Tag: migraine
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The Gift of Healing From Chronic Pain
Since this is a season of gift-giving for many, I was thinking about what kind of gift I’d like to give you as this year draws to a close and a new year is about to open its doors… And I realized it would be the very same gift that I gave myself when I…
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Chronic Pain Triggers Are Opportunities For Healing
Pain is a danger signal created by the nervous system when it feels unsafe. Sometimes, the danger is physical — like a broken bone. But when pain is chronic, it’s likely that the danger signal has been triggered by emotional stress. Below is a list of 7 types of emotional stress that can trigger chronic pain — and how…
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How to Choose a Chronic Pain Recovery Coach
The world of chronic pain recovery is going through a Renaissance period. The number of resources and practitioners in the field is growing rapidly, and that’s really exciting! Just a few years ago, you’d be hard pressed to find any online resources at all. These days, it’s hard to keep track of the many online…
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If You Don’t Want Chronic Pain, Focus on What You DO Want.
I want to share a little bit of inspiration with you today and tell you about one of the major turning points in my journey from a life that was dominated by chronic migraines to the life I’m living today… And I’ll start by saying that the life I live today is not a life…
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Untangling the False Binary of “Medical vs. Mind-Body”
Tips from a chronic pain recovery therapist One of the common stumbling blocks that can come up on the path of chronic pain recovery is confusion about whether or not a mind-body approach is right for you. In my opinion, this confusion often stems from a false binary that is unhelpful to our recovery: The…
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What’s the Point of “Feeling Your Feelings?”
Tips from a chronic pain recovery therapist A question I get often is: “What’s the purpose of feeling my feelings, when bringing them to the surface just makes me feel worse?” Great question! We feel our feelings for two reasons: First, to release the pressure that gets built up when we suppress emotions. Second, to…
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Mindset Hacks for Chronic Pain Flare-Ups
Stress flare-ups are a normal and inevitable part of life. And since stress can trigger symptoms like pain, symptom flare-ups are also a normal and inevitable part of life. The good news is: We can change the way that we respond to flare-ups. And if we do so consistently, it can have a very significant…
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What To Do When You Feel Afraid
Tips from a chronic pain recovery therapist Healing is simply this: Meeting your fear with acknowledgment, empathy and love. Suffering happens when our protective mechanisms become chronic. Protective mechanisms like: Hyper-vigilance, anxiety, physical pain… These are all “danger” alarms that our nervous system sets into motion to protect us. But when our protective mechanisms become…
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Belief Is Key to Healing — But Not How You Might Think
Tips from a chronic pain recovery therapist A lot of folks think that if you just believe enough in… …that you’ll be rewarded for your belief by magically healing.But that’s not how it works, in my opinion.Healing is about believing in yourself — your capability and your worthiness.When you believe in yourself, you don’t see flare-ups as…
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This Is How Emotional Invalidation Can Lead to Chronic Pain — And How To Heal
When our emotional wounds aren’t acknowledged and tended to with care so that they can heal, our nervous system produces armor to protect us from further harm. Armor can look like… The armor is designed to protect us from harm. And in the short term, it can do just that. But armor doesn’t heal our…
From Chronic Pain to Passion 