The Cure for Chronic Pain with Nicole Sachs, LCSW
Nicole J. Sachs, LCSW is a speaker, writer, and psychotherapist who has dedicated her life and her practice to the treatment of chronic pain and conditions. She is the author of MIND YOUR BODY, and the creator of the online course: FREEDOM FROM CHRONIC PAIN. Through her personal journey working directly with Dr. John Sarno as well as counseling hundreds of clients, she's shaped and evolved theories which serve to teach those suffering how to heal themselves, completely, with no medication or surgery. Learn more about Nicole's work at: YourBreakAwake.com
From the Vault: Life Beyond Fibromyalgia - Pregnancy and Other Miracles with Claire
Learn how to JournalSpeak https://www.yourbreakawake.com/journalspeak
When I got Claire's email, I was so filled with gratitude that I knew our interview had to be our Thanksgiving episode. Claire spent a lifetime (and I mean a lifetime) battling TMS in myriad forms, never knowing that there was a solution that connected all of her symptoms. Plantar fasciitis, fibromyalgia, and finally larynx and voice disorders that brought her to her knees - Claire became ready to look outside of the medical model for answers. When she landed on this podcast, she knew she was at the precipice of something that was going to change her...
From the Vault: REAL TIME HEAL: An Alcoholic Home, Fibromyalgia, and Social Anxiety with Angela
Learn how to JournalSpeak https://www.yourbreakawake.com/journalspeak
Growing up with a severely abusive alcoholic father and battered mother has left its emotional scars on Angela. She hit a wall in her 30s and her body simply shut down. She was wracked with all over body pain diagnosed as fibromyalgia, as well as many other symptoms. After doing her JournalSpeak work like a total warrior, Angela has been able to free herself from all of her chronic physical symptoms - a true feat. She comes to this session today with what's left over: the deep emotional wounds that are keeping her stuck with social anxiety...
Parenting as a Mirror: What Your Triggers Are Trying to Tell You
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There are moments in parenting that do not feel the way you thought they would. A reaction that comes on too fast. An intensity that does not quite match what is happening. A wave of anger, fear, resentment, guilt, or panic that seems to rise out of nowhere and suddenly you are not responding from the grounded adult part of you anymore. You are in it.
Most of us are taught to override these moments. We tell ourselves to calm down, be grateful, be a good parent, stop overreacting, let it go. But...
From the Vault: Overcoming Intense Fibromyalgia and Nerve Pain with Catherine Oxenberg
Learn how to JournalSpeak https://www.yourbreakawake.com/journalspeak
When HBO's The Vow revealed that a horrible cult leader was abusing women, I was riveted to every episode. But the most captivating thing about this documentary series for me was the strength and fortitude of a mother desperately seeking to rescue her beloved daughter. Catherine and India Oxenberg's story was one that gripped me the entire time, and I was rooting for them vehemently - mother to mother - energetically. Cut to several months later: I get a DM on Instagram from Catherine. The moment India was safe, Catherine fell horribly ill with excruciating...
How People Pleasing, Codependency, and Perfectionism Keep the Nervous System Stuck with Béa Albina
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In this episode, I’m joined by Béa Albina, nurse practitioner, somatic practitioner, and the author and creator of Emotional Outsourcing, for a conversation that gets right to the heart of why so many of us abandon ourselves in the name of being good, helpful, agreeable, easy, impressive, or needed. Béa defines emotional outsourcing as the chronic habit of sourcing our safety, belonging, and worth from everyone and everything outside of ourselves, instead of from within, and we unpack how deeply this pattern can become wired into the nervous system. For so many of...
From the Vault: Lifelong IBS, Depression, and Adult ADHD with Alice
Learn how to JournalSpeak https://www.yourbreakawake.com/journalspeak
Alice has had a diagnosis of IBS for as long as she can remember. Even as a toddler she was know to have been suffering, and grew up scheduling her whole life with her IBS in mind. As she grew up and dealt with tremendous grief in her 20's, losing both of her parents, Alice was confronted with clinical depression as well. Her understanding of TMS and my work have changed her life. Today, Alice is thriving in work and at home as a result of it. Join us for a conversation that will enlighten and awa...
From the Vault: Overcoming Hip Pain and Severe IBS with TMS Therapist Sean Hershey
Learn how to JournalSpeak https://www.yourbreakawake.com/journalspeak
The first day I saw Sean's face was on a group post to our private JournalSpeak FB community. He was excited and proud that he could do the splits again (I couldn't do them with all the JournalSpeak in the world) and he wanted to share. I was immediately taken by Sean's lovely energy and dedication to the work. I'm so excited to finally speak with him on the pod. Join us for a conversation that will most definitely help you to drop into your own TMS work more deeply and meaningfully.
1:1 COACHI...
How What We Eat Affects Anxiety, Stress, and Chronic Pain with Luis Mojica
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In this beautiful and deeply honest conversation, I’m joined by Luis Mojica, somatic therapist, trauma nutritionist, founder of Holistic Life Navigation, and author of Food Therapy. Luis and I talk about the place where our work so naturally overlaps: the truth that the body is always holding, expressing, protecting, and trying to create safety when life has felt like too much. Luis shares his own story of childhood trauma, chronic illness, body shame, disordered eating, and the long road toward feeling at home in his body. What unfolds is not a typical conver...
From the Vault: Chronic Lyme, Mold Toxicity, Severe IBS, and more with Suzanne
Learn how to JournalSpeak https://www.yourbreakawake.com/journalspeak
Wow. Wow is all I can say when I think about Suzanne's story and her stunning recovery. I first head Suzanne's voice on a Speakpipe where she was reaching out to express her joy and gratitude for being recovered and to offer to share with the world her harrowing journey. I reached back out enthusiastically - everyone needs to hear what Suzanne is saying about how dark it can be, how hopeful it can get, the twists and turns in the path, and much more. I'm thrilled to share Suzanne with you today. My wish for you is...
When Symptoms Show Up: How to Calm Your Nervous System Before Fear Takes Over
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In this episode, we dive into what it really means to move through life in alignment, especially when stress, symptoms, anxiety, and overwhelm are all trying to pull you into fear. I share a recent experience from my own life, during a season of major transition, travel, work, family milestones, and my youngest child graduating high school, when a strange new neuropathy-like sensation showed up in my face.
Instead of spiraling, Dr. Googling (or Dr. ChatGPTing!), or giving the symptom a terrifying meaning, I used it as an opportunity to practice th...
From the Vault: IBS, Emotional Eating, and Body Image with Lisa Schlosberg, LMSW
Learn how to JournalSpeak https://www.yourbreakawake.com/journalspeak
Lisa Schlosberg, LMSW, is an expert in emotional eating, body image, and the mind/body connection as it pertains to all things food. In addition, Lisa has her own story of her journey out of childhood obesity, and the terrible IBS she had no idea was curable with mind/body work... until she met me. We discuss it all on the pod today! Love and light to you, wherever this may find you. XOOX n.
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Nicole Sachs on The Jordan Harbinger Show: Chronic Pain, MindBody Healing, and the Questions Skeptics Are Right to Ask
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This week’s episode is a little different than usual. I’m sharing my conversation with Jordan Harbinger from The Jordan Harbinger Show, where Jordan invited me into a thoughtful, curious, and respectful conversation about chronic pain, mind-body medicine, and the work I have spent my life teaching. What I loved most about this interview is that Jordan approached it the way so many people do when they first encounter this paradigm: interested, intelligent, and not willing to simply accept an idea without understanding it. That kind of skepticism is not a problem for...
From the Vault: IBS and JournalSpeak Revelations with Lisa Schlosberg, LMSW
Learn how to JournalSpeak https://www.yourbreakawake.com/journalspeak
Lisa and I sit down for another epic conversation about the magic of this work. We named this episode "What Happens After the After Picture". As a society, we are obsessed with the before and after, the makeover... the result. But what happens when human life doesn't have a result? What happens when the human condition is a lifelong experience? This is the truth for all of us, and Lisa's observations based on her own IBS journey are incredible. Every one of you will walk away with a gem from this convo. Plus, I love...
Neuroplastic Pain, TMS, and the Science of Unlearning Chronic Symptoms with Dr. Howard Schubiner
Learn how to JournalSpeak ➡️
https://www.yourbreakawake.com/journalspeak
Of all the conversations we have on this podcast, this one feels especially important because Dr. Howard Schubiner has been standing at the intersection of medicine, neuroscience, research, and mindbody healing for decades. In this episode, Howard shares the personal and professional path that led him from traditional medicine to Dr. Sarno’s work, and eventually to becoming one of the leading voices in neuroplastic chronic pain and illness. We talk about why pain is never “all in your head,” but is always created by the brain, how predictive processing helps explain why sym...
From the Vault: REAL TIME HEAL - When Emotions Turn Into Pain: Migraines and Neck Pain with Heather
Learn how to JournalSpeak :
https://www.yourbreakawake.com/journalspeak
Heather was in a "bad mood" for months, even years. She had taken a job that was way too much pressure, and wasn't practicing self-care. One day on vacation, the occasional migraine that used to be nothing to Heather came on like a storm. She experienced numbness and pain to the point where she worried she was having a stroke! This led to a chronic situation of which I am VERY familiar. Once she found this podcast, Heather was able to begin her healing journey, but she has questions about Inner Child Work and o...
Pelvic Pain, Shame, and the Long Road to Freedom with Claire Birnie
Learn how to JournalSpeak ➡️
https://www.yourbreakawake.com/journalspeak
In this episode, I’m joined by the wonderful Claire Birnie, whose story is such a powerful reminder that healing does not always arrive in one clean, linear, cinematic moment. Claire lived with chronic pelvic and vaginal pain for more than two decades. After years of medical searching, diagnoses that named the pain but did not resolve it, countless treatments, medications, physical therapies, and the deep loneliness that can come with symptoms people are afraid to talk about, Claire eventually found the work of Dr. Sarno, JournalSpeak, and our mindbody approach.
What I...
From the Vault: REAL TIME HEAL (and Success Story) - Autoimmune Disease, Migraine, Hip Pain, and Severe IBS with Emma
Learn how to JournalSpeak :
https://www.yourbreakawake.com/journalspeak
** TRIGGER WARNING. EMMA IS DOING GREAT, BUT DOES DISCUSS SUICIDAL IDEATION AND THE DEATH OF A FAMILY MEMBER BY SUICIDE ON THIS EPISODE ** When Emma and I first connected, she was requesting a RTH for issues related to Lupus/other autoimmune conditions, and I jumped at the chance to highlight such an important topic, and help her to move the needle on her healing. But guess what?? Emma dedicated herself so much to the work and the process, that in the few weeks it took to get...
Michael Porter Jr., Chronic Pain, and the Question Everyone Is Asking
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https://www.yourbreakawake.com/journalspeak
In this solo episode, I’m responding to the flood of questions that came in after a viral Instagram reel shared the story of my work with NBA player Michael Porter Jr. Michael’s recovery is extraordinary, but this episode is not just about Michael. It’s about the question his story awakens in so many people: How can someone have a very real diagnosis, very real imaging, very real pain, and still recover when they begin to understand the brain, the nervous system, and the mind-body connection? After three back surgeries, ongoing pa...
From the Vault: The Connection Between Trauma and Chronic Pain/Migraines with Heather
Learn how to JournalSpeak :
https://www.yourbreakawake.com/journalspeak
Heather has lived through a lot. She grew up in a family struggling with addiction, and found herself gaslit and confused at every turn. As she grew older, this trauma she suffered began to express itself through physical pain syndromes, namely chronic migraines (19 a month!) and shoulder pain - among other medical anomalies. Heather was in literal sustained fight or flight, and her body was keeping the score. Through my work and practicing mindbody medicine, Heather found her way to the light. Join us for a heart...
She Came for a Break. She Left with Her Life Back - Kimberly's Incredible Story of Healing
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https://www.yourbreakawake.com/journalspeak
In this episode, I’m joined by the incredible Kimberly Korn, three years after she first came to my Omega retreat thinking she was walking into a spa weekend, and instead found herself face-to-face with the inner work that would change everything. Kimberly shares the full story of what brought her there: a lifetime of symptoms that seemed disconnected on the surface, from childhood asthma and eczema to OCD, anorexia, debilitating migraines, chronic neck and back pain, severe GI issues, anxiety, unexplained swelling, and deep trauma. What she...
From the Vault: Vertigo and Migraines... REAL TIME HEAL with Raye Zaragoza
Learn how to JournalSpeak :
https://www.yourbreakawake.com/journalspeak
Singer/Songwriter Raye Zaragoza contacted me for a Real Time Heal after debilitating Migraines, Vertigo and light sensitivity brought her to her knees, sometimes literally. In her darkest hour, she found the work of Dr. Sarno, and then me. I am humbled by the privilege to help people awaken to their full potential, and at the tender age of 26, Raye is doing just that. Although she has come so far, fear is still her greatest adversary (we can all relate!) and we discuss this as well as...
Bedbound with Chronic Head Pain: JournalSpeak Saved Bethany's Life
Learn how to JournalSpeak ➡️
https://www.yourbreakawake.com/journalspeak
In this moving conversation, I sit down with Bethany Williams, whose journey through chronic pain will stop you in your tracks. More importantly, it will remind you what is truly possible. After being diagnosed with New Daily Persistent Headache in her early 20s, Bethany experienced a devastating relapse that left her in unimaginable, 11-out-of-10 pain. Bedbound for a year and a half, unable to tolerate light, sound, or even basic daily life, she reached a point where her future felt completely uncertain. And yet, what unfolds from there is a powerful testament to the resilience of the human spirit and the profound cap...
From the Vault: Long Covid Recovery and Releasing Fear with Jessica
Learn how to JournalSpeak : https://www.yourbreakawake.com/journalspeak Little did I know when I began this work and continued for years to walk through it with people, that it would become central to heal a world weary and stricken by a global pandemic. I am so glad to be able to bring you these inspiring narratives. When we first corresponded, I asked Jessica, "So, do you consider this a success story or a Real Time Heal?" as I was open to either. She enthusiastically characterized it as a success story. She's done the work, walked the path, embodied the feelings, and she is here to sh...
Everyone Is Talking About Ozempic and GLP-1s. This Is the Conversation We’re Missing.
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https://www.yourbreakawake.com/journalspeak
Today I want to bring a conversation from Substack into the podcast because the response has been impossible to ignore. Everywhere we look right now, people are talking about Ozempic and other GLP-1s—whether they work, whether they’re safe, whether they’re a miracle or a problem. But what I'm noticing is that almost all of these conversations are happening on the surface. In this episode, I’m not here to tell you what to do with your body or whether these medications are right for you. I want us to slow this down and ask a differe...
From the Vault: CHRONIC PAIN IS AN EPIDEMIC OF FEAR WITH MONICA
Learn how to JournalSpeak :
https://www.yourbreakawake.com/journalspeak
Monica, a former teacher and active mom of 2, was stuck on the couch, icing her piriformis muscle 6 times a day. As with so many of us, Monica was gripped with fear and meaning - What will become of me? How am I going to show up for any family and my life?? I say it all the time - Chronic pain is an epidemic of fear. We are so terrified of the pain and the ways it might affect our lives, that we keep ourselves sick and suffering. Monica's JournalSpeak practice alongside an in...
REAL TIME HEAL: Long COVID, Fear, and the Nervous System with Marisa Renee Lee
Learn how to JournalSpeak ➡️ https://www.yourbreakawake.com/journalspeak
In today’s episode, I sit down with Marisa Renee Lee for a powerful Real Time Heal conversation about long COVID, chronic symptoms, and the deeper emotional landscape that shapes our experience in the body. Marisa brings a lifetime of resilience and insight—navigating profound loss, high achievement, and now an ongoing healing journey that will feel deeply familiar to so many of you. Together, we explore how fear, control, and the nervous system interact in ways that can keep us stuck, even when we’re doing everything “right.”
This conversation is about so much more than symptoms. It’s about lear...
From the Vault: REAL TIME HEAL: GI Issues, IC, Food Fear, and Grief with Bri
Learn how to JournalSpeak :
https://www.yourbreakawake.com/journalspeak
Buckle up for another amazing and heart opening Real Time Heal. Bri is an incredible woman. She has lived through so much in a short period of time, and with the help of this work is well on her way to freedom from all of her chronic symptoms. Even before we met, Bri was able to completely eliminate her IC, Pelvic Pain, and related issues with her JournalSpeak work, but her stubborn GI issues and food fear persisted. As we spoke, it became apparent what is actually making her stomach sick: unproce...
The Core Wounds That Drive Chronic Pain, Anxiety & Self-Sabotage (And How to Heal Them)
Learn how to JournalSpeak ➡️
https://www.yourbreakawake.com/journalspeak
Today I want to talk about something foundational—something that sits underneath so many of the patterns you’re struggling with, whether that’s chronic pain, anxiety, relationship issues, or just feeling stuck in the same loops. We’re diving into core wounds: those deep emotional imprints formed in childhood that shape how you see yourself, others, and the world. These wounds don’t mean something is wrong with you. They’re simply information. But when they go unexamined, they can quietly drive your reactions, your choices, and even your physical symptoms—like you’re looking at life through a lens you don’...
From the Vault: Talking Fear, Resistance and Acceptance with Dan Buglio
Learn how to JournalSpeak :
https://www.yourbreakawake.com/journalspeak
There are few people in the world who get the mind/body connection like Dan Buglio. Through his personal journey and his discovery of Dr. Sarno's work, Dan has grown to explain this stuff better than almost anyone I know. It was a pleasure to sit down and interview him this week on so many fascinating topics. There are about 100 "aha moments" in this one - don't miss it! Learn more about Dan's coaching work at https://www.facebook.com/PainFreeYouNow/.
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Decades of Migraines, Fibromyalgia, IBS, Brain Fog and More - A Physician Heals Herself
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https://www.yourbreakawake.com/journalspeak
In this episode, I sit down with Anna Winfield, a pediatrician, BreakAwake Support Circle expert, and a beautiful example of what becomes possible when we begin to understand chronic symptoms through the lens of the nervous system. Anna shares her powerful story of living for decades with migraines, fibromyalgia, pelvic pain, IBS, brain fog, and so many other diagnoses that never fully explained what was happening. After a concussion sent her into a major flare, one unexpected conversation with a rheumatology nurse practitioner opened the door to a completely different understanding: that her pain mig...
From the Vault: REAL TIME HEAL: Pelvic/Bladder Issues and Managing Shame with Camille
Learn how to JournalSpeak :
https://www.yourbreakawake.com/journalspeak
I love doing Real Time Heals - they allow me to empty my mind and hone in on exactly what someone needs. Today was no exception! The only thing I will say here, is that Camille is so tapped in, smart, and willing about this process that she sounds more like a success story than a RTH. Having said this, we get down to it. And come up with a rich conversation on shame, and all its implications. Such an important topic. Join us! XOXO n.
1:1...
Why Other People Trigger You—and What It Reveals About Your Own Healing
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https://www.yourbreakawake.com/journalspeak
Today’s conversation grew out of a powerful question from our Heal with Nicole community about victim mindset, self-compassion, and the internal conflict so many of us carry without even realizing it. I use this post as a doorway into a much bigger discussion about the stories we tell ourselves, the shame we attach to certain parts of who we are, and the hidden reasons we judge other people so harshly. I also share a formative college exercise that has stayed with me for decades, one tha...
From the Vault: Fibro, Body Image and Pelvic Pain - REAL TIME HEAL with Whitney Rydman
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https://www.yourbreakawake.com/journalspeak
Real time heal sessions have become my favorite conversations on this podcast. I have been doing one-on-one therapy for years, and the power of being in this sacred space on air really moves me. Today Whitney Rydman and I have a frank and heart opening conversation about grief and loss, feeling unseen and unheard, and all the symptoms that can express those issues in our bodies. We connect body image and perfectionism to fibro pain, and become really clear about dealing with the symptom imperative. What a great session! I'm thri...
"I Thought I Was Born to Suffer" - Chronic Pelvic Pain, TMJ, Anxiety, and more with Lynette
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https://www.yourbreakawake.com/journalspeak
In this powerful conversation, I sit down with one of our BreakAwake coaches, Lynette. Her story is a profound example of what can happen when we stop chasing endless cures and begin addressing the emotional roots of chronic pain. Lynette spent years living on high alert, believing she was simply someone destined to suffer. Frequent illness, skin infections, TMJ, anxiety, pelvic pain, scoliosis, and eventually debilitating ischial bursitis left her feeling like her life was shrinking before her eyes.
Even with supportive medical care and physical therapy, relief...
From the Vault: Pelvic Pain Recovery and Bladder Urgency with Hannah Matluck
Learn how to JournalSpeak :
https://www.yourbreakawake.com/journalspeak
I met Hannah Matluck of The V Hive (formerly The Women's Pelvic Pain Podcast) somewhat randomly a couple years ago when she wanted me to speak as an expert on her podcast. Little did either of us know how much that one interview would change her life. Hannah transformed her entire message to a mindbody approach, healed after years of suffering, and is even going back to school for an MSW to become a clinician! I love how life is serendipitous like that. This interview has so much good healing in it, and su...
Why Is the Body Attacking Itself? Rethinking Autoimmune Disease
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https://www.yourbreakawake.com/journalspeak
In this episode, I explore a question that has been coming into my inbox for years: why are autoimmune diseases happening, and is there anything we can do to influence the course of them? I am not a medical doctor and I am not claiming that mindbody work changes blood markers or diagnoses. But over many years of working with people suffering from chronic symptoms, I have observed something remarkable. Again and again, people who come to this work with autoimmune diagnoses begin to experience fewer and fewer symptoms...
From the Vault: Severe Pelvic Pain and Multiple Surgeries with Kitty
Learn how to JournalSpeak :
https://www.yourbreakawake.com/journalspeak
It's not every day you hear a story like Kitty's. Lost in fear and the confusion of the medical model, Kitty endured multiple unnecessary surgeries and grim diagnoses. On the brink of giving up completely on life, she found this work and did it like a warrior to save herself. Today, Kitty lives a life of endless possibilities with NO CHRONIC PAIN. She is a beautiful ambassador for this work, and I'm honored to have her on the podcast. Enjoy! XO n.
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IBS, Eating Disorders, and the Athlete’s Nervous System: The MindBody Connection with Kamila
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https://www.yourbreakawake.com/journalspeak
In this episode, I welcome Kamila Tan back to the podcast for a conversation that grew out of a moment at the end of her first appearance. As we were wrapping up that episode, we briefly touched on the intersection between athletics and eating disorders. Kamila shared about her experience struggling with disordered eating while competing in beach volleyball, and I spoke about what I’ve observed in my daughter’s dance communities, where the pressure around body image and performance can be intense. It was clear ther...
From the Vault: ALL THINGS PELVIC PAIN with Whitney Rydman
Learn how to JournalSpeak : https://www.yourbreakawake.com/journalspeak We must speak of the unspeakable, in every aspect of life. Passionately, boldly, bravely, unapologetically. This is the way we heal. There is no topic that feels more relevant to this imperative than pelvic pain. Although all chronic pain originates in the same place (the brain and nervous system's desire to protect us from our repressed emotions), when this process is being expressed through our pelvic area, it can be especially hard to talk about. When Whitney Rydman came on the pod as a "Real Time Heal" last year, she was still struggling with some level of pelvi...
Back Pain Recovery, Inner Child Work, and "Breaking Out of the Man Box" with Coach Pete
Learn how to JournalSpeak ➡️ LEARN HOW: https://www.yourbreakawake.com/journalspeak
In this week’s episode, I sit down with Peter Heymann, a coach in our BreakAwake community and a beautiful example of what is possible when someone is willing to do the real work. Peter recovered fully from chronic back pain using this work, and what makes his story especially powerful is how deeply it intersects with the way boys and men are conditioned in our culture. We talk about “the man box” — the unspoken rules so many boys are raised with: don’t cry, tough it out, man up. When we teach boys to disconnect from their emotional lives, we d...
