Let's talk about pain.
I recently attended a seminar called "Pain Is Not the Enemy." To be honest, I expected to spend the lecture learning about knees, backs, shoulders, and movement. Instead, the seminar started with a surprising question.
"Where does it hurt in your life?"
Not your knee or your back. But your life.
The whole discussion got real deep and it has been on my mind since.
We tend to think of pain as the enemy. Something to get rid of or to fight. But what if pain is your body's way of asking you to pay attention?
Have you been under more stress? Maybe your sleep has been terrible? Or have you been dealing with an injury and have stopped moving because you're afraid of making something worse? Maybe life has just been heavy lately?
Pain is not the enemy. It’s information. It’s the body’s desire for change.
Your stress, your sleep, your emotions, your confidence, your past experiences... they all influence how you feel. In fact, scientists have known for years just how powerful our brains can be.
Most people have heard of the placebo effect: someone believes a treatment will help, and they genuinely start feeling better, even if the treatment itself was sugar pills.
But there's also something called the nocebo effect.
That's when the opposite happens.
If someone believes movement is dangerous, or they're convinced their back is "fragile" or their knees are "bone on bone," those beliefs can actually increase pain and make them more hesitant to move.
Why? Because pain isn't created by our tissues alone. It's produced by our nervous system, and our nervous system is constantly taking in information. Not just from our muscles and joints, but also from our thoughts, emotions, stress levels, past experiences, and beliefs.
When our brain perceives something as threatening, it can become more protective, making us more sensitive to pain even when no additional damage is occurring. This is called the nocebo effect… when negative expectations actually contribute to a worse experience.
It doesn't mean the pain is imaginary. It means your brain and nervous system are trying to protect you. Sometimes they get it exactly right... and sometimes they become a little too protective.
The good news is that our nervous system is very adaptable. Through movement, education, strength training, good sleep, stress management, and positive experiences, we can often teach it that our bodies are stronger and more capable than our brain once believed. Which is why it’s worth getting curious about pain. Why is it showing up here? Why now?
What I’m not saying is that pain isn’t real, or that things like arthritis, degenerative disc disease, or chronic knee, shoulder or back pain aren’t real. They are very real. But a diagnosis is not a label or identity.
I've met people with significant arthritis who hike, lift weights, travel, and play with their grandkids. (I personally have arthritis AND degenerative disc disease in my back, yay)
I've also met people with very little damage on an MRI who are afraid to bend over and pick up a laundry basket.
The difference usually isn't just what's happening in the joint but it's the entire person. Their beliefs, confidence, habits, support system or just their willingness to keep moving.
That's why we always make sure to coach the whole person, not just the body part that hurts. When we ask you “How are you feeling today” We don’t expect a polite, “Good, how are you?” in return. We want the tea. We want to hear how things are at home, at work, how’s your sleep, how’s your mental state, because it all matters.
Yes, we'll modify exercises when needed and respect your limitations, even if it’s your mind that’s hurting. But we'll also encourage you to keep building strength, confidence, and trust in your body. Because we never want a diagnosis to become your identity.
You are not "the person with bad knees" or "the person with a bad back." You are not your MRI. You are a whole person who happens to be dealing with a challenge. And challenges can change.
So if you're dealing with pain right now, instead of asking, "How do I make this go away?"
Maybe start with a different question, "What is my body trying to tell me?"
Sometimes the answer is more movement or more sleep. Sometimes it's less stress or just doing less. Sometimes it's asking you to get stronger.
The goal isn't to fear pain but you should never ignore it either. You listen to it. You get curious about it.
Your body is SO resilient and more often than not, it's working with you, not against you.