027. Have you been considering the use of kratom or ketamine to treat your chronic pain? These two have been showing up a lot lately, so in this episode, I share with you the pros and cons of each. You might be surprised at the conclusion. A guided meditation for immediate pain relief is also included in this episode. It starts at 15.45. Other meditations mentioned: Episode 9: Guided Meditation for Immediate Pain ReliefEpisode 2: Interrupt the Chronic Pain-Stress Cycle in Just 5 MinutesPlease visit show notes at jessicamaytang.co/podcast/25 for links to studies mentioned. Free Download: Breaking Free from Chronic Pain GuideI'd love to hear from you! Please email me at [email protected] if you have questions, or you'd like to share your own experiences with chronic pain.Website: jessicamaytang.co Disclaimer: The information in this podcast and on the website is not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. All content, including text, graphics, images and information, contained on or available through the podcast and web site is for general information purposes only. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay seeking medical treatment because of something you have listened to, read on or accessed through this podcast or website.

026. Carly and I were having such a great time with our conversation about Ayurveda that we decided to extend the interview into a part 2. If you haven’t listened to Part 1 in the previous episode yet, I highly encourage you to do so. In this second part of the interview, Carly talks some more about the 3 doshas in Ayurvedic medicine that can affect your physiological, mental and emotional health: VattaPitta Kapha As you listen you can ask yourself, “Can I see myself in one (or more) of these doshas?” You can also take Carly’s quiz on her website to know which dosha you are currently primarily in and how to start achieving more balance by incorporating a few small, manageable actions in your everyday life. Enjoy!Carly Banks Website: thehabit.netIG: https://www.instagram.com/thehabitayurveda/ @thehabitayurvedaCarly’s 10 Day Ayurveda Detox, Starting 10/13/23 https://jmaytang--the-habit-ayurveda.thrivecart.com/10-day-ayurveda-detox-live/  Free Download: Breaking Free from Chronic Pain GuideI'd love to hear from you! Please email me at [email protected] if you have questions, or you'd like to share your own experiences with chronic pain.Website: jessicamaytang.co Disclaimer: The information in this podcast and on the website is not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. All content, including text, graphics, images and information, contained on or available through the podcast and web site is for general information purposes only. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay seeking medical treatment because of something you have listened to, read on or accessed through this podcast or website.

025. Ayurvedic Wellness Counselor Carly Banks teaches her students ancient self-care practices, adapted for our modern, busy world. The sister science to yoga, Ayurveda helps you disconnect from our culture of excess, and reconnect to the simple pleasures of a life well-lived. Over half a million women have learned about themselves through the lens of Ayurveda on her website thehabit.net.In this first part of this conversation, we talk about how Carly’s way of practicing and teaching Ayurveda is focused on incorporating small changes in our everyday lives right now instead of going for a huge transformation that is harder to maintain. Listen for some small ways that you can start incorporating Ayurvedic practices today to heal from chronic pain.Interview Guest: Carly Banks Website: thehabit.netIG: @thehabitayurvedaCarly’s 10 Day Ayurveda Detox, Starting 10/13/23**This is an affiliate link with no extra cost to you. If you use the link above to attend Carly’s detox, I will receive a commission.  Free Download: Breaking Free from Chronic Pain GuideI'd love to hear from you! Please email me at [email protected] if you have questions, or you'd like to share your own experiences with chronic pain.Website: jessicamaytang.co Disclaimer: The information in this podcast and on the website is not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. All content, including text, graphics, images and information, contained on or available through the podcast and web site is for general information purposes only. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay seeking medical treatment because of something you have listened to, read on or accessed through this podcast or website.

024. You’re at your kid’s graduation ceremony and your back is killing you. The sun is beating down on you as you sit in one of those very uncomfortable folding chairs. You knew this was going to happen, but you weren’t going to let some pain stop you from seeing your kid walk across that stage after all the hard work they’ve put into school. It’s an important moment. Eventually, you find yourself feeling and acting impatient and annoyed. Annoyed at your back for hurting, annoyed that your family doesn’t understand how you’re feeling, annoyed that you feel annoyed. But you want to be there. You want to be present during such an important life event, so you fight the pain. You tell it to go away in your mind, you do your best to ignore it.And pretty soon, your kid notices the scowl on your face and asks if you’re alright. And through a tight smile with gritted teeth, you say, “I’m fine!” because you don’t want to put a damper on the mood, which is all you seem to do these days. The pain continues to get worse until you either speak up requesting to go home, or you fight through the pain the rest of the day only to end up suffer through multiple additional days days in bed the rest of the week.Today’s episode is about what you can do if you find yourself in a situation like this. Staying in the present moment is a crucial part of resolving chronic pain in the long term. And doing it while in pain is a challenge that you can overcome by following the steps outlined in the episode.Free Meditation Group Sign-Up: If you are interested in being part of a free Zoom meditation group in which I guide you through a visualization and teach you how to process your experience so you can take the necessary steps towards healing, please go to jessicamaytang.co/meditationgroup to sign up. Free Download: Breaking Free from Chronic Pain GuideI'd love to hear from you! Please email me at [email protected] if you have questions, or you'd like to share your own experiences with chronic pain.Website: jessicamaytang.co Disclaimer: The information in this podcast and on the website is not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. All content, including text, graphics, images and information, contained on or available through the podcast and web site is for general information purposes only. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay seeking medical treatment because of something you have listened to, read on or accessed through this podcast or website.

023. Worrying about pain flareups is more than a full-time job when we have chronic pain.  It’s a 24/7 job. And it’s exhausting. The nerves in our brain and body are constantly firing danger signals, and we end up constantly trying to figure out (often subconsciously) how to respond or react to these danger signals. Most of us try to fight or push away these signals. “I’m not going to let pain stop me from living my life! Eff pain!” But all this constant fighting and pushing does is create bigger danger signals…which means bigger pain. It’s no wonder so many of us experience brain fog. Today’s episode talks about what we can do when we find ourselves worrying constantly about pain. Be sure to listen all the way to the end- there’s a guided meditation for you to break out of the chronic pain-fear cycle. Meditation begins at 17:33.Links Mentioned: Episode 18: Will the Medical Model Work to Resolve Your Pain?Free Meditation Group Sign-Up: If you are interested in being part of a free Zoom meditation group in which I guide you through a visualization and teach you how to process your experience so you can take the necessary steps towards healing, please go to jessicamaytang.co/meditationgroup to sign up. Free Download: Breaking Free from Chronic Pain GuideI'd love to hear from you! Please email me at [email protected] if you have questions, or you'd like to share your own experiences with chronic pain.Website: jessicamaytang.co Disclaimer: The information in this podcast and on the website is not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. All content, including text, graphics, images and information, contained on or available through the podcast and web site is for general information purposes only. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay seeking medical treatment because of something you have listened to, read on or accessed through this podcast or website.

022. After learning that the real source of chronic pain is actually fear (hence the pain-fear cycle), there are many questions that come up for people. These questions end up creating even more fear that stop us from moving forward in resolving pain.So in today’s episode, I address the ones that seem to come up a lot for people: Is it normal to be afraid to look into the possibility of the chronic issue being traced back to a fear?What if I start looking and end up finding things I can’t fix in my past?What if I give myself some sort of complex from poking around in things that are over and done with?What if I find out the pain is my fault, but I still can’t fix it?What if I get better – then will everyone think I’ve been faking it this whole time?How much of my identity would be destroyed by no longer identifying as someone who has this chronic issue?What if I’m too old to reinvent myself?What if I find out it is all related to a fear, but I can’t fix it and it just gets worse?Free Meditation Group Sign-Up: If you are interested in being part of a free Zoom meditation group in which I guide you through a visualization and teach you how to process your experience so you can take the necessary steps towards healing, please go to jessicamaytang.co/meditationgroup to sign up. Free Download: Breaking Free from Chronic Pain GuideI'd love to hear from you! Please email me at [email protected] if you have questions, or you'd like to share your own experiences with chronic pain.Website: jessicamaytang.co Disclaimer: The information in this podcast and on the website is not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. All content, including text, graphics, images and information, contained on or available through the podcast and web site is for general information purposes only. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay seeking medical treatment because of something you have listened to, read on or accessed through this podcast or website.

021. It’s a common misconception that chronic pain comes from some kind of physical injury and that the only way to treat it, is to try to resolve that physical injury. But if you have already tried this and it didn’t work, meaning you’re still experiencing pain in that same body part or are now experiencing pain in a different body part, you may be interested in listening to this episode. We’ll go into: The differences between acute pain pathways and chronic pain pathways How to break the chronic pain-fear cycle The surprising cause of chronic pain What you MUST do in order to truly resolve chronic pain Free Download: Breaking Free from Chronic Pain Guide Healing Back Pain: The Mind-Body Connection by John Sarno, MDEpisodes mentioned: 19. It’s SAFER to be in PainFree Meditation Group Sign-Up: If you are interested in being part of a free Zoom meditation group in which I guide you through a visualization and teach you how to process your experience so you can take the necessary steps towards healing, please go to jessicamaytang.co/meditationgroup to sign up. Free Download: Breaking Free from Chronic Pain GuideI'd love to hear from you! Please email me at [email protected] if you have questions, or you'd like to share your own experiences with chronic pain.Website: jessicamaytang.co Disclaimer: The information in this podcast and on the website is not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. All content, including text, graphics, images and information, contained on or available through the podcast and web site is for general information purposes only. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay seeking medical treatment because of something you have listened to, read on or accessed through this podcast or website.

020. I get a little personal in this episode and share with you my own experience of what my body did when it was finally fed up with me ignoring it. By listening to this, I hope you find points you can relate to. And can start taking action to make changes so you don’t have to go through what I’ve been through.If you’d like to learn how to stop ignoring your body’s signals and giving it the attention it’s been begging for, I invite you to check out my 6 Journal and Meditation Prompts. I use these same prompts myself every time I have a twinge of pain or any health concern, and it’s extremely effective in making it go away.To get your free copy of the 6 Journal/Meditation Prompts mentioned in the episode, please visit: jessicamaytang.co/journalprompts. Free Download: Breaking Free from Chronic Pain GuideI'd love to hear from you! Please email me at [email protected] if you have questions, or you'd like to share your own experiences with chronic pain.Website: jessicamaytang.co Disclaimer: The information in this podcast and on the website is not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. All content, including text, graphics, images and information, contained on or available through the podcast and web site is for general information purposes only. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay seeking medical treatment because of something you have listened to, read on or accessed through this podcast or website.

019. It sounds crazy, but your brain continues to reinforce pain signals to distract you from “dangerous” thoughts and emotions. Growing up, we may have experienced situations where we learned that certain thoughts and emotions are dangerous. Or that they lead to dangerous consequences. Thoughts like, “I hate ___” and “I don’t want to be here.” Emotions like shame, guilt, loneliness…rage. And your brain’s job is to keep you safe and out of danger. When we are in pain, we are definitely not thinking about underlying thoughts and emotions. We are going to endless appointments trying to figure out what’s wrong. Meanwhile, our brain is saying to itself, “Job well done, let’s keep this up.” In this episode, you’ll learn why pain can sometimes be the safer option, as well as a guided meditation and journaling practice to help you break out of this cycle. Guided Meditation begins at 17:10.Breaking Free from Chronic Pain Guide Free Download: Breaking Free from Chronic Pain GuideI'd love to hear from you! Please email me at [email protected] if you have questions, or you'd like to share your own experiences with chronic pain.Website: jessicamaytang.co Disclaimer: The information in this podcast and on the website is not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. All content, including text, graphics, images and information, contained on or available through the podcast and web site is for general information purposes only. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay seeking medical treatment because of something you have listened to, read on or accessed through this podcast or website.

018. If you’ve ever felt frustrated with the amount of pain you’re still in despite all the treatments you’ve tried, this episode is for you. The medical model is excellent for solving acute and immediately life-threatening health issues, but is not as effective for treating chronic health challenges. You’ll learn why this is, how the medical model is different from a holistic approach to wellness, and why a more holistic approach is important for resolving chronic pain. Be sure to listen until the end where I’ll share a question you can reflect upon to know whether the medical model will be the most effective approach to the pain you’re experiencing. You’ll also hear a little story about my dad’s experience with chronic pain.  Free Download: Breaking Free from Chronic Pain GuideI'd love to hear from you! Please email me at [email protected] if you have questions, or you'd like to share your own experiences with chronic pain.Website: jessicamaytang.co Disclaimer: The information in this podcast and on the website is not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. All content, including text, graphics, images and information, contained on or available through the podcast and web site is for general information purposes only. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay seeking medical treatment because of something you have listened to, read on or accessed through this podcast or website.