Episode Summary

Over the past four episodes, we've explored action steps to calm your stress biology and set the stage for healing. Today, we're wrapping up the "Release and Retrain" phase by investigating hidden biases and beliefs about pain, aging, posture, weight, and diagnoses that may be standing between you and real relief. Join me as we learn how reframing these ideas can open the door to better control, greater resilience, and lasting comfort.

Key Topics Covered

· Understanding Bias: How subconscious beliefs can influence pain and healing.

· Pain and Aging: Pain is not an inevitable part of getting older.

· Body Weight Myths: Why fat, not weight, contributes to inflammation—and how strength matters more.

· Posture Misconceptions: The truth about "hunchbacks" and why you should embrace your unique shape.

· Arthritis and Disc Disease Realities: Why X-rays don't always tell the full story.

· Sciatica and Diagnosis Labels: How diagnostic labels can limit—or liberate—your healing journey.

· Power of Mindset: Why challenging your pain beliefs could be your biggest breakthrough yet.

Conversation Starter

What did you learn growing up about pain and aging? Have any of those early beliefs shaped how you experience or manage your pain today? I'd love to hear your reflections—join the discussion over on my Substack, Better Pain Coping!

Preview to Next Episode

You’ve now built the foundation by releasing and retraining — next, it’s time to reinforce the healthier, low-stress biology you’ve been creating. In our next episode, we’ll dive into the third and final action phase to make your progress sustainable and stronger over time. You won't want to miss it!

Connect and Subscribe

Subscribe to Better Pain Coping on Substack for insights, community discussions, and practical tips to support your body-machine. Claim your free yearlong subscription today!

· Join Better Pain Coping on Substack: For your free yearlong subscription use: dryalingliou.stubstack.com/listener

A community space to share reactions, questions, and experiences.

• Bonus Content & Illustrations: Access exclusive material on Substack to deepen your understanding of the concepts discussed.

Keywords

pain myths, pain and aging, body weight and pain, posture and back pain, arthritis misconceptions, disc disease MRI findings, sciatica truth, bias and health, stress biology pain relief, retrain beliefs pain healing

#PainRelief #ChronicPain #MindBodyConnection #HealthMyths #PainAwareness #BiasInMedicine #HealingJourney #EverydayPainGuide #PainMindset #StressBiology

From the book series: The Everyday Pain Guide

• Volume 1: Put Out the Fire

• Volume 2: Fix the Fire Damage

Episode Summary

In this episode of the Everyday Pain Guide, we dive into the subtle yet powerful connection between posture and stress biology. You'll learn how fear postures unconsciously reinforce stress responses—and how consciously shifting your body's alignment toward openness and ease can send calming signals back to your nervous system. Discover practical, science-backed strategies to retrain your body for resilience, starting from how you sit, stand, move... and even sleep!

Key Topics Covered

· Understanding the "Five F" responses: Fight, Flight, Freeze, Fawn, and Flop

· How fear shapes our everyday posture—even without obvious stress

· The hidden role of fetal positioning in modern tension and pain

· How cardiovascular exercise offers a short-term "reset" for body tension

· Long-term strategies: strengthening muscles that promote an open, safe posture

· Practical exercises like Bird Dog, Superman Isometrics, and Reverse Roman Chair

· How sleep positions influence your stress posture patterns

· Using physical posture as a tool to embody feelings of safety and ease

Conversation Starter

After hearing today’s episode, which fear posture do you recognize in yourself the most—fighter, fleer, freezer, or appeaser? How might you start shifting your daily body language toward safety and ease?

Preview to Next Episode

Next time, we'll take your healing journey one step further by exploring how shifting your ideas and beliefs can profoundly change your pain experience. Get ready to uncover how thought patterns influence suffering—and how you can rewrite them to find greater freedom and resilience.

Connect and Subscribe

Subscribe to Better Pain Coping on Substack for insights, community discussions, and practical tips to support your body-machine. Claim your free yearlong subscription today!

· Join Better Pain Coping on Substack: For your free yearlong subscription use: dryalingliou.stubstack.com/listener

A community space to share reactions, questions, and experiences.

• Bonus Content & Illustrations: Access exclusive material on Substack to deepen your understanding of the concepts discussed.

Keywords

stress posture, fear posture, trauma response body, fetal position stress, nervous system regulation, posture retraining, everyday pain guide, coping with chronic pain, stress biology, body mechanics action plan

#StressBiology #PostureMatters #ChronicPainRelief #EverydayPainGuide #BodyMindConnection #SomaticHealing #PainManagement #FearToFreedom #TraumaRecovery #BetterPainCoping

From the book series: The Everyday Pain Guide

• Volume 1: Put Out the Fire

• Volume 2: Fix the Fire Damage

Episode Summary

In this episode, we unlock the powerful connections between what you eat, how you sleep, the way you play, and the quality of your relationships — and how they silently retrain your glucose metabolism and stress biology every day. Learn practical, actionable strategies to lower inflammation and pain, and find out why even healthy habits can sometimes backfire if you're not careful. Plus, we’ll explore why releasing toxic relationships and redefining joy might be as important as your food choices.

Key Topics Covered

· Food, Sleep, Play, and Relationships: These hidden "fuels" affect your blood sugar, stress levels, and inflammation.

· The Big Three Stress-Triggering Foods: How sugar, processed foods, and caffeine hijack your body chemistry.

· Beyond Elimination: How to build biochemical resilience, not just avoid "bad" foods.

· Sleep Without Stress: Why over-focusing on "perfect" sleep can worsen it — and simple, biology-friendly fixes.

· When Healthy Eating Turns Toxic: A look at orthorexia and why food obsession can harm mental health.

· Joyful Movement: Why forcing yourself through dreaded workouts may spike inflammation instead of helping.

· Toxic Relationships: How social support (or lack of it) can shift your blood glucose and stress hormones.

· Small Changes, Big Impact: How just noticing these influences gives you new power over pain and inflammation.

Conversation Starter

Have you ever thought about how your friendships — not just your food — could be affecting your blood sugar and inflammation? Which part of today's episode made you rethink your daily habits the most?

Preview to Next Episode

Your posture could be silently ramping up your stress biology every day.
In our next episode, we’ll dig into how small subconscious patterns in the way you sit, stand, and move might be fueling hidden inflammation — and simple steps you can take to reset for better pain relief and wellbeing.

Connect and Subscribe

Subscribe to Better Pain Coping on Substack for insights, community discussions, and practical tips to support your body-machine. Claim your free yearlong subscription today!

· Join Better Pain Coping on Substack: For your free yearlong subscription use: dryalingliou.stubstack.com/listener

A community space to share reactions, questions, and experiences.

• Bonus Content & Illustrations: Access exclusive material on Substack to deepen your understanding of the concepts discussed.

Keywords

stress biology, glucose metabolism, inflammation and pain, stress and blood sugar, healthy coping strategies, sleep and stress, processed foods and anxiety, orthorexia, toxic relationships and health, stress reduction strategies, functional medicine, Everyday Pain Guide

#StressBiology #GlucoseMetabolism #PainRelief #FunctionalMedicine #ChronicPain #BetterPainCoping #Inflammation #MentalHealthMatters #SleepHealth #FoodAsMedicine

From the book series: The Everyday Pain Guide

• Volume 1: Put Out the Fire

• Volume 2: Fix the Fire Damage