors for its triggers to keep itself safe. Pain triggers include temperature, stress, movement, hormones, and oxygen levels.
Too many of one kind of channel makes you sensitive to that kind of stimulus. The good news is that these channels are replaced every 48 hours. If we understand what our triggers are, we can decrease that type of stimulus, and allow the channels to return to a balanced level so you are no longer extra sensitive to that kind of stimulus.
Moments That Matter
I had the honor of being featured in Canvas Rebel magazine for their story Moments that Mattered. We talked about how one of the hardest experiences in my life leg me to reframe pain and shift the focus of my physical therapy career to healing the nervous system.
Read the article to hear my thoughts on why pain is actually a good thing (and not in a spiritually bypassing, toxic positivity kind of way!), and why the nervous system is the key to unlocking chronic pain.
At the root is disconnection
Because we have become so disconnected from nature, we have also become disconnected from ourselves. This disconnection prevents us from trusting the wisdom of our bodies, and causes us to override our instincts. If we want to heal, we have to restore our connections.
Throwing Spaghetti at the Wall
Do you ever feel like you are throwing spaghetti at the wall guessing what you need in order to feel your best or to help you heal? Or maybe following the latest trend because it worked for a friend (or a celebrity) but it isn't really helping you?
When you know how to listen to your body, and when you understand how you are affected by your environment, you don't have to guess.
Summer Solstice & Full Moon Ritual
The summer solstice aligns with a full moon this year, which makes it a potent time for reflection and for connecting with our inner light and wisdom.
Stop being chased by a lion
If you have ongoing stress (including pain that lasts for a long time), your nervous system won't be able to tell the difference between a stressful day at work and an actual lion. The brain on pain can become so sensitive, that it is like you are living with a metaphorical lion chasing you at all times.
Your Nervous System Has a Bouncer
When we have chronic pain, the nervous system is attuned to look for danger, so the bouncers allow more information to pass up to the brain. Chronic pain makes the nervous system more sensitive, and when it gets bombarded by more information than usual, it is going to feel threatened by things that may not actually be dangerous. This is why sensations that aren’t typically painful, like light touch, can feel painful to those who are living with chronic pain.
The Big Three and the Key to Unlocking the Mystery
When the body experiences a stressor, such as an injury, illness, or trauma, the immune system, nervous system, and endocrine system all work together to defend against threat and bring the body back into homeostasis. These three systems are interdependent and act as one supersystem, so anything that affects one will affect all three.
This means that healing the nervous system will naturally bring both the immune system and the endocrine system back into balance and vice versa. It is also why persistent pain often progresses into autoimmune and/or endocrine disorders, and why these conditions can be so difficult to manage.