May 3, 2024
Transforming Pain Through the Art of Breathing with Dr. Amy Novotny
Tired of believing chronic pain is just part of getting older? Join us as Amy Novotny reveals how the her unique breathing method can turn the tables on pain without meds or surgery, by teaching you to master your own body's response to pain.
Have you been living with chronic pain, believing it's just a normal part of aging?
Many people resign themselves to pain as they get older, writing it off as arthritis or genetics. But the truth is, chronic pain is often caused by abnormal muscle contractions pulling bones out of alignment.
By tapping into your autonomic nervous system and learning to relax those muscle contractions, you can find lasting relief from pain - even in cases of "bone on bone" arthritis. Amy Novotny’s unique breathing method empowers you to manage your own pain without surgery or medication.
BY THE TIME YOU FINISH LISTENING, YOU'LL LEARN:
- How abnormal breathing patterns contribute to chronic muscle tension and pain
- The role trauma plays in developing guarding patterns that cause pain
- Techniques to calm your autonomic nervous system and release painful muscle contractions
CONNECT WITH AMY NOVOTNY
Contact Amy at amy@pabrinstitute.com for a free 15 minute consultation.
When you finish listening, I'd love for you to connect with me. Take a screenshot of you listening on your device, share it to your Instagram stories or LinkedIn, and tag me, @drtamarlawful !
Liked this episode? Share it with a friend.
Love the show? Write a 5-star review (even just one sentence helps us keep bringing you the content you want to hear.)
Want to successfully launch your nutrigenomic services? Join our Masterclass: Optimizing Health with Nutrigenomics and Take the First Step to Improving Patient Outcomes Today!
CONNECT WITH DR. TAMAR LAWFUL
Instagram: @raisethescript or @drtamarlawful
LEARN MORE FROM DR. TAMAR LAWFUL:
Website: https://www.raisethescript.com/
Website: https://www.thelyfebalance.com/
Learn How to Safely Use Weight Loss Medications and Maintain the Results
Chapters
00:00 - Breathing for Pain Relief Interview
03:57 - PABR Method for Nervous System Relief
Transcript
WEBVTT
00:00:00.740 --> 00:00:11.753
If your body is in a fight-or-flight state, which a lot of people are throughout their day, the muscles stay tensed up and it pulls on your bones and joints in an abnormal way.
00:00:11.753 --> 00:00:16.210
Most people don't take the time to release that abnormal contraction.
00:00:16.210 --> 00:00:24.591
If you don't release it before you go to bed, your muscles stay tight and they pull on those bones and joints and pull them out of position all night long.
00:00:24.591 --> 00:00:27.515
muscles stay tight and they pull on those bones and joints and pull them out of position all night long.
00:00:27.515 --> 00:00:38.201
Welcome to Pivoting Pharmacy with Nutrigenomics, part of the Pharmacy Podcast Network, a must-have resource for pharmacist entrepreneurs seeking to enhance patient care while enjoying career and life.
00:00:38.201 --> 00:00:46.273
Join us as we pivot into nutrigenomics, using pharmacy and nutrition for true patient focused care.
00:00:46.273 --> 00:00:52.250
Explore how to improve chronic conditions rather than just manage them.
00:00:52.250 --> 00:00:56.090
Celebrate entrepreneurial triumphs and receive priceless advice.
00:00:56.090 --> 00:01:00.210
Align your values with a career that profoundly impacts patients.
00:01:00.210 --> 00:01:05.171
Together, we'll raise the script on health and pivot into a brighter future.
00:01:05.171 --> 00:01:09.549
Hello and welcome to Pivoting Pharmacy with Nutrigenomics.
00:01:09.549 --> 00:01:14.012
I'm Dr Tamar, Lawful Doctor of Pharmacy and Certified Nutritional Genomics Specialist.
00:01:14.012 --> 00:01:24.490
Before you listen in, I want to thank our listener of the week, AK Nicholson, 11, who says this podcast provides excellent info for pharmacists and non-pharmacists.
00:01:24.490 --> 00:01:32.769
Dr Tamar offers a unique perspective coming from her life and career in pharmacy, now utilizing nutrigenomics to help people in a whole new way.
00:01:32.769 --> 00:01:40.790
This really is cutting edge, real life information provided by Dr Tamar and her valued experts, Simple to follow and action packed.
00:01:40.790 --> 00:01:42.802
Thank you, AK Nicholson.
00:01:42.802 --> 00:01:53.606
And for those tuning in, remember, when you leave us a five-star review, you'll get the chance to be featured as our next listener of the week, and I'll give you a shout out right here on the show.
00:01:54.950 --> 00:01:59.703
Today we're talking about something a lot of us quietly wrestle with chronic pain.
00:01:59.703 --> 00:02:04.343
You know the kind that creeps into your life and whispers hey, I'm just part of getting older.
00:02:04.343 --> 00:02:08.132
But is that the truth, or is there more to the story?
00:02:08.132 --> 00:02:18.014
Imagine if the key to easing that persistent knee ache or the constant tug in your shoulder didn't rest in a pill bottle or on an operating table.
00:02:18.014 --> 00:02:20.141
Sounds hopeful, right.
00:02:20.141 --> 00:02:30.135
Today's guest, Dr Amy Novotny, suggests that your breath, that natural rhythm we all take for granted, might just be the overlooked tool you need.
00:02:41.560 --> 00:02:42.502
Amy is not just an expert.
00:02:42.502 --> 00:02:46.435
She's a visionary founder of the PABR Institute, a place where pain, stress and anxiety relief take on a whole new meaning through naturalistic forms of treatment.
00:02:46.435 --> 00:02:55.909
With a rich background that spans orthopedics, sports, geriatrics, balance disorders, nerve injuries and, most notably, chronic pain, Dr Novotny brings over a decade of experience treating a diverse range of patient populations.
00:02:55.909 --> 00:02:59.283
Let's unpack how breathing can be more than a life force.
00:02:59.283 --> 00:03:03.272
It can be a life changer, especially when it comes to pain.
00:03:03.272 --> 00:03:06.247
Listen in Well, Amy.
00:03:06.247 --> 00:03:09.743
Thank you for joining us on Pivoting Pharmacy with Neutrogenomics.
00:03:09.743 --> 00:03:19.954
You know, I wanted to go back a little bit and learn about you where you started and your journey to what you do now with your P-A-B-R method.
00:03:20.319 --> 00:03:22.146
Sure, first, thanks for having me on.
00:03:22.146 --> 00:03:26.603
I really appreciate it, and my background actually started when I was in college.
00:03:26.603 --> 00:03:38.150
I actually was interested in going into pharmacy, which I didn't share with you beforehand, but I love hearing that you are doing more than pharmacy and you're trying to reach your patients on a different level.
00:03:38.150 --> 00:03:43.632
Cause that's actually why I didn't go into pharmacy is because I didn't want to give just medicine.
00:03:43.632 --> 00:03:57.080
I was very interested in how do we get people healthier with other methods too, and so that's why I was very excited to meet you and I'm just appreciative of what you're doing, especially with this podcast and with your other business as well.
00:03:57.080 --> 00:04:00.508
So from there so I then switched into physical therapy.
00:04:00.710 --> 00:04:14.426
I got my doctorate there and I did physical therapy traditional physical therapy for a while, and I realized that wasn't the answer either, that physical therapy does great things for people, but a lot of what it does is external to the body.
00:04:14.426 --> 00:04:20.425
It's applying a stretch, applying a soft tissue mobilization, a joint mobilization.
00:04:20.425 --> 00:04:29.930
It's doing things external to the body, to a person, and the person is a passive recipient, and what I wanted to do was help people change internally.
00:04:29.930 --> 00:04:39.480
So I switched and started to focus on the nervous system, because the nervous system helps our muscles act and our muscles act on our bones and our joints.
00:04:40.622 --> 00:04:50.456
And once I realized that there is a nervous system in our body called the autonomic nervous system that runs us and runs a lot of us, affects every system in our body.
00:04:50.456 --> 00:05:04.778
If I can tap into that and help people focus on changing that, then I can get them pain relief, insomnia relief, stress relief, anxiety relief, help them avoid major orthopedic surgeries.
00:05:04.778 --> 00:05:23.588
And that's exactly what I did and over time I put together this method called the PABR method or PABR method stands for pain, awareness, breathing, relief to help people change how they control that fight or flight nervous system so that they can learn how to calm themselves down.
00:05:23.588 --> 00:05:25.372
Basically, how do you relax?
00:05:25.372 --> 00:05:31.274
That sounds simple and almost too simplistic, but it's true.
00:05:31.274 --> 00:05:41.144
How do we calm down the nervous system so we can alleviate pain, alleviate stress, anxiety, insomnia medication, use those types of things, and that's really what we're doing.
00:05:41.485 --> 00:05:43.608
Wow so the P-A-B-R method.
00:05:43.608 --> 00:05:45.934
You said that's pain, really what we're doing.
00:05:45.934 --> 00:05:46.774
Wow so the P-A-B-R method?
00:05:46.774 --> 00:05:53.939
You said that's pain, awareness, breathing and relief.
00:05:53.939 --> 00:05:54.341
Yes, Okay, I love it.
00:05:54.341 --> 00:05:57.666
So it all comes down to being able to tap into a nervous system and get control from that level Exactly.
00:05:57.786 --> 00:06:00.512
That's very nicely simplistically put.
00:06:00.512 --> 00:06:13.081
We want to calm that fight or flight nervous system down so the muscles release their abnormal hold on the bones and joints and also release emotional trauma that's been stored in the body, in the muscles.
00:06:13.442 --> 00:06:13.682
Wow.
00:06:13.682 --> 00:06:17.812
So why is this method so effective in managing various conditions?
00:06:18.399 --> 00:06:20.165
Because it doesn't rely on anyone else.
00:06:20.165 --> 00:06:21.327
That's step one.
00:06:21.327 --> 00:06:22.932
It doesn't rely on anything external.
00:06:22.932 --> 00:06:31.024
So if I were going through the method on myself, I wouldn't have to come to you tomorrow and say, okay, now this part of my body hurts, or this part of my body hurts.
00:06:31.024 --> 00:06:47.903
You would have taught me the skills to release the muscles so that I don't rely on anyone else and once I can sense and feel my body differently, I own it can sense and feel my body differently.
00:06:47.923 --> 00:06:48.144
I own it.
00:06:48.144 --> 00:06:48.444
That's the key.
00:06:48.444 --> 00:06:57.860
Yeah, so it's definitely individualized, because each person is going to need something different or tap into something, need to tap into something different to really manage that pain or stress, whatever it is they're going through.
00:06:58.322 --> 00:06:58.882
Absolutely.
00:06:58.882 --> 00:07:26.382
There are certain principles that are general that I can teach, like, let's say, in a course, a video course but ultimately, if someone is in a high level of pain or chronic pain or having anxiety attacks or panic attacks or PTSD or trauma, they're going to need an individualized approach because you hit it exactly, everyone is different and how an experience affects one person is going to be different than how that experience affects another person.
00:07:26.382 --> 00:07:27.264
Yes, indeed.
00:07:27.665 --> 00:07:28.889
Thank you for sharing that, Amy.
00:07:28.889 --> 00:07:30.411
We talked about chronic pain.
00:07:30.411 --> 00:07:36.463
I know there was a lot of misunderstanding when it comes to chronic pain and you've worked with a variety of patient groups.
00:07:36.463 --> 00:07:43.122
Can you speak on how these misconceptions about pain differ between groups?
00:07:43.543 --> 00:07:46.290
A lot of times I hear the words that pain is just in your head.
00:07:46.290 --> 00:07:51.891
I say no, it's not just in your head and don't let anyone tell you that you're just making it up.
00:07:51.891 --> 00:07:55.567
A lot of times people say pain is all arthritis.
00:07:55.567 --> 00:07:58.574
I say no, again, it's not just arthritis.
00:07:58.574 --> 00:08:02.463
So pain, I say it as kind of an easy mantra.
00:08:02.463 --> 00:08:11.656
Pain is a signal from your body to your brain that your body is out of position or being used incorrectly, that it wasn't designed to.
00:08:11.656 --> 00:08:15.069
And I say incorrectly, but the way, it's not designed to work that way.
00:08:15.069 --> 00:08:16.947
And so it's telling you stop, please stop.
00:08:17.680 --> 00:08:20.168
And let me put it in kind of a simplistic form.
00:08:20.168 --> 00:08:24.630
So we have a bony structure and those bones make up joints.
00:08:24.630 --> 00:08:28.845
The way that bony structure is held is by our muscles.
00:08:28.845 --> 00:08:32.179
It's moved through our muscles, it's held a certain way by our muscles.
00:08:32.179 --> 00:08:34.866
The thing that controls our muscles are our nerves.
00:08:34.866 --> 00:08:46.447
So if we can affect the nerves and the way they behave on the bones, if we can affect the nerves, the way they communicate to the muscles to act on the bones, then we can change your experience in this world.
00:08:46.447 --> 00:08:54.587
And here's why I say that If you think about, maybe you're in a burning building, your body tenses up and you run out the burning building.
00:08:55.049 --> 00:09:00.085
You had a fear, that emotional fear, it's a true fear.
00:09:00.085 --> 00:09:07.221
It caused your body to react differently by tightening up to cause muscles to get you out of the building.
00:09:07.221 --> 00:09:10.514
Okay, your whole body tightens up in response to that.
00:09:10.514 --> 00:09:15.828
There's other processes that go on, but we're just talking about physically right here, making it simple.
00:09:15.828 --> 00:09:21.782
Once you're out of that burning building, it takes a little bit of time for you to calm down, for those muscles to relax again.
00:09:22.945 --> 00:09:33.943
If your body is in a fight or flight state, which a lot of people are throughout their day, the muscles stay tensed up and it pulls on your bones and joints in an abnormal way.
00:09:33.943 --> 00:09:38.394
Most people don't take the time to release that abnormal contraction.
00:09:38.394 --> 00:09:46.923
If you don't release it before you go to bed, your muscles stay tight and they pull on those bones and joints and pull them out of position all night long.
00:09:46.923 --> 00:09:55.929
And so when you wake up the next morning you're like you get up and you're like oh my gosh, my back hurts or my shoulder hurts, my neck hurt because the muscles pulled your bones out of position.
00:09:55.929 --> 00:09:58.139
This is the same thing that happens with arthritis.
00:09:59.422 --> 00:10:12.725
Over time, people blame pain on arthritis, but it's really the muscles just pulled your bones out of position and you had rubbing tissues that created inflammation and sometimes that rubbing tissues causes the cartilage to degenerate.
00:10:12.725 --> 00:10:15.840
But it doesn't mean that the arthritis is causing your pain.
00:10:15.840 --> 00:10:19.128
It means tissues are butting up to each other and you're out of position.
00:10:19.128 --> 00:10:29.331
I say this because I've worked with people who are bone on bone and I've helped them calm down their nervous system and the muscles release their abnormal hold on the joints and the pain goes away.
00:10:29.331 --> 00:10:31.929
They don't need the surgery, they don't need the joint replacement.
00:10:31.929 --> 00:10:34.260
Wow, same thing with chronic pain.
00:10:34.260 --> 00:10:40.360
You tap into the emotional and trauma aspects that are causing the muscles to be guarded.
00:10:40.360 --> 00:10:46.369
The muscles start to release, the bones go back into position, they glide and you get rid of pain that's interesting.
00:10:46.408 --> 00:10:59.485
I mean thanks for explaining that in the situation of bone being on bone and causing that pain, the bone still will be on bone even when they learn the technique, but the pain will no longer be there.
00:10:59.485 --> 00:11:00.529
It won't be as intense anymore.
00:11:00.529 --> 00:11:01.052
Is that correct?
00:11:01.735 --> 00:11:01.956
right.
00:11:01.956 --> 00:11:03.825
So let's go through like a knee example.
00:11:03.825 --> 00:11:12.961
So let's say your bone on bone and your tibia is hitting on the patella, for instance, so the kneecap is hitting on the bone and it's rubbing.
00:11:12.961 --> 00:11:16.565
Or the femur it's hitting on femur, one of the two, and it's rubbing.
00:11:16.565 --> 00:11:21.394
And all of a sudden you're like okay, well, they need a joint replacement.
00:11:21.535 --> 00:11:28.793
And I say no, no, no, let's get your hip flexors to relax, let's get your hamstrings to activate.
00:11:28.793 --> 00:11:40.889
So now, all of a sudden, that kneecap that was hitting the femur and hitting the groove inappropriately, it's released back to its normal position, so it's no longer hitting.
00:11:40.889 --> 00:11:49.230
It's released back to its normal position, so it's no longer hitting, so you can still be bone on bone.
00:11:49.230 --> 00:12:01.493
But now it's gliding in that groove very nicely and it's not hitting, but you're still bone on bone, you still don't have that cartilage, so the arthritis is still there, but the pain is gone because now your muscles are working appropriately and your bones are in the correct position where they have space in between the joints.
00:12:01.493 --> 00:12:22.552
Again, that's what I'm saying is we're calming down the nervous system, so the abnormal muscle contraction stops, you stop guarding, so the bones go back into a normalized position where they have space and your bones can now glide without butting up and hitting each other again and no knee surgery needed.
00:12:22.714 --> 00:12:23.625
Thank you for explaining that.
00:12:23.625 --> 00:12:27.096
That resonates with me because I have knee problems, especially my left knee.
00:12:27.096 --> 00:12:32.374
I've been told I have like the knees of a 70 year old when I was 35.
00:12:32.374 --> 00:12:38.673
Yes, and I don't want knee surgery and I know I have tight hip flexures because I sit down a lot.
00:12:38.673 --> 00:12:47.052
But I do notice that when I am working on loosening that up and strengthening in my hamstrings, my knee pain is not as bad.
00:12:47.052 --> 00:12:49.336
So it makes complete sense.
00:12:49.336 --> 00:13:00.933
But the key with your technique being tapping into that nervous system so that we can relax and everything moves into place where it's supposed to be absolutely amazing.
00:13:01.554 --> 00:13:02.297
Yes and exactly.
00:13:02.297 --> 00:13:04.350
And let me, can I just add one more piece to this?
00:13:04.350 --> 00:13:09.394
For, especially since you have knee pain, part of what I haven't talked about is the breathing part of it.
00:13:09.394 --> 00:13:18.504
So when we look at the breathing mechanics, which is very different from breath work, so it's not breath work that we do, but it's we're changing your breathing mechanics.
00:13:18.504 --> 00:13:28.254
So what I would talk to you about tomorrow, and anyone listening to, is when you breathe, we want to get you to relax your rib cage down.
00:13:28.254 --> 00:13:40.292
When you relax your rib cage down as you exhale, it helps your back and hip flexors release, so your pelvis goes back into a neutral position to free up your body.
00:13:40.292 --> 00:13:49.798
So, as you're practicing and working out and doing your exercise that you just mentioned, you need that other piece to truly get rid of the knee pain.
00:13:51.405 --> 00:13:52.347
Thank you for sharing that.
00:13:52.347 --> 00:13:58.466
You would never think that the breathing would help to that extent, but it makes sense.
00:13:58.466 --> 00:14:00.907
With you explaining it, it definitely makes sense.
00:14:00.907 --> 00:14:04.109
And still, along the lines of pain.
00:14:04.109 --> 00:14:08.873
You have a number one bestselling book and you talk about this in your book.
00:14:08.873 --> 00:14:10.634
Why do you believe that?
00:14:10.634 --> 00:14:13.975
People, most people, believe that pain is synonymous with aging.
00:14:13.975 --> 00:14:15.096
Why is that incorrect?
00:14:15.096 --> 00:14:18.259
They believe as you get older, it's just natural You're going to be in pain.
00:14:19.500 --> 00:14:31.688
I think, unfortunately, too many older people are in pain and they believe, because a parent had pain, that that means they're going to have that same pain, or they blame it on arthritis.
00:14:31.688 --> 00:14:36.418
So or they blame on genetics, and I say it's not those things.
00:14:36.418 --> 00:14:44.298
You may mirror the same movement patterns as your parent and the stresses of life add up over time.
00:14:44.298 --> 00:15:05.990
So if I have a huge stressor as a 20 year old and I don't fully get over it, and then I have another stressor as a 30 year old and then another as 40 and 50, and I just keep adding them up without releasing the muscles, continue to pull me out of position and things start to close space and start to rub against each other.
00:15:05.990 --> 00:15:10.178
So that's more why people, as they get older, have pain.
00:15:10.806 --> 00:15:31.149
it's not because of the aging, but it's because of the additive stress over time that causes the body to change without their awareness definitely without our awareness, not even myself not realizing the impact that the stress can have on the body to that extent as well when it comes to the physical pain in general.
00:15:31.149 --> 00:15:33.533
So thank you for sharing that, explaining that, amy.
00:15:33.533 --> 00:15:39.273
Now I want to talk about the natural approaches versus traditional methods.
00:15:39.273 --> 00:15:47.433
Uh, you speak about how the PABR Institute specializes in understanding how the nervous system works.
00:15:47.433 --> 00:15:55.812
So how does this compare to traditional methods for solving similar issues and what are the advantages or disadvantages here?
00:15:56.365 --> 00:16:02.614
So we'll touch kind of back a little bit on what I was saying earlier of internal versus external approaches.
00:16:02.614 --> 00:16:06.794
Right, so if we go to a physical therapist, they're going to lay us on a table.
00:16:06.794 --> 00:16:12.684
They might stretch us, they might push on us a little bit, do some joint work, they might do some strengthening.
00:16:12.684 --> 00:16:17.235
If you go to a chiropractor, they're going to put their hands on you and do an adjustment, twist.
00:16:17.235 --> 00:16:18.999
You try to pop some joints.
00:16:18.999 --> 00:16:24.448
If you go to a massage therapist, they're going to work on muscles.
00:16:24.448 --> 00:16:29.441
All very valid, very important approaches that people enjoy all the time.
00:16:29.441 --> 00:16:31.586
So nothing bad about them.
00:16:31.745 --> 00:16:35.552
But you don't own what they're doing to you.
00:16:35.552 --> 00:16:43.797
You haven't learned something where you've elicited a change that you can apply in the middle of an activity.
00:16:43.797 --> 00:16:49.778
So let's say I'm running a marathon and I've done this in the marathon and I'm running on a slant.
00:16:49.778 --> 00:17:02.278
Eventually, if I'm running on a road that has a slant, something's going to act up, because 26.2 miles on a slant I normally don't train that way, so something is going to act up.
00:17:03.326 --> 00:17:17.787
But I can get rid of that pain in the middle of the run by doing the method that I teach, because, as I'm running and I can tell my body is being used on a slant and certain muscles are working and other ones are not.
00:17:17.787 --> 00:17:32.998
I can work on calming myself down to get the muscles that have been working, to release and kick in other muscles and activate them, to re-stabilize my body, to put me back in neutral, to put my space back in my joints, and the pain goes away.
00:17:32.998 --> 00:17:35.327
And I've done this on numerous marathons.
00:17:35.327 --> 00:17:40.688
I've run over 40 some marathons, so I can say this this does work and I've taught other people how to do it too.
00:17:41.328 --> 00:17:47.570
So, in process, while they're doing this marathon, they can definitely use the technique for success.
00:17:47.570 --> 00:17:48.834
Yeah, wow, yeah.
00:17:48.834 --> 00:17:52.280
So it has pretty quick effects.
00:17:52.821 --> 00:17:53.202
It can.
00:17:53.202 --> 00:17:59.073
Yes, if someone practices and they can sense it, then it can have a very quick effect.
00:17:59.073 --> 00:18:11.893
And then if you do it once, you sense it, and then you do it again and you can feel it, then you literally could get up and start walking right now from your chair and you could be like, oh yeah, I do feel that and you can use it.
00:18:11.893 --> 00:18:14.266
So that's the benefit.
00:18:14.266 --> 00:18:18.752
And then tonight you could use it again and you wake up tomorrow morning you can use it again.
00:18:18.752 --> 00:18:23.980
So it's not like someone has to do something to you to make you feel good.
00:18:23.980 --> 00:18:29.971
You implement it in your daily activities and movements, so it's just part of you.
00:18:29.971 --> 00:18:31.174
That's the key.
00:18:31.805 --> 00:18:35.272
Use it as much as you need to and there's no risk of overdose.
00:18:35.272 --> 00:18:41.932
Yes, exactly no overdose and only positive side effects.
00:18:41.932 --> 00:18:47.611
Yes, yes, that's great now, unless we're listeners.
00:18:47.611 --> 00:18:50.720
They include entrepreneurs who go through high levels of stress.
00:18:50.720 --> 00:19:02.173
I want to get back to what we talked about a little bit, with the stress impacting pain, and could you share some insights about managing stress without medications?
00:19:02.794 --> 00:19:03.816
Sure, absolutely.
00:19:03.816 --> 00:19:06.326
Stress can be very beneficial.
00:19:06.326 --> 00:19:06.988
We'll start there.
00:19:06.988 --> 00:19:12.867
Sometimes we need stress to motivate us, and there is good stress, but we want it short-lived.
00:19:12.867 --> 00:19:19.789
Most times when we talk about stress, it's because stress is chronic, it's long overdue, that you need to stop.
00:19:19.789 --> 00:19:23.445
And in the society that we have, we push and, push and push.
00:19:23.445 --> 00:19:27.974
So looking at different ways to manage your stress is important.
00:19:27.974 --> 00:19:38.650
So first off and this is going to go counterintuitive to a lot of people the fight or flight nervous system which ramps us up and puts us in stress mode lies along the spine.
00:19:39.751 --> 00:19:42.576
I tell people stop sucking their gut up and in.
00:19:42.576 --> 00:19:49.526
When you suck your gut up and in, it kicks in the back muscles which compress on the fight-or-flight nervous system.
00:19:49.526 --> 00:19:50.768
That ramps you up even more.
00:19:50.768 --> 00:19:59.977
It also, when you do this, when you suck your gut up and in, it lifts your rib cage up, which makes it harder for you to use your diaphragm to breathe.
00:19:59.977 --> 00:20:05.730
Your diaphragm is needed for breathing, to stimulate the vagus nerve, to calm you down.
00:20:06.932 --> 00:20:08.857
So let that belly hang out.
00:20:10.105 --> 00:20:22.277
That's what I said Let your ribs drop down, let your belly hang out so that you can relax and you give your body permission to calm down, to de-stress.
00:20:23.305 --> 00:20:36.576
And I say that if you, just right now, you breathe in your nose, you pause a second and you blow out through your mouth and you let your belly out and you do that a couple times, you can start to feel your body calm down.
00:20:37.365 --> 00:20:43.375
Do it when you're sitting back in the back of a chair sitting all the way back in the chair so that your back gets permission to let go.
00:20:43.375 --> 00:20:47.957
So you feel a physical change in your body and you can feel your body start to de-stress.
00:20:47.957 --> 00:20:59.432
If your physical body is being told to be in a fight or flight mode, your mental and emotional stressors will be triggered at a higher level, triggered at a higher level.
00:20:59.432 --> 00:21:09.862
If you allow yourself to physically learn how to relax, what happens to you mentally and emotionally will not seem so triggering to your body.
00:21:09.862 --> 00:21:32.815
Your stress levels start to come down, your cortisol levels stop spiking so much in response to triggers, which is extremely important to entrepreneurs, especially if you're emotionally reactive, and you know, as an entrepreneur, you do not want to be emotionally reactive because you get thrown stuff at you all the time and you want to be as calm as possible.
00:21:33.605 --> 00:21:41.634
Yeah, thank you for sharing that, and when you were saying it, it sounds so easy to do and something you can do anywhere anytime.
00:21:41.634 --> 00:22:13.792
It made me think also in the pharmacy environment, whether it's in a hospital setting where you're sitting at a desk in front of a computer, or in a retail setting where you're standing at a computer in a stressful both stressful environments, different levels that's definitelys technique you can use to just, instead of sucking it in, let it out and do that breathing to relax in those environments exactly, and especially since you're a pharmacist and you have listeners who are pharmacists.
00:22:14.213 --> 00:22:22.588
If you're doing it standing, you want to make sure your weight shifts to your heels and you can feel your hamstrings in the back of your thighs to stabilize you when you do that.
00:22:22.588 --> 00:22:30.750
So there's a whole technique to it, but this can help you to, especially in a customer service situation.
00:22:30.750 --> 00:22:34.758
When it comes to medications, people can be in a hurry.
00:22:34.758 --> 00:22:45.651
I've been there myself where you want your medicine an hour ago, so this can be very comforting to the body to help mitigate some of the stress that comes up, and especially in a job.
00:22:46.272 --> 00:22:47.617
Oh yeah, that's a good point.
00:22:47.617 --> 00:22:55.905
I would only imagine that being able to do this and releasing de-stressing in those environments will lead to better work performance.
00:22:56.546 --> 00:22:57.086
Absolutely.
00:22:57.086 --> 00:23:00.431
We know that stress is very linked to higher executive functions.
00:23:00.431 --> 00:23:02.473
We know that stress is very linked to higher executive functions.
00:23:02.473 --> 00:23:08.840
So if you're stressed, your ability to think, rationalize, be creative, analyze, all go down.
00:23:08.840 --> 00:23:14.684
Your ability to focus goes down and we want all those executive functions.
00:23:14.684 --> 00:23:19.796
So we have to de-stress as much as possible in order for that to blossom and grow.
00:23:19.796 --> 00:23:20.904
Yeah, and.
00:23:20.924 --> 00:23:22.230
Jess, indeed, I agree with that.
00:23:22.230 --> 00:23:26.192
Now, are there any experiences you can share with us?
00:23:26.192 --> 00:23:35.009
I'm reflecting back on testimonials on your website, something that really stood out to me, because you already mentioned avoiding knee surgery right Now.
00:23:35.009 --> 00:23:41.071
There was an experience where there was a patient who canceled their rotator cuff surgery.
00:23:41.071 --> 00:23:44.147
Are you able to share more about that experience?
00:23:44.749 --> 00:23:45.451
Yes, absolutely.
00:23:45.451 --> 00:23:46.515
So.
00:23:46.515 --> 00:23:57.338
She was doing some yard work and pulled a tree stump and hurt her shoulder, but diagnosed with a rotator cuff tear with MRI, and so we did a lot of work together.
00:23:57.338 --> 00:24:04.452
It was probably about eight hours worth of work total and I trained her on kind of.
00:24:04.452 --> 00:24:11.220
What I was just talking about is her rib cage needed to drop down because she went into a protective mode.
00:24:11.220 --> 00:24:13.832
So she had shoulder pain, so she went into a protective mode.
00:24:13.832 --> 00:24:18.830
So her rib cage lifted up, her shoulder lifted up and she was guarded, her neck tightened up.
00:24:18.830 --> 00:24:27.153
Everything was protecting her, as is normal for an injury, but it lasted too long and it was excessive.
00:24:27.153 --> 00:24:36.660
So the protective response in our body is good, but when it's too much or too long, that's when it is bad, and for our case that's what happened.
00:24:36.660 --> 00:24:51.367
So what I worked on with her is how to calm down the nervous system, get the rib cage to drop down, how to use different muscles in her arms that she had forgotten how to use, namely her triceps and some shoulder blade muscles.
00:24:51.367 --> 00:25:01.116
So she stopped overusing the upper traps and the pecs that pulled her shoulder joint forward and continued to irritate the rotator cuff.
00:25:01.116 --> 00:25:04.565
So as soon as she learned how to use her triceps.
00:25:04.565 --> 00:25:08.398
So when she lifted her arm up, she felt the muscles underneath.
00:25:08.398 --> 00:25:13.166
Support her arm instead of the ones on top, lift her shoulder up and jam her.
00:00:00.740 --> 00:00:11.753
00:00:11.753 --> 00:00:16.210
00:00:16.210 --> 00:00:24.591
00:00:24.591 --> 00:00:27.515
00:00:27.515 --> 00:00:38.201
00:00:38.201 --> 00:00:46.273
00:00:46.273 --> 00:00:52.250
00:00:52.250 --> 00:00:56.090
00:00:56.090 --> 00:01:00.210
00:01:00.210 --> 00:01:05.171
00:01:05.171 --> 00:01:09.549
00:01:09.549 --> 00:01:14.012
00:01:14.012 --> 00:01:24.490
00:01:24.490 --> 00:01:32.769
00:01:32.769 --> 00:01:40.790
00:01:40.790 --> 00:01:42.802
00:01:42.802 --> 00:01:53.606
00:01:54.950 --> 00:01:59.703
00:01:59.703 --> 00:02:04.343
00:02:04.343 --> 00:02:08.132
00:02:08.132 --> 00:02:18.014
00:02:18.014 --> 00:02:20.141
00:02:20.141 --> 00:02:30.135
00:02:41.560 --> 00:02:42.502
00:02:42.502 --> 00:02:46.435
00:02:46.435 --> 00:02:55.909
00:02:55.909 --> 00:02:59.283
00:02:59.283 --> 00:03:03.272
00:03:03.272 --> 00:03:06.247
00:03:06.247 --> 00:03:09.743
00:03:09.743 --> 00:03:19.954
00:03:20.319 --> 00:03:22.146
00:03:22.146 --> 00:03:26.603
00:03:26.603 --> 00:03:38.150
00:03:38.150 --> 00:03:43.632
00:03:43.632 --> 00:03:57.080
00:03:57.080 --> 00:04:00.508
00:04:00.710 --> 00:04:14.426
00:04:14.426 --> 00:04:20.425
00:04:20.425 --> 00:04:29.930
00:04:29.930 --> 00:04:39.480
00:04:40.622 --> 00:04:50.456
00:04:50.456 --> 00:05:04.778
00:05:04.778 --> 00:05:23.588
00:05:23.588 --> 00:05:25.372
00:05:25.372 --> 00:05:31.274
00:05:31.274 --> 00:05:41.144
00:05:41.485 --> 00:05:43.608
00:05:43.608 --> 00:05:45.934
00:05:45.934 --> 00:05:46.774
00:05:46.774 --> 00:05:53.939
00:05:53.939 --> 00:05:54.341
00:05:54.341 --> 00:05:57.666
00:05:57.786 --> 00:06:00.512
00:06:00.512 --> 00:06:13.081
00:06:13.442 --> 00:06:13.682
00:06:13.682 --> 00:06:17.812
00:06:18.399 --> 00:06:20.165
00:06:20.165 --> 00:06:21.327
00:06:21.327 --> 00:06:22.932
00:06:22.932 --> 00:06:31.024
00:06:31.024 --> 00:06:47.903
00:06:47.923 --> 00:06:48.144
00:06:48.144 --> 00:06:48.444
00:06:48.444 --> 00:06:57.860
00:06:58.322 --> 00:06:58.882
00:06:58.882 --> 00:07:26.382
00:07:26.382 --> 00:07:27.264
00:07:27.665 --> 00:07:28.889
00:07:28.889 --> 00:07:30.411
00:07:30.411 --> 00:07:36.463
00:07:36.463 --> 00:07:43.122
00:07:43.543 --> 00:07:46.290
00:07:46.290 --> 00:07:51.891
00:07:51.891 --> 00:07:55.567
00:07:55.567 --> 00:07:58.574
00:07:58.574 --> 00:08:02.463
00:08:02.463 --> 00:08:11.656
00:08:11.656 --> 00:08:15.069
00:08:15.069 --> 00:08:16.947
00:08:17.680 --> 00:08:20.168
00:08:20.168 --> 00:08:24.630
00:08:24.630 --> 00:08:28.845
00:08:28.845 --> 00:08:32.179
00:08:32.179 --> 00:08:34.866
00:08:34.866 --> 00:08:46.447
00:08:46.447 --> 00:08:54.587
00:08:55.049 --> 00:09:00.085
00:09:00.085 --> 00:09:07.221
00:09:07.221 --> 00:09:10.514
00:09:10.514 --> 00:09:15.828
00:09:15.828 --> 00:09:21.782
00:09:22.945 --> 00:09:33.943
00:09:33.943 --> 00:09:38.394
00:09:38.394 --> 00:09:46.923
00:09:46.923 --> 00:09:55.929
00:09:55.929 --> 00:09:58.139
00:09:59.422 --> 00:10:12.725
00:10:12.725 --> 00:10:15.840
00:10:15.840 --> 00:10:19.128
00:10:19.128 --> 00:10:29.331
00:10:29.331 --> 00:10:31.929
00:10:31.929 --> 00:10:34.260
00:10:34.260 --> 00:10:40.360
00:10:40.360 --> 00:10:46.369
00:10:46.408 --> 00:10:59.485
00:10:59.485 --> 00:11:00.529
00:11:00.529 --> 00:11:01.052
00:11:01.735 --> 00:11:01.956
00:11:01.956 --> 00:11:03.825
00:11:03.825 --> 00:11:12.961
00:11:12.961 --> 00:11:16.565
00:11:16.565 --> 00:11:21.394
00:11:21.535 --> 00:11:28.793
00:11:28.793 --> 00:11:40.889
00:11:40.889 --> 00:11:49.230
00:11:49.230 --> 00:12:01.493
00:12:01.493 --> 00:12:22.552
00:12:22.714 --> 00:12:23.625
00:12:23.625 --> 00:12:27.096
00:12:27.096 --> 00:12:32.374
00:12:32.374 --> 00:12:38.673
00:12:38.673 --> 00:12:47.052
00:12:47.052 --> 00:12:49.336
00:12:49.336 --> 00:13:00.933
00:13:01.554 --> 00:13:02.297
00:13:02.297 --> 00:13:04.350
00:13:04.350 --> 00:13:09.394
00:13:09.394 --> 00:13:18.504
00:13:18.504 --> 00:13:28.254
00:13:28.254 --> 00:13:40.292
00:13:40.292 --> 00:13:49.798
00:13:51.405 --> 00:13:52.347
00:13:52.347 --> 00:13:58.466
00:13:58.466 --> 00:14:00.907
00:14:00.907 --> 00:14:04.109
00:14:04.109 --> 00:14:08.873
00:14:08.873 --> 00:14:10.634
00:14:10.634 --> 00:14:13.975
00:14:13.975 --> 00:14:15.096
00:14:15.096 --> 00:14:18.259
00:14:19.500 --> 00:14:31.688
00:14:31.688 --> 00:14:36.418
00:14:36.418 --> 00:14:44.298
00:14:44.298 --> 00:15:05.990
00:15:05.990 --> 00:15:10.178
00:15:10.806 --> 00:15:31.149
00:15:31.149 --> 00:15:33.533
00:15:33.533 --> 00:15:39.273
00:15:39.273 --> 00:15:47.433
00:15:47.433 --> 00:15:55.812
00:15:56.365 --> 00:16:02.614
00:16:02.614 --> 00:16:06.794
00:16:06.794 --> 00:16:12.684
00:16:12.684 --> 00:16:17.235
00:16:17.235 --> 00:16:18.999
00:16:18.999 --> 00:16:24.448
00:16:24.448 --> 00:16:29.441
00:16:29.441 --> 00:16:31.586
00:16:31.745 --> 00:16:35.552
00:16:35.552 --> 00:16:43.797
00:16:43.797 --> 00:16:49.778
00:16:49.778 --> 00:17:02.278
00:17:03.326 --> 00:17:17.787
00:17:17.787 --> 00:17:32.998
00:17:32.998 --> 00:17:35.327
00:17:35.327 --> 00:17:40.688
00:17:41.328 --> 00:17:47.570
00:17:47.570 --> 00:17:48.834
00:17:48.834 --> 00:17:52.280
00:17:52.821 --> 00:17:53.202
00:17:53.202 --> 00:17:59.073
00:17:59.073 --> 00:18:11.893
00:18:11.893 --> 00:18:14.266
00:18:14.266 --> 00:18:18.752
00:18:18.752 --> 00:18:23.980
00:18:23.980 --> 00:18:29.971
00:18:29.971 --> 00:18:31.174
00:18:31.805 --> 00:18:35.272
00:18:35.272 --> 00:18:41.932
00:18:41.932 --> 00:18:47.611
00:18:47.611 --> 00:18:50.720
00:18:50.720 --> 00:19:02.173
00:19:02.794 --> 00:19:03.816
00:19:03.816 --> 00:19:06.326
00:19:06.326 --> 00:19:06.988
00:19:06.988 --> 00:19:12.867
00:19:12.867 --> 00:19:19.789
00:19:19.789 --> 00:19:23.445
00:19:23.445 --> 00:19:27.974
00:19:27.974 --> 00:19:38.650
00:19:39.751 --> 00:19:42.576
00:19:42.576 --> 00:19:49.526
00:19:49.526 --> 00:19:50.768
00:19:50.768 --> 00:19:59.977
00:19:59.977 --> 00:20:05.730
00:20:06.932 --> 00:20:08.857
00:20:10.105 --> 00:20:22.277
00:20:23.305 --> 00:20:36.576
00:20:37.365 --> 00:20:43.375
00:20:43.375 --> 00:20:47.957
00:20:47.957 --> 00:20:59.432
00:20:59.432 --> 00:21:09.862
00:21:09.862 --> 00:21:32.815
00:21:33.605 --> 00:21:41.634
00:21:41.634 --> 00:22:13.792
00:22:14.213 --> 00:22:22.588
00:22:22.588 --> 00:22:30.750
00:22:30.750 --> 00:22:34.758
00:22:34.758 --> 00:22:45.651
00:22:46.272 --> 00:22:47.617
00:22:47.617 --> 00:22:55.905
00:22:56.546 --> 00:22:57.086
00:22:57.086 --> 00:23:00.431
00:23:00.431 --> 00:23:02.473
00:23:02.473 --> 00:23:08.840
00:23:08.840 --> 00:23:14.684
00:23:14.684 --> 00:23:19.796
00:23:19.796 --> 00:23:20.904
00:23:20.924 --> 00:23:22.230
00:23:22.230 --> 00:23:26.192
00:23:26.192 --> 00:23:35.009
00:23:35.009 --> 00:23:41.071
00:23:41.071 --> 00:23:44.147
00:23:44.749 --> 00:23:45.451
00:23:45.451 --> 00:23:46.515
00:23:46.515 --> 00:23:57.338
00:23:57.338 --> 00:24:04.452
00:24:04.452 --> 00:24:11.220
00:24:11.220 --> 00:24:13.832
00:24:13.832 --> 00:24:18.830
00:24:18.830 --> 00:24:27.153
00:24:27.153 --> 00:24:36.660
00:24:36.660 --> 00:24:51.367
00:24:51.367 --> 00:25:01.116
00:25:01.116 --> 00:25:04.565
00:25:04.565 --> 00:25:08.398
00:25:08.398 --> 00:25:13.166