My Response to the Most Asked Question: What Exercises Will Help my Pain?
When it comes to chronic pain, there is no single answer or framework that I use when teaching movement. People are often seeking a particular set of exercises or some kind of transformative formula that can be applied to everyone’s pain situation. But it just doesn’t work like that. Each person will have unique obstacles, limiting beliefs and blindspots that require tailored attention. What I have found makes the difference is not so much what exercises you are doing, but the intention, consistency and accountability surrounding the movement practice.
Thoughts on My First Book Release!
The day has finally come: my very first book is on sale on Amazon as of this morning. If I am being honest with myself, this feels rather anticlimactic. The journey of writing a book has been such a rollercoaster with emotional highs and lows–but also incredibly tedious. I have a new-found respect for those who take on the challenge of self-publishing because there is so much that goes on behind the scenes.
But here she is. Clear as day. Out in the world for all to see (stomach starts turning). While I have no idea what exactly will come next I have this great big audacious goal of helping 5,000 people reclaim the joy of movement that pain once stole, through this book.
The Self-Care Practice You Neglect Most Might be the Most Important
One of the magical things that happens when you get a chance to start spending time with inspiring, trailblazing women, is that you start to realize that they are burdened by the same fears, insecurities and self-doubt as the rest of us. It is very easy to feel like there’s this great divide between people who are capable of doing amazing things and people who are not.
What I am realizing more and more is that EVERYONE who wants to can do amazing things. The difference is having the courage to do them even when everything inside is screaming “NOT YOU!!!!!” THIS ISN’T FOR YOU!!!” Oh, my dear, but it is.
Movement is What You Were Meant For
I love “You’re Meant to Move” for the same reasons I initially resisted it: its meaning can be interpreted differently depending on the person and their perspective. To be “meant” for something means you are perfectly suited to it, maybe even destined. But when your mother says, “you’re meant to close the lid when you’re done with the toilet,” that’s a bit more of a directive statement as in “you’re supposed to” do something. If I say that we are meant for each other it means that I believe we are soulmates. I think all of these meanings and more are relevant for the many messages in this book.
Change Your Movement Mindset to Exploration
We often say that movement is medicine. But physical activity might not feel very therapeutic if in the past it has been associated with pain. In order to get back to a place of confidence and comfort with movement, we have to first change our mindset to one of exploration. This is an essential part of the Movement Remedies approach when working with chronic pain clients who want to get active again but don't know where to start.
Does Dieting Increase the Risk of Chronic Pain?
Even if you manage to free yourself from the grip of diet culture, the time spent pursuing a smaller body will likely have resulted in complete neglect of your physical sensations for so long that it becomes a conditioned behavior. Many people with long term dysregulated relationships with food will have completely compartmentalized their emotional selves from their physical selves, such that they are virtually numb.
6 Common Challenges We See with Chronic Pain
Though I had been experiencing low back pain on-and-off for decades, it wasn’t until I started researching pain in order to help my Pilates clients that I actually began to understand the basic mechanisms behind painful sensations. In particular, while I assumed that ongoing pain symptoms meant I was reinjuring or irritating my disc herniation over and over again, pain education taught me that acute pain becomes chronic for many people long after the tissues have actually healed. The oft-repeated “hurt doesn’t equal harm” saying was definitely a mind-opener for me. Research has shown that combining pain education with movement interventions, like physical therapy, can significantly improve pain and disability outcomes.