WaveHeart Project

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WaveHeart Project

Not a cure - a path of support, resilience, and dignity

Hi I’m Michelle - Wife, Mom, Surgical assistant, and learning to live with chronic pain.

At the Heart of it - Let’s Just Try ❤️

06/16/2026

What You Might Notice and Why
When You Begin Seeing More Than Pain
Part 4 — Finding Joy

For a long time I was afraid pain would take away
my ability to see beauty in the world.

Because before pain, I noticed everything.

Light.

Textures.

The feeling of air before a storm.

Birdsong.

The way trees moved in the wind.

Small moments some people might pass by.

And I didn’t want to lose that part of myself.

So slowly I began finding my way back.

The lake.

The garden.

The birds.

The tiny heart-shaped flower.

The small lights.

They may seem small from the outside.

But to a nervous system living in protection and endurance they became reminders:

Safety still exists.

Connection still exists.

Life still exists.

Pain is present.

But it is not all that is present.

And sometimes that small shift is enough
to help carry me forward.

One breath.

One moment.

One small light at a time ❤️

Full reflection is available through WaveHeart on Substack. 🌊

Wishing you a calm and beautiful day 💞

06/15/2026

What You Might Notice and Why
When You Begin Seeing More Than Pain
Part 3 — Finding Joy

Opening back toward life-

There was a point in my journey when I began practicing something different.

Not ignoring pain.

Not fighting it.

Not pretending everything was okay.

But gently helping my nervous system
notice something beyond the pain.

When pain escalates and my system begins pulling inward,
I pause.

Open my chest.

Take a slow breath.

Lengthen the exhale.

Then reconnect with the world around me.

What do I see?

What do I hear?

What do I smell?

Sometimes the answers were incredibly small.

The sky is blue today.

The rain sounds soft.

The room feels warm and safe.

At first, these moments seemed insignificant.

But with repetition, something began to change.

My nervous system began learning:

Pain is present.

But it is not the only thing present ❤️

The full reflection is available through WaveHeart on Substack. 🌊

06/14/2026

What You Might Notice and Why - When You Begin Seeing More Than Pain
Part 2 of 4 - Finding Joy

Over time I realized finding moments of joy
was not something that simply happened automatically.

In many ways I had to slowly relearn
how to notice life again.

Pain had trained my attention toward:

Danger.

Prediction.

Endurance.

Monitoring.

The nervous system becomes very good at this.

It learns to prioritize threat.

But attention can also be gently redirected.

Not through denial.

Not through forced positivity.

Not by pretending pain is absent.

But by repeatedly reintroducing the nervous system to experiences outside the pain itself.

The lake.

The garden.

Birdsong in the morning.

Rain moving across the water.

Small acts of care.

Connection.

Beauty.

None of these eliminated pain.

But they changed the state in which I experienced pain.

And that distinction matters ❤️

The full reflection is available through WaveHeart on Substack. 🌊

06/13/2026

What You Might Notice and Why - When You Begin Seeing More Than Pain
Part 1 of 4 — Finding Joy

Prolonged pain can slowly make life become organized around survival.

At first, survival feels temporary.

A response to injury.

A period of adaptation.

But when pain persists, the nervous system can begin directing more resources toward:

Protection.

Prediction.

Threat monitoring.

Endurance.

Attention narrows.

Energy becomes focused on managing symptoms,
avoiding escalation,
recovering from flares,
and simply getting through.

Over time, this changes more than physical sensation.

It changes perception.

The world itself can begin to feel smaller.

Not because beauty, meaning, curiosity,
or joy disappear— but because the nervous system is prioritizing survival.

Understanding this changed something important for me.

Pain was present.

But I began learning
it was not the only thing present ❤️

The full reflection is available through WaveHeart on Substack. 🌊

Wishing you a calm and beautiful day 💞

06/09/2026

Continuing the series:
What You Might Notice and Why 🌊❤️

Opening the doors
Part 4 — Autonomic overload

Over time I began noticing patterns.

I realized there was often a small window—

The first signal of escalation— where I could support my system before the spiral grew.

At the first sign of nausea,
I no longer wait.

I open.

For me, this means:

Opening my posture.

Lifting my chest.

Breathing consciously.

Orienting to stable points around me.

Widening my focus outward.

Reducing sensory overload.

Grounding myself
physically and visually.

Not forcing calm.

Not denying the pain.

Simply reminding my nervous system:

I am here.

I am safe.

This moment can pass ❤️

The full essay is available through WaveHeart on Substack. 🌊

Wishing you a calm and beautiful day 💞

06/08/2026

What You Might Notice and Why
Continuing series:

Understanding the loop
Part 3 — Autonomic overload

Pain is not only a sensation.

The nervous system is deeply connected
to the entire body.

When the brain perceives intense threat,
overload, or severe pain, multiple systems can activate together.

The stress response.

The autonomic nervous system.

The gut.

The systems that monitor how the body feels internally.

Heart rate can change.

Breathing can shift.

Muscles tighten.

Digestion may slow or become disrupted.

The body begins prioritizing protection.

This is not weakness.

And it is not “just anxiety.”

It reflects how connected the nervous system and body truly are.

Understanding this changed the experience for me.

Instead of:

“My body is failing.”

It became:

“My nervous system has crossed into overload.”

And understanding created space ❤️

The full essay is available through WaveHeart on Substack. 🌊

Wishing you a calm and beautiful day 💞

06/07/2026

Continuing the series:
What You Might Notice and Why 🌊❤️

More than “just nausea”
Part 2 — Autonomic overload

Nausea during severe nervous system activation
can feel frighteningly fast.

A sudden wave.

A shift in temperature.

Sweating.

Shaking.

Dizziness.

A feeling that the entire system
is overwhelmed at once.

Thinking clearly can become harder.

And fear can begin attaching itself
to the physical experience.

That was one of the hardest parts for me.

Because it did not feel controllable.

It felt like survival circuitry taking over before I could respond.

Understanding changed that.

Not because the experience was not real—but because I finally understood what my body was trying to do ❤️

The full essay is available through WaveHeart on Substack 🌊

Wishing you a calm and beautiful day 💞

06/03/2026

Part 5 — Cognitive changes
The fog is not who I am

When clarity fades now,
I remind myself:

This is not failure.

This is load.

I stop pushing.

I create space.

Because pushing through rarely restores clarity.

Supporting the system does.

Reducing stress.

Creating calm.

Sleep.

Nourishment.

Movement.

Regulation.

Recovery.

Small consistent signals that support the whole system.

And I have noticed something important:

When my system is supported, my thinking returns.

The fog is not who I am.

It is a reflection of load.

My mind is not broken.

It is tired from holding so much.

And when my body finds calm,
my thoughts begin to follow 🌊❤️

Wishing you a calm and beautiful day 💞

The full essay is available through WaveHeart on Substack ❤️

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Bend, OR
97702

Website

http://Waveheart.org/, https://www.instagram.com/waveheart_project, https://substack.com/@waveheartproject/note/c-234642

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