Private Chronic Pain Coaching

If you've been struggling with chronic persistent pain or other symptoms for a while and no one has been able to help you, I hear you. 

Maybe you wake up every morning, your body hurting, and all you can think of is how bad is it going to get today.

Maybe you want to go on a hike or a bike ride with your family but you just can't because your body is aching so badly. You hate that you can't spend time with people you love!

Maybe you've said goodbye to all social events because you never know how bad your symptoms might get, so you decide it's best for you to stay home where you can be at least somewhat comfortable.

As you cut out more and more things from your life, your world shrinks and shrinks until there's not much left in it anymore, other than the constant worry about your chronic symptoms. You become depressed and can't see the way out.

The Struggle was Real for YEARS….

I experienced chronic pain for many, many years. My main chronic symptom was the classic lower back pain, but over the years I also had arm and chest pain, ankle pain, feeling of “swelling” without anything visible; gum pain, insomnia, anxiety and depression.

There were times when I couldn't get up from the floor when demonstrating an exercise in my group fitness class because my back was in terrible pain…

There were times when I avoided going to visit my friend because every time I sat on her couch I was in agonizing pain afterwards.

I love to hike, but I started avoiding walking downhill because every time I did, my back was hurting again. 

I spent thousands of dollars on chiropractic treatments. I didn’t have insurance, so I spent almost everything that I made as a personal trainer on chiropractic adjustments. 

I bought online programs that promised relief from back pain. 

I strengthened my glutes and core like it was my job because every fitness person under the Sun tells you that it's the weakness in these areas that's causing your lower back pain. 

For a moment I even eliminated all the sugar from my diet, hoping that that will somehow fix my pain. 

None of these things brought lasting relief.

My X-rays showed very minor findings that were still considered normal and did not justify the pain…

Insomnia was the other chronic problem for me. There were many nights when I cried out of desperation because I just could not sleep. I tried all the sleep remedies, some of which worked for a few nights and many that did nothing at all. Nothing solved my problem for more than 1-2 nights.

The common advice to keep your room cool, go to bed and wake up at the same time every day, avoid heavy meals close to bedtime, exercise regularly, light candles at night, get morning sunlight immediately after waking and even put lavender under your pillow – might be helpful for some people but they were not for me. Trust me, I tried! 

So, hearing the same old “Just go to bed earlier and keep the room pitch black!” only made me more frustrated because clearly, there was more to it.

There's nothing more frustrating than doing everything what you think is right, and not getting results from it.

These are just a very few examples of how I felt when my chronic symptoms were at their worst.

The Solution

There was no single “magic key” that fixed my chronic pains and insomnia. Recovery took time, and in order to get better, I had to relax my nervous system in ways that I had never done before because as a typical go-go, achieve more, do more person, I was used to being on such a high alert and never rest.

That doesn't mean that it will have to take years for you to get better! It simply took me a while to fully learn to understand what I needed to change.

Here's how I went from chronic pain & insomnia to getting rid of my chronic pain & living the life I want:

• Facing, allowing and expressing my emotions the way I had never done before (learn more about it HERE). For example, I never expressed my sadness and had decided that no one is allowed to every see me cry, so I kept all my pain and hurt in. I was also frustrated often, but I tucked it away and thought that it's best that I just keep carrying on!
• Addressing my personality traits and reducing the qualities that contributed to pain, such as overworking, people pleasing, hiding my opinions, avoiding conflict and being overly agreeable!
• Creating SAFETY in my nervous system through somatic exercises, Inner Child work and brain retraining tools such as visualization
• Doing LESS in my life and resting more — I reduced multitasking and juggling 1000 things at once
• Fully and completely relaxing my body and mind with guided or silent meditations and body scans multiple times a day
• Knowing and believing 100% that I'm fine and don't need physical treatments. Even though I wasn't going to doctors or getting Xrays anymore, for a while I had still continued to go to a chiropractor for treatments and I was still using some pain creams. When I finally completely stopped these things, my pain did NOT get worse at all. When I started to do the mental and emotional work instead, I started noticing days when my pain was lighter and it seemed to have a direct correlation to my mood and emotional state! I started paying more attention on calming my nervous system, addressing my emotions, setting boundaries and becoming a more assertive, strong person, and my chronic pain started to go down.

If you've been seeing doctor after doctor, doing ALLLL the treatments and not seeing results, it's likely because the type of treatment that you actually need is mental & emotional.

How I'm Doing Today

Today, I can do everything I want: I lift heavy weights, go on long hikes, practice kickboxing, and my anxiety has significantly decreased. I am not perfect — I get back tightness once in a while, but I know that it's a signal to look at my stress levels and emotions, and I never freak out about it.

I was once told that my back is so bad that I have to say goodbye to deadlifts forever. Not true! A few years later, after doing all the nervous system and emotional work that I'm teaching you as well, I can lift 260 lbs/118 kg. It's hard to believe that at one point, I couldn't get up from the floor!

In October 2024, we hiked the Grand Canyon from rim to rim, a total of ~24 miles/38.6 kilometers in over a 100F/38C heat.

 

 

I Want to Help You Get Well Too

My goal is to help you to get you out of chronic pain too, so that you can enjoy your life to the fullest — the way you really and truly deserve!

 

My 1:1 coaching is for you if you: 

1. Have made sure that there is nothing truly dangerous and threatening that's causing your pain or other symptom. It's critically important that you have been evaluated by a health care provider and nothing serious has been found, or none of the treatments has worked
2. Are open minded to new ways of healing. When you work with me, we will focus on your nervous system, mind and emotions, and we are not trying to “fix” anything physically — because even though you feel the symptoms in your body, they are not coming from the body but from your brain and nervous system
3. Are ready and open to work on the following:

• Your personality traits: People pleasing, conflict avoidance, perfectionism, over-working, over-stressing, self-pressure — all of which contribute to your chronic pain!
• Using nervous system regulation tools such as somatic experiencing, Inner Child work, visualization
• Emotional awareness: Allowing and accepting your emotions, even the heavy ones such as anger, shame, fear
• Habits and behaviors: Going back to normal activities, things, places and people that you have been avoiding out of fear of making your sensations worse
• Current and past stressors: Managing the stresses of work, relationships, childhood events if needed, self-created pressure
• Mindfulness skills: Improving present moment awareness, slowing down, doing less
• Relaxation techniques: Using full body relaxation, meditation and mindfulness practices frequently.

Recovering from chronic pain and symptoms (TMS) isn't just about getting rid of the symptoms. Symptoms leaving is actually a byproduct of you feeling happier, calmer and more present internally.

If you are ready to step into NEW, empowered, confident YOU, and finally get rid of your chronic symptoms as well, click HERE to apply to work with me. After that, we will schedule a complimentary call and have a low pressure conversation where you can ask any questions so we can ensure we're the perfect fit to work together!

Coaching includes: 

• Biweekly Zoom calls (two 60-min calls per month). We'll talk through any current issues you're experiencing and I'll provide action steps for you to take so that you are making consistent progress toward healing
• Text message access to me Mon-Fri. Here you can ask any questions, receive coaching, & get support on anything you need in between calls. For example, maybe you notice your symptoms started flaring up after you got into an argument with your husband and you need coaching support through it — that's what I'm here for!

After you have applied, I will contact you within 2 business days to schedule our call.

This initial call is complementary. We move forward with the program only if after the call we both agree that this is a good fit.