Something I didn't expect...

I had back pain for 15 years before it went away.

Weirdly, I desperately wanted a reason for my pain. So it could be cured.

Because amongst having to deal with constant pain (some days worse than others), I wanted VALIDATION.

Because I heard this a lot:

How can you have pain? You seem so happy!

How can you have pain? You’re always dancing!

How can you have pain? You’re only young!

Which actually made my pain worse. It made me confused, angry, helpless.

When the pain was so bad I couldn’t bare it any longer, I had an MRI.

It showed I had two bulging discs in my lower spine.

I was 30 years old and the pain was excruciating. At one point, I couldn’t even walk.

Finally there was a reason for my pain, it’s what I’d wanted.

I then heard the words from the surgeon:

“YOU’RE JUST GOING TO HAVE TO LEARN TO LIVE WITH THE PAIN”

There was no way I could live with it.

Turns out it wasn’t just a bulging disc that was causing my pain, it was a whole host of things I hadn’t even considered:

I was afraid of the pain

I was avoiding certain movements

I was enduring a lot of stress

I hadn’t dealt with unresolved childhood trauma

I was too hard on myself

I drank a lot of alcohol

I didn’t do any strength training

I had no coping skills

My nervous system was stuck on high alert

I was a perfectionist

Here’s the part I didn’t expect:My pain didn’t change because someone “fixed” my discs.It changed because I changed the way my brain, body, and nervous system understood danger, safety, movement and stress.

Once I stopped treating my body like it was broken -and started giving it the information it needed to feel safe again -everything shifted.

The discs didn’t magically disappear.But the pain did.

Same spine. No pain.

And that’s why I do the work I do now.Because pain is not a life sentence.And you don’t need to wait for a scan, diagnosis, or explanation to start feeling better. Or if you HAVE been given a diagnosis, it’s not the end of the road, there’s more.

If you’re stuck, confused, scared of making things worse, or just exhausted from trying everything…

You’re exactly the type of person I help.And there is so much we can do.

How it works 🤓:

1. Retrain your movement patternsYour brain creates pain when it perceives a movement as “unsafe.”We use graded, confidence-building strength work to update those danger predictions so the alarm system stops overreacting.

2. Rewire pain pathwaysPain is produced in the brain - which means it can change.We use techniques that target neuroplasticity to turn down hypersensitive pain circuits and build new, safer associations.

3. Regulate your nervous systemA stressed, overloaded system amplifies pain.We use simple tools that shift you out of high alert and reduce your overall threat load.

4. Build habits that support healingSmall changes in sleep, stress, movement and daily behaviours help your whole system feel safer - which is the foundation for lasting pain reduction.