Encore Episode: The Real Cause To Your Chronic Pain Part 1
Episode 145
Physical pain can be of all sorts and severities. But what’s common in all types of pain is that it is not linear or one-dimensional. This week on Integrative Wellness Radio. Dr. Nicole & Dr. Nick dive into a two-part podcast on pain. In this part, the duo dissects how pain can stem from different avenues in our body from stress or emotional baggage we keep holding on to. Dr. Nick sheds light on ways we deal with stress and how that can physically manifest in the body, using the Demartini Method. Tune in to the whole episode to get a better insight. Interested in working with IWG? Book a complimentary consult call to learn more using this link: https://bit.ly/IWRcall2022 Noteworthy Time Stamps: 02:35 Our biggest disservice 05:18 Most physical problems don’t have a physical cause 08:44 Our animalistic nature 12:40 A patient’s story 18:00 Ask those uncomfortable questions 22:57 Pain is a feedback mechanism 24:51 “The Breakthrough Experience”
Topics: pain, unknown, part, stress, physical, episode, cause, integrative
Key takeaways from this episode
- Dive into Integrative Wellness Radio with Dr. **Unknown:** Nick and Dr.
- Sometimes I tend to lose myself when I'm out here on my own. **Unknown:** Welcome back to another episode of Integrative Wellness Radio.
- So it's becoming more balanced. **Unknown:** Um, but until we do that, a lot of that stress gets stored in our physical body because- Mm ... we're all busy, we have to go to the next part of our life, the next chapter.
- And we wanted to talk about this because we do find that when people are dealing with what they assume to be physical pain that is affecting their activities of daily living, that, that it's super linear.
- Nick is definitely gonna dive more into some of the really amazing things that he sees, um, utilizing his method called the Demartini Method.
Pull quotes
Imagine if medicine actually looked at you as a whole opposed to looking at you as a bunch of separate systems.
Nicole to learn more about the top trends in integrative medicine, to learn about what the limitations are with testing, and what you can do to start your health journey.
Sometimes I tend to lose myself when I'm out here on my own. **Unknown:** Welcome back to another episode of Integrative Wellness Radio.
Transcript
**Unknown:** I been up all night, no sleep. Imagine if medicine actually looked at you as a whole opposed to looking at you as a bunch of separate systems. No sleep. Dive into Integrative Wellness Radio with Dr.
**Unknown:** Nick and Dr. Nicole to learn more about the top trends in integrative medicine, to learn about what the limitations are with testing, and what you can do to start your health journey. I feel like I'm always dreaming. Sometimes I tend to lose myself when I'm out here on my own.
**Unknown:** Welcome back to another episode of Integrative Wellness Radio. We're really diving into a, a topic that unfortunately is affecting so many different people, and it's really elaborating a little bit further on pain. And we wanted to talk about this because we do find that when people are dealing with what they assume to be physical pain that is affecting their activities of daily living, that, that it's super linear. It's going to be, "Well, I had an old injury," or, "I slept wrong.
**Unknown:** I have a bad pillow. My mattress is too soft," or whatever the case may be. And we find that the way that we look at pain is just very, very one-dimensional. And we wanna elaborate further, and we're gonna do a part one and part two, because when it comes to pain, there's everything from pain that can stem from stress and emotional things that we're dealing with or holding onto, but then there's this other avenue of different types of stressors when it comes to infections, lymph nodes, more immune system problems that can also really affect our pain patterns, and then there's also a neurological component there.
**Unknown:** So in part one, we really wanna focus a little bit more on the way that we deal with stress and how that can actually physically manifest. And Dr. Nick is definitely gonna dive more into some of the really amazing things that he sees, um, utilizing his method called the Demartini Method. Or, I shouldn't say his method, but it's ...
**Unknown:** Demartini is the one who created it, but it's something that he uses as a tool in our practice, and it's very, very fascinating when you're able to see the different things that people are either dealing with or holding onto, and how it can actually manifest physically. Mm-hmm, 100%. And I always say it's like our biggest, um, I ... disservice that surrounds pain is, uh, our relationship with it.
**Unknown:** Mm-hmm. And it's our relationship, 'cause this ... I mean, it's, it's not anybody's fault, um, but it's ... We've been taught, like you said, very linear s- uh, relationship with pain.
**Unknown:** It's like if you have a knee pain, it's a knee problem. Mm-hmm. If you have a headache, it's a problem in the head. Mm-hmm.
**Unknown:** Um, which is v- honestly sometimes true and most of the time it's not, uh, when it comes- Yeah ... to actually the, the physical, uh, causation of it. I think that's also why we do what we do now, because for those of you that know us from the beginning of our practice, which is almost nine years ago now, which is crazy to say, but we started out as doing chiropractic nutrition supplementation, and we felt that that was being, you know, integrative. But I know that- Wrong.
**Unknown:** Yes. But I know for me, um, I was very frustrated because people were coming in saying, you know, "Fix my knee," and, you know, based off of my clinical experience as well as my education, I knew that it wasn't always just the knee. But still, looking at the body from a physical standpoint as chiropractors, we were saying, "Okay, well, you know, your knee can be caused from your ankle, or your foot, or your hip, et cetera." And then we learned more, and more, and more, and we truly started to move our practice into an integrative medicine, um, layout. And we did that because then we started to realize that these different pains can be associated with infections.
**Unknown:** They could be associated with vascular issues. They could be associated with different emotional things. And I'm excited for you to kind of go into that, because, you know, when we were talking just to even prepare for this, it ... you know, one of the things you said is how, you know, when somebody's scared to take that next step in their life, they can sometimes manifest pain in their lower extremities.
**Unknown:** So that could be a knee, it could be an ankle. So I want you to, like, take the show on that and be able to talk a little bit more about some of these patterns and some of these emotional ties to it, because it's, it's literally just so fascinating with some of the things that we've seen, you know, throughout the duration of our clinical practice. Yeah. And like anything, like, stop me if I get too deep.
**Unknown:** Um- The king of getting deep. It's one of my favorite things to do in life. Um, but encompassing big picture, what I, what I've kind of put together so far is that most physical problems, um, don't have a physical cause. Um, it's either biochemical, it's emotional, it's mental, um, it's something that's really not a physical problem that's finally ending up, uh, stressing the physical body out, and then we experience pain, so we have our linear programming and we think it's a physical problem.
**Unknown:** On the opposite of that, I also see very similar things, is that a lot of ... whether it's depression, anxiety, anger, a lot of our, uh, emotional perception, um, issues aren't really a mental problem. It, it's more of the same thing. It's more of a chemical, it's more of a physical, uh, it's all those other stresses that finally the mind can't deal with it anymore, and then boom, now we're very, uh, unstable, I guess you could call it, uh, emotionally.
**Unknown:** So, and I think one thing that you say a lot that really just resonates with me is that, um, when we are dealing with a emotion, if that is depression especially, it is, it's a polarized view. And you say that primarily because usually there's balance in the scenario, the situation, you know, the bad relationship. But because of somewhat how our minds are programmed, but also how we've been programmed in society, is we usually only see the bad. Mm-hmm.
**Unknown:** And it's very difficult, especially when you're in that stress state, to ever see the other side of how the person, the relationship, or the situation can actually be betting- benefiting you in some degree. 100%. And that polarized view makes us feel unlucky, or makes us feel depressed, or makes us feel angry, and that's a- always a really fascinating thing that I feel like I personally use as a tool, is when I am feeling that, you know, negative emotion, I always sit back and say, "Okay, what's the other side of this that I'm not seeing?" Mm-hmm. Or, "What's the, uh, potential lesson that I need to learn from the situation as well?" Yeah, 100%.
**Unknown:** And I mean, that's, you're opening a rabbit hole for me to dive- ... deep down with that. Ooh. I, I, I wanna go, you know, just a little bit- Okay, we'll come back to it ...
**Unknown:** just, I wanna go just a little bit into it- Mm-hmm ... 'cause it could, you know, uh, I guess pre-frame some of the stuff we're gonna go into, talk about how emotions can be held in physical, uh, tissue. But it's like, it, it is the concept of thinking that, you know, we are polarized. And polarization, um, not to get too deep in like the physics, but everything has energy, and it has a positive, like a battery, it has a positive side and a negative side.
**Unknown:** Mm-hmm. And every single cell has a polarity, a positive and a negative. The Earth has a North Pole and a South Pole. Mm.
**Unknown:** Literally everything has, um, made up of energy, has that. Mm-hmm. And understanding that, that really all energy is balanced. Uh- Mm-hmm ...
**Unknown:** you can't have a negative polarity without having a positive polarity. It's impossible to have both. Well, I think that's the really- It's impossible to have one ... cool thing, is that this is not our opinion.
**Unknown:** Like, the, the, seeing the positive and the negative in a situation, like, it's physics. Like, it's, it's literally the way that there's always balance. Yeah. So I think that's the really cool thing about it.
**Unknown:** Yeah. So it's like when you said like sometimes there's a, a good side. N- it's always there's a good side. Yeah.
**Unknown:** Um, it's just that sometimes we see it, sometimes we don't. Um- Most of the time we don't. Most of the time we don't. And it's not our fault.
**Unknown:** It's because our animalistic nature, um, as we've evolved through time, it's like seeing the negative has kept us alive. So- Mm-hmm ... it, it's, it's a very important- It's a survival mechanism ... yeah, it's very important to, to not judge yourself because that's how we're programmed, but now most of those programmings a- aren't necessary.
**Unknown:** So we actually need to install a different program, um, mentally for our systems to run because we're running on an outdated program. Mm-hmm. Um, and that new program is really, uh, it's, it's installed via exercise. So it's like you become a marathon runner by starting out running a mile here, a mile there, increasing it, and then finally you get to a point where you can run a marathon.
**Unknown:** 'Cause you- Unless you're from New Jersey and you just do it. That's- You know it's true. I'll keep those comments to another podcast. Um, and ...
**Unknown:** Now I lost where I was at. But the other side, or I don't even know what the hell I was talking about. All right. Before you get too deep, why don't you start giving us some of those examples of, of- Oh, no, no, no.
**Unknown:** Okay. No, no, no. Okay, okay. So because this is necessary, 'cause it's like you don't, you don't just get to seeing the other side.
**Unknown:** Mm-hmm. Um, you have to train yourself to it. Um, and it's an exercise to be able to increase that awareness. And a- as you do this routinely and look for, um, you know, if we have an example where we, we're noticing this negativity, and then we're training ourselves to see the balance of it, that, that balance and that awareness increases over time.
**Unknown:** Mm-hmm. So we become more self-aware, more conscious, and we're not holding as much stress into our subconscious mind. Yeah. So it's becoming more balanced.
**Unknown:** Um, but until we do that, a lot of that stress gets stored in our physical body because- Mm ... we're all busy, we have to go to the next part of our life, the next chapter. We gotta take the kids here, we gotta do something with the dogs, we got a job. Yeah.
**Unknown:** Like, we gotta make food. Um, we got tons of responsibilities throughout life, so if we don't deal with it, it's not like it goes away. It's energy. Yeah.
**Unknown:** And like energy's not created or destroyed, it's just transferred. Yeah. So it's transferred to some place, a storage bank, whether that's a knee, whether that's a hip, whether that's a low back, whether that's a neck, a shoulder. Mm-hmm.
**Unknown:** Um, that imbalanced stress gets stored. And- And I just wanna like make this disclaimer, 'cause for people that are just like, "Is this really real? Like, is this even possible?" So I think just a, such a simple example b- that I hear very often is how many people, when they get stressed, say, "Oh, my stomach really, you know, starts to bother me," or, "I start to notice that I have, you know, more loose bowel movements when I get stressed," or, you know, "All my stress, I really just, you know, feel right here in my gut." So- Oh, before every single football game growing up, I would always have diarrhea. I was just so stressed out.
**Unknown:** Sorry, too much information. Oh, that's all right. But I think that it's just, that's a really relatable thing for people. But obviously their stomach is not hurting all the time, it's really just when they're at that peak for stress.
**Unknown:** Right. So, you know, when it comes to these other manifestations that are probably not on people's radar at all- Mm-hmm ... that's what we wanna talk about. Probably, I mean, there's tons of stories, but probably my favorite one is, uh, was a carpal tunnel syndrome.
**Unknown:** Mm-hmm. And like as chiropractors, uh, well, carpal tunnel, uh, we have pretty much like a sheath at, like almost like a, you could think of like a tendon, um, that wraps around your wrist. And-Depending on like poor typing form or whatever you're doing throughout the day, um, it can impinge on a nerve that creates really bad, uh, pain symptoms, lack of strength within the hand. And chiropractors know that honestly, a lot of the problems here actually starts in the elbow.
**Unknown:** Mm-hmm. Um, but when you look at the, the emotions behind it, uh, it's all like, you know, you're holding onto something so tight that you're, you're not allowing yourself to let go of. Mm-hmm. And understanding that, um, I had a newer patient come in, and her main complaint was carpal tunnel syndrome.
**Unknown:** She actually had carpal tunnel surgery, um, where they cut the sheaths and allow everything to open up so it's not impinging on the median nerve, and, um, nothing worked, uh, for her. And she still had a lot of scar tissue, not only from the surgery, but, uh, inflammation and everything that the cause wasn't, uh, dealt with. And it was literally the, the first appointment, and I tend not to get too deep usually, um, on emotions 'cause people, you know, especially if they're there for more of a physical problem, um, and we haven't really stepped into helping them understand that there's more possibilities. Um, but she seemed...
**Unknown:** She was from Jersey, and she's like, "Just get me better as quick as possible. I don't care what it is." So I just went right for it. And I was like working on her a little bit and kind of doing some trigger point spots, but more of like a distraction, um, as we were talking to her, and I was like, "You know, a lot of times, um, this can just come up from holding onto something in your life, and, uh, I don't know if anything comes to mind." And literally before I could even like take my eyes off of working on her forearm and up to her eyes, she was crying. Mm-hmm.
**Unknown:** And, uh, she had a family member that had just passed, and she was holding onto a, a lot of that emotions, quote-unquote, "Being strong for the family." Um, and I helped her see, uh, kind of gave her just a quick, quote-unquote, "Mini Demartini," um, understanding that all energy is balanced, um, and that honestly, the Demartini method, one of the best things about it is, uh, for grief. Um, I don't know how many thousands and thousands of grief cases that just Demartini, uh, himself alone has helped, but all the facilitators underneath him, um, because when you understand grief, um, we're grieving not the loss of the person, we're grieving the loss of the traits that they were giving us. Yes. You know, whether they were giving us support or love, um, like if they were giving us protection.
**Unknown:** Mm-hmm. Um, that's what we grieve. We don't grieve the loss of the actual physical human being, but when you understand that energy's not created or destroyed, it's just transferred. So a trait being energy, that trait was just transferred.
**Unknown:** It was transferred over to another friend, another family member, um, possibly even a pet sometimes. Um- Mm-hmm ... and helping her see that just quick awareness that what she thought was lost really wasn't there, and she had everything that she thought was lost, literally I could feel as I'm working on her forearm, everything just melted away, and I didn't even do any adjustments like on her ulna or ra- uh, radius. Didn't even...
**Unknown:** Like, just did a little bit of muscle work, and, um, by the time I got done, it was just a quick 20-minute session. She goes, "Besides honestly not having any pain, uh, in my hand, I feel like I just lost 20 pounds." And I was like, "So can I charge you your whole program for today?" "For this one visit." Um, but yeah, she... I mean, we continued because that's also the other side of it. It's like once you remove the cause- Mm-hmm ...
**Unknown:** and there is tissue damage, yeah, you need to go in and physically help heal the tissue, but if you're working on the effect, you're always gonna be working on the effect constantly until you actually resolve the cause. Yeah. So I mean, that was probably one of my favorite stories, but I mean, same thing for like plantar fasciitis. When the fascia on the feet get really tight, um, that's like a big part of like you're, you're not stable, um, you're not grounded.
**Unknown:** There's... Your foundation's not solid at all, so it's trying to become tight, um, as possible to compensate for the looseness. Um, same thing with like knees and hips, like not stepping forward into that next chapter of your life. Like, why are you holding back?
**Unknown:** Where's the resistance? Um- Mm-hmm ... and understand the resistance, a lot of that comes from fear, so you're just figuring out where that fear is- Mm-hmm ... and then breaking down the fear and seeing how it benefits you, and it's a drawback in how going through all the, the balances so that you can resolve the cause.
**Unknown:** And then, yeah, the, the hip might be rotated. You know, the muscles might not be firing. The tibia, the knee could be rotated, and the actual patella, the kneecap, might not be, uh, tracking properly. Then, then that's the time to really work on that, and you're gonna get awesome effects, but it's also gonna heal a lot quicker because you, you're not having that cause, that stress that's like fighting each other.
**Unknown:** Mm-hmm. Um, and that's like, you know, it's, it's, it's interesting always talking to other chiropractors because sometimes they give us shit, uh, because they're like, "Oh, you're, you're not a chiropractor anymore. You're like blah, blah, blah." And I'm just like, and there's like, if, if you, all you wanna do is practice structural work, like that's fine. But I, what I found, it, it just takes a little longer when you're only focusing it on one system.
**Unknown:** So it's like either, either you work with a team if you don't wanna do those other things, like 100%, just stay in your zone of excellence. Like, don't do something that you're not good at or that you're not passionate about. But at least, uh, increase your awareness so you can understand that there's more to the story, and I think that's what drives us, is that, uh, having the blinders on and not actually acknowledging that there's so many different systems, and that anything can cause stress to any other part of the body and any other system. Mm-hmm.
**Unknown:** That's what really the cause of pain comes from. Well, I think that's probably what excites me every day about being, you know, uh, an integrative practitioner, is that I get to piece the puzzle together for people and have them truly understand, you know, why they potentially haven't gotten better at this point, um, what has been missing, like what has been the root cause all along, and also what is the more personalized approach for them.Because every single person's needs are very, very different, but it requires you to ask the right questions and to dig a little bit deeper and to maybe ask those uncomfortable questions. You know, we understand that talking about emotional layers is not very comfortable for people. I know that that was a part of my life that I didn't want to acknowledge for a really long time, and I was focusing on my body from a very, um, physical and chemical standpoint.
**Unknown:** So I was constantly, you know, making dietary tweaks and eliminating things out of my diet and taking a boatload of supplements and, you know, getting, um, you know, chiropractic and more physical work. And then when I kept hitting my plateaus was when I had to realize there was another layer here that maybe I wasn't thinking about on a day-to-day. I wasn't sitting there thinking about, you know, my past or different resentments that I was still holding, but they were still in there, and they were unresolved, and it was definitely a huge part of why I kept hitting my plateaus. So, you know, for those of you listening, it's not that this is 100% the, the route to your pain, but it's something to consider.
**Unknown:** You know, some people are just very honest with themselves and they're like, "Yeah, I'm super stressed," and, "Yeah, I still hate my dad," or, "Yeah, I still have a best friend that when we were eight years old, that sh- you know, I still think she's a jerk for what she did to me." You know, these are, like, sound so silly, but these are things that can stick with us in the long term and that can really affect us. And, you know, who can't... Who doesn't have some level of fear? You know, who doesn't fear something?
**Unknown:** And I know that we've had so many hurdles with fear, you know, as business owners and as entrepreneurs, and also as being integrated physicians because what we do is not common practice, and it is different. It is outside the box. And, you know, having different things that came up in our physical bodies that, you know, were, were us hitting the glass ceiling because of our fear. And it's just so fascinating when you're able to have the awareness.
**Unknown:** And I think that's, like, the most important thing, is when you're dealing with this and if you're really resonating with what we're saying, this is not about, you know, you having to, like, you know, go into therapy and you have to do all of these things to resolve your emotional issues and it's gonna take forever. It's just the awareness, I think, is number one is, you know, "Oh, I have plantar fasciitis. Where do I feel really, you know, not fu- um, foundationally secure? Like, what am I scared of?
**Unknown:** Like, you know, am I scared to take that first step to, you know, what I really want?" And if you can at least, like, acknowledge that and bring that to your, to your awareness, that's, like, step number one in, in the healing process. Mm-hmm. And baby steps. Exactly.
**Unknown:** Yeah. Yeah. And then obviously there's, there's methods like something like the Demartini Method, which if you really just kind of feel stuck and you feel like you can't do the healing on your own, is being able to use that modality to, you know- And there's- ... take you to where you wanna be ...
**Unknown:** and with that technique, there's facilitators all over the entire world- Yeah ... um, which, so if you're in Denmark or you're in Australia, like- Mm-hmm ... there's gonna be somebody, uh, relatively close to you- Yeah ... um, that you can find.
**Unknown:** And but what, what struck me is, you know, 100% is increasing the awareness that allows you to deal with, uh, your pain, and it, it's, that's the change in the relationship with it. It's like we've all been programmed that our relationship, that, that pain is a bad thing. Mm-hmm. And it's also understanding that pain is, like, that's a polarized view of pain, that pain's also beneficial.
**Unknown:** Um, and when we understand that, that changes our relationship with it. So it's like we're not pissed off when we're experiencing pain. We're like, "Oh, shit, this is awesome." Like, "I'm experiencing some pain. This is actually going to...
**Unknown:** That this pain is, has the ability to change my life for the better." Mm-hmm. Um, instead of being like, "I gotta deal with one more thing," it's like, it's like, no, it's like new level, new devil. Um, we, we have a pain. Where's it coming from?
**Unknown:** How is this incongruent with our life? How can we make it congruent? How can we change our habits, our thoughts, or our being, um, to decrease that pain? And when we do, you know- Mm-hmm ...
**Unknown:** eventually another pain's gonna come. Uh, it might not be physical. It could be, like you said, in business. It's like, um, depends on what category of life it's in, but it's always really just an opportunity, uh, for us to get more in alignment and serve ourselves better.
**Unknown:** Mm-hmm. Like- Well, I think what you're saying is just pain is a feedback mechanism, so, you know, when you're dealing with pain, it's not that you have to be like, "Oh, yay, I'm in pain." Mm-hmm. But it's really just pain is there as, um, a way for your body to raise a red flag to say there's something going on here, and sometimes there's gonna be this emotional layer that maybe you're not, um, dealing with, or maybe you're scared to deal with, or, you know, you, you think that, um, you can kinda, like, stuff it down and move on. But then there's also sometimes that red flag is being raised because your body i- is dealing with an infection, or it's dealing with a vascular issue, or it's dealing with something else physically.
**Unknown:** Or just a, you know, a trauma. A trauma, exactly. So pain is there for us to be able to make a change. Mm-hmm.
**Unknown:** And, you know, if you can't figure out what that change is, that's okay. That's why integrated physicians like us exist because it's... we're able to really decipher, okay, is your, you know, knee pain truly because of a knee injury or because you played soccer or, you know, you tore your ACL in the past? Or is this actually associated with, um, the fact that you might have strep in your knee?
**Unknown:** Right. 'Cause that's something we're gonna talk about in our next episode. Um, or, you know, is there some type of fear that you're not willing to take that first step?So that's really the most fascinating thing about pain, is it can be from so many different origins and you can truly resolve it and create sustainability with it being resolved if you know the root cause. Um, so step number one is really being able to figure out the root cause essentially.
**Unknown:** And don't think linear. And don't think linear, of course. Also, if anybody's interested in, like, kind of diving deeper into the emotional side of things, um, one of my favorite books that, uh, John Demartini, uh, wrote is called The Breakthrough, um- Experience ... Experience.
**Unknown:** Mm-hmm. And that has a lot of awesome short stories, and it gives you some insight of how the Demartini Method actually works- Mm-hmm ... um, and how it works, so it's always a, an awesome read. Oh, I remember.
**Unknown:** Okay. Tell me. So I'm actually curious, I don't personally know the answer to this, so I'm curious, uh, when it comes to the, this talk about the emotional side being tied to pain, what is your thoughts on fibromyalgia? Lots of thoughts.
**Unknown:** Okay, so start with one. Um, the, I mean, the easiest, uh, way to put it, and it's kinda weird when you look at fibromyalgia, uh, it's just the whole entire nervous system, um, is crazy inflamed. And when you look at it on, like, a more physical standpoint is that every single little thing causes the person excruciating pain. And, uh, when you look at, uh, neurologically, uh, there's certain nerves that pain tr- uh, travels through.
**Unknown:** Mm-hmm. And that can only be activated if there's a threshold of these receptor sites that it goes over, and then that pretty much signals to the nerve that, "Hey, I'm in pain. I'm gonna go tell the brain that I'm in pain so we can change this because this sucks. Um, I don't want this stress on me." And for most pain things it's, "Oh, I had a hammer, I hit my thumb," it goes up the signal.
**Unknown:** That's honestly why it's like when you do hit your thumb you shake it because that same pathway has movement in it, uh, proprioception, body awareness in space. So it's like when you shake your thumb- Mm-hmm ... that decreases the signal of the pain firing, telling the brain that we're in pain. Mm-hmm.
**Unknown:** But that's not happening to fibromyalgia because everything is literally on this threshold. Yeah. And I think foundationally, um, and I know actually the last seminar I was at with John Demartini, uh, he'd just, um, put together this whole new seminar, uh, that I haven't, uh, gone to yet, um, but he was gonna go over fibromyalgia, which I was interested in. And so I haven't heard his explanation of it yet, so this is just my personal explanation.
**Unknown:** Um, but I really believe it comes down to, uh, like, a, almost like a detachment of oneself. Um, that the, the person got to the point, um, where they fully don't love themselves, and it's kind of like the last, um, major step in that ability to have a huge feedback mechanism to say, "I, I'm on fire, like, literally, physically, like I'm on fire." Mm-hmm. You, this needs to take all of your attention and to g- come inward- Mm-hmm ... to figure out, like, where this deep-rooted issue comes from not loving yourself.
**Unknown:** Mm. Interesting. And us- and usually it honestly comes down to, um, one single root cause that has many, many, many links and attachments to it. Um, it's almost like when you, uh, like, 'cause Lyme's very, um, s- popular, uh, now.
**Unknown:** L- Lyme disease. Lyme diseases. Mm-hmm. Uh, it's always like really the analogy that, uh, really itself doesn't, unless it's neurological, usually doesn't cause most people's symptoms.
**Unknown:** Uh, it just drops the immune system and literally allows a party for all the other co-infections. Mm-hmm. Um, Babesia, um, Bartonella, like all the other infections that really cause a person symptoms. So it, a lot of times, uh, with fibromyalgia, there's one deep-rooted, uh, cause that's really disassociating the person with themself.
**Unknown:** Um, but consciously they're gonna, like, have all these other attachments and symptoms, um, which is why they're feeling it everywhere. But once you can get the person to realize the deep-rooted cause and then balance and see how that was just as much benefit and disservice- W- what is an example? Like, are you saying that they had maybe, um, you know, a relationship with a parent that was, you know, they, maybe they had a lot of high expectations on them, and they felt like they could never meet those expectations, and now they're manifesting those same patterns in other parts of their lives? Is that what you're saying?
**Unknown:** Uh, yes and no. I mean, that's a lot more simple. Um, but it's also understanding that it doesn't have to be a big traumatic event. Mm-hmm.
**Unknown:** Uh, it's really just your perception of the event that matters. Um, and that's why it's like, you know, dealing with people, like, they could have something, quote-unquote, how we'd perceive, like, this is just the worst thing ever, I can't believe it. Yeah. Um, and it really didn't affect them as much.
**Unknown:** And you could have something, you know, a little more simple that a parent just didn't give them as much attention as what they thought they deserved, and that exponentially grew out of proportion perception, and now their nervous system is 100% on that fight or flight. Mm-hmm. Um, so it can be tons of different things, but it- Well, and those types of things really dictate our behaviors later on. You know, when you feel like maybe you didn't get attention from a parent, then these people tend to be more extroverts, and they're, like, end up becoming comedians- Yeah ...
**Unknown:** because then they're always constantly getting attention based off of, you know, their profession or the way that they act in social environments. So it kind of brings back to a lot of the different things that we deal with end up shaping us later. Um, and y- we can sit there and, and hold onto the fact that we didn't feel like we got enough attention from a parent, but it was actually what projected us into our life path, which, you know, obviously can have a lot of benefits to it as well. Oh, 100%.
**Unknown:** So- It's like we're always trying to fulfill what we're, we find what we perceive is missing into our life. Mm-hmm. So it's like once we, once we realize that nothing was actually missing, this was a perceived void that was actually the biggest gift that we've ever been given because it actually gave us- Mm-hmm ... what we value most in our life.
**Unknown:** Yeah. And I know for me it's like I was, uh, the firstborn, and I remember feeling like-You know, my parents didn't give me as, as much attention as my brother and sister, and they honestly, there wasn't a lot of, um, gratification. Like if I did really good on a test, it was kind of like, "Yeah. Oh, good.
**Unknown:** Yeah, great." Like, there wasn't, uh, a lot of those pats on the back. And it was interesting because I think that, uh, you know, when I reflect back on it, I was always, like, such a high achiever, and I think it was, like, in hopes that I was gonna get that, you know, pat on the back one day. Mm-hmm. Didn't really happen.
**Unknown:** But, uh, with that being said, you know, I'm obviously very grateful for that because that allowed me to, to do what I do today. Gave you drive. Um, but when you're, you know, you're a child, you don't see it that way. So I think that's really the beauty of being able to use the Demartini method because I think that when we all think about dealing with emotional layers, if that's tied to pain or not, it's a very uncomfortable step.
**Unknown:** You know, because we don't wanna sit there and play the, "I feel sorry for myself," or, you know, we don't wanna sit there and necessarily talk about the traumas that we've been through. Um, you know, the Demartini method is, is foundationally so, so different, um, of how it, it looks at the different events that we judge, resent, or are holding onto. Mm-hmm. So, um, so definitely for those of you that are listening, check out our website so you can learn a little bit more about the Demartini method, and you can definitely hop on a strategy call with our team to also have them walk you through the process of, um, how you can actually do that, and you can do it long distance, which is great because, uh, Dr.
**Unknown:** Nick can do it via Zoom conference. Yep. So, uh, we thank you for being with us. Um, Dr.
**Unknown:** Nick, any closing statements? See the balance. Increase the awareness. Love thyself.
**Unknown:** It heals. Well, thank you so much for, um, elaborating on this. I think it's really, really insightful. And, uh, next episode we're gonna be talking more about my zone of excellence, which is pain that is a tied to different types of internal things that are going on, everything from infections to immune system stress to organ dysfunction, et cetera.
**Unknown:** Um, so I think that between these two episodes, it should really allow you to understand why you may have not gotten results with your approach to pain at this point. We thank you for being a listener and subscriber to Integrative Wellness Radio. If you're looking to learn more about Integrative Wellness Group, as well as Dr. Nick or Dr.
**Unknown:** Nicole, you can check out integrativewellnessgroup.com. All night, no sleep. 'Cause I feel like I'm always dreaming. Wide awake, that's okay
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Integrative You Radio is a root cause medicine and integrative medicine podcast hosted by Dr. Nicole Rivera and Dr. Nick Carruthers — two integrative doctors who build personalized wellness protocols from your DNA, minerals, hormones, gut, and nervous system rather than from a population template. Looking for an integrative doctor who reads your labs together instead of in isolation? This is the show.
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