USER’s GUIDE to YOUR LOW BACK
I’m Dr. Stephanie Carter Kelley, a Physical Therapist and Yoga Teacher and I have been where you are…
…in pain for many years, worried that I would just have to live with it. My low back and neck pain was holding me back from LIVING!
Doctors and images told me that my spine was degenerating, but there was nothing that they could do.
I took my years of experience as a physical therapist and college professor, along with new knowledge of pain and stress, blended with the ancient practice of yoga, and made slow and steady steps and found…
…PEACE.
When I thought about what it would take to share my knowledge and experiences, I decided to use my gift in making the complex simple and develop a USER’s GUIDE. Every part of the guide is necessary. The lessons and practices take time, consistency, and work on your part. I have helped many patients as a physical therapist and now with clients as a guide and yoga teacher. As I lead you through the USER’s GUIDE, you have the opportunity to create and modify it to make it your own. The contents of the USER’s GUIDE have been researched thoroughly and when practiced with intention and consistency, you CAN achieve the results you desire:
Live more with Less Pain. Feel Confident and Strong in your Low Back.
The USER’s GUIDE to YOUR LOW BACK Table of Contents ultimately leads to PEACE:
Practice awareness of the triggers and root cause of your pain with gentle movement (at first) and with guided breathing and meditation.
Educate yourself about your back and how it functions using a process of self-Examination.
Align…not just posture!
Create support with the muscles of the Core but also with your Mind, i.e. thoughts and beliefs.
Explore a new way of living with YOUR low back…as you let go of old habits you will explore new habits that optimize the health of your spine.
Practice
This is the first and necessary step to creating a life free of pain. Quieting the mind and body will help you in several ways:
Calm the Nervous System - you need to get out of Flight/Flight/Freeze as soon as possible. You get to explore several ways to do that as I guide you through breathing, meditation, writing to relieve pain, gentle movement and deep relaxation. You get to experience them all in the course and continue to use the strategies that work best for you.
Pay Attention - once you are calm and quiet, you need to attend to WHY you are in Flight/Fight/Freeze. What triggers you? Is it a posture or movement? Is it the memory of a posture or movement? Is it the normal stress of the day that is sending your nervous system into a frenzy and keeping you in pain? Developing the skills to pay careful attention, recognizing the triggers, is the key to long-term lasting relief.
Develop the Habit of Mindfulness with small steps. Numbers 1 and 2 may not be easy! But they can be achieved with consistent small steps every day. You are re-training the brain and nervous system and research shows that you can do it! It’s called neuroplasticity! I give audio and video practices that you can do every day to create the change that you need.
This audio leads you through a basic breath practice to calm the nervous system. Find a comfortable position (any will do!). Give it a try and realize that this is just 1 small step in the right direction.
Educate and Examine
In my experience, knowledge is the foundation for healing. Patient education was a HUGE part of my Physical Therapy clinical practice and I have kept that focus as I moved into teaching group classes and workshops. The videos below are important for you to watch. Through them you may gain a new perspective about how to think and behave in relationship with your pain. That’s good! Because if you are here, what you have been doing up to this point has not been working. Watch these videos with an open mind and let me know what you think! ***Feel free to email me at info@stephaniecarterkelley.com
I use my experience as a clinician and professor to guide you through self-assessments based on the clinical examination performed by physical therapists. The results of the self-assessments help a) guide you in developing your own unique practice and b) you recognize progress toward your goals.
Stress and Pain
The Brain and Pain
Align
You may think you need to align in a “perfect'“ posture for pain relief. But you need to align so much more! When you discover your values, then you can act, behave, speak, think, believe and BE IN ALIGNMENT with your PURPOSE in life.
The first step is to uncover…discover…WHO you are…WHO you were meant to be…WHAT your purpose is. I have activities within my programs to help you do just this!
This video is just one example of HOW I use the physical body (in this case posture) to gain insight into your mind and emotions that may actually be the SOURCE of your PAIN.
Create
Create support from muscles deep within…your core! Research has shown that when you are in pain (and stressed!) that those muscles automatically TURN OFF! The only way to feel those muscles is to calm the nervous system, breathe deeply and tune in.
But the muscles are not the only important aspect of the CORE. Who you are and your purpose in LIFE is the CORE of you! The world needs the CORE of YOU! To live a life without pain, you need to act from the CORE of YOU! So when you Engage those muscles, also engage your values and your inner wisdom so that you can act in alignment and in FLOW.
Engaging those deep muscles starts with the 3-part breathing and progressing…
Explore
Fear of Movement is real and well documented in the research on people with chronic pain. It is not anything to be ashamed of! You must acknowledge that the FEAR is present. You must recognize that FEAR can trigger Pain. So what you perceive to be “movement (or exercise) that caused your pain” is really the…
FEAR of MOVEMENT can trigger the nervous system into protective mode and result in pain.
This is very different than what you currently believe. Wouldn’t it be nice to know the difference between pain from the tissue and pain from fear of movement. Wouldn’t it be nice to feel the difference and be able to address the nervous system as the cause of pain and MOVE through it. That’s the key to getting back into OR doing more of the activities that you LOVE!
Explore movements of your spine with these videos:
As you can see…
…this process will take time! It is not always a straight line. I can speak from experience that sometimes you move forward…and sometimes you need to retrace your steps…BUT this USER’s GUIDE will help you be FREE of your Pain. Changing the brain and nervous system to respond in a different way takes time. Changing your reaction to stress takes time. Changing deeply held beliefs about yourself and the world as you see it…takes…time. The time you spend and the commitment that you make will lead to long-term lasting relief of your pain.
You can learn more about this USER‘s GUIDE in your email inbox each week. You will learn more about me and my journey to be free of chronic low back and neck pain. I encourage you to engage with me…feel free to respond to the emails and ask questions. You may learn new information that was never shared with you be your doctor. I promise that your doctor was not withholding this information…it is new information…but it is powerful.
I also provide a safe learning environment in my Free Facebook Group. That’s another place to respond to comments and ask questions.
I hope to get to know you more as we use this GUIDE and travel together along to PEACE out of Pain.
Namaste,
Stephanie