Certain personality traits increase your chance of suffering from chronic pain. Interestingly, some of these same personality traits also raise your risk of developing cancer. Hmm . . . as a person who has had both, knowing this information gives me pause and reason to pay attention. It also...

At the start of August 2024 the Tour de France, a grueling 21-day road cycling race, had recently ended and the Summer Olympics had begun in Paris. What a great time to be a sports fan! 

When I was young, I dreamed of being in the Olympics. Maybe you did, too! I remember spending many summer...

This is a question many of us ask ourselves and may struggle to answer. Put more simply, we might say, should I go out and [fill in the blank with your planned exercise/sport] today, or should I stay home and take it easy? Our response depends on the origin of the pain. Below is my answer, told...

Last month I mentioned one of my "strong professional yeses was a super cool adventure that combines a couple of my passions." This is it: the Pain Revolution Rural Outreach Tour! This is a cycling tour in Australia that’s meant to spread advanced pain science knowledge and skills to rural...

Upon taking my sabbatical leave last June, I left you and myself with this question: What do you want in the next phase of your life? (Blog: Taking a Pause to Reflect, Redirect, and Reinvent)

After posting my sabbatical blog, a wise reader from the Pain Free Athlete community wrote to me with a...

As discussed in my last blog, being preoccupied with pain can be all-consuming. For several of my clients, pain is the first thing on their minds in the morning. As soon as they wake, these clients actively seek out their pain, scanning their body for it and, if/when it is found, judge the...

Do you continually worry about and focus on your pain? Do you put pressure on yourself to figure out how to fix your pain and become frustrated or angry when the pain doesn’t go away? Do you degrade yourself because you’re still hurting? Do you fight against the pain and fear that it...

Pain Reprocessing Therapy (PRT) is a research-based treatment approach for healing neuroplastic pain. These techniques were found to be highly effective for chronic back pain in a 2022 study. Refer to my blog, New Research on Back Pain, for all the details. Earlier this month, I completed a ...

Imagine a class that combines yoga, Pilates, core training, body awareness, and breathwork. Then add exercises proven to improve alignment, balance, and function. Next, blend practices into the class that calm the nervous system and expose the mind to new perspectives on chronic pain and healing....

4Islands MTB Croatia is the fourth cycling stage race I have completed. It all started In 2016 when my husband Ken suggested going to South Africa for a nine-day mountain bike stage race to celebrate our 20th wedding anniversary. We loved it! So we continued the tradition this year--in Croatia!...

In January 2022 I listened to the Wellcoaches’ continuing education (CE) class–“The Urgency of Sabbaticals” by DJ DiDonna, founder of the Sabbatical Project. I recall that before I took the class, I had recently talked with an excited client about his sabbatical and was...

Two weeks ago, I developed severe right shoulder pain and stiffness. It was excruciating to move in any direction, and I couldn’t get into a comfortable position to rest. I worried that I wouldn’t be able to meet with clients, teach my class, or ride my bike.

The timing of my...