When you think of the most significant contributor to happiness, what comes to mind? Wealth? A loving family and good friends? Being attractive or famous? Health? Certainly, health must be at the top of the list to enjoy anything else, but a report by The Journal of Personality and Social Psychology says that what’s most important to overall happiness is: autonomy. Autonomy means that you feel that YOU are the one in control of your own life and the decisions you make are chosen only by you.

If we assume (and we do) that happiness (and we would add life satisfaction) leads to a calmer nervous system and lowers stress, then your level of autonomy has a direct effect on chronic pain and other chronic symptoms.

Autonomy applies to various aspects of your life circumstances: your job/work/career, your relationships, where you live, how you spend your money…and your time. And I encourage to evaluate all these things as part of your recovery action plan.

But the biggest hurdle...

One of the obstacles to becoming pain free that we point out over and over again is: giving your chronic pain (or stomach upset or ringing in your ears or skin rash) way too much power. We’re typically teed-up to give our symptoms too much power when a doctor gives us our “diagnosis”: “You have ankylosing spondylitis or degenerative disc disease or trigeminal neuralgia.” Often, it’s a hard to pronounce mouthful that sounds really scary….and possibly contagious! And then you’re told: “We don’t know what causes this condition. There’s no cure. It’s chronic. You’re just going to have to do XYZ to manage the symptoms.” 

So then, (understandably) over time, a chronic condition starts taking on a life of its own. It becomes a huge part of your identity. One of our student’s referred to his neck pain as his constant companion!
 
This comment made me think of the once-popular Showtime drama Dexter. If you're not familiar, this disturbing, yet captivating series followed the title character i...

Belief or lack thereof. That's what stops most people from curing their back pain. The reason belief is so important is that when you switch from medical care to a Tension Myositis Syndrome diagnosis and the mind-body approach to healing - now you're in charge. And so, what you believe determines how effective you are at curing your back pain.

What we observe a lot of the time is that when people don’t immediately improve, they start doubting the process. And then they start doubting themselves and their ability to cure themselves and they just give up and go back to their old faithful chiropractor. So, we need to change three specific, long-held beliefs that are wrong to have a positive outcome. And these wrong beliefs are: 

 A. First, doctors are godlike experts who know everything there is to know about back pain. Also - it’s very dangerous for you to try to cure yourself without a doctor. Only a doctor can cure you (not true!). 

 B. The next wrong belief is that your back pain i...

Sometimes it can seem impossible. But it never is. There's always a way. Watch Allan's story of overcoming chronic back pain (and digestive issues). Conditions that he had suffered with his entire adult life. He changed his belief, ditched his fear, moved his body, and beat the pain. If Allan can do it, YOU can do it. WATCH. 

And click here for the FREE Back Cure Workshop

What? Our beloved Dr. Sarno made a mistake? Well, yes, but it was an honest, well-intentioned oversight. Click here to watch and solve the mystery!

And click here for the FREE Back Cure Workshop

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There’s a basic TMS issue that we run into time and time again with our coaching clients and it’s called RESISTANCE. What I’m talking about is resistance to change. And change is required to get past chronic pain and move forward to a better life.

Now, resistance can block you from two angles:

1.  Resisting making a life change (relationship, job, even your day-to-day routine).
2.  Resisting pursuing (or getting back to) something you’re passionate about.

Tension Myositis Syndrome loves the status quo: “Stay where you are and stay in pain.” Perfectionists and Goodists (people pleasers), in particular, have a hard time making changes because that means you’re also vulnerable to making a few mistakes. But un-chartered waters are often where we must go to heal once and for all!

WATCH THIS VIDEO until the end, where I share one of my favorite “juicy” bits from author Glennon Doyle about what she said to her daughter about being true to herself. I promise it wi...

Tom Brady doesn’t have chronic pain. But he should, shouldn’t he? Tom has been chased around and tackled by very large men who get paid big bucks to hit him as hard as they can. But after 23 years in the NFL, Tom Brady is fine. In fact, he’s doing quite well. 

So, if I can get back pain from picking up a stick in my yard, why isn’t Tom in a wheelchair by now? The answer is that (among other things): 

Tom Brady loves bodywork and stretching more than anyone I’ve ever heard of. 

He even wrote a book about it:
The TB12 Method: How To Do What You Love Better and Longer

In his book, Tom explains that muscle pliability is the most important factor to his longevity and his success. He says that the key to absorbing hits year after year in the NFL is soft muscle tissue. 

And I know that this soft muscle philosophy is very transferable avoidance of chronic pain. Yes, we should all be working on lowering our mental stress, so that the stress doesn’t tighten up our bodies. And yes, the pain d...