Open Focus

I've been wanting to write about Open Focus for awhile, but am not sure how since I found it so odd when I learned about it. I learned about Open Focus meditation when I started the pain clinic over a year ago and have been practicing it since. My case manager recommended it to me because...

Everything is Figureoutable

I love it when I see the inspiration I need when I need it. Two of those came to me today. The first was on instragram and it just said, "Everything is Figureoutable." The second was this illustration I saw on Pinterest someone had posted to a chronic pain art board. Thanks, universe. Illustration by Boyoun...

Trial and Error

How do you give yourself credit for a failed experiment? If it wasn't a positive experience,  can you give yourself an A for effort and leave it at that? I don't want to create a pattern of  avoidance. Can I really just take what I want from an experience? Since I started aqua therapy last...

Red Berries, or Neurocircuitry of Addiction

Yesterday I went to one of the weekly Friday talks at the pain clinic. The topic was on the neurocircuitry of addiction, and how that can relate to obesity or chronic pain. It's based on Dr. Nora Volkow's research with the National Institute on Drug Abuse. It was really fascinating. Here's a basic recap (with...

Disability Rights

Loved learning more about the disability rights movement on this week's episode on the podcast With Friends Like These: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/with-friends-like-these/id1207507389?mt=2&i=1000383385458 Especially loved learning about people owning their disabilities and being proud and using the hashtag #disabledandcute ❤️💜💚😊

Whole30, but really Self-Efficacy

I can't not write about the Whole30 right now. I've been doing it for a week and am feeling good, smug and healthy. After diving into some holiday eating hardcore that somehow didn't stop til March, I needed to re- focus my healthy eating efforts. I've done the Whole30 twice- once in 2015 and once...

Aqua therapy… and also activity, fatigue, recovery

I re-started aqua therapy this week! (I had tried it last year and long story short I wasn't ready for it.) I got in the water with the attitude that I'm just gonna do it because something will probably hurt later but oh well. The two physical therapists there are great, the water is so...

New Frameworks

I had such a great conversation with my friend Carrie last night. I feel like my mind expanded. I've wanted to write about the "Brain Triangle" I've learned at the pain clinic, and now I feel like I have some new angles, so to speak. This brain triangle explains what physically happens in our brains...

Acute vs. Chronic Pain Revisited

Yesterday felt like a good day for me physically. I should stop there and celebrate that. But the day flipped later on. I was on a road trip with my mom to come down to LA to visit. I did almost double my normal steps. I got ready in the morning with showering, breakfast, finished...

Orchestra in the brain

One concept I found helpful and interesting from the Explain Pain book I've written about before is the "orchestra in the brain." With chronic pain, the brain starts to play the pain "tune" over and over. It gets really good at it. The book says, "It is like the orchestra in your brain has been...

Stop, Observe, and…

One of the tools I've learned from the pain clinic is so simple that it's hard to imagine it would be so effective. It's three easy steps: stop, observe, and breathe. We're encouraged to do this when feeling stress, fear, or some wild narrative in our head taking over. Over the past year I've developed a lot...

Water

I know water is important. Before the holidays from September to December I made a concerted effort to drink my 10 cups a day. Like everything else that went out the window over the holidays. Yesterday, after my mom, aunt and I motivated each other about healthier habits, I came home after lunch and observed...