How To Heal Chronic Pain

01/19/2026

✨ It’s not happening TO you… it’s happening FOR you:

Chronic pain is real! It’s never imagined or in your head.

But not all chronic pain means damage.

In neuroplastic pain, the nervous system has learned pain as a protective response, often long after tissues have healed, or there was never even an injury to begin with.

Most chronic pain is neuroplastic!

That means your body isn’t broken.

It means your brain learned something… and learning can change.

It’s happening for a reason… because your nervous system just wants to keep you protected from potential threat or harm, whether it is physical danger or emotional danger.

Healing doesn’t come from fighting your body.

It comes from teaching safety, regulation, and trust.

💬 If this resonates, you’re not alone!
Comment “safety” and I’ll know this landed.

01/18/2026

“From chronic pain to freedom, Scotty’s story is nothing short of transformative.” -

In this episode of Nicole Sachs’ podcast The Cure for Chronic Pain, I share my journey through a lifetime of symptoms that seemed to have no end: back, neck, foot, and arm pain, anxiety, depression, and more. Despite endless medical treatments, nothing seemed to stick. But when I stumbled upon Dr. Sarno’s work and Nicole’s teachings, everything clicked.

Tune in for a raw and real conversation about the power of TMS healing, how fear kept me stuck, and the pivotal moments that sparked my shift.

If you’re struggling with chronic pain, this episode will remind you that change is possible. 💪✨”

— Scotty

https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/the-cure-for-chronic-pain-with-nicole-sachs-lcsw/id1439580309?i=1000716802923

01/17/2026

How do you know if your pain is neuroplastic? 🧠✨
You might notice things like:

🔹 Persistent symptoms without clear injury, damage, or disease
🔹 Pain that shifts or changes location
🔹 Flare-ups triggered by stress or strong emotions
🔹 Symptoms lasting longer than 3–6 months
🔹 Anxiety, depression, or a history of trauma

These can be signs that your nervous system, not your body, is stuck in a learned pain loop.

This does not mean your pain isn’t real. It is very real. But it may be coming from the brain and nervous system rather than ongoing physical damage.

Understanding this can be incredibly relieving. When pain has a learned component, it also means the nervous system can learn safety again.

You’re not weak for struggling with this. And you’re not alone.

✨ Awareness is often the first step toward healing.

01/16/2026

✨ Many chronic symptoms like fibromyalgia, IBS, chronic migraine, chronic fatigue, or musculoskeletal pain are driven by a sensitized nervous system rather than ongoing tissue damage.

These neuroplastic symptoms are real, but they are also healable.

One of the most powerful tools for mindbody healing is self compassion.

Here are 3 ways it can reduce or eliminate chronic symptoms:

1️⃣ Soothes Your Nervous System – Safety replaces fear, and pain no longer needs to protect you.

2️⃣ Breaks Maladaptive Patterns – Self-criticism, perfectionism and emotional suppression keep your brain on high alert. Self-compassion interrupts these patterns.

3️⃣ Validates Your Emotions – Accepting your feelings down-regulates your threat response and calms your nervous system.

Your symptoms are real and so is your capacity to heal.

Self compassion isn’t weakness, it’s medicine for a sensitized nervous system.

If this resonates, know that you’re not alone in this.

💡 Tip: Save this post so you can return to these tools anytime you need a nervous system reset.

01/16/2026

✨ The first time I visited Vancouver in 2016, I was in excruciating chronic pain in my back, hips, shoulders, feet, and wrists.

9 years later, summer 2025, I’m back in the same city, pain-free, moving freely, traveling, and feeling grateful in my own body.

As a Pain Elimination Coach and Mindbody Practitioner in Toronto, Canada, I help people find lasting relief from chronic pain. After over 15 years of my own pain and countless unsuccessful treatments, I discovered how addressing the emotional and psychological roots can transform the body.

I now help clients unlearn chronic pain and mindbody symptoms caused by stress, emotional suppression, and nervous system dysregulation, so they can unlock their body’s natural ability to self-heal..

If pain has held you back, just know that by doing this Mindbody work.

You don’t have to do this alone. I offer 1:1 coaching for chronic pain and mindbody symptoms

1:1 Pain Elimination Coaching ✅
Free 30 minute discovery call 📅
Link in bio 🔗

https://calendly.com/howtohealchronicpain/30min

01/15/2026

Healing Back Pain: A Must-Read for Your Healing Journey 🌱

If you’re on a journey to heal chronic pain or neuroplastic symptoms, Dr. John Sarno’s Healing Back Pain is a game-changer. I can’t recommend it enough. This book was pivotal in my own healing process—it helped me understand the mind-body connection in a way that completely shifted my approach to chronic pain.

I used to be in the depths of chronic symptoms myself. After reading Dr. Sarno’s work and applying his teachings, I completely healed. 🙌 But here’s the thing: While his work laid the foundation, I sometimes felt like something was missing once I finished the book.

That’s where the support of mind-body coaching comes in.

The journey of healing isn’t linear, and it’s not weak to seek support. I’m here to implement powerful mind-body tools and help you navigate the path, empowering you to heal in a sustainable way. Whether you’re still working through the mental shifts or need ongoing guidance, you’re not alone.

Remember, healing is a journey. 🌟

01/14/2026

✨ What we focus on we create more of.
Through neuroplasticity, we can change our pain by moving our focus away from fear and toward safety.

Chronic symptoms like musculoskeletal pain, migraines, IBS, and many others are often driven by the autonomic nervous system.

This does not mean your pain isn’t real; it is very real. But the good news is that your nervous system can be retrained.

By understanding how the brain processes pain, we can begin to unlearn these persistent symptoms.

In fact ALL PAIN is determined by the brain. Without your brain you wouldn’t feel pain.

Healing does not always come from conventional treatments alone.

Neuroplasticity gives you the tools to change how your body experiences pain, reduce fear-driven responses, and regain control over your life.

Small shifts in focus, awareness, and nervous system regulation can lead to meaningful improvements, sometimes even when everything else has failed.

Your symptoms are real, and you have the ability to change them.

This approach is not about thinking your pain away, it is about retraining the brain-body connection to support healing and reclaim your well-being.

✨ Remember: each small step toward safety and awareness matters. Neuroplasticity is not just science, it is empowerment.

Your symptoms make sense in the context of a stressed nervous system, and you can heal.

01/14/2026

✨ The science of pain! Bulging discs do not cause chronic pain!

Research shows that the majority of chronic pain is not caused by a structural issue in the body. The antiquated bio-medical model has proven to be unsuccessful for treating chronic pain because it looks at the body as the problem and doesn’t look at the brain & neuroscience.

When we look at the research, taking an MRI scan of PAIN FREE people, we can see that the majority of people have findings of structural changes… yet they have NO pain. Why is this? Well, these structural changes in the body are a normal part of aging, just like grey hair & wrinkles. You know who has a perfect spine? Babies! Science tells us that aging and pain aren’t correlated.

In a group of PAIN FREE 50 year olds, in the study showed that 80% had disc degeneration, 60% disc bulges. This tells us that there is no direct link between pain & structural changes in the body that we all have. Dr. Sarno called these findings “normal abnormalities”. Sure, when someone has an acute injury like a broken bone, this is structurally caused pain.

So what is causing this type of excruciating pain if it’s not a body problem? It is the brain & nervous system.

Neural circuits & a threat detection system use pain as a danger alarm mechanism, due to perceived danger or learned neural pathways. The brain is plastic, and can turn on these neural circuits of pain, but it can also turn them off!

The pain isn’t in your head. It is very real & never imagined. It’s just that it’s coming from your brain, & it is meant to protect you from emotional phenomena or falsely conditioned responses due to the fear or preoccupation of symptoms.

This means there is hope and the pain is completely reversible!

Awareness is often the first step toward calming a sensitized nervous system.

01/13/2026

01/13/2026

I want to share the 7 F’s that keep pain stuck, a framework from Dr. Howard Schubiner

The first 6 F’s are his, and I was honoured that he supported including a 7th F that I have noticed in practice: Feeling Forlorn.

The 7 F’s are natural responses to sensations, symptoms, and emotions. When we get caught in them, they can keep the body’s danger alarm system active, prolonging pain or symptoms.

By gradually shifting how we respond and focusing on living life rather than being ruled by symptoms, we give our nervous system a chance to calm down and activate the rest-and-digest response. Simply stepping out of the way and creating safety in the nervous system gives the body space to heal.

✨ How to move beyond the 7 F’s:

1. Fear – Practice messages of safety. When sensations are met with fear, pain is reinforced. When met with safety, the cycle begins to unwind. 💛

2. Focus – Symptoms feed on attention. Shift your focus to what matters, starving them of fuel 🎯

3. Frustration – Release frustration in healthy ways. Acknowledge emotions without letting symptoms take over. Journaling or feeling your emotions helps process without reinforcing the cycle ✍️

4. Fighting – You don’t need to battle symptoms. Radical acceptance and self-compassion send a message of safety to your nervous system 🕊️

5. Fixing – Resist the urge to constantly “fix” pain. Practice mind-body tools without attachment to outcomes. Healing happens when the body feels safe 🌱

6. Figuring out – Stop endlessly searching for answers. Trust your body knows how to heal when it feels safe 🧘‍♀️

7. Feeling Forlorn – Notice when you feel disconnected or stuck. Lean into hope, optimism, and life beyond pain instead of being trapped by symptoms 🌞

Over time, small shifts like these retrain the nervous system, weaken the pain cycle, and create space for healing.

By choosing safety, curiosity, and acceptance, you step out of the cycle and allow your body to self regulate.

💡 Tip: Save this post to come back to these reminders, and share with someone who might need it

01/12/2026

✨ What my clients get from mindbody coaching:

Less fear, more self-kindness: Learning to respond to sensations with compassion rather than judgment helps calm the nervous system.

Understanding that sensations aren’t dangerous: When the brain stops interpreting normal signals as threats, the body can relax and start to heal.

Freedom from the pain–fear cycle: By addressing the fear and tension that amplify pain, clients break the pattern that keeps symptoms alive.

Discovering hidden beliefs keeping pain alive: Many of our subconscious thoughts reinforce chronic pain. Bringing them to light is the first step in shifting how the nervous system responds.

Rewiring the nervous system at a subconscious level: Through repeated, intentional practice, new neural pathways are formed, a process called neuroplasticity, allowing the body to respond differently over time.

Feeling more in control of body & mind: As the nervous system retrains, clients experience less automatic reactivity and more agency over their symptoms.

Mindbody coaching is all about helping the brain and nervous system relearn safety and ease. Chronic pain and other persistent symptoms aren’t “just in your head.”

They are real, but neuroplasticity gives us a way to change how the body responds at its root, retraining neural pathways so the nervous system can settle, heal, and function differently.

If you’re curious about exploring this for yourself, DM me. I offer a free discovery call to see if this approach might be a fit for you.

Comment, share, or save to keep as a reminder in your ability to heal and what themes to work on in this process.

——-

✨ I help clients worldwide over Zoom retrain their nervous system so healing happens through neuroplasticity. As a Pain Elimination Coach and Mindbody Practitioner, I guide symptoms rooted in stress, emotional suppression, and learned neural patterns. You are not broken and you do not have to do this alone.

1:1 Pain Elimination Coaching ✅
Free 30 minute discovery call 📅
Link in bio 🔗

https://calendly.com/howtohealchronicpain/30min

01/12/2026

✨ The nervous system creates physiological responses to stimuli happening in the present moment, that are based on subconscious patterns, beliefs, and conditioning that originated from stories of the past.

But here’s the empowering part. The brain is plastic. Neuroplasticity means that these old patterns are not permanent.

Every thought, habit, and repeated experience shapes the neural pathways that guide how your body reacts.

When you feel stress, anxiety, or tension automatically, it is because your nervous system has learned to respond in certain ways.

By intentionally practicing new ways of thinking, moving, or breathing, you actually create new neural connections.

Over time, your nervous system starts to respond differently, and the physical symptoms you used to experience can decrease or even disappear.

This is how your past conditioning stops controlling your present experience. By consciously rewiring your brain, you can feel calmer, more grounded, and more in control of your responses.

You are not stuck in your patterns. Your nervous system can learn a new story, one neural connection at a time.

——-

✨ I help clients worldwide over Zoom retrain their nervous system so healing happens through neuroplasticity. As a Pain Elimination Coach and Mindbody Practitioner, I guide symptoms rooted in stress, emotional suppression, and learned neural patterns. You are not broken and you do not have to do this alone.

1:1 Pain Elimination Coaching ✅
Free 30 minute discovery call 📅
Link in bio 🔗

https://calendly.com/howtohealchronicpain/30min