"I was spinning too many plates and my cup was empty"

As you know, I often ask people to write a letter to their former selves, earlier in the resolving chronic pain process. It can help people to reflect on their progress, and appreciate just how far they have come.

One such person, I’ll call her Shauna, recently wrote a letter. In the past she found herself struggling to get out of bed due to her pain, but after following the resolving chronic pain process she is now pain-free. She recently dealt with a very stressful family situation with great dignity, and is now hoping to move forward in her career as a schoolteacher.

Shauna had been in a difficult relationship that she tried hard to make work despite the odds. She ended up leaving it and trying to make a new start. Friends and family were supportive, and Shauna tried as hard as she could to reboot her life. But things didn’t improve, and she filled her time with more and more activities to try and distract herself. She ended up unable to get out of bed due to her back pain, and her sister came to help. Her sister had done the Pain Science Kinesiology course I taught in 2021, and suggested Shauna contact me.

Shauna had been severely affected by her previous relationship. She was treated with little or no respect, which eroded her self-confidence. Cramming her day with activities was a way of distracting herself from the hurt she was feeling. But she became worn out, and her unconscious mind created her back pain as an alternative distraction from the hurt.

Once Shauna reduced her back pain, we began work on gradually re-building her self-confidence. As you will see in her letter to her former self, she is now able to access her true feelings to trust her judgement.

Read Shauna’s letter to her former self here.