Chronic pain that won't go away

Most people are blown away when they learn the root cause to their chronic pain...

I want to start this week's newsletter by thanking all of you who sent your best wishes regarding what happened to my mother.

Thank you 💜

I had a lot happen this past month, but instead of telling you everything right now, I did what most of you have the ability to do—turn pain into art!

I will send a newsletter with more on this in the future, but I promised you that I would teach you how digestive issues cause inflammation, which in turn, can cause problems with your muscular system.

This manifests as having tight hips, lower back pain, knee problems, and foot/ankle pain.

If you're reading this right now and struggle with constant muscular pain, make sure to read this full story. There’s no doubt that you will find yourself in the same situation my family friend, Anna, was in.

The Painful Call

I got a call from a family friend—Anna, last week who was in a panic. She told me that she pulled a muscle in her back two weeks ago. She immediately went to the doctor and was working with a physical therapist within two days.

After four sessions with the physical therapist, her back pain persisted. This is when she reached out to me, saying she needed help ASAP. I invited her to come to my gym, assuring her that I would figure it out.

The first question made Anna confused!

As Anna entered my gym, I noticed her left shoulder was lower than her right, as if she was leaning to her side to reach for something on the side of her. I pulled out a chair and asked her to sit down.

I pulled out my notebook and pen (my Uni-ball pen to be exact) and asked her a question that made her very confused.

“When was the last time you pooped?”

“Huh?” Anna asked as she laughed.

I laughed with her, but then leaned in and asked again, “Are you constipated?” I replied.

Now, I 100% understand Anna’s jokes and concerns with my approach are rooted in confusion.

Clients would never assume that deep down inside, I am laughing with them because of my dedication and focus during assignments like this (especially with my evil eyebrows).

No joke or doubt that is projected from a client towards me makes me question my ability to help them.

After Anna realized my persistence with this question, she then answered, “It’s been a week. I’m lucky if I have a bowel movement once a week.”

I stood up, went into the kitchen, and grabbed a few supplements, 33.8 oz of water, and a shoestring.

I walked back into the gym, handed Anna the few supplements I had and the bottle of Fiji water, and told her our first assessment today was to take the supplements and finish the bottle of water.

Again, Anna was confused about my approach to helping her with her back pain—probably just as you are as you read this. No worries, I’ll show you my reasons.

I told Anna that as soon as she finished the bottle of water, we would move on to the next step.

I then went over to turn on the speaker in my gym and began playing the Einstein Study Music Academy playlist on Apple.

I pulled out my laptop and continued to work on my book, The You You Never Knew, as my final draft is due in a few weeks.

After one hour, Anna raised her empty Fiji water bottle and said, “Finished!” I smiled, stood up, and grabbed the shoestring.

As I helped her stand up, I asked her to pull her belly button back towards her spine—as if she was sucking her gut in. I then asked her to hold that position for 10 seconds.

I tied the string as tight as I could and then told her she could relax her stomach.

“Wow, this is tight; I need to lose weight.”

Now, this was not true at all. Anna was fit, but since she was always bloated, her belly looked more “fat” than it would if she weren’t bloated.

I placed a five-pound weight onto the ground and asked Anna to pick it up. After she stood up with the dumbbell, she stared at me, wondering what the purpose of this assignment was.

“As you bent over to pick up the weight, did your stomach push more into the string, making it tighter, or did the string loosen?”

“Oh, it definitely tightened!”

“Ok, got it. Your core muscles are 100% “turned off”. Your constipation is causing inflammation within your colon.”

Now, as you're reading this, I want you to understand that digestive issues cause more problems than just being gassy or bloated. Not only do they interfere with your ability to control your core, but they can also play a role in confidence, self-will, and personal power.

Let’s jump back into understanding the connection between inflammation and muscular pain!

The nerves that connect to your colon ( as well as all digestive organs and reproductive glands) also communicate with the deep core muscles, also known as the “inner unit,” which are your TVA, Internal obliques, and pelvic floor muscles.

Inflammation within an organ communicates PAIN to the muscles nearest to it.

Since organs and glands are more important to the body’s survival, the body will sacrifice the blood flow from muscles that connect to those organs and glands, therefore turning the muscles off.

Since Anna’s issue was constipation, the next step was to get her to walk on the treadmill with the shoestring tied around her stomach for 45 minutes.

“As you walk, your goal is to have the string feel more loose.”

Once again, I could tell Anna was confused by her facial expression, but this time, she didn’t question me.

I changed the music to the new J. Cole album—which he went all in on! J. Cole just overcame the Dark Knight Of The Soul (even though he didn’t say he did), a journey we all need to face one day—but we will save that topic for another email!

After 25 minutes, Anna turned to me and said, “Nate, umm, this is awkward but, I have to poop.” I smiled and said, “Good!”

BTW—as a holistic health coach, this is not awkward for me at all. Our poop is our report card of how we eat, sleep, move, and think, as well as being human!

When Anna returned to the gym, she said, “Ok, what the heck is going on? The back pain thingy is better!”

“Good! Now, let’s retest.” I replied.

Anna went on to pass my string test. Now that the inflammation has decreased, I can begin rehabbing her muscle imbalance.

Anna walked out of the gym with her shoulder even and felt a lot better.

I had her come back for three more sessions so I could make sure her muscles were responding correctly and prevent her back pain from returning.

Our body does not work in isolation.

If you take your chronic pain to someone who believes the body works in isolation, start tracking how many “specialists” you have seen for your chronic pain (not to mention the amount of time and money you spent).

If you're like me and believe the body works holistically…

You can watch this video presentation I made on Youtube

Which explains the deep connection between organ and gland inflammation that causes chronic muscular pain to begin your healing journey!

No matter how much pain you are in or what your poop situation is—you are still GREAT!

BeGreatWithNate