06/01/2026
If you’re currently dealing with chronic pain, I’m so sorry. It’s exhausting.
I dealt with intermittent chronic back pain for more than 10 years, which was especially difficult because I’m a Pilates instructor, so my entire career revolves around the body, movement, and physical awareness!
What I didn’t realize at the time was that some of the things I thought were helping were actually reinforcing the pain experience.
Looking back, there were three things I had to learn and two tools that helped me get there:
1. Hyper-vigilance is not the same thing as awareness.
I thought I was being in tune with my body, but in reality, I was scanning for danger all day long. The more attention I gave my back, the more my brain learned that my back was something that needed constant surveillance. Every sensation felt important, every ache needed to be analyzed, and every movement became a test.
2. Not every sensation requires a response.
Pain had taught me that every feeling might mean something was wrong. I reacted to everything. I had to learn that sensations are information, not emergencies.
3. Attention is powerful.
I couldn’t even hear the word “back” without having a physical reaction in my body. My brain had become incredibly efficient at directing my attention toward my pain. Part of healing was learning how to gently redirect that attention toward other parts of my life, my body, and myself.
4. I used the Curable app.
Curable is a digital therapy program designed to help people manage and overcome chronic pain. Rather than focusing on medication or physical remedies, it uses a mind-body approach to help retrain the nervous system and break the chronic pain cycle.
5. I went through the Lightning Process with Jodie Goss.
The Lightning Process combines concepts from neuroplasticity, life coaching, and neurolinguistic programming (NLP) to help people change patterns of thought and behavior that may contribute to stress, fatigue, and chronic pain.
