Written by Kicki Katarina Hjortmarker, Holistic Bodyworker Kicki Hjortmarker is known for her broad knowledge and extensive experience working with the human body and mind to heal injuries and chronic pain conditions. She is the founder of Swedish Balance, dedicated to helping people live a balanced life pain-free. Neuromuscular massage therapy involves working on trigger points and assessing alignment and posture. Your posture and movement patterns can contribute to the formation of trigger points and may need to be addressed. Tight muscles can pull you out of proper alignment, so we want your body back in alignment and balance to help prevent trigger points from forming. When you come in for neuromuscular therapy, a look at your posture can give the therapist a lot of information and a quick idea of what to address first. I will always begin treatment by warming up the tissues, which will feel like a regular massage to the recipient. If there appear to be many trigger points that need to be addressed for immediate pain relief, I will begin as soon as possible to palpate the tissues and work the trigger points one by one. Trigger points don’t always react the same way Trigger points don’t always react the same way to manipulation, and they don’t build up in the exact same place in each person. Therefore, it is a bit of detective work to find them and determine which ones actively contribute to the pain. When your therapist palpates the tissues, you might feel a buzzy, shooting, pounding, or electric sensation. Shooting pain can be a good sign As your therapist palpates your tissues, shooting or referred pain can occur from a trigger point. This can indicate that the trigger point is contributing to your symptoms and needs to be addressed. Sometimes palpation causes a brief jump or twitch in the tissues. This is called the “twitch response.” To the therapist, it can feel like hot areas, stringy or ropey muscle lines, a buzz, stickiness, small hard rocks, or massive lumps. Lighter pressure can be just as effective as harder pressure Some trigger points require firmer pressure, while others require gentler pressure to let go. When the therapist releases pressure, fresh blood flows back into the area, bringing oxygen and nutrients, and the trigger point deactivates. However, to address a trigger point, it often needs to be manipulated several times and from different angles, so a series of treatments may be necessary. Is it painful? This is a very common question, and the answer is that it doesn’t have to be painful, though it can be. It should never be more painful than you can tolerate. Deep pressure isn’t always better. If the trigger points are very tender, you can always ask your therapist to back off and apply gentler pressure. Most trigger points respond best to firm, sustained pressure, but others release more effectively when the pressure is lighter and the nervous system feels safe enough to relax. As the therapist manipulates your tissues and breaks up adhesions, low-grade inflammation can be produced, so there is a fine balance in how much a therapist should work on at once. It is really up to you! Some people want to feel the pain, so they say, “The harder, the better. Do what you need to do.” Jokingly, others say, “Maybe you have an ice pick or a sledgehammer?” These are the people who are convinced they won’t improve unless the pressure is extremely intense. I don’t blame them. I’ve been there, too. Due to adhesions and metabolic waste, you can expect to feel sore for a day or two after a treatment. Make sure to speak up Sometimes the therapist needs to apply considerable pressure to break up adhesions, but it should never exceed what you are willing to tolerate, so make sure to speak up! It’s better to speak up than to tense up and signal to the nervous system that you’re not safe enough. If you are able to breathe through the heavy pressure because you like it, and you and your therapist feel progress, then it’s all good. But no matter what type of person you are or what kind of pressure you prefer, you will almost always get beneficial results. However, there are exceptions to the rule, and some people won’t be significantly helped by trigger point work alone. That’s why I personally integrate different modalities and techniques into most treatments. What does it feel like when a trigger point is released? You might feel some discomfort when a trigger point is manipulated, but it is soon replaced by relief as the knot loosens. Depending on what you’re working on with your therapist, manipulating the tissues might change how bones, vertebrae, and joints relate to one another. This can lead to a sense of instability for the next few days until the body has adjusted to the new situation and reached homeostasis. Be aware that when tissues are broken up, low-grade inflammation symptoms can occur, and you might feel sore. This is normal. Neuromuscular therapy vs. Deep tissue massage If you have never had a neuromuscular treatment, also known as trigger point therapy, but would like to get better results from your massages, neuromuscular therapy (NMT) may be worth considering. Neuromuscular therapy is a form of deeper work, but it is not necessarily deeper than deep tissue massage. The difference lies in its precision. Rather than working broadly across areas, the therapist identifies specific muscles, trigger points, movement patterns, and postural imbalances that contribute to pain. A skilled NMT therapist is adept at sensing and feeling where trigger points are located, which ones need to be released so other areas can let go of tension for better mobility, which ones are active, and which ones need to be released for pain relief. Should I get a follow-up treatment? If it’s been a week or two since your initial neuromuscular treatment and you still feel discomfort, you should consider a follow-up treatment. Likewise, if you’ve been in pain for a long time, weeks, months, or even years, you will likely need to accept that the longer you’ve been in pain, the longer it may take to recover fully. If you’re working to restore your posture and are determined to reduce pain patterns as much as possible to feel pain-free, follow-up treatments may be beneficial. Take care of your trigger point pain now – call or text Kicki at 323-404-6613, email KickiHjortmarker@gmail.com, or visit my website today. Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn for more info! Read more from Kicki Katarina Hjortmarker Kicki Katarina Hjortmarker, Holistic Bodyworker Kicki Hjortmarker has a solid background in the hands-on healing field, treating people with injuries and chronic pain conditions. With a holistic approach, she integrates Neuromuscular Massage Therapy, Craniosacral Therapy, Hypnotherapy, Reiki, Pilates, and more. To practice the artistry of mind/bodywork and massage therapy has been Kicki's lifelong passion. It started with the awareness of her own body as a child and ballet dancer, and, later, as a gymnast who developed chronic lower back pain whilst on the Swedish National Team in Rhythmic Sports Gymnastics. Decades later, she overcame nerve damage and temporary paralysis in one hand. This taught her to trust the healing power of body and mind, and that the body prefers holistic healing methods over conventional treatments. Her mission is to encourage and inspire others to do the same. To trust the healing power of body, mind, and spirit!

Written by Kicki Katarina Hjortmarker, Holistic Bodyworker Kicki Hjortmarker is known for her broad knowledge and extensive experience working with the human body and mind to heal injuries and chronic pain conditions. She is the founder of Swedish Balance, dedicated to helping people live a balanced life pain-free. Fibromyalgia and trigger point pain can feel remarkably similar, but their patterns and potential causes differ. This article explores how widespread pain may be distinguished from localized trigger point symptoms and considers supportive approaches that may help ease discomfort and improve wellbeing. What if it’s not just one agonizing spot? What if the pain is all over? Fibromyalgia vs. Trigger point pain symptoms Fibromyalgia is often mistaken for Trigger Point Pain Syndrome, and vice versa. I have treated several patients with trigger point pain who were vaguely diagnosed with fibromyalgia. After trigger point treatment, they felt rejuvenated, with pain minimized, and later reported being free of fibromyalgia symptoms. Fibromyalgia is characterized by general, vague, widespread pain and is accompanied by feelings of tiredness and fatigue. Trigger point pain, on the other hand, is specific, and its referred pain pattern is specific. Not quite sure if the pain is vague or specific? Sometimes a patient doesn’t realize how specific their pain is until the trigger points that cause it are pressed firmly. Perhaps that’s why they received a vague diagnosis at the doctor’s office. I often come across clients who point out tender, specific spots and then add that they are exhausted and in pain all over. It can be hard to distinguish between the two conditions since both fibromyalgia and trigger point pain can involve pain and tenderness in muscles and soft tissues. However, I do believe some people can experience both simultaneously. Think holistically, various techniques may be needed When the worst pain patterns have been treated, most patients feel a sense of hope and light at the end of the tunnel of pain. Fibromyalgia is often accompanied by depression, but when pain symptoms diminish, patients may leave the treatment room with a brighter outlook on life, a sense of feeling lighter, and a healing process that takes place both physically and mentally. I also meet people who come in for a treatment and are afraid to be touched because they are in “so much pain all over.” They are afraid that the touch of the treatment will make the pain worse. They may seem to be a classic case of fibromyalgia; however, they may still complain about a few specific areas that hurt. In this case, I have found it to be of great value to begin treatment with craniosacral therapy and/or energy work such as Reiki. With these modalities, the therapist can work with a very light touch or even no touch. When these techniques are applied, the nervous system has a chance to feel safe. Once the nervous system has calmed, the client can usually identify specific points of pain. Likewise, when the nervous system feels safe, the client can usually accept much firmer pressure and might even ask for it. This means trigger points can be treated. The origin of fibromyalgia vs. Trigger point symptoms Research suggests that fibromyalgia involves altered pain processing within the central nervous system. Primary myofascial trigger points are generally described as localized areas within skeletal muscle. Trigger point therapy may help people with fibromyalgia when used alongside other modalities and techniques. Trigger point therapy, in conjunction with craniosacral therapy or energy work, may help. Take care of your trigger point pain now – call or text Kicki at 323-404-6613, email KickiHjortmarker@gmail.com, or visit my website today. Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn for more info! Read more from Kicki Katarina Hjortmarker Kicki Katarina Hjortmarker, Holistic Bodyworker Kicki Hjortmarker has a solid background in the hands-on healing field, treating people with injuries and chronic pain conditions. With a holistic approach, she integrates Neuromuscular Massage Therapy, Craniosacral Therapy, Hypnotherapy, Reiki, Pilates, and more. To practice the artistry of mind/bodywork and massage therapy has been Kicki's lifelong passion. It started with the awareness of her own body as a child and ballet dancer, and, later, as a gymnast who developed chronic lower back pain whilst on the Swedish National Team in Rhythmic Sports Gymnastics. Decades later, she overcame nerve damage and temporary paralysis in one hand. This taught her to trust the healing power of body and mind, and that the body prefers holistic healing methods over conventional treatments. Her mission is to encourage and inspire others to do the same. To trust the healing power of body, mind, and spirit!

Written by Kicki Katarina Hjortmarker, Holistic Bodyworker Kicki Hjortmarker is known for her broad knowledge and extensive experience working with the human body and mind to heal injuries and chronic pain conditions. She is the founder of Swedish Balance, dedicated to helping people live a balanced life pain-free. If you are experiencing a persistent, painful spot between your shoulders, or anywhere else in your body, that does not improve with massage or pressure, you may have a trigger point that is referring pain to that area. You may try to knead, push, or rub the area but find no lasting relief. For example, if you have a headache in the front of your head and rub your forehead but the pain persists, the discomfort may originate from another area of the body. This phenomenon is known as referred trigger point pain. How do I know if I have referred trigger point pain? The muscle that is injured is not always the location where you feel pain. A trigger point acts like a faulty electrical wire; it sends pain signals to another part of the body. Signs of referred pain include: Pressing on a specific area reproduces familiar pain elsewhere in the body. Imaging studies, such as X-rays or an MRI, do not fully explain the symptoms. Pain improves when the trigger point is released through neuromuscular massage therapy or other appropriate treatments. Some common referred pain patterns are: The upper trapezius can refer pain to the side of the neck, behind the ear, or into the temple, contributing to tension headaches. The sternocleidomastoid (SCM) can refer pain around the eye, forehead, or jaw, or even create dizziness, as it attaches to the temporal bone near the ear. The gluteus medius can refer pain down the outside of the hip and thigh, sometimes mimicking sciatica. Trigger points in the psoas can refer pain to the lower back, front of the hip, groin, or abdomen. The piriformis can contribute to pain in the buttocks and down the back of the leg. So, what is a trigger point? A trigger point can be as small as a pinhead or the size of a pea. It can also consist of several lumps together or tender spots in a taut band. It can be a hard muscle that feels like a cord or guitar string, ropey and stringy, like spaghetti glued together. Trigger points can be felt embedded within muscle fibers and myofascial tissue, and they form mainly in the belly of the muscle, where the motor endplate is located. Trigger points are believed to be implicated in most types of musculoskeletal and mechanical muscular pain, and they can be present in both younger and older people. Trigger point pain has even been demonstrated in small children. I have personally worked on children as young as seven years old with symptoms of trigger point pain. Trigger points can be either active or inactive. When they are inactive or latent, they do not cause pain at the moment. Secondary trigger points, also called satellite trigger points, often develop in response to the primary trigger point, and they tend to develop along fascial lines under stress. Pain symptoms may be due to active trigger points, or the pain may have built up over time from latent trigger points. When you press on a trigger point, it might feel tender, tight, and painful, cause pain to travel to another area, restrict movement, weaken the muscle, and produce tingling or a dull ache. Why do trigger points form? Studies have shown that active myofascial trigger points produce spontaneous electrical activity even when the muscle should be at rest. Rather than holding a static electrical charge like a battery, trigger points behave as if they are electrically overactive. One of the leading scientific theories proposes that trigger points develop when a small group of muscle fibers becomes stuck in a sustained contraction. This activity is thought to result from an energy crisis caused by depletion of energy in the area, reduced blood flow, reduced oxygen delivery, and sensitization of nearby pain receptors. The reason for trigger point formation is multifaceted There is general agreement that muscle overuse or direct trauma to the muscle can lead to the development of TrPs (trigger points). However, there are several theories as to why TrPs form, but scientific evidence is lacking. The nerve root compression theory It has been widely accepted that when the root of a nerve is traumatized or pinched, trigger points form along that same nerve. But it is still a model rather than a proven fact. I believe that this theory is true in some cases. I have seen patients who have been medically diagnosed with a pinched nerve at the root, and I have then found and treated trigger points along the nerve, from the root to the nerve ending, or the other way around. The pain has diminished. I have also experienced this in my own body. I have had nerve compression in my cervical spine due to disc degeneration, bulging discs, and stenosis. At the time of pain symptoms, I have always found plenty of trigger points along the compressed nerve. It is also believed that the following can cause TrPs formation: Metabolic disorders Inflammation Metabolic byproducts Bony anomalies Congenital malformations Aging Weight gain The structure and alignment of the joints and spine Nutritional and hormonal factors: Some studies have shown evidence that vitamin C deficiency may perpetuate trigger point activity. Some studies have shown evidence that iron deficiency may perpetuate TrPs activity. Vitamin B12 deficiency may increase chronic trigger point formation and fatigue. There is evidence that estrogen and thyroid deficiencies may contribute to increased TrPs formation. Researchers also agree that repetitive microtrauma may lead to the development of trigger points just as much as acute trauma. Additionally, in 2004, Dr. Ferguson, D.C., and Dr. Gerwin, M.D., suggested that chronic parasitic, yeast, and viral infections may increase and perpetuate trigger point formation. Evidence of trigger points Dr. Janet Travell, a physician and medical researcher known for her success in treating myofascial pain syndrome (MPS), conducted studies and experiments to find evidence of trigger point formation. In 1957, she discovered that trigger points generate and receive small electrical currents. She measured these signals with an electromyogram and found that when a small part of the muscle contracted, it caused a small, localized spike in electrical activity. Can trigger points ever go away? Yes! Here are some suggestions for what you can do: Choose foods that fight inflammation. Correct your posture. Get regular bodywork, which can help erase trigger points and stop pain symptoms. Change daily habits that pull joints and the spine out of alignment and perpetuate the formation of TrPs. Take a look at your ergonomics. How do you sit or stand when working? Strengthen the body to minimize the overuse of certain muscle groups and find balance in the musculature. Use self-help tools, such as a foam roller, therapy balls, tennis balls, and a Theracane, to work on trigger points and myofascial release regularly. Take care of your myofascial trigger point pain now! Call or text Kicki at 1 (323) 404 6613. Email me here. Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and visit my website for more info! Read more from Kicki Katarina Hjortmarker Kicki Katarina Hjortmarker, Holistic Bodyworker Kicki Hjortmarker has a solid background in the hands-on healing field, treating people with injuries and chronic pain conditions. With a holistic approach, she integrates Neuromuscular Massage Therapy, Craniosacral Therapy, Hypnotherapy, Reiki, Pilates, and more. To practice the artistry of mind/bodywork and massage therapy has been Kicki's lifelong passion. It started with the awareness of her own body as a child and ballet dancer, and, later, as a gymnast who developed chronic lower back pain whilst on the Swedish National Team in Rhythmic Sports Gymnastics. Decades later, she overcame nerve damage and temporary paralysis in one hand. This taught her to trust the healing power of body and mind, and that the body prefers holistic healing methods over conventional treatments. Her mission is to encourage and inspire others to do the same. To trust the healing power of body, mind, and spirit!

Kicki Hjortmarker has a solid background in the hands-on healing field treating people with injuries and chronic pain conditions. With a holistic approach she integrates Neuromusclular Massage Thearpy, Craniosacral Therapy, Hypnotherapy, Reiki, Pilates, and more. To practice the artistry of mind, bodywork and massage therapy has been Kicki's lifelong passion. It started with the awareness of her own body as a child and ballet dancer, and, later as a gymnast who developed chronic lower back pain whilst on the Swedish National Team in Rhythmic Sports Gymnastics. Decades later she overcame nerve damage and temporary paralysis in one hand. This taught her to trust the healing power of body and mind, and that the body prefers holistic healing methods over conventional treatments. Her mission is to encourage and inspire others to do the same. To trust the healing power of body, mind, and spirit! Kicki Katarina Hjortmarker, Holistic Bodyworker Who is Kicki Hjortmarker both personally and professionally? I am a passionate person who is an explorer, a teacher, a dancer, and an eternal student of life. I have always loved to express myself through movement and dance, so in my spare time I hike in the mountains, take a stroll on the beach, dance whenever I can, or jog in the white water. Breathwork, yoga, and Pilates, meditation, or receiving a massage all help me to reset my energy and find equilibrium. I thrive when working and connecting with people. I have a zest for traveling, and I visit my home country, Sweden, often to hang out with family and good old friends. I settled in LA in 2005 and have found my comfortable spot here. This area has so much to offer with a gorgeous coast and amazing weather. Traffic sucks, but I am lucky to not have to deal with it all that often. I am an animal lover and used to foster cats. Those who decided to stay with me crack me up every day. They teach me about communication, movement, physiology, and psychology. It’s quite interesting to study their behavior. I like to feel the ground beneath my feet and kick my shoes off whenever I can, especially indoors. It’s a Swedish thing. I take a nap on the beach when my batteries need to be recharged. It soothes my soul. I strive to bring my best self into my professional self. I like to meet my clients with a vibrant, peaceful, and caring energy while giving them my full attention, presence, and focus. When facilitating body and mind work, I also aim to be in “the zone.” That’s when my awareness is focused, I have a very strong sense of what my client needs from me, and I follow the guidance of their body. The energy is open and welcoming, immersed, and stable. The room is filled with therapeutic presence and love. Time stands still. This doesn’t always happen, but when it does, the best work is taking place, and it feels amazing. I thrive when problem solving, and I see difficult cases as a challenge. I am relentless and always do my utmost to find a solution and facilitate healing. Tell us more about your passion for life. What in life are you passionate about? The design and function of the human brain, body, and mind fascinate me. Psychology and nutrition science excite me just as much. I am always reading and listening to podcasts, and I am captivated by new studies, evidence, and theories. I am passionate about growing as a human being as I learn about the world, the human condition, and how our body is affected by our thought patterns as well as the environment and people around us. To contemplate all this has truly been a lifelong journey. A lifelong journey? How old were you when you started this journey and how did it start? I started paying attention to imbalances in my body at 7 years old. I had just started dancing ballet and remember the time clearly when I became aware of my body. I experienced my body as being separate from my mind, and I observed what happened in my body. Before this moment, I had always thought of myself as “I am my body.” One day in first grade, I was walking with the other kids to get lunch in the school canteen. As I was walking, I became aware of the arch in my lower back, and my bottom was swaying out more than normal. It felt weird walking that way, but it just happened. I was perplexed by how the body did something that I seemed to have no control over. Then, somehow, I automatically pulled my pelvis underneath me and it felt better, but I thought, should I really have to think about this? Shouldn’t things in the body just be in one place in a certain way and stay there? I think this is the moment when I realized that we have an inner wisdom. It took form in body and mind, and I started to cultivate my body and mind awareness. Would you say that this “inner wisdom” is part of your work? Yes, absolutely. I would say that it is the foundation of my work. When I work with someone, I pay attention to their inner wisdom, and their body always has something to tell me. The information I receive from the client doesn’t just come from what they say or what they write on the intake form. Sometimes I am given a tremendous amount of information during the intake. It is good information to have, but I also have to make sure that it doesn’t get in the way of what I feel in the client’s body. As soon as I center myself and merge my energy with theirs, their body starts to show me where I am needed. Usually, it is in the form of a twitch, an energetic push, pull, or flutter, a temperature change, a contraction, a release, a change in heart rate, or a deep sigh. What inspired you to become a holistic wellness and massage expert? It wasn’t one single thing. As I mentioned earlier, it has been a journey. All of what I have experienced in life, the difficult times and my own injuries, has led me to constantly read, practice, figure things out in my own body, attend workshops and seminars, explore, and research new information. At a young age, I wanted to heal myself and was always striving for perfect health. After years of doing this, I had gathered enough knowledge to guide and facilitate healing for others. I feel like it has come naturally to me, but that certainly doesn’t mean it hasn’t been hard work combined with a never ending thirst for knowledge. What problems do you solve for your clients most often? The most common problems are back, hip, neck, and shoulder pain, as well as stress and anxiety. Back and neck pain are the number one complaints, but often this leads to other problems like headaches, jaw pain, TMJ, anxiety, and stress, so I deal with those almost equally as much. How does your method differ from other therapists or wellness programs? I don’t have a specific protocol that I follow. Even if two people have similar symptoms, the treatment will never be the same. I see and listen to what is needed in each specific situation and for each individual. I always take a look at posture first to gather information. However, as I start working hands on, I put this in the back of my mind because I know that the most important information will show up as soon as I start communicating with the body. I often integrate several modalities and methods to break up scar tissue, release trigger points, calm down or sometimes stimulate the nervous system, reeducate muscular tissues, promote relaxation, facilitate blood, lymph, and energy flow, bring oxygen to deprived areas, and help the body find homeostasis. When I feel it would be helpful to involve the mind, I integrate hypnotic imagery and Reiki if the client is open to it. If deeper issues arise, I may suggest a full hypnotherapy session. If needed, I also recommend exercises or focused Pilates sessions. What are the biggest changes clients notice after working with you? Significant reduction in pain and stress levels. Most clients report pain relief, better range of motion, increased mobility, and better sleep. Other outcomes include feeling lighter, more positive, and more relaxed. A renewed motivation to take charge of their own healing is also frequently reported. Which techniques do you rely on the most and why? I almost always use Neuromuscular Therapy with trigger point release. It is very effective and can provide immediate pain relief. I frequently combine this with Craniosacral Therapy and Reiki to calm the nervous system. Very sensitive people, or those not used to touch, may not tolerate the pressure of trigger point release. In these cases, it is beneficial to prepare the body with a gentler approach such as Craniosacral Therapy, Swedish massage, and Reiki. Can you share any stories where you helped clients achieve life changing results? Sure, to mention a few: Margo is a fit middle aged woman who had a severely frozen shoulder when I first met her. She had tried physical therapy for a year but was still in pain and couldn’t sleep through the night. After a few 90 minute treatments over a couple of weeks, she improved slightly but felt discouraged. She took a break to rule out underlying illness. All tests came back normal. We resumed treatment, and within weeks, she was sleeping four hours per night instead of one to two. Her range of motion improved. After several more sessions, she fully recovered and now comes in only for maintenance. Matthew, a teenage boy, had debilitating migraines for a month. He missed school frequently despite trying injections and medication. After one integrated session, he left smiling, with nausea and headaches almost gone. He returned to school the following Monday. Maria came in with chronic hip pain and expected to need surgery. Imaging confirmed arthritis. I suggested Pilates, and after six months, her strength improved significantly and her pain disappeared. Corleen was resistant to exercise and extremely sensitive to touch after illness. After a hypnotherapy session, she became motivated, joined a gym, and began training. Three years later, she still works out regularly and feels stronger and more energized. What are the most common misconceptions about your work? A common misconception is that if pain moves after treatment, something is wrong. The opposite is true. It shows that the body has started healing. Another misconception is that if there is little or no immediate relief, treatment isn’t working. Even without immediate results, the body begins adjusting, especially in chronic conditions. A third misconception is that if pain disappears after one session, no further work is needed. This may be true for recent issues, but chronic conditions require consistency and self work. Lastly, many believe my work only addresses muscles. In reality, it supports the whole body, including organs, the nervous system, fascia, tendons, lymph, and more. The work is often subtle, but it initiates deep internal changes that help restore balance. Who can benefit the most from your services and how? Anyone with myofascial pain such as shoulder, neck, back, leg, hip, wrist, elbow, or knee pain, as well as headaches, TMJ, and fibromyalgia. Also, anyone experiencing low energy, stress, anxiety, lack of joy, or discomfort in their own body can benefit. My work is especially helpful for those ready to take charge of their healing with the support of a holistic professional who listens to their body. Take care of your health now. Call or text: Kicki Hjortmarker Mobile: 1(323) 404 6613 Email Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and visit my website for more info! Read more from Kicki Katarina Hjortmarker

Written by Kicki Katarina Hjortmarker, Holistic Bodyworker Kicki Hjortmarker is known for her broad knowledge and extensive experience working with the human body and mind to heal injuries and chronic pain conditions. She is the founder of Swedish Balance, dedicated to help people live a balanced life pain-free. You’re in a bad mood, and life sucks! But, all of a sudden, your dog or your cat does something funny. It cracks you up! Maybe you don’t have a dog or a cat, but most of us have an Instagram or Facebook account, right? When you watch a funny video on Instagram, it probably feels like the horizon lifts a bit. But then, your negative thoughts come right back into your mind, going around in circles. So, what if we could do something that lifted us up in the absence of a funny dog, cat, or social media!? What if we could find something that would crack us up instantly and then keep us in that lighter mood, that higher vibration? Because who wants to be addicted to their phone and social media? How to crack yourself up on command I learned this exercise in acting school to access real emotions without outside stimuli. Our professor had us work with our faces to be able to cry, express fear, lash out in anger, and laugh out loud on command. So, even if we weren’t able to feel the real emotions while on stage or in front of the camera, we would just start moving our faces and use our breath in a certain way, and the emotions would wake up, become real, and just flow! Your body holds the memory of the feeling that accompanies the expression and movement. You might feel really ridiculous doing this to start, but hey, remember you’re doing it just for you in solitude. And the effects are both free and pretty immediate once you “get over yourself.” So, here we go: Exercise 1: Wake up your face and diaphragm Make yourself comfortable so that you can relax, whether that is sitting, standing, or lying down. Now, you’re going to warm up your fascial muscles that you use when you’re smiling. So, start by being completely still. The only thing you’re going to move now is your mouth and lips. Lift the corners of your mouth really high as if you’re smiling. Repeat the above, alternating between lifting the corners of your mouth and then dropping them toward the floor. Do this at least 8 times, going back and forth. Next, after getting the muscles used to moving a lot, pay attention to the sensation you get in your body when you lift the corners of your mouth versus when you drop the corners of your mouth. Continue with the fascial exercise as above, but now add the forehead and your eyes. As you form your mouth into a smile, lift your eyebrows and forehead at the same time, then go back to neutral. You might start to giggle spontaneously. If it doesn’t happen yet for you, don’t worry! Everything takes practice. If you’re feeling really low when you start doing this, and if you usually don’t move your face much, of course, it’s going to take you longer to get the hang of it. Let the face rest for a while before continuing with this exercise for your diaphragm and belly. Do a quick and forced exhalation, as if you’re coughing or actually laughing. Repeat this several times, aiming for 10 or more. Now, add your fascial exercise again. Lift the corners of your mouth, lift your eyebrows and forehead, and “put a smile on your face.” Add the quick forced exhalations, then come back to neutral. This time, try to go back and forth between a “happy face” and a “sad face” while also doing quick exhalations. Is a sound perhaps slipping out now automatically? Maybe there is a little laughing sound as you put your happy face on, and maybe a little sad sound as you put your sad face on? Keep your happy face on. Do several quick and forced exhalations with no breath in between, the exact way you do it when you laugh naturally. Keep on doing it, take a breath, and then do number 9 again, over and over. If you don’t feel like you’re cracking up all naturally by now, add an image! Either put an actual fun image in front of you, or close your eyes and remember a fun event in your mind's eye, or simply make it up! Exercise 2: Deep relaxation with self-hypnotic suggestions Relax and let go for a few minutes. Take a few belly breaths. Inhale, and as you exhale, make the exhale longer than the inhale. Close your eyes and remember a time when you laughed so hard that you could barely stop. See this picture of yourself in your mind's eye. Place the picture toward the front of your head. Remember what you laughed at. Was it daytime or nighttime? What was the temperature? Was it rainy and cold or sunny and warm? Who was around you? What did you wear? What was your general mood this day? What did you hear around you? What colors did you see? Were you hungry or full? If you can’t remember anything right now, come back to it later, or just make something up! You can be anything or anyone while doing this exercise. Play around with ideas. It could be fun to try on a new hairdo or a new wardrobe. This is your time to put yourself in the most fun environment and outfit ever! Crank it up! Exercise 3: Physical exercise and movement Get moving! Harvard Health: Mood Boosters Getting moving might not make you laugh out loud, but it will lift your mood! Work your muscles, make your limbs move, and make sure to breathe a little deeper! You want to make sure to produce the right amount of cortisol. This means that a light or intermediate workout is enough. It can be a brisk walk, a 15-30 minute jog, or a workout at the gym. Studies have shown that after about 15 minutes, your cortisol levels start to rise. If you feel that you need to be perked up and the 15 minutes haven’t done it yet, go for just a little longer! Go ahead and raise the cortisol a little more. Be aware that going too long and too hard can make you feel uneasy later in the day due to raised cortisol. So, you will have to figure out what is best for you, read your body, and adjust. What if it doesn’t work? Hypnotherapy might be the answer! If you say to yourself, “I can’t do this! I don’t want to do this! This is ridiculous! It doesn’t work!” then hypnotherapy might be the thing for you. Psychology Today: Hypnotherapy Hypnotherapy can make you aware of what thoughts you are feeding yourself all day long and how you can change them instantly. Hypnosis can help to decrease the sensation of pain, increase blood flow, decrease blood pressure, overcome a bad habit, feel confident, prepare you for a performance, handle grief better, get you motivated to start something new, end procrastination, feel the joy in life, crank up the giggles and laughs, and much more. Bodywork & hypnotherapy When I have a client on my massage table, I often incorporate hypnotic techniques and suggestions when someone is open to it or requests it. It makes the treatment deeper and more profound. At other times, a full hypnotherapy session (with no bodywork involved) can be the most effective, especially when there is a deeper issue involved and a drastic change is desired. Amazing health benefits In addition to feeling better and happier when laughing out loud, there are some real health benefits. Laughter boosts the immune system. Mayo Clinic: Stress Relief. Laughter does this by boosting immune cells and increasing the activity of antibodies and natural killer cells. Laughter also reduces inflammation in the body by lowering stress hormones. So, with laughter, you can look forward to fewer colds and quicker healing. Laughter is a full-body regulation tool: It shakes up stagnant energy, restores natural rhythm to all body systems, including the nervous system. Laughter lowers cortisol levels and adrenaline, and the body will move out of fight-or-flight mode. Laughter increases oxytocin in your body, which is a bonding hormone, so you will feel closer to the people you laugh with. That being said, have you ever felt closer to the actors on a stage after you’ve laughed at them or with them? There might be a feeling of, “We’re buddies now!” Laughter is a pain reliever! BBC: Science and Environment. Hormones signal to your nervous system that it is safe to let go of tension. When we laugh, the body releases endorphins, hormones that are a natural “feel-good” substance. The body also releases dopamine and serotonin, natural painkillers and mood lifters. Blood flow improves, muscles soften, and stress hormones decrease, which all contribute to a drop in inflammatory processes. Laughter keeps us in the moment. It is often challenging to be really present in the moment. Our minds tend to wander into the future, and if the future looks challenging, anxiety might set in. If our minds wander into the past and we miss or regret things, depression might set in. But when you’re honestly laughing, you’re in the moment! You can’t dissociate and laugh at the same time. Maybe you’ve noticed that after a good laugh, you feel lighter, your mind doesn’t feel as troubled anymore, your breathing is easier, and the tension around your shoulders isn’t gripping as hard as before. Laughter literally helps shift the body out of fight-or-flight mode and get it back to equilibrium. So, keep on laughing, feel better, and relieve pain! Take care of your health and healing now! Call or text Kicki Hjortmarker 1 (323) 404 6613 Email here. Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and visit my website for more info! Read more from Kicki Katarina Hjortmarker Kicki Katarina Hjortmarker, Holistic Bodyworker Kicki Hjortmarker has a solid background in the hands-on healing field, treating people with injuries and chronic pain conditions. With a holistic approach, she integrates Neuromuscular Massage Therapy, Craniosacral Therapy, Hypnotherapy, Reiki, Pilates, and more. To practice the artistry of mind/bodywork and massage therapy has been Kicki's lifelong passion. It started with the awareness of her own body as a child and ballet dancer, and, later, as a gymnast who developed chronic lower back pain whilst on the Swedish National Team in Rhythmic Sports Gymnastics. Decades later, she overcame nerve damage and temporary paralysis in one hand. This taught her to trust the healing power of body and mind, and that the body prefers holistic healing methods over conventional treatments. Her mission is to encourage and inspire others to do the same. To trust the healing power of body, mind, and spirit!"

Written by Kicki Katarina Hjortmarker, Holistic Bodyworker Kicki Hjortmarker is known for her broad knowledge and extensive experience working with the human body and mind to heal injuries and chronic pain conditions. She is the founder of Swedish Balance, dedicated to help people live a balanced life pain-free. Chronic lower back pain is rarely caused by one single issue. In this article, we explore the often-overlooked role of the psoas muscle and how tension, imbalance, lifestyle habits, and stress can affect the lower back. You’ll discover holistic, body-aware approaches to easing pain, restoring balance, and supporting long-term healing. The role of the psoas Since the psoas is such a central muscle in the body, connecting the lower and upper body through the lumbar spine, running along the inside of the pelvic bone, and attaching to the inner thigh (the lesser trochanter), it has a major impact on the lower back. If it shortens or tightens, it literally pulls on the lower spine, the discs, and the vertebrae. It gets tighter with a lot of sitting since it’s in constant contraction. When it’s shortened, it will pull the lumbar spine forward and down. So, when you stand up, the lower back will feel tight or compressed, but you were just fine as long as you were sitting. If you also see that your bottom sticks out more than usual, it’s a sign of a tight psoas. You can also check if your lower belly protrudes more, your hip bones point downward slightly, or your lower back arches deeply. The psoas can simultaneously be too tight on one side and too weak on the other side, and thereby it’s creating an imbalance and lower back pain. Another aspect of the psoas is its location behind the intestines. A tight psoas can put pressure on the intestines, and you end up with constipation or diarrhea without having any idea why your stomach is upset. This pressure can lead to tension and pain in your lower back as well. 10 last tips to conquer lower back pain 1. Psoas Things you can do to loosen up the psoas: Lie down on a foam roller horizontally and place it under your sacrum (the very lowest part of your spine, above your tailbone. Your gluteus muscles and your piriformis are attached here.) Your upper back will be on the floor, and your hips will be elevated on the foam roller. Start with bent knees as the psoas responds better to a gentle stretch and softening rather than an aggressive stretch. After you feel that the psoas has softened, you can go ahead and lengthen your legs if you’d like. Slow pendulum-like leg movements when standing on one leg can also help ease the tension. Another way is to put a ball on the floor, then gently lie down on the ball, on the side of your stomach/inside of your pelvic bone, face down. Brace yourself with your arm strength to not put too much pressure on this delicate area, as you will push intestines to the side when trying to reach the psoas and illiopsoas. Do not try this if you believe you might have fragile stomach tissues or if you don’t have enough arm strength to brace yourself! Doing a hip flexor stretch can also be helpful. Stand on your knees. Put one leg out in front of the body (Like a lunge), knee bent at a 90 degree angle. One foot and one leg are now in front of you. You might want to hold onto a wall or chair on one side to help you balance. Your torso should be upright. However, if your psoas is super tight, you won’t be able to hold your torso upright here. The same thing goes if your major hip flexor is really tight. If it’s no problem for you to stand here, start to bend the leg in front of you while your torso is still straight up, and go as far as you can to get a good stretch. You should feel a stretch in front of the hip and thigh. You might even feel a slight stretch into the stomach. Sitting “Indian style” is also a way to open up the psoas and get it to relax. If none of the above is working, seek help from a bodyworker or similar professional who can help release the psoas with manual work. A professional can work hands-on of the inside of your pelvic bone, and close to the spine, to release the psoas. You can also get help with active releases and exercises specific for your needs. 2. Abdominals I’m mentioning the abs just briefly here, as it is so individual how to strengthen the abs to not make things worse. I work with a lot of people who will easily “throw their back out” if they start strengthening their abs on their own. So, something that is safe for almost all will be to do a “C-curve”. I wouldn’t recommend this if you have a herniated or bulging disc, though. Wait until it’s healed. Sit on your sit bones (Ischial tuberosity) either on the floor or on the edge of a chair. Bend your legs towards your chest, and let your knees fall open to the sides. Keep the bottom of your feet towards each other. You can place your hands on the outside of your legs. Slowly and slightly, inch by inch, roll behind your sit bones and roll onto your sacrum, so that you create a C-curve with your spine. Make sure that your legs stay open. This is to make sure that you don’t start to work with your psoas and major hip flexor instead of with your lower abs. Repeat this as long as it feels good, doesn’t strain your back, and as long as it feels like you’re using your abdominals only. Also, pay attention to whether you have the same amount of weight on each sit bone. If not, adjust. This means that you will have to soften/let go of the side that has less contact with the floor. It can be helpful to put a hand on the tighter side and imagine that you exhale through the tension. 3. Pilates and yoga Pilates and Yoga are excellent exercise forms to help your back heal. The two forms have much in common, but a true yogi would disagree since yoga really is about meditation. True yoga is about meditation, and the exercises are meant to prepare the body for quiet meditation in stillness. However, for an unstable back and an unstable core, I prefer Pilates because you are supported by equipment. It’s very safe for your body! I strongly recommend taking private classes until you are stronger, or there is a significant risk that you work incorrectly and hurt yourself. I meet way too many people who are unaware of their body movements and restrictions, and end up hurting themselves in a class with multiple people, more so in a yoga class, since yoga is usually done without supportive equipment. Pilates is great because it will strengthen your whole body with a focus on the core. It will improve posture, increase flexibility, and build full-body strength. It supports healthy, balanced, and efficient movements. The Pilates method emphasis is on controlled movements, precise, and intentional. The emphasis is also on breath coordinated with movement, deep core activation, neutral spine alignment, balanced muscle development, and mind-body awareness. 4. Stretching The most natural stretch for your lower back would be to curl up in a ball, but it won’t have a long lasting affect. Instead: Lie down on the floor and pull one leg into the chest at a time to get a gluteus stretch. Press the other leg down onto the floor, and you might experience a slight stretch in front of the thigh and hip as well. Release tension of your spine both in flexion and extension. The Cat-Cow stretch is great for this: Stand on hands and knees. Arch your back up to the sky (cat), pull your belly in slightly, and drop your head down. Reverse the movement and drop your back down/ arching down as you lift your head up. Repeat at least five times, and increase the range of motion each time. Supine twist: Lie down on your back, bring your knees towards your chest, and tip both knees to one side. Look the opposite way to get a complete spine twist. Then reverse. Release the psoas: If your back is arching constantly, and your belly protrudes, then your psoas is too tight. To stretch and release the psoas, see note 11 “Psoas” above. Hamstring stretch: Lie on your back. Lift one leg and loop a strap under the foot. Pull the strap with the leg towards your face. If it’s too much of a stretch, you can use a towel instead and place it somewhere under your leg, and keep it slightly bent. Then pull the leg towards your face. Open up the hips and release the lower back by taking a wide stance. Bend your knees and sit down as far to the floor as your knees allow. Drop your bottom towards the floor, and also drop your tailbone towards the floor. Put your hands on the floor for support. Drop your head towards your chest to get a complete spine stretch. 5. Homeopathic remedies, ice, heat, shower, and other topical solutions A great homeopathic treatment for your back is ice and heat. If you are achy and have had discomfort for a long time, heat can work really well to loosen up tension. If you recently injured yourself, it’s safer to go with ice. When it comes to an acute or recent injury, there is often severe inflammation involved. You want to make sure to ice this, and “not put more heat on the fire!” In some situations, it’s helpful to use both heat and ice: Put ice on the part of the body that feels hot due to inflammation and keep it on for 10-20 minutes several times a day. At the same time, you can put heat on another body part that feels tight but not hot (usually you don’t feel pain here) to create relaxation of the whole body. You can also switch between heat and ice on your injured area once the inflammation has calmed down to increase circulation. The tissues will be cycling between vasodilation (blood vessels open) and vasoconstriction (blood vessels narrow). Take a nice hot shower to relax the tension in your whole body, and thereby take the edge off the tension in your injured area. Regarding ointments, Arnica is a go-to topical solution for inflammation and bruises. A topical Cayenne pepper ointment with its active ingredient Capsaicin and Vitamin C has a variety of benefits, such as being anti-inflammatory. It also supports collagen synthesis. Analgesics such as peppermint gels can be affective short term. The last few years CBD oil has also become very popular as it has the capability of decreasing pain, but, it needs to be a trustworthy brand and its efficacy has to do with how it has been sourced. Additionally, some of my clients swear by lidocaine patches. 6. Supplements and medication Magnesium-rich foods and supplements are helpful for spasms and cramps. Ibuprofen is also an over-the-counter medication for minor aches and pains, such as headaches, muscle aches, arthritis, and backaches. If your pain is severe, ibuprofen might not help you. However, the prescription dosage is much higher than what you can buy over the counter, and that can possibly ease your pain. High-quality bioavailable turmeric is also helpful in reducing inflammation in the body. 7. Get help Having work done by a professional on tissues that affect traumatized nerves, muscles, and discs will help create more space and bring blood flow to the area to clear up inflammation. If your condition is severe, you may want to consult with your doctor to see if bodywork is safe for you. Get help from a professional who does bodywork such as Manual Tissue Release, Trigger Point release/Neuromuscular Therapy, Myofascial Release, Craniosacral Therapy, Somato Emotional Release, Reiki, Lymphatic Drainage, Visceral Manipulation, which can greatly reduce inflammation and pain symptoms. Multiple healing methods may be needed. The very solution to heal and deal with your back trauma may be through a program including a strengthening system such as Pilates. 8. Fasting Fasting can help in your efforts to combat chronic pain, but it’s not going to heal the dysfunction or imbalances in the myofascial or myoskeletal system. Fasting can take the edge off the pain by reducing inflammation in the body. Many types of back pain, especially those related to arthritis, disc degeneration, or nerve irritation, have an inflammatory component, so I strongly suggest you try a way to reduce inflammation. I usually go on a three-day water fast when I want to reduce inflammation in my body. I notice a tremendous difference in the healing of wounds, and my one bunion is reducing in size significantly. If you aren’t used to fasting, make sure to consult with someone who knows how to guide you through a fast. It’s also advisable to consult with your doctor to make sure a fast is safe for you. 9. Grounding Grounding can help you to cope with chronic pain and to “get out of your head and back into your body”. The best way to do that can be to “Feel Your Feet”! Feel your feet on the floor or on the ground outside in order to feel present, to reduce overwhelm, and to calm down stress symptoms and anxiety. It’s about coming back to a steady, regulated state of mind. To get out of your head, follow this exercise: Name 4 things that you see around you. Name 4 things that you hear around you. Name 4 things that you feel. Say this out loud to yourself, and make sure your eyes are open. To physically ground yourself: Feel the weight of your body being supported by the earth. Feel the contact to the ground beneath your feet. How does it feel? What’s the texture and temperature like? As you lessen the tension in the muscles and bones of your feet, you will be able to relax your whole body. If you simply cannot relax your feet, sit on a chair and then still keep your feet on the ground or floor. Then imagine that you’re exhaling through your feet and into the ground below, imagining that threads of energy is extending from your feet, connecting you and your feet to the core of the earth. Imagine that these threads of energy is reaching deeper into the earth with each breath. It can also be relaxing to massage your feet gently, and then put them back on the ground. Also see part 1, note 5 “Meditation and Breath.” Electrically explained, connecting an electrical system (which our bodies are) to the earth will prevent shocks, static, or charge build-up. Studies have shown that our bodies will change charge quickly when connecting directly to the ground/earth with your bare feet, and the whole nervous system will slow down and relax. 10. How to deal with a relapse Relapse will happen! Usually, because you feel really good, you push yourself, and you do something stupid! Yes, I have done it many times! I feel really good, feel like I don’t have a back problem anymore, and I pack on the weights at the gym, and soon the muscles will pull me into a major imbalance. When this happens to you, be careful about how you’re stretching. It’s easy to over-stretch an inflamed and weakened area, and you will make the pain worse. Instead, move into a position where you don’t feel any pain. Hopefully, it feels really good as if you could stay there forever! So, stay there for a minute as long as it feels good! Hold this position until you feel a release, as if the tension is letting go. You feel a little more relaxed. Then move into the next position that feels good. Make sure to go really slowly! Limbs can affect your back tremendously, so make sure to also move arms and legs into a position that feels good. You can stand, lie down on the floor, or sit while you do this. Whatever makes you feel better. If you do this for a while, moving into several different positions that feel good and wait for a release, you might be able to feel one or more areas that are the culprit to the back trauma and pain. You can use a ball for these areas. Lie down on the ball with static pressure. Don’t roll around on the ball on your painful area. If you have hit a trigger point, it needs static pressure to let go. If you don’t feel a release, you might be pressing too hard. Again, move slowly and be patient! Do this consistently! Rest may be necessary, and also make sure to follow the tips and suggestions above. Do never say: “stupid back”! You made tension happen, so instead, thank your back for all that it does for you! Take care of your health and back pain now! Call or text Kicki Hjortmarker @ 1 (323) 404 6613 Email: kickis_therapy@icloud.com Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and visit my website for more info! Read more from Kicki Katarina Hjortmarker Kicki Katarina Hjortmarker, Holistic Bodyworker Kicki Hjortmarker has a solid background in the hands-on healing field, treating people with injuries and chronic pain conditions. With a holistic approach, she integrates Neuromuscular Massage Therapy, Craniosacral Therapy, Hypnotherapy, Reiki, Pilates, and more. To practice the artistry of mind/bodywork and massage therapy has been Kicki's lifelong passion. It started with the awareness of her own body as a child and ballet dancer, and, later, as a gymnast who developed chronic lower back pain whilst on the Swedish National Team in Rhythmic Sports Gymnastics. Decades later, she overcame nerve damage and temporary paralysis in one hand. This taught her to trust the healing power of body and mind, and that the body prefers holistic healing methods over conventional treatments. Her mission is to encourage and inspire others to do the same: To trust the healing power of body, mind, and spirit!"

Written by Kicki Katarina Hjortmarker, Holistic Bodyworker Kicki Hjortmarker is known for her broad knowledge and extensive experience working with the human body and mind to heal injuries and chronic pain conditions. She is the founder of Swedish Balance, dedicated to help people live a balanced life pain-free. Chronic lower back pain can have a multitude of causes, both physical and emotional. In this article, we delve into the role of self-awareness and holistic treatments like fascia release, strengthening exercises, and diet adjustments to help alleviate pain. Whether through mindfulness, specific exercises, or making lifestyle changes, managing back pain requires a comprehensive approach. Start your healing journey with these practical tips and insights. Learning from the inside-out I suggest that you take a deep dive into your internal self! Since I have learnt tremendously much about the body and back pain through my injuries, bodily traumas, hardships, and long-term healing process, I know that you can do it too! But you need to have the desire and stamina to do so, and then a little help on the way. Reading this article is a great step in the process! To highlight the importance of going inside, I’ll revisit my story, I experienced lower back pain already at age 15. I was on the Swedish National Team in Rhythmic Sports Gymnastics. The tension and pain in my back was getting worse throughout the years of training and competing. The first time my back locked up so badly that I couldn’t move, I assumed that it was merely a physical thing, It was the one-sided training! And that was probably a huge reason for it, but if it was the only reason, wouldn’t everyone on my team have lower back pain? We all did the same kind of movements and exercises after all. Looking back at it, I think the stress to stay on the team had a huge impact. As I was a maturing teenager going through puberty, I also gained some weight, which I desperately tried to reverse, and my diet became very poor. Back then, I didn’t know how stress hormones could produce physiological changes. I didn’t know why I gained weight, and I didn’t know how to lose weight without starving myself. So, I starved myself, lost a lot of weight during the summer, just to gain it all back a few months later. Losing and gaining weight became an unhealthy cycle for years to come. The back pain persisted and got worse throughout this time. Treatments such as chiropractic and massage therapy only helped temporarily. It wasn’t until it became my mission to become perfectly healthy that I made huge leaps in the healing process. I dove deep inside! I started meditating. I practiced letting go of tension before it became painful. I became aware of how different foods made me feel and how different situations made me feel. I became aware of my breathing, my emotions, feelings, tension patterns, and what would set a painful episode off. I became aware of how I was walking, standing, sitting, and sleeping. I became aware of which clothes and shoes would make me more comfortable. I became aware of how the presence of different people made me feel. I became aware of my impact on people around me. So, back pain can have both internal and external causes, but when is my back pain going away? You might have had many treatments already, and maybe you’ve tried many different kinds. Chiropractic, Acupuncture, Myofascial Release, Neuromuscular Therapy, Physical Therapy, but the pain is still there: Why? The reasons can be multitude. And, before giving an arbitrary answer to when your back pain is going away, some things need to be discussed. First of all, you need to understand that where you feel back pain, where you are hurting the most, is rarely where it all started, and it’s rarely where you need most of the work done. The pain that you are feeling in a specific area is often located where there is weakness. Commonly, there is an imbalance in muscular tissues that leads to muscles pulling your spine, vertebrae, ribs, or joints out of alignment. If this is your case, then the pain won’t go away until the alignment has been addressed. Will chiropractic treatments help? Now you might think that you need to see a chiropractor, because chiropractors manipulate bones. Or, maybe you’ve tried chiropractic treatments, and it hasn’t lasted, and it simply hasn’t worked for you. The reason for this is likely because the treatment was too invasive and the body “rebelled” against it by holding onto the tension, protecting the body and injury site, instead of releasing the trauma. Another reason that it didn’t help you can be that the muscular tissues, fascia, or organs held tension/trauma, and weren’t addressed in the treatment. On the other hand, if you feel that Chiropractic treatments help you, then definitely go ahead and do it! Chiropractors work very differently, and you might just need to find the right one for you. Commonly, several different kinds of treatments and approaches are needed to resolve chronic pain conditions. How fast or slowly your pain is going away has to do with how severe the injury is, what kind of treatments you are choosing, how skilled the therapist is, and mostly with how diligent you are with recommended exercises. Diet, self-awareness, thoughts, feelings, hydration, and appropriate amount of rest is equally important. The role of organs and fascia If your kidney-energy is compromised, because you have bad sleeping habits, experience a lot of stress, don’t drink enough water, or you drink too much water, etc., then you might experience lower back pain. As soon as you make changes to these habits, you can potentially notice a difference for the better very fast- within a few days, a week or two. Fascia is also an important organ to be considered. If it is restricted due to something that started as a minor injury so small that you don’t even remember it, it may still cause you major problems. For example, you twisted your ankle sometime ago, which caused your fascia to thicken. A thickening of the fascia can cause restrictions and less mobility as it tightens around an injured area. It thickens in the area in order to stabilize the foot and the ankle. This may not work in your favor because the restriction that occurred due to the injury can affect the whole body. Think of fascia as a protective thin sheet covering everything in your body, Imagine a bed sheet, and that you tie a knot at one end of the bed. You will then see creases going towards the other end of the bed. The same thing applies in your body. The fascia (sheet) has a “knot” at one end of your body, for example, in your calf. This “pull” in the fascia can give a ripple effect all the way up to your hamstrings, shoulders, neck, or head. If restrictions in the fascia aren’t addressed, it can take you years or a lifetime to heal your back pain. Once again, it is crucial to have a holistic perspective when treating chronic back pain. Disc issues If there are disc issues, structural issues, spinal stenosis, etc., the patient will usually get relief from work around the area of the trauma as blood flow to the injury site increases and inflammation and spasms decrease. The pain from a bulging disc often subsides within 2-6 weeks. Pain caused by a herniated disc often subsides within 4-6 weeks, but it can take 6-12 months for full structural healing of the disc. During this time, the pain and speed of recovery can be managed with manual therapies and bodywork such as Neuromuscular Massage, Meditation and relaxation, Myofascial Release, Reiki, and Craniosacral therapy. Back pain due to imbalances. Why are there imbalances in the first place? The imbalances are often there because you are doing something repetitively every day, overusing some tissues, and underusing others. Other times, it might have started with an accident, a blow to the body, stress, or toxins. Some muscle groups are being overused, and with overuse, they get fatigued. Even if you’re very active and you use your muscles a lot, they don’t necessarily get stronger. Muscles can become both tight and weak. Some of my clients who have incredibly tight gluteus say, “But isn’t it good to have gluteus like rocks? Isn’t it good to have a tight butt?” And then they smile! No! Gluteus-like rocks can give more problems than benefits. Strong glutes are important in conquering chronic lower back pain, but as mentioned earlier, muscles can be both tight and weak, and thereby cause a tremendous amount of pain. For example, if you have overdone it at the gym, trained the gluteus and hamstrings hard, then of course these muscle groups can be strong, but at the same time they can be the cause of lower back pain. A bodyworker or massage therapist can release these muscles, and the back pain can go away, and it might never become chronic. But, if you keep doing this over and over, without balancing out the training with massages/ bodywork and by making sure hip-flexors, quads, adductors, abductors, and abdominals are strong and strengthened equally, then there might be a problem, and the lower back pain will potentially develop into a chronic pain situation. Why is my back pain not going away after a massage? Have you had a massage in order to fix your back pain, but it didn’t work? Did you explain to your therapist where it hurt, and did you ask them to focus on that area? Or, did the therapist decide to really grind it in that one painful area? I come across people with chronic lower back pain, frozen shoulders, hip pain, and neck pain, and they ask me to just work on their neck, back, hips, or shoulders. Usually this gives little results. In the best-case scenario, they feel a whole lot better right afterwards, but after a few days or a week later, they experience the same kind of pain as before the treatment. The pain didn’t go away after the massage because the body functions as a unit. You can’t separate the neck pain from your lower back, or from your tension in your calves. Remember that when you’re walking, lifting a box, running, etc., your whole body is involved! Maybe you’ve heard that your fascia might be part of your problem. As mentioned earlier, fascia is a tissue with no ending and no beginning throughout your whole body. Hence, restriction in one part of the body can lead to pain in another part of the body. Fascia is one system, a network of connective tissue, and if it is injured in one location of the body, it can give you ripple effects pretty much anywhere. So, if you ask your massage therapist to only work your back if you have back pain, but the restriction originates somewhere else, you’re out of luck. The back pain will persist! Also, if you continue to do the exact same things and movements, that were the cause of the pain in the first place, that you did before the massage treatment, your muscles will start to do the exact same thing as they did before the treatment and they will pull you out of balance again, It can be enough that you get back to your desk job on Monday morning and you sit in the position that unknowingly contributed to your pain. What sitting does to your back People with a desk job who don’t have a habit to exercise, tend to develop lower back pain over time. As they sit a lot, the gluteus muscles aren’t being used enough. Instead, the hip flexors work too hard and get too tight, often with a pelvic tilt. Back muscles get imbalanced with pain and strain as a result. In this case, a massage treatment can help in the moment, but for long-term pain relief, a strengthening program such as Pilates is needed. Hip flexors, gluteus, adductors, psoas, illiacus, and hamstrings’ role in a shorter stride and low back pain I frequently see people who have gotten a shorter stride throughout the years. They complain about lower back pain, shoulder pain, or neck pain, where lower back pain is the most common. What they all have in common is a lack of muscle mass in the gluteus. The strength is gone! The adductors (inner thighs) now try to stabilize the leg in the absence of gluteal strength. Usually, it’s more obvious on one side than the other. Hip flexors, adductors, and hamstrings tend to be extremely tight in this situation. Therefore, it’s impossible to take a proper stride. Commonly, the psoas is involved as well, pulling on the trunk, as it has a role as a flexor. The illiacus is part of the “Illio-psoas”. It covers each pelvic bone on the inside. The psoas runs along it. If the illiacus is too tight, it will pull on your SI-Joint (Sacroiliac-joint), which is the very lowest part of the spine with 5 fused vertebrae just above your tailbone, and it can also cause low back pain. When I’m working with these people and stretch their legs sideways, the leg will barely move 20 degrees. Since gluteus-medius on the side of the pelvis acts as a major stabilizer when standing and walking, lower back pain tends to be a result if it is not strong enough. Other muscle groups will compensate for the weakness and try to do all of the job as stabilizers. I have found that low back pain will diminish significantly when adductors, psoas, illiacus, and hamstrings are released and relaxed. But, they’re not going to stay relaxed unless other muscle groups do their job. Below are 5 practical tips to keep you going on your self-help journey 1. Build your body/mind awareness Become more self-aware. Ask yourself: When do you tense up? When do you feel stress in your body? Where do you feel the stress? What does the stress feel like? Pay attention to how you breathe. Look in the mirror: Are you raising your shoulders as you inhale? When you sit, do you tense your gluteus, your neck, or your abdomen? Do you have your feet on the floor, do you cross your legs, or do you feel less tension in the body if you sit cross-legged/Indian style/Yoga style? Do you feel stressed or relaxed after a meal? Do you feel better or worse if you drink more water throughout the day? What makes you feel stressed? Can you eliminate the trigger? Can you look at the trigger from a different perspective? Can you change the way you react to it? To slow your breath and nervous system down, inhale on a 4 count and make the exhale longer on a 6-7 count. 2. Tools Tools can be very helpful in releasing tension and pain on your own. Foam Roller and the Thera-cane are tools that have helped myself greatly throughout the years. You can easily find both online, at most gyms, or in sports specialty stores. However, to use the Thera-cane efficiently is a bit of a learning curve. It might be worth it, though, as you can target difficult-to-reach areas, whereas it would be almost impossible to reach the same areas with the foam roller, therapy balls, or with your bare hands. Therapy balls can be more useful than a foam roller as it is easier to pinpoint a specific tension area and trigger points. The foam roller is great to cover your whole body. As long as you can get down on the floor, you can roll any part of your body on the foam roller, but avoid inflamed areas. The foam roller also works great for your IT bands. is a taught fibrous band made up of thick fascia. It originates on the side of your pelvic bone and inserts on the lateral side just below the knee. It’s common that a too-tight IT band gives you knee pain on the outside of the knee. This tension can also refer to pain in your lower back, as it is part of a fascia tension pattern. When you work on trigger points, they are discrete and focal on your own. Be aware that trigger points need static pressure to release. That means that it is better to lie down or sit down on a ball, instead of rolling around on one. If a trigger point won’t release as you’re working on it, try to lighten up on the pressure. Sometimes trigger points won’t release if you’re pressing too hard, but the opposite can also be true. Other times, the trigger point needs a different angle than the angle you’re working from in order to release. In some cases, you can use traction devices. This can work really well when you need to create more space in the spine. But, please be careful with this! If you have bulging and herniated discs, you do not want to hang upside-down in a traction device. This can drastically increase inflammation, prolong the pain, and make it worse. If you experience neck pain, there are many traction devices that can feel good to use. Choose one that you can keep on the floor or another hard flat surface, and on which you can gently put your head down and relax. The gentler and slower you use a traction device, the better. You want to make sure the tissues and your body feel safe to relax, release, and let go of tension! Supportive tapes and braces are something you can use for a short period of time. If you use it too often or for too long, the risk is that muscles will atrophy, and in the long run, you will be worse off. In at least 80% of the cases I see, specific muscle groups, or the whole body, need to get stronger to combat the pain and nudge the body to release trauma and let go. 3. Consider your finances and create a budget When money feels uncertain, the body shifts into a “fight or flight” response, which causes tightening of the psoas, your deep hip flexor that is linked to fear and threat. During stressful times, it tightens up to make you ready to “run for your life”. Stress hormones affect inflammation, make your existing back issues flare up more easily, and your back becomes more reactive and delicate. The back muscles then go into a guarding mode and contract. Shorter and quicker breathing leads to tension of the diaphragm, which in turn leads to increased tension of the paraspinalis muscles and back tension. If this also makes you “stress-eat,” it can lead to even more inflammation in the gut and the body overall. Additionally, the stress response can make your posture change: Your shoulders start to round, your belly is braced and tightened, and the psoas tightens, so you start leaning forward. 4. Kidneys When kidneys are stressed, inflamed, or obstructed , they can cause discomfort on either side of the spine, typically just under the ribs. Since kidneys are located close to your back muscles, pain originating in the kidneys can sometimes radiate toward the lower back, abdomen, and groin, making it feel like low back pain. Below are a few safe and supportive things you can do to help your kidneys feel better and in turn your low back, if you’re not dealing with an acute infection, stones, or other emergency. Kidneys love steady hydration, not too much water too fast, and not too little too rarely, so sip water throughout the day. If you are healthy in general, some mild kidney-supportive herbs are: Nettle tea Cranberries/unsweetened cranberry juice Dandelion leaf tea Supportive foods are: Berries, especially blueberries and cranberries Cauliflower Cabbage Apples Olive oil Ginger and turmeric 5. Strengthen the gluteus Strong gluteus stabilizes the legs and the pelvis and thereby protects the lower back. Here are some exercises that are helpful: Bridges: Lie down on your back, and bend your knees. Place your feet on the floor. Lift your hips up until you feel your hamstrings and buttocks working. You might also feel a stretch in front of your hips and quads. Do several repetitions, depending on how strong you are. 10X3 is a good goal. Press your feet down on the floor at the same time as you lift your hips up towards the sky. Lower down to the floor again in the order of ribs, waist, and hips. Clams: Lie down on one side. Keep legs together and on top of each other. Bend the knees. Support your head on one arm or hand. Lift the top knee towards the ceiling, but make sure to keep the big toes of both feet together. You will open your legs as if you opened a clam! Do about 10 or more of these, and build it up to 10X3. Repeat on the other side. Leg kicks/circles: You can be standing or lying down. When standing, slightly hold onto the backrest of a chair in front of you. Do 10 kicks to the back of your body with a straight leg. Repeat on both legs. Work it up to 10x3. Do 10 kicks to the side. Make sure to hold the leg to the side for a second or two to work the Gluteus medius. Work it up to 10x3. Also, do circles with both legs, in each direction, forward and backwards. Make sure that your hips stay square and facing forward. If you do this lying down on the side, make sure your hips stay on top of each other. Do 10 kicks forward and backwards. Do 10 small circles to the front, change direction, and do 10 to the back. At the gym: If you are strong enough and prefer the gym, you can use the abductor equipment. Make sure you’re working only with the gluteus and do not pull with your back muscles. When your back is inflamed, weak, and unstable, the last thing you want to do is to use it instead of your gluteus! Use a Pilates circle/magic circle: Buying a Pilates circle is a great investment. It’s usually around $30 or less. You can use this resistance circle in so many different ways, and one way is to strengthen your gluteus. You can be sitting, standing, or lying down when using this tool, pulling it apart from the inside of the circle with your legs and gluteus. Most circles come with a suggestion of exercises, or you can look them up online. Thera bands/rubber bands: can be used in a similar fashion to the magic circle in order to strengthen the gluteus. You tie the band around your ankles or thighs in order to get the resistance you like. You can walk with the band around your ankles sideways, and stretch the band as much as possible as you take a step. Make sure to switch leading legs. Find another 15 tips in parts 1 and 3. Take care of your health and back pain now! Call or text Kicki Hjortmarker @ 1 (323) 404 6613 Email: kickis_therapy@icloud.com Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and visit my website for more info! Read more from Kicki Katarina Hjortmarker Kicki Katarina Hjortmarker, Holistic Bodyworker Kicki Hjortmarker has a solid background in the hands-on healing field, treating people with injuries and chronic pain conditions. With a holistic approach, she integrates Neuromuscular Massage Therapy, Craniosacral Therapy, Hypnotherapy, Reiki, Pilates, and more. To practice the artistry of mind/bodywork and massage therapy has been Kicki's lifelong passion. It started with the awareness of her own body as a child and ballet dancer, and, later, as a gymnast who developed chronic lower back pain whilst on the Swedish National Team in Rhythmic Sports Gymnastics. Decades later, she overcame nerve damage and temporary paralysis in one hand. This taught her to trust the healing power of body and mind, and that the body prefers holistic healing methods over conventional treatments. Her mission is to encourage and inspire others to do the same: To trust the healing power of body, mind, and spirit!"

Written by Kicki Katarina Hjortmarker, Holistic Bodyworker Kicki Hjortmarker is known for her broad knowledge and extensive experience working with the human body and mind to heal injuries and chronic pain conditions. She is the founder of Swedish Balance dedicated to help people live a balanced life pain free. I believe that most chronic back pain conditions can be healed naturally with a holistic approach, but, it takes patience, perseverance and consistency. It takes self-work and often a life-style change. Hence, this article is for those of you who want to take charge of your healing and are thinking about surgery as last resort. As a retired RSG-gymnast with chronic lower back pain in the late 80’s, I was determined to learn how to keep strong, release tension, keep inflammation down, and to become balanced, aligned, and pain free. It became a consistent and diligent detective work for decades: To have back surgery was not an option for me, so, I learnt to heal my back and I believe you can do it too! At this time, I have worked with thousands of people combating various back, and neck-pain conditions, and, below I am sharing insights, causes, tips, and ideas that I have discovered while working on numerous difficult cases in addition to my own trauma. Can you fix it? I meet people all the time who have had chronic lower back pain for a long time, a few months or even decades, and when they finally come to me for help it has gotten much worse as of late.They ask if I think I can fix them. My response commonly is that, “I can most likely help you, and you can probably feel a whole lot better than you do today, but don’t expect this one session to “fix” you. If one session would fix years of damage, that would be utopia, and I would charge a whole lot more for a session than I do!” So, how long does it take? However, don’t take me wrong, there are times when people feel healed after one session, but that’s usually when the back pain hasn’t lasted very long, perhaps 5-6 weeks or so. If the pain condition is acute due to a recent injury, and, on top of it you’re a young and healthy person, then the pain can go away pretty soon with the right treatments and exercises. If you don’t do anything about it though, and you simply hope for the best and that it’s going to go away by itself. Then you might be in for the long-haul-journey-to-recovery either now or later in life. For eg. If you’re a person who’s middle aged, had a car accident 20 years ago, fell off a ladder 5 years ago, and you feel you healed up from the injuries, but, all of a sudden you’re in pain for seemingly no reason, then expect there to be significant work to be done. Similarly, if it has taken you 25 years to develop a dysfunction and discomfort in your body, it can take you months, years, or a lifetime to feel like you have overcome the problem. If it has been even longer than that, and, you are a person that are past your prime, you aren’t used to exercise, you really don’t care much for movement, you live a sedentary life, and, you haven’t really paid much attention to your body until you experienced severe pain. Then it will take a longer time because your tissues are now older, they have atrophied more, and both your mind and body will be less flexible than when you were younger. If you fall into this category, you might feel that there is too much pain and work involved to “fix it” without surgery. However, even if you fall into this category, I’m convinced that you can feel incredibly much better than you currently do if you just get some help and advise from a hands-on professional. I’m very well trained, so why do I still have pain? It’s common that even young and very well trained people have imbalances in their bodies. You might not see it from the outside but since we all live in a body daily and have habits about how we move around and go about things, imbalances develop in every human being. If you’re not extremely self-aware about how you go about things in life, in the gym, on the hike, on the dance floor-, etc., you will be doing these activities with imbalances in your body. The body is amazing though, and it can deal with these imbalances as it’s ever changing, the feet and ankles that carry our whole weight are constantly changing according to the ground beneath them while supporting and navigating our movements. But, then an accident happens! You happen to take the wrong step and end up on a rock, or, you twist your ankle as you step down from a curb: Now tissues are being weakened and overstretched! But, you don’t feel that it's “too bad” so you keep on walking, or maybe even running in this dysfunction, and, you are thinking it’s ok because you’re still able to walk, and you’ll be just fine! And, most likely you will be fine. But, when the imbalance persists, sooner or later problems will show up as pain in a different body part. The weakened tissues won’t support your foot, ankle, and whole body weight properly. Stronger muscles will try to take over the job, you might have heard that they “compensate” for the weaker tissues. If the physical trauma takes time to heal, these compensating tissues tend to grow bigger, and if it continues, they may also get too tight and too overworked. So, your pain is not just in the initial injury site anymore, but also in the compensating tissues. I’m using the word tissues here, since it’s not only muscles that are involved: Fascia, tendons, and ligaments also play a big role. Fascia, which is a thin layer that’s like a sheet in the whole body, surrounding, supporting and protecting every nerve, organ, bones, blood vessels, and muscle fibers etc., plays a big role in pain conditions. It has been found that fascia has 25% more nerve endings than skin. Considering Fascia. informed care can potentially lead to much faster and better healing than if it goes untreated. The massage modality that specifically addresses fascia and muscle is “myofascial release”, (myo=muscle).Trigger point therapy/Neuromuscular Therapy also address pain in the fascia. Craniosacral therapy is another healing modality that addresses tension patterns in the fascia. This therapy is suitable when head injuries, emotional, or spinal injuries are involved. It’s also excellent for people who are sensitive to touch. When you choose to get manual treatments from a professional, remember that consistency is key! Why is consistency important? Consistency is important because the body remembers trauma. As soon as you add a little stress in your life, where do you think that stress is going to manifest? It will manifest in the weakest part of your body, simply where you already have pain, discomfort or trauma. The weaker parts where the energy of the trauma hasn’t completely let go yet, will be affected by stress hormones the most. 5 tips to get you started on your self-help journey 1. Water Make sure to stay hydrated. Your back consists of 70-75% water. Dehydration can therefore increase tension and stiffness in your back. Sip on plenty of water throughout the day to support spinal flexibility and nutrient flow 2. Nutritious foods I suggest that you take a serious look at your diet and try to avoid inflammatory foods, where refined sugar is the number one to avoid. Also, avoid starchy foods and seed oils which are very hard for the liver to process. A healthy liver with better insulin sensitivity and reduced blood sugar spikes can lower systemic inflammation and improve blood flow to spinal tissues, which can help with recovery and reduce chronic pain flare-ups. Try fresh low-carb options like a variety of vegetables and make sure to include leafy greens and oils such as avocado, coconut, and olive oil. Don’t use seed oils. Skip the bread, crackers, pasta, pastries, and grains. Include fish, poultry, or meat in your diet. Also include fresh berries and fruits low in fructose. If you are vegan, make sure to get enough of protein and fats in your diet through alternative sources. 3. Stomach motility Poor stomach motility and built up gas can create tension in the stomach and intestines. This can in turn affect the back through pressure since the mid, and lower back is located behind the abdomen. Support digestion with movement, hydration, and fresh foods. If you tend to get constipated you might need more acid in your stomach. Our stomach is supposed to be very acidic with a pH level of 1-2.5. With that low pH level the stomach can break down proteins properly and kill off harmful bacteria. If the food isn’t properly broken down, it can create a cascade of problems including gas build up, bloating, constipation, rashes, inflammation, pain scenarios, autoimmune disease, and many other health issues. Lemons can be very helpful for your digestion as it’s acidic with a very low pH level. It will reduce gas build up that is due to a high ph level in the stomach. Once in the bloodstream, the lemon juice becomes alkaline. It also contains vitamin C, and helps detoxify the liver. Lemons are therefore a truly amazing health food! 1/2 - 1tbsp olive oil helps lubricate the intestinal wall and content can move along better. Cayenne pepper, is also an herb that has a tremendous amount of health benefits, in the stomach it stimulates the blood vessels of the gut for better digestion. Everything needs to move for the digestion to work properly! 4. Move into the direction of ease before stretching When we feel tight or tense, our instinct is often to stretch into the tension, to push or pull the tight area until it loosens, but, in reality tension is the body’s way of protecting itself and to keep spine and joints stable. Forcing it to lengthen can actually make it tighten more and thereby reinforcing the holding pattern. Instead, when you move towards the direction of ease, the opposite of stretching, the position or movement where the body feels more comfortable, soft, and relaxed, we’re sending the nervous system a signal that it is okay to relax. The body is being told that it’s safe to let go of tension rather than fighting it.After you have done this you can go ahead and gently stretch an area that craves it. But, again make sure to not stretch an inflamed area where you have an enormous amount of pain: The risk is that you exacerbate the pain in this area and prolong the healing. 5. Meditation and breath Practice deep breathing to soften, lengthen, oxygenate, and create more space in restricted areas. To do this you need to allow your stomach to expand. If this is difficult for you, you can sit down and place your feet on the floor and then drop your head towards the floor to release tension in your stomach and lower back. You can also put your awareness in your feet in order to place your breath further down in your body. If you’re not sure of how to put your awareness into your feet, you can ask yourself questions like: What kind of floor is underneath my feet? Is the surface of the floor soft or hard? Can I feel my toes, heals, and edges of the feet on the floor? Do I have more weight on one foot than the other? You are now focused on sensations in the feet. Your awareness is in your feet. Now change your focus to your breath! Inhale on a count of 4, and exhale on a count of 6 or 7. This allows the nervous system to slow down. Be aware of the breath coming into your lungs through your nose and mouth, and be aware of your ribs and lungs expanding. As you exhale, be aware of the ribs and lungs contracting. If meditation is completely new to you, this is a first good step! Being aware of your breath is a good first step to becoming more self-aware. Find another 15 tips in part 2 and 3! Take care of your health and back pain now! Call or text Kicki Hjortmarker @ 1 (323) 404 6613 Email: kickis_therapy@icloud.com Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and visit my website for more info! Read more from Kicki Katarina Hjortmarker Kicki Katarina Hjortmarker, Holistic Bodyworker Kicki Hjortmarker has a solid background in the hands-on healing field treating people with injuries and chronic pain conditions. With a holistic approach she integrates Neuromusclular Massage Thearpy, Craniosacral Therapy, Hypnotherapy, Reiki, Pilates, and more. To practice the artistry of mind/bodywork and massage therapy has been Kicki's lifelong passion. It started with the awareness of her own body as a child and ballet dancer, and, later as a gymnast who developed chronic lower back pain whilst on the Swedish National Team in Rhythmic Sports Gymnastics. Decades later she overcame nerve damage and temporary paralysis in one hand. This taught her to trust the healing power of body and mind, and that the body prefers holistic healing methods over conventional treatments. Her mission is to encourage and inspire others to do the same: To trust the healing power of body, mind, and spirit!"

Written by Gayle Hocking, Guest Writer With the change of seasons, and with it the change of coats, in both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres, it seems an appropriate moment to ask a different kind of question: how many coats do you own, and, metaphorically, do they all belong to you? The coats can represent labels, beliefs, conditioning or stored emotions – sometimes handed down, chosen by someone else, or bought to fit in. We put them on so long ago that we’ve stopped noticing the weight. It’s worth asking which ones keep you warm, which are only keeping you in place and which really need discarding. We are born with health, and then life happens. Events that create beliefs about who we are and who we’re ‘expected’ to be. Layer by layer, like coats piled on top of one another, they can bury it. Yet beneath them, the spark was always there, within, through and around us. Born with health Osteopathy’s founding philosophy holds that the body is capable of self-regulation, self-healing and self-repair. Dr W.G. Sutherland called it the Breath of Life, and in Somatics Thomas Hanna described the soma as the living body experienced from within, able to sense and regulate itself. Science echoes this. Living systems tend to return to their course after being disturbed, and modern definitions of health centre on the ability to adapt and self-manage, not just the absence of disease. Not everyone starts out well, and illness is real. But underneath, the capacity to organise and regulate is still there. Life happens: The coats A parent’s stress or their own unresolved trauma, a difficult birth, unkind words at school, a business partner who turns acrimonious, a bereavement or an accident. Each is another coat on our shoulders, and each asks us to adapt. Adaptations may make sense at the time, but over the years, if ignored, they can harden into a fixed sense of who we are, and we lose touch with who we once were. When I observe behaviour now, I try to look beneath it rather than becoming involved in it. Where behaviour is challenging, there is often an underlying wound, most likely formed in childhood. Beneath the wound is a need that wasn’t met, and beneath that, a pattern of adaptation that once protected us. As the coats layer up, our window of tolerance (a term coined by Dr Dan Siegel), or capacity to adapt, narrows until there is overwhelm or exhaustion. Eckhart Tolle calls this accumulated heaviness, and the source of reactive behaviour, the pain-body. This is not only theory for me. I experienced Adverse Childhood Experiences, and the emotions and beliefs that came with them weighed heavily, showing up as physical symptoms. Several visits to the doctor brought no answers. Alongside this, however, I was blessed with the unconditional love and stability of my grandparents. Through my Osteopathic, Somatics and Vitalfield training, I came to see how my life story was intelligently held by the health in the body and have used a range of techniques to soften that heaviness into something lighter and more peaceful. I choose daily practices to fan the spark. The spark of light You see, that spark of light was always there, nurtured by love – it just got buried in the ‘density’. In Osteopathy, we call that spark of light the Health. I wonder how separated we become before we choose to reconnect with it. Disconnection is often quite literal. Many of us lose touch with the signals from within our own bodies: heartbeat, breath, hunger, tension. Practices that build inner sensing, such as Somatics, breathwork and time outdoors, are ways of turning the volume back up. That is what remembering means to me. That sensitivity, often deemed to be negative, is in fact a gift and a ‘superpower’. It’s our barometer for sensing whether something is okay. Some ways back are free There is so much noise now, across the news and social media, that trusting our own gut feeling, intuition and discernment matters more than ever. We have a choice: to get pulled into the anger and emotion of it, or to choose a quieter way of living. Where we place our attention is itself a sensory choice. Special senses: The doorway in One way back to feeling safe and peaceful again is to reconnect with our senses. When you slow down enough to really feel something, it leaves an imprint, the warm sunshine on your face, the canopy of the trees, being with someone you love, stored in the body and ready to be recalled in a difficult moment. Each sense has its own route to how we feel. Smell and sound link quickly to the brain’s alarm system, which is why a harsh sound can spike the heart rate before a thought catches up, and gentle sound and pleasant scents ease us towards calm. Notice what smells give you a sense of calm or contentment. Time in nature helps too. In a large survey in England, people who spent at least two hours in nature in the past week were significantly more likely to report good health and wellbeing. How often do you spend time in nature? Can you block out space in your busy schedule to give yourself time each week? Taste is an ancient guidance system, bitterness evolved partly as a warning against toxins, while ultra-processed foods overshoot the signals of sweet, salty and savoury beyond anything found in nature. What whole foods do you enjoy, and how might you increase them in your daily diet? Balance reflects whether the world feels steady, as the inner ears, eyes, muscles and joints report together. How much time do you spend just ‘being’ rather than always doing? And slow, gentle touch activates nerve fibres involved in comfort, which is one reason a hug can settle a child, and a grown-up. Give someone, or a pet, a gentle hug and notice how it feels. You will both benefit. Robert Melillo and Sally Goddard Blythe have influenced my thinking about how development can be supported through rocking, rolling, crawling, games and songs. But why should these be limited to children, when so many adults have lost touch with being playful? How can we restore and remember the magic of ordinary, everyday joy? Sixth sense There is also a sense that school rarely teaches, interoception, the nervous system’s ongoing reading of what is happening inside us, such as heartbeat, breath, gut and muscle tone. In decision-making research, people who are more sensitive to these signals are guided by them more strongly, which helps when the signals are well calibrated. When we are settled, we can feel the difference between a situation that opens us and one that tightens us. When the nervous system is flooded by stress or unresolved trauma, that inner barometer is still reading, but the dial is skewed, so everything can register as a threat, or nothing does. This is why I see regulation as the foundation of intuition. As the body settles, the signals become easier to tell apart, and a felt ‘yes’ or ‘no’ becomes valuable information to test against what happens next. HeartMath Institute researchers describe a steadier, more coherent heart-rhythm pattern when we breathe slowly and settle, and they suggest this state may support intuition. That link remains a hypothesis, though the calming effect itself is well supported. Have you felt a clear ‘yes’ or ‘no’ in your body, and what happened when you followed it? With practice, these everyday, mostly free cues, from the outer senses to the inner one, can help train the nervous system to recognise more of your world as safe. It is a place to begin, not a complete fix, especially for anyone carrying more complex trauma or illness. If you’d like some guidance, my on-demand Somatics classes support self-awareness, movement, breathwork and being present: Gayle Hocking Health The ripple Our senses were built to guide us, yet much of modern life drowns them out. The constant noise of screens, news, and shopping, and the pull of always wanting more, can lead us away from what matters most, the quiet signals the body gives us about what it needs. What would the source of love that lies deep in our hearts do? This is the thinking behind the Coherence Framework on my website, Connecting the Dots, built around seven areas that spell MATTERS. It draws on many years of clinical experience, which is anecdotal rather than trial-based, alongside further training, hours of reading and research, and my own lived experience of what did and didn’t work. It brings together expert knowledge on bioenergetic, biomechanical and biochemical approaches to support coherence, how well the body’s systems, mind and emotions work together in a synchronised, balanced order to manage life’s stressors. My hope is that the more of us who make conscious choices, the wider the ripple effect until it settles into crystalline, calm waters. Those choices include the communities we belong to, what we consume, from whole foods to clean, filtered water, how we limit unnecessary chemical exposures, how we care for the nature in which we spend time, how regularly we move, and the quality and length of our sleep. Many of these sit within the framework, and each is a way of remembering the natural wisdom within, through and around us. We can choose how we use our senses, and the choice, and the strength to make it, are ours. Nature, in all its generosity, has been holding that health for us all along. Our part is to individually and collectively soften, trust and remember. Visit my website for more info! Gayle Hocking, Guest Writer Gayle Hocking is a registered osteopath (GOsC), specialist paediatric osteopath and trauma-informed Somatics teacher with over 20 years of clinical experience. She is a Fellow of the Sutherland Cranial College of Osteopathy, with further training in Essential Somatics, trauma-sensitive HeartMath and Vitalfield HILDA diagnostics. She offers in-person care and online support across the UK through Gayle Hocking Health, and created the Coherence Framework, Connecting the Dots, to help people remember their capacity for health. This article shares her own reading, research and experience. It isn't intended to be treatment or individualised clinical advice. References: Craig, A.D. (2002). How do you feel? Interoception: the sense of the physiological condition of the body. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 3, 655–666. Dunn, B.D. et al. (2010). Listening to your heart: how interoception shapes emotion experience and intuitive decision making. Psychological Science, 21(12), 1835–1844. Felitti, V.J. et al. (1998). Relationship of childhood abuse and household dysfunction to many of the leading causes of death in adults: the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Study. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 14(4), 245–258. Garfinkel, S.N., Seth, A.K., Barrett, A.B., Suzuki, K. & Critchley, H.D. (2015). Knowing your own heart: distinguishing interoceptive accuracy from interoceptive awareness. Biological Psychology, 104, 65–74. Goessl, V.C., Curtiss, J.E. & Hofmann, S.G. (2017). The effect of heart rate variability biofeedback training on stress and anxiety: a meta-analysis. Psychological Medicine, 47(15), 2578–2586. Huber, M. et al. (2011). How should we define health? BMJ, 343, d4163. Leech, K., Stapleton, P. & Patching, A. (2024). A roadmap to understanding interoceptive awareness and post-traumatic stress disorder: a scoping review. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 15. doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1355442 Lehrer, P.M. et al. (2020). Heart rate variability biofeedback improves emotional and physical health and performance: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback, 45(3), 109–129. Löken, L.S., Wessberg, J., Morrison, I., McGlone, F. & Olausson, H. (2009). Coding of pleasant touch by unmyelinated afferents in humans. Nature Neuroscience, 12(5), 547–548. McCraty, R. & Zayas, M.A. (2014). Cardiac coherence, self-regulation, autonomic stability, and psychosocial well-being. Frontiers in Psychology, 5, 1090. White, M.P. et al. (2019). Spending at least 120 minutes a week in nature is associated with good health and wellbeing. Scientific Reports, 9. doi:10.1038/s41598-019-44097-3 Books: Goddard Blythe, S. (2004). The Well-Balanced Child: Movement and Early Learning. Hawthorn Press. Hanna, T. (1988). Somatics: Reawakening the Mind's Control of Movement, Flexibility, and Health. Addison-Wesley. Melillo, R. (2009). Disconnected Kids. Perigee. Siegel, D.J. (1999). The Developing Mind. Guilford Press. Sutherland, W.G. (1990). Teachings in the Science of Osteopathy (A.L. Wales, Ed.). Rudra Press. Tolle, E. (2005). A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose. Penguin.

Brainz Magazine Exclusive Interview Christie Frenette, MSW, RSW, is Executive Director of Riptide Counselling Inc., an Adjunct Professor at the University of Toronto, and a therapist whose work focuses on trauma, attachment, and grief. She supports individuals, couples, and families as they work to build safer, more connected relationships. She is also the author of the forthcoming children’s book "If You Leave Me Tomorrow", which explores disenfranchised grief and offers caregivers guidance on supporting a child through pain. In this interview, Christie explains why the end of a relationship can bring grief even when the other person is still alive, how people can begin to heal without waiting for an apology, and what it means to stay with someone’s pain before trying to fix it. Christie Frenette, MSW, RSW, Executive Director of Riptide Counselling Inc. Your work brings together trauma, attachment, and grief. How do these experiences connect? Attachment is the bond that forms between a baby and a primary caregiver. It helps shape the child’s sense of trust, safety, and emotional wellbeing. When there are difficulties in that relationship, such as a mismatch in temperament or unresolved grief in a parent, they can affect how a secure attachment develops. Trauma is personal. An experience that is traumatic for one person may not be traumatic for someone else. It depends on how the person experiences and carries it in their body. Adverse childhood experiences can become deeply embedded in the nervous system. Then there is grief: the felt experience of loss. A friend once explained a word to me that captures the ache of missing a person, place, or time. That sense of longing can describe grief more clearly than the word itself. Trauma can bring many losses: relationships, trust in our bodies, time, and the understanding of our own experiences. When we begin to process trauma, we may also have to face losses that other people cannot see. You use the term “living goodbyes.” What does it mean to grieve someone who is still alive? I use “living goodbyes” to describe the loss of someone who was once part of your life, often because of abuse, abandonment, or neglect. The person is still alive, but the relationship may no longer be safe or possible in the way it once was. Some people choose to stay in the relationship, but with significant boundaries. They may have to keep processing what that person cannot offer them, and what the relationship can realistically become. That grief can resurface at different points in life. Others have no choice. They may be abandoned, or they may reach a point where they cannot keep the person in their life. Sometimes it is a mixture of both. There can be so many unanswered questions, "Why can’t I be loved? Why can’t this be different?" Beneath those questions is often the pain of an unmet need and the wish that things could have been otherwise. That uncertainty can make a living loss especially painful. Your forthcoming book explores disenfranchised grief. What is it, and why does it matter? Disenfranchised grief is grief that is not widely recognised or accepted by society. There can be moral judgment attached to it, which leaves people feeling that they are not allowed to grieve or that they have to choose which parts of their experience deserve to be mourned. For example, someone may grieve the end of a relationship that other people judge, or the death of someone who caused them harm. Children may experience disenfranchised grief after a pet dies, when their parents divorce, or when they experience estrangement, abandonment, adoption, addiction, or the death of a loved one. These experiences are different, but they can all raise the same question, "What does grief look like for this person, and how can we make room for it?" When pain is not recognised, people can feel profoundly alone in it. “Pain unseen is the absolute loneliest thing in the world.” How can someone take responsibility for the pain they have caused without becoming overwhelmed by shame? We all grow up within family patterns. Sometimes we cause pain without seeing its full impact, because what is familiar to us can feel normal. That does not mean we were meant to know. But when someone tells us they have been hurt, we have an opportunity to understand what happened, repair what we can, and witness their pain. Some people can receive difficult feedback from someone close to them; others find it much harder. Having a supportive person in your life - a “stronger, wiser other” - can help you face that feedback without being swallowed by shame. If you don’t have someone like that, therapy can offer support. Without that kind of support, shame can get in the way of repair. A person may care deeply about the relationship and want to make things right, yet feel unable to face the grief and pain involved. The support of another person can help make that work possible. What does “accepting the apology never given” mean - and what doesn’t it mean? When we want an apology, we often want the person who caused the harm to acknowledge our suffering. That recognition matters, especially if we are trying to repair the relationship. Accepting the apology never given does not mean offering someone a free pass, pretending the harm did not happen, or saying that an apology is unimportant. It means finding your voice and standing by your own story, even if the other person does not see it as you do. Their inability to acknowledge what happened can give you information about what boundaries you need. If repair is not possible, your healing does not have to wait for the other person to understand, admit, or make amends. Can the way we attach to others change as we grow older? Yes. Whatever your attachment style was in childhood, it can be rewritten and rewired through later relationships. That might happen with a close friend or a romantic partner. If you feel that you do not have anyone you can rely on, you can look for support through community and other relationships. We are wired for connection and belonging, and those connections can become an important resource as we move through difficult experiences. You’ve spoken about dignity as something that can protect us, but can also keep us stuck. How does that happen? Dignity is, at its core, about worth and holding fast to what we know is true about ourselves. When we cannot see our true selves reflected in another person’s experience of us, we often get stuck trying to prove our worth. I once heard a trainer describe a case from his work in another country - a scenario many can identify with. It involved a woman who was experiencing intimate partner violence. Although her abusive partner eventually left, it was under circumstances she had not expected. She followed her former partner to another country to try to win them back, only to experience the same abuse. This time, however, she chose to leave. For her, dignity meant, "You are not going to abandon me. I’m going to decide when this ends". That sense of dignity helped her find her voice. But sometimes holding tightly to dignity can make it difficult to choose safety or choose yourself. The question is where dignity is helping you - and where it may be making it harder to move towards what you need. What does the courage to heal ask of us? Healing asks us to look at the grief we have been carrying and the ways it has held us back. It may mean setting boundaries that protect vulnerable parts of ourselves. It may also mean choosing our own healing, even if that changes or costs us a relationship. That can be frightening, especially for people who have spent a long time caring for or protecting others. But courage can exist alongside fear. The people who respect your boundaries can support you as you move through that process. If someone cannot, you may have to consider how close you can keep them in your life. Sometimes the choice is between facing the living loss of another person and continuing a long goodbye to yourself. Facing grief can be painful, but it can also bring a sense of freedom. What do you hope people take away from your work and your book? I have often heard people say, “I don’t think I can heal from that,” or, “Healing isn’t for me.” Sometimes society reinforces that idea by treating the pain as an individual problem. I want people to know that it isn’t a “you problem.” People can heal at any age, given the right context and support. The process looks different depending on someone’s age, stage of life, and what they need. Some people are ready to work through one part at a time; others feel able to take on more. Both are okay. My book, "If You Leave Me Tomorrow", is a heartfelt glimpse at disenfranchised grief and loss from a child’s perspective. It aims to teach both young and old that, by facing our pain and deepest fears, we can still hold on to the moments, places, and people we love. Ultimately, love transcends pain. It includes a resource for caregivers, with guidance on how to support a child through their pain and grief. You’ve said that we cannot take away the pain of life, but we can hold it. What does that look like? Pain gives us information about our system. We naturally want relief, and relief matters. But it is also important to find the source of the pain and allow it to move through us. It can be difficult to sit with another person’s pain, especially when we want to help them feel better. But healing happens through connection: when someone can reflect our experience back to us and show us that they understand. That applies to children as well as adults. When we can sit with our child’s sadness, anger, or fear, we help them learn to look towards their emotions rather than away from them. We must first be able to sit with our own emotions and heal the parts of ourselves that need attention so that we can be present with our children. When I work with clients, I consider whether I have earned the right to hold their pain. Trust may take time. Only after I have earned the right to hold it can I earn the right to challenge it. We often want to reassure people or tell them that everything will be okay. Sometimes what they need first is simply for someone to stay with them in what they are feeling. Our children need this too: we must earn the right both to sit with their pain and to challenge it. For someone carrying a grief they don’t know how to name, what is one gentle first step? Start by acknowledging that there may be something in your life you need to look at. You might want help with it, and you do not have to look at it alone. That first step can feel like the hardest one. When it does, remember that it can also be an act of courage. Christie Frenette’s work is a reminder that healing does not mean erasing pain or waiting for someone else to acknowledge it. It begins when we are able to name what we have lost, find support, and allow ourselves to be witnessed in that experience. Through her work with individuals and families, and her forthcoming children’s book, "If You Leave Me Tomorrow", Christie helps make space for grief that is often unseen, reminding us that healing is possible and that we do not have to face it alone. For more information, visit Riptide Counselling's website or follow them on Instagram and Facebook.

Written by Faye Lao, Intuitive Energy Consultant Faye Lao is an Intuitive Energy Consultant and Certified Grief Educator who blends intuitive insight, energy healing, and life coaching to help individuals navigate life's challenges, embrace self-healing, and live with greater clarity, balance, and purpose. What if your New Year’s resolution is world peace, beauty-pageant style, said with a bright smile, big hair, and loving idealism? And what if it turns out that peace is created the same way it’s lived, one silent, peaceful step at a time, for miles and miles and miles? This is an invitation to slow the stride, listen inward, and discover what becomes possible when peace leads your way. Peace at the Speed of Consciousness January arrives every year with an aspirational kind of hope. New calendars. Fresh starts. Bold intentions.And an optimistic desire to already be better than we were twelve months ago. For many conscientious people, January can feel more like a performance review than a fresh start. The busy mind reflects on, “What will I improve this year? What will I fix? Who do I need to become?” It’s only January. Beneath all of that effort, there is fatigue, worry and a burned out nervous system from the year before. When life demands non-stop performance, the nervous system registers burnout, not motivation. The body responds with anxiety, restless sleep, and other signals. Not because anything is necessarily wrong with us, but because many of us are absorbing the raw collective emotions of humanity experiencing sustained overwhelm and uncertainty. That is nothing new. But here is a question, can we shift in consciousness in a more life-giving direction? Just imagine: Can we transmute hate into love? War into peace? Indifference into kindness? Fear into awareness? Fear spreads quickly these days. It travels through headlines, social feeds, and conversations saturated with urgency. And while awareness matters, immersion in fear has a cost, It pulls us out of the present moment and into imagined futures that haven’t happened yet. January invites something different, elevated consciousness, and a mindful stepping forward into present-moment awareness. What if this season isn’t asking us to push forward, or perform more? What if the new year is an opportunity for us to come home to ourselves? Just as we are. Related: Chronic Fear and Stress Peace as Emergence When stillness was the work There was a time when my life slowed to a pace I had not planned for. That pace included a long season of uncertainty, a relationship that ended, a house that needed repairs, and many decisions that needed clarity. My body felt it before my mind could name it. Sleep became restless. My heart would race. Blood pressure crept up. Motivation landed on the simplest goal: Stay comfortably merged with the couch. Was I depressed? No. I was depleted. Might you be experiencing similar energies? I want you to know this: Feeling depleted is not a personal failure. It’s your body talking to you. Sometimes it yells. Eventually, I stopped trying to power through. I surrendered to stillness. I simplified my days, one task at a time, one decision at a time. I let myself do less with no apologies. People are often very proud of listing an “ability to multi-task” on their resume. I’ve created a different resume skill. I advocate for myself the idea that less is more. I finally learned mono-tasking, my new favorite word, and a new way to protect my nervous system. Doing too many things at once is overrated. How does one focus on quality? Where is the mindfulness in rushing toward burnout? And then, unexpectedly, something singular and small changed everything. Related: Stillness Peace as the Way Finding stillness through inner child play While boxing up books, I found a coloring book I’d bought years earlier and never opened. I had forgotten all about it. So, I thought, why not? I needed a little break from packing for my move. No big ambitions. No productivity goals. Just shiny glitter gel pens, and bright colors. A simple, uncomplicated pause. It sounds trivial. It wasn’t. My body responded immediately. Bright colors spread across my coffee table, pages opened to playful images of flowers and donuts. My mind stayed busy, but peacefully so. Anxiety softened. Sleep improved. My heart settled. And I joyfully reconnected with my own inner child, long forgotten after being absorbed in an adult world. Coloring became my meditation, my way back into presence. A reminder that calm and contentment don’t always come from solving problems, but often from simplicity. This gentle form of color therapy softened my mind to help me make clearer plans for an upcoming move after selling my home. Months earlier, a chapter in my life had quietly closed, peacefully, and without urgency. My divorce became final after 15 years together, on and off. We parted amicably and in peaceful understanding. My ex-husband drove away in a U-Haul truck stocked with homemade sandwiches, snacks, and cut fruit for his long drive. I just forgot his Diet Coke was still in the fridge. Oops. Eight months later, it’s still there. I walked back inside the house, and muttered to myself, “Some karma…” After he left, I had some energetic housekeeping to do. I claimed my home as my own again. I reset its energies. I wanted my home to heal and support love, peace, contemplation, and the next chapter I was creating for myself. I also infused the home with love, peace, harmony, and joy, to welcome future buyers with the best of intentions for their happiness. Sometimes, stillness, held in love and peace, is the work. Related: Healing Your Inner Child Peace Light as Love Karma, completion, and the long way home After long periods of stillness, movement eventually returns, but not the frantic kind. It arrives quietly, with clarity. For me, that clarity arrived through recognizing patterns. My life had moved in cycles for years, love, loss, separation, hope, reunion, and saying goodbye, often packed into U-Haul trucks from move to move. Fifteen years with my ex, fourteen breakups, ten moves, four states, and four homes later, I stopped calling it coincidence. California, Utah, Wyoming, Missouri, Utah again and possibly California again. It’s the long way home. There were detours. I am very patient. To be fair, so was the ex. We had our own version of karmic absurdity: Groundhog Day, relationship edition. Contrary to popular belief, karma isn’t punishment. It’s repetition with an invitation to learn something more deeply each time. Like an actor filming a scene, if you miss your lines, you get another take, and another chance to hope you’ve learned them this time. And hope isn’t foolish, just persistent. Awareness, however, is what allows us to recognize when a lesson is complete, and step out of the loop. Endings don’t have to be dramatic or fueled by anger and blame. Sometimes the most peaceful ending is gratitude for a lesson fully learned. Peace doesn’t come from fighting for an outcome. It arrives when we stop resisting, and allow life to resolve itself. Karma lessons, I’ve found, can be gentle once freedom is claimed. Related: Groundhog Day 12 laws of karma Peace One Step at a Time Walking peace forward I have been deeply moved and inspired by a group of Buddhist monks who have been walking across the U.S. in silence and meditation, step by step, completing a 2,300-mile journey for peace. They do not preach or perform. They simply walk. With each day that passes, crowds of well-wishers gather to greet them in admiration and gratitude. Their presence alone moves people to tears, not because of words, but because of the lovingkindness and calm they embody. They remind us that peace does not need to be loud to be powerful. It only needs to be lived. What we carry within ourselves ripples outward for others to feel. You know you walk in peace when… Energy settles. Voices soften. Drama pauses. Honesty emerges. Nothing needs fixing. There are no judgments. What if this season isn’t asking you to become someone new, but to live more fully as who you already are? What if peace isn’t something to chase or earn, but something you embody each day? If you’re reading this, chances are you already walk this way. That makes you a WayShower, whether you call yourself that or not. And step by step, breath by breath, we walk peace forward– into our lives, the people we meet, and the world itself. May we quietly bless all those who walk peace into the world, reminding us, without words, that love is strongest when it is lived. May we honor them by walking our own paths in: Kindness Compassion Peace Love and Light. May we all walk peace forward together, in unity. Related: Walk for Peace 2,300 Miles If this message resonates with you, I invite you to stay in touch. Connect with me on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, or visit my website or email at fayeinspiredhealing@outlook.com to explore more resources and reflections. Let’s continue the journey together. Read more from Faye Lao Faye Lao, Intuitive Energy Consultant Faye Lao is an Intuitive Energy Consultant and Certified Grief Educator who blends intuitive insight, energy healing, and practical wisdom to inspire personal transformation and emotional well-being. With over two decades of experience in corporate Human Resources, higher education, and professional training, she bridges practical knowledge with spiritual understanding. Drawing on energy healing, hypnosis, Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP), and life coaching, Faye helps individuals navigate life's challenges, release limiting beliefs, and reconnect with their authentic selves.

Written by Veronica Powell, PhD, LPC, PC, Founder & CEO Veronica Powell, PhD, LPC, is a licensed clinician, industrial-organizational psychologist, and communication coach. As the founder and CEO of Measures4Success Academy, she empowers individuals, leaders, and organizations to master communication through Kendall’s Life Languages™ Framework, also known as Communication Intelligence (CIQ). Parts 1 and 2 looked at the language and the system. Part 3 is about the person inside the moment and what changes when a reaction becomes a choice. If safety is a concern right now, call 911. For confidential support, trained advocates are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week through The National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233. Why did I start asking about my own reactions? I did not have a name for what I was living through. I had a question: Why do I keep reacting this way? I began to notice a pattern in my own reactions: provocation first, reaction second, and then my reaction became the part of the story that was easiest to see. One day, I typed the words “reacting” and “provocation” into a search engine. What came back was a term I had never heard: reactive abuse. In the early to mid-2000s, there was very little to read. Today, there is far more, but information has outpaced evidence. We have definitions and checklists without a way to classify and track these cases, so we are challenged to say how often they occur. That gap is one reason I am writing this series. I am responsible for my own behavior no matter what the situation may be. Naming the pattern did two things. It lifted the confusion because I could see I was not alone. It also raised my sense of responsibility. I am accountable for my own reactions, whatever the situation. Holding myself accountable and recognizing how systems misread a reaction are not in conflict. They work as partners. That insight started my study of my own communication patterns and the emotional vulnerabilities behind my reactions, and it led me to a framework that gave me a practical way to respond with intention instead of reacting. How can Life Languages™ help? Life Languages™ groups seven languages into three families. The graphic shows each family and the positive character qualities of its languages. Source: Overview of the CIQ Languages, Life Languages International (2025). Why does this matter in a reactive situation? The first response under pressure tends to follow the family. Those in the Action family tend to move first. Those in the Feeling family tend to respond through emotion. Those in the Thinking family tend to respond through the head. Provocation can work by pressing on that first response, and knowing your own gives you a moment of choice. Needs add another layer. For example, those who speak Responder Language need to feel heard, those who speak Influencer Language need affirmation and connectedness, and those who speak Doer Language need action and appreciation. Needs add another layer, for example: 1. Those who speak Responder Language need to feel heard. 2. Those who speak Influencer Language need affirmation and connectedness. 3. Those who speak Doer Language need action and appreciation. For me, the practical skill was learning to recognize my first reaction and interrupt it. The sequence is simple to describe and hard to practice: notice the trigger, name the first reaction, pause and breathe, and choose a response that fits my values and my safety. For me, the practical skill was learning to recognize my first reaction and interrupt it. The sequence is simple to describe and hard to practice: 1. Notice the trigger. 2. Name the first reaction. 3. Pause and breathe. 4. Choose a response that fits my values and my safety What can readers do? Survivors: Keep dated records of what happened before, during, and after an incident, including what came before your reaction, and speak with a domestic violence advocate or an attorney about how to use them. Clinicians: Ask what preceded the reaction, and screen for fear and control before labeling a conflict as mutual. Legal professionals and advocates: Look for the pattern before the incident, ask who is afraid of whom, and weigh the full history rather than the last act. Everyone else: When you hear a story about someone’s reaction, ask what happened before it. Key takeaways A reaction is automatic. A response is chosen, and the pause between them is where the choice lives. The first reaction under pressure tends to follow your Life Languages™ family, and knowing yours gives you a moment of choice. Accountability for your own reactions and recognition of how systems misread them can both be true. Where there is fear, "safety comes first" and "communication skills come second". Within the United States: If you are ready to respond differently but safety is a concern, support is available. In an emergency, call 911. The National Domestic Violence Hotline offers confidential support 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, at 1-800-799-SAFE (7233) or via teletypewriter (TTY) at 1-800-787-3224. You can also text START to 88788 or chat online at thehotline.org. An advocate can talk through safety planning with you, and you do not have to have it figured out before you call. Outside the United States: If you are outside the United States, call your local emergency number. To find a domestic violence or crisis helpline in your country, visit findahelpline.com. Discover your first primary language If this series raised questions about how you react under pressure, take the next step with the Life Languages™ Mini Profile. It gives you access to your first primary language, a starting point for recognizing your first reaction and choosing how you respond. Raise Your Communication IQ to Raise Humanity, one conversation at a time. Follow me on Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, and visit my website and BlueSky handle for more insights and updates! Read more from Dr. Veronica Powell Veronica Powell, PhD, LPC, PC, Founder & CEO Veronica Powell, PhD, LPC, is a licensed clinician, industrial-organizational psychologist, and communication coach. As the founder and CEO of Measures4Success Academy, she empowers individuals, leaders, and organizations to master communication through Kendall’s Life Languages™ Framework, also known as Communication Intelligence (CIQ). Dr. Powell is a Senior Executive Contributor for Brainz Magazine and the creator of the Communication Matters Global Movement, where she teaches professionals how to build trust, empathy, and relational intelligence in every conversation. References: [1] Kendall, F., & Kendall, A. (2019). Communication IQ: A proven way to influence, lead, and motivate people. Whitaker House. [2] Life Languages International. (2025). Overview of the CIQ languages.