The Cure for Chronic Pain with Nicole Sachs, LCSW

One day, seemingly out of nowhere, Louise began to feel unwell in her body. An inner uneasiness gave way to tremors and crushing fatigue, and her life devolved into living in her bed. For over eight years, bed bound, Louise struggled to figure out what was wrong with her, seeing countless doctors and specialists and being diagnosed with things like POTS, CFS/ME, fibromyalgia, and chronic vestibular migraine. It wasn’t unti...

Sometimes I have a free hour or two, and my favorite activity is to put in my AirPods, listen to a podcast, and walk. It feels so free and renewing, and sometimes it's where I come up with my best ideas for this podcast. Recently, I was listening to This American Life, Suddenly! A Mirror! and a story in it made me think - how many of us are living our lives defined by past experiences that have encoded us with SHAME? Too m...

Lisa and I found ourselves talking about a frequently asked question in our communities: Won’t thinking about my dark stuff make me worse? This is a typical fear of many people endeavoring TMS work. I have such empathy for the perceived quandary - it makes sense that paying attention to seemingly negative content might make it grow. Yet, we both know this is the opposite of truth. Then Lisa suggested a juxtaposition: let’s...

A lot of people in our communities talk about the difficulty of the “messy middle” - when you are no longer asleep and unaware that your symptoms are TMS, you are doing the work and carrying on, but you’re also challenged daily by the feeling that this is a lot to handle. Jamie, an OMEGA alum, has also been a member of our Heal With Nicole community, and honors the role of connection and friendship in navigating this messy...

It's so easy to get caught up in the "physical" when you are stricken with chronic pain out of nowhere. This is exactly what happened to Adam. Otherwise healthy for his whole life, Adam began having severe pelvic and back pain, and spent years in the frustrating cycle of specialists and failed treatments. In retrospect, Adam can see so many things in his life that he was unconsciously avoiding, key among them facing his so...

COME TO OMEGA

Producer: Lisa Eisenpresser

Click here to learn about all the tiers of BreakAwake membership and the ways to get so much help, guidance, and support:

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Contact Alex here: healwithalexmcqueen@gmail.com

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Sometimes it's helpful to hear a specific story about a specific symptom to feel secure that this work will help you. I have been hearing a lot about hives and anxiety lately, and a good friend had a transformative experience that led me to share not only her story today, but mine as well. Although many chronic symptoms come from the same place - a dysregulated nervous system - hearing about how certain conditions cle...

Lindsay and Catherine arrived at our OMEGA retreat last summer as total strangers. They left as friends, and have become soul sisters. They carry a message of unlikely friendship (over 30 years apart in age), unexpected connection and support, and recovery fueled on shared stories and best practices. We discuss their journeys from Long Covid, Chronic Fatigue, Fibromyalgia, Anxiety, and so much more. If there's ever been an...

Agnes' first symptom was years of back pain after a horseback riding incident. It was then that she stumbled upon this podcast, but she was not yet ready to embrace the paradigm of MindBody medicine. Then came the most unsettling diagnosis - Dry Eye. It may sounds innocuous, but Agnes was in 24 hour pain and discomfort. She could no longer wear the contact lenses she had used without incident for eighteen years, and she wa...

When we hear about "flares" in the chronic pain community, they are decidedly viewed as bad. They are feared, judged, dreaded. But what if we redefined flare in the same way we are redefining what it means to be "sick" or "broken" or "hopeless?" What if we challenged the definition of everything that is no longer serving us to make room for a greater perspective? That's what we are doing together today. Join me for a inter...

Alex spent years having no idea that her chronic anxiety, depression, pelvic pain, foot pain, bloating, and more were connected and all coming from the same place - Nervous System dysregulation. So many of us walk the same path. As challenging as it is to be in the dark about such things, it's equally enlightening to wake up to what is really going on - and euphoric when you can do the work to rid yourself of all chronic s...

So often we hear the story of, "a lifetime of TMS," and Tanja is no exception. As the symptom imperative bounced around her body, she went from doctor to doctor, desperate for a solution. When, finally, she found herself at rock bottom and truly worried for her mental health, she opened to the possibilities that this work invites. It's simple, but it's not easy. Tanja put in the time and effort, and stuck with it. Today, s...

What a wonderful conversation I had with Kat Gemson, a lifelong TMSer and beloved admin of our Nicole Sachs' Support Circle community on Facebook. Kat grew up an only child (like me) and her mother struggled with alcoholism. She learned early that she needed to subdue her own needs to care for others, and so began her TMS journey. For years, Kat struggled, not knowing that there was a common genesis of all her pain and sym...

There are few concepts that move your healing forward more powerfully than radical acceptance, yet it is so often confusing and hard to understand. Today I am inspired to highlight a story from my life that (however painfully at first) allowed radical acceptance to seep profoundly into my experience and change the trajectory of my personal growth. Per usual, I am my best example of the ways to teach and explain concep...

Today on the pod we delve into the "body" of it all - how we can partner our JournalSpeak and impactful emotional work with the key aspects of physical health - nutrition, sleep, movement, and more! 

Dr. Erika Siegel is a integrative physician, acupuncturist, educator, and mom: by nature, a juggler of life’s abundance. She’s been practicing functional medicine for nearly twenty years, offe...

I know it sounds crazy, but we aren't all totally comfortable feeling big feelings, even when they are considered "good." Sometimes, when your reservoir is near the top, even excitement over something can cause chronic symptoms. If you don't know what's up with your wily brain, you could get stuck in a pain cycle amidst the confusion. In addition, when we grow up in families where joy and excitement are...

What a great conversation today with Mark Groves. Mark is a human Connection Specialist, Speaker, Author, Coach, Podcast Host and founder of Create The Love. Born with an innate curiosity and a hunger for truth, Mark’s journey of self-discovery and personal liberation has led him to spend the last decade coaching and inspiring millions worldwide to create the life and love they de...

NEW MOMENT ALERT - As I record this podcast, I'm recording a video too! After years of you guys asking me to make the videos of these podcasts available, I’ve finally (with the help and support of Lisa) gotten my shit together to do it. And… we’ve launched a brand new level of membership to allow you access to an exclusive backlog of them and so much more. Click here to learn about all the tiers of membership and the ways ...

It's always such a pleasure to sit down and be in person for a conversation. During MIND YOUR BODY book launch week in NYC, Elizabeth Endres of the Wellness Process Pod and I sat down in studio to talk about the book, pelvic pain, JournalSpeak, and so much more. Now that the book is finally out there, I can't wait to start hearing from you about how it is impacting your life! Please reach out and let us know: info@yourbrea...