Healing From Chronic Pain Writing Circle
Who knew that a yellow legal pad and a mechanical pencil could alleviate my chronic physical pain?
If you know me, you know I’ve been on my own healing journey to find freedom from chronic pain.
I’ve tried everything: doctors, specialists, acupuncture, nutrition therapy, physical therapy, occupational therapy, lifestyle changes and more.
Some helped, some didn’t.
But I’ve finally found something that has given me more hope than I’ve had in a while and IT’S WORKING: expressive writing therapy.
Expressive writing is the kind of writing that lays it all out on the page: the anger, frustration, rage, shame, sadness, all of it. A gleaming notebook page is an invitation to journal it all out, to say the things that need to be said, to work through the feelings you have…and then let it all go. Literally.
MindBody research shows us that many physical symptoms, such as chronic pain, are often the result of a dysregulated nervous system. How do we get a dysregulated nervous system? Through years of pent-up stress, stored trauma and emotions left unexpressed. Your nervous system looks at these emotional triggers as threats and reacts accordingly…by giving you something else to focus on, such as searing low back pain, constant headaches, throbbing joints or anything else that might ail you. Combine that with the fear, anxiety and depression that can accompany chronic pain and you’ve entered a pain spiral that’s hard to emerge from.
But, if we embrace the idea of neuroplasticity (the idea that the brain can change and rewire its thoughts) and address the long-held emotions stored inside the body, the daily stressors that deplete our nervous systems and the personality characteristics that can keep us stuck in a pain cycle, we can truly free ourselves from the chronic pain we feel.
I can say firsthand that this intense expressive journaling has lessened my chronic pain more than anything I’ve tried and is helping me live a more aligned life, too. In less than 30 minutes a day, I’m taking my life back.
That’s why I am compelled to share my journey with others and become trained in a specific form of expressive writing. As part of that training, I’m offering a 5-week healing writing circle and invite you to join.
Each week, you’ll get a small dose of science to change your beliefs about how chronic pain works, an invitation to journal and release pent up emotion related physical pain and a short gently yoga practice to move the stress from your body. You’ll also get additional resources such as book lists, meditations and positive affirmations for the journey ahead.
If you’d like to learn alongside me as I further my own practice and education, I hope you’ll join me!
The 5-week session is only $50 and space is limited to 12 people for a small group community experience. We’ll meet on Thursdays at 10am EST starting on June 19 and sessions will be recorded for those that cannot attend live. Plus, you’ll get access to a private Voxer community between sessions. You’ll also have an opportunity to meet with me 1:1, if you’d like. This could be exactly what you need to finally break the chronic pain cycle.