It’s truly a Catch-22 situation that can drastically affect your quality of life. Stress and worry can affect both the frequency and intensity of pain symptoms as well as the healing rate. For some people, the anxiety and depression resulting from chronic pain can become overwhelming and has the potential to significantly worsen and prolong the pain. When this happens, the increased pain leads to even more stress and deeper depression, which creates a cycle of depression and pain that can be difficult to break.

The brain experiences chronic physical pain as a form of emotional pain. This pain can capture the mind so completely that we no longer identify as our true selves but, rather, as the pain or sickness itself. Prolonged pain appears to set up a pathway in the nervous system that sends pain signals to the brain, even in the absence of an underlying anatomical problem; in such cases, the pain is, itself, the disease. Losing one’s true identity like this can significantly deplete one’s energy and make daily life feel nearly impossible to handle.

Oftentimes, a doctor’s first response is to prescribe pain medications and/or anti-depressants. However, contraindications and unwanted side effects can make an already-painful situation unbearable. In addition to the very real danger of physical and/or emotional dependence on the medication, side effects could include nausea, drowsiness, dizziness and constipation. The good news is that there ARE healthy, natural alternatives to prescription medications for dealing with chronic pain and anxiety.

My passion for using alternative pain management methods started over a quarter century ago when I fractured my coccyx—twice in one year—which resulted in sciatica and, ultimately, degenerative disc disease in my L4-L5 vertebrae.

The lower back pain was bad enough but, after a fall in July of 2018, things got much worse. When one doctor described the osteoarthritis in both of my hands as “the worst he’s ever seen in someone my age” and prescribed several different pain medications that—not only did not work, but tore my stomach up—I knew I HAD to do something different.

Years ago, while undergoing chemotherapy for ovarian cancer, I had benefited considerably from guided visualization and relaxation techniques. I imagined that, if my mind was strong enough to heal my body of cancer, it would also be able to reduce and eliminate the varying levels of persistent pain I encountered on a daily basis. So, I stepped up my meditation practice, added nutritional supplementation and exercise into my day-to-day routine and began using self-hypnosis techniques in order to feel better naturally.

And, feel better, I did!! These things made such a difference in my own pain levels that I decided to expand my resilience coaching practice to help chronic pain sufferers. I now support people just like you to reduce the stress, anxiety, depression and insomnia that comes with managing severe pain and medical treatments and trying to balance the expectations of family members and friends who may not understand what you are going through. A pain-free, happy life is possible, and it would be an honor to help show you natural, holistic methods to reduce and eliminate pain, fatigue, anxiety and depression.