The mind, body and emotions are like a symphony. They are like a collection of instruments that must work in balance with one another to produce a beautiful harmony. If one instrument is off key or the conductor is inept, there is no harmony in the symphony.

In the body, the subconscious/unconscious brain (SUB) and autonomic nervous system (ANS) is the conductor and the instruments are the different systems (e.g. peripheral nervous system, digestive system, lymphatic system, etc.). The conductor and the systems need to communicate with each other and work together to maintain balance for you to feel healthy and happy. If there is disharmony in the system, it can manifest in a variety of ways. It may be expressed as low back pain, neck pain, headaches, brain fog, depression, anxiety, digestive issues, pelvic pain, body tension, jaw clenching, fatigue, or any number of other symptoms.

In order to address the pain and/or symptoms you are experiencing, we need to take a whole-person approach that tends to the conductor and the instruments. I tend to start with the conductor because their impact is widespread. When we support the conductor and bring them back into harmony and balance, many of the instruments naturally move in that direction as well.

Bringing our analogy back to the body, the conductor is the SUB and ANS. The SUB and ANS work in conjunction 24/7 in the background without your conscious awareness. Ultimately, the SUB and ANS control your thoughts, behaviours, emotions, reactions, responses, mood, hormones, immune system, facial expression, tone of voice, hearing, breathing, heart rate, blood pressure, digestion, tension in the body, and more. The gist, they control or heavily influence everything. This is why we connect with the conductor first.

The conductor not only influences how each instrument is played, but also uses what they are hearing being played as feedback for how they conduct. Coming back to the body, let’s say there is a situation in your life that is creating daily stress. One of many things that physiologically happens in the body when our SUB and ANS is responding to a stressor is that breathing becomes shallow and fast. The ANS is responsible for this change. This change is purposeful, protective and meant to be short lived. The ANS evolved to protect us from acute threats, but in our very busy, chaotic, and stimulating world we tend to encounter “threats” daily. I put quotes around the word threat because honestly your SUB and ANS can perceive anything as a “threat” and respond by creating physiological changes to protect you. One of them being a change in breathing. This change in breathing is meant to help you during an acute threat, but if the “threat” doesn’t end, your shallow and fast breathing is now a message from your body to the SUB and ANS that reinforces that the “threat” still exists even if the “threat” has ended. Thus, overtime the physiological changes that the SUB and ANS create to protect you start to feed back into the SUB and ANS and reinforce that there is still a threat and thus the SUB and ANS continue doing what they are doing to protect you. This can becomes a vicious cycle, but one that you can end! You can shift back into harmony and balance. You might be wondering how at this point, so here’s an overview of the process:

• Knowledge is POWER so we discuss a lot of different topics (see below for more details). Understanding pain, the ANS (ie. polyvagal theory), the SUB, your thoughts, beliefs, emotions, patterns, behaviours and your body from a different perspective gives you the power to approach them from a different perspective. This is extremely underrated. Ultimately, we write the narratives of our life, but they are HEAVILY influenced by the information we are taking in, how other people talk about these things especially healthcare and medical professionals, outdated views, and more. Most people need some updating in this area. Just like you need to update your software, you need to update your narratives, which are ultimately neural pathways that have fired together and wired together over time. This is the essence of neuroplasticity and we can start creating new neural pathways and strengthen them by reinforcing new more beneficial narratives. The SUB is always listening and it believes everything you are saying and you have the power to take control and create the narratives, and ultimately the life you want.

• We discuss the workings of the SUB and ANS in detail. This might sound intimidating, but I promise I simplify it, use a lot of relatable examples, and tailor my examples to the pain and/or symptoms you are experiencing.

• We discuss how pain works and the connection between pain and the SUB, ANS, body, emotions, thoughts, patterns, behaviours, responses, beliefs, etc.

• We discuss how two directional communication works between the SUB, ANS and the body.

• We explore what your SUB and ANS might be perceiving as “threats”. Perceived threats can come in many different forms. They can be thoughts, beliefs, emotions that the SUB deems aren’t safe for you to feel, things you read on the news, things you watch on TV, things you see on social media, etc. The list is honestly endless and what your brain perceives as a “threat” is truly unique to you and depends on all of the experiences you have had in your life up until now. The state your ANS is in also impacts what is perceived as a “threat” as well. Being aware of what your SUB and ANS perceive as a “threat” gives you the power to change it’s perspective so it has a more accurate interpretation and response.

• We explore different hands on techniques that are truly aimed at communicating safety to your SUB and ANS and also give your SUB the opportunity to connect with and explore different areas of your body in a new way. As it does so, if the SUB notices that everything in the area it’s exploring looks healthy and okay, it will reevaluate what it is doing and if it deems it’s safe it will start to let go of the protective strategies it put in place. The main physical protective strategy used in the body is tension in the muscles and connective tissue/fascia. As the SUB releases tension in these tissues, blood and lymphatic flow increase which changes the environment the cells are living in and now there are less threats overall and the SUB and ANS won't see a reason to protect as strongly. This is a beneficial cycle!

• The systems of the body that we either directly or indirectly work on together include the central nervous system (conscious brain, SUB, ANS, spinal cord), peripheral nervous system (nerves throughout the body), lymphatic system (detoxification), circulatory system (blood flow), digestive system, endocrine/hormonal system (cortisol, sex hormones, etc.), the visceral (organs) system (ie. stomach, liver, kidneys, etc.), the muscular system, the fascial system and the articular system (joints).

• We discuss different tools you can incorporate at home to support all of the pieces of the process I discussed above. This is a process. It’s a lot like breaking a habit that you have had for a really, really long time. The only way to break a habit is to be aware of it and create a new more beneficial habit and this just takes time and consistency. Again, this is neuroplasticity! All the tools I share are easy to incorporate into your day and your life. I am trying to reduce the perceived “threats” in your life not add to them!

This approach is very different than the traditional physiotherapy approach; however, I have been a practicing physiotherapist for almost 12 years and this is by far the most effective approach I have found to help people manage and resolve the pain and/or other mindbody symptoms they are experiencing. My goal is to help you understand the different pieces that are contributing to the pain and/or mindbody symptoms you are experiencing, provide you with simple and effective tools to shift and resolve the pain and/or symptoms you are experiencing, and empower you to take control over your health and wellbeing.