Lara Birk, PhD, The Sage Practice: chronic pain coach

Lara Birk, PhD, The Sage Practice: chronic pain coach Lara Birk, PhD, The Sage Practice. MindBody Empowerment Coach. at thesagepractice.com ❤️

Helping people in (esp structural - like mine!) reclaim their lives. 1-1, groups, courses, somatic tracking recordings, etc.

I had a beautiful crutch walk today. Not only was the view worth getting out of the house and putting on pants for (not ...
09/04/2026

I had a beautiful crutch walk today. Not only was the view worth getting out of the house and putting on pants for (not necessarily in that order), but I had a great idea while I was sitting by the river. More on that later. I hope you can do ✨at least one thing ✨ that lights you up this weekend. Pain, illness, and mobility devices be damned!

09/02/2026

Who am I and why am I here?

Good question!

I’m Lara, a mindbody empowerment coach, teacher, and speaker to help people in pain get back to *living* again.

I have learned so much over 35 years of living with complex, persistent pain. (For those in the mind body world, I have what’s called mixed structural / neuroplastic pain. It’s not a binary.)

It is my mission to share that hard-earned wisdom with you, so you don’t have to suffer nearly as much.

I have been transformed by many dark nights of the soul, 17 surgeries, becoming disabled, as well as the social & psychological ramifications of it all.

Despite (and because of) these challenges, I am more empowered, joyful, confident, and *healed* than I have ever been.

Spoiler: You don’t have to be symptom free to *heal*.

I want to help *you* feel less alone, less afraid, more joyful, more empowered, and more yourself so you can live a beautiful life on your terms. (Even alongside whatever challenges you face!)

Want to hear a secret? 🤫 My work is actually selfish 😈 Helping you helps me. My pain will not be wasted!

To learn more, subscribe to my YouTube channel, follow me here or on Facebook, find me on Insight Timer, check out my talks on Curable, join one of my groups, or enter your name for an upcoming online practitioner training.

thesagepractice.com

Sending you love. ❤️ This stuff isn’t easy. We were never meant to do it alone!

Life is not always smooth sailing. Hard things happen. Pain happens. Let’s be ready to handle it.See the shadow of crutc...
09/01/2026

Life is not always smooth sailing. Hard things happen. Pain happens.

Let’s be ready to handle it.

See the shadow of crutches in this photo? That’s me. I say this a lot, but even living with an intractable and literally disabling “structural” pain, I am happier — more *healed* — than I’ve ever been before.

I teach my clients what I have learned the hard way. The really hard way.

I empower clients with the skills they need to handle *whatever* comes up.

And the essence of being able to “handle” things?

Yes, I’ll be cheesy here: The key is learning to love yourself unconditionally, no matter what.

And yes, of course, we all want less pain. (Raising my hand ✋ here!)

But getting rid of pain is not the same thing as *healing.*

Even “recovery” is not the same thing as healing.

Healing goes deeper than anything physical.

Healing is learning how to ride the waves of life and loving yourself through *all* of it, the good, the bad, the ugly.

Healing is making your life and your love bigger than the pain.

Healing is learning to show yourself kindness, even when your default has been to judge, blame, or shame yourself.

And then, a funny thing happens when we endeavor to *heal* rather than simply “recover” — while we aren’t focusing on it, the pain often gets quieter. Even my clients (and myself) who have “structural” aspects to their symptoms report this.

Pain is not the enemy.

It’s an invitation to heal. ❤️

✨A spot just opened back up in my Fall Sage Group. Grab it before it’s gone. See thesagepractice.com for more or DM me.

08/28/2026

Acts of self kindness can be very soothing when you’re really struggling. They tell the amygdala you’re not abandoning yourself this time — you’re taking the time to tend to yourself.

And yet.

Do you ever experience resistance to doing something you know would help you feel better? The inertia is real! An object at rest stays at rest. An object in motion stays in motion.

If you have chronic symptoms that are getting you down or you are just down for whatever reason, pick one small thing you can do today that would boost your spirits — whatever else is going on in your body, mind, world — and do it!

For me, nature is my happy place, and it is always healing no matter what else I’m dealing with.

Now that I made it out of the house and crutch-walked my way into my favorite meadow, I feel inertia to stay right here. 🙄 But that’s a problem for another day.

Do you also experience resistance even for things that you would find enjoyable or helpful?

thesagepractice.com

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again:It’s often tiny joys that bring some sunshine into even the darkest days. *Es...
08/25/2026

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again:

It’s often tiny joys that bring some sunshine into even the darkest days.

*Especially* if you live with or or any other chronic symptoms.

A joy bubble, as a friend calls them, might be tiny but it still brings joy. And joy brings dopamine, oxytocin, and other good stuff that teaches your brain you’re not actually in imminent danger, so it can turn the volume down on your symptoms (thank you very much!).

💅 or ☕️ or ☀️ or 🌳 or 🍫 or 😂 or 📞 or 🐶🐱 or 🌊 or… take your pick!

What’s your tiny joy bubble today?

thesagepractice.com

08/24/2026

The struggle bus is real.

Some days (weeks? years?!) we are just on the struggle bus.

Are you riding that 🚌 right now?

If so, you are not alone.

In fact, struggling (and feeling alone in it) is of the most common human experiences we can have. It is actually what connects us to each other. It is what creates our compassion. It is what carves the depths of our empathy.

Please hang in there and know so many good people are sitting all around you right now, even if it looks like you’re the only one on the bus.

We are in this thing together! ♥️

thesagepractice.com

If you would like the support of a group of people who really “get it,” please let me know. The Fall 2026 Sage Group still has a spot or two open.

PS please don’t mind that stray hair on my dress. 🙄 Hair loss at my age is also very real!

08/20/2026

I am giving a talk on Curable in an hour— yikes, gotta get ready!— and figured better late than never to let you know about it! (Note to self: remember to publicize talks sooner.) (Additional note to self: remember to publicize talks, period.)

It’s called “Why Feeling Unwell Can Feel So Unsafe.” 2pm ET today.

I was a sociologist first, before I came to this field. So yeah, you better believe I will talk about the *social* aspects of pain.

You can catch in the Replays section for a week (only).

If you’re not already a Curable app subscriber you can always check it out via a free 6 week trial.
https://www.curablehealth.com/connect-qr/4705227930599424

thesagepractice.com

Had a medical procedure yesterday that went south. Hopes dashed. Pain through the roof. In bed and a little dazed. S...
08/20/2026

Had a medical procedure yesterday that went south. Hopes dashed. Pain through the roof. In bed and a little dazed. Still had to set an alarm to teach a class in the morning on living with pain. (Yeah, I know.)

But last night? Last night, my husband brought me a whole unopened bag of my all time favorite snack and said— “here’s a snack clip, but I recognize you may not even need it.” Wink wink.

He *knew* I’d eat the whole bag, you guys. (That’s love right there?) And I did. I did eat the whole bag. 💪

My point? After a lot of years of not doing any of this, I gave myself permission to feel the feelings (and eat them too). To just be in this moment of profound disappointment. To just be disoriented and lost, and to have that be okay. To just be with myself even though I didn’t even know what to say or do. To just be.

In that moment, that snack bag, that little snack clip that I wouldn’t need — it was enough. A little bit of joy amidst the rest.

And sometimes, it’s the little things that help you get through. The littlest of things.

What little things have helped you get through a hard day?

thesagepractice.com

08/18/2026

I’ll just come right out and say it:

“Structural” vs “Neuroplastic” is a FALSE BINARY.

I have been passionately beating the drum on this since 2021, trying to help people see that this either/or approach actually disempowers them.

The field is thankfully truly starting to warm to the idea 😅 (Exhibit A: I have 5 invited talks in the next couple of months!) All kinds of chronic symptoms are often the result of a far more complex and nuanced combination of factors than simply structural or neuroplastic.

But this false binary is *still* being widely touted in so many mind body spaces.

Please don’t buy the hype.

This myth ends up *increasing not decreasing your suffering.*

Okay, so what is a more empowering approach?

Learn all about it in my Fall Sage Group starting September 29th 2-3:15pm for 10 Tuesdays. The group caters to those in the “messy middle.” We focus on healing and are not weighed down by the pressure that the concept of “recovery” puts on so many of us who are dealing with a complex mix of issues. Spots tend to go quickly, so contact me if you’re interested.

See thesagepractice.com for more info.

08/10/2026

So thrilled to share the full video with you on my YouTube channel.

I’ve been working **tirelessly** for 6 years to challenge the field of mindbody medicine to not only include but learn from those of us with structural issues and to show everyone that “Neuroplastic” vs “Structural” is a false binary!

Do you live with chronic pain or other symptoms?

You’ll be interested in my story of “coming out” to the mind body world as someone with *both* “neuroplastic,” psychological contributors to my chronic pain *and* a serious, disabling “structural” condition — i.e., my pain can be helped but it cannot simply be eradicated using mind body methods. (See also my episode with Christie Uipi on the Like Mind Like Body podcast, which Anna and I are referring to).

My conversation with Anna goes way beyond physical pain and the particularities of that ‘coming out’ story though.

We mine the wisdom that can come from struggling to be visible and authentic at the same time — and realizing that true belonging and connection with others is only possible when you allow yourself to be seen as who you really are.

Does what we talk about here resonate with you?

Please drop a comment if so!

Follow me here, subscribe to my YouTube, & check out thesagepractice.com for more ❤️

Address

Boston, MA

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 5pm
Tuesday 9am - 5pm
Wednesday 9am - 5pm
Thursday 9am - 5pm

Telephone

+16174688480

Website

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