When do you notice that you are FREE of PAIN?
As I transitioned away from traditional Physical Therapy practice to one that integrated the breathing and meditation of yoga to help clients with chronic pain, a client told me:
"I don't feel any pain while I am on vacation."
I was STRUCK! It finally hit me what was causing his pain. He knew, that's why he was seeking an innovative approach. I knew too, but I needed validation of the root cause of his pain. And that statement was the validation....
You see, he had just told me about a lifetime of low back pain, 2 surgeries (one leaving him with foot drop), and the past basketball season where he had so much pain his wife had to help him get dressed. He knew that something needed to change.
If you live in US and love sports, you have heard of Thad Matta. We both worked at Ohio State University and came together after that season of excruciating pain to try a new approach to his chronic low back pain. He was gracious enough to discuss his experience using my Yoga Physical Therapy approach and how he was doing during the pandemic in 2020, almost 3 years after leaving coaching. You can listen to the entire interview below.
So what was the root cause of his pain?
As a Division 1 NCAA head basketball coach with enormous pressure to win...
...STRESS. Pure and simple, stress was the root cause of his pain.
Once he recognized the source, he could direct the right intervention to the right problem and experience much less pain.
A break from the stress of coaching had done him good. He told me during the interview that he now had only occasional "twinges" of low back pain. And his confidence in his back had grown! So much that he is now back to coaching at his alma mater...Butler University.
How much is stress affecting your experience of pain?
Reply to this email and let me know the ways that you can really tell that stress plays a role.
As always, I'm curious and would love to hear from you.
Namaste,
Stephanie Kelley, PhD
Yoga Physical Therapist and Creator of Peace out of Low Back Pain
***If you are interested in programs using my blended approach, email me at info@stephaniecarterkelley.com