Self-Care Mentor - What exactly do you do?

I work with women (men too) who are in pain and help them feel good again. She shares her story and together we create the map that helps her on her journey from pain to peace.

Ultimately, together we think outside the pillbox to improve the quality of her life.

Who do you work with?

I work with people who live in pain. I have had clients who have lived with pain for decades. I have had clients who have lived with pain for several months.

I have worked with clients with a myriad of conditions (I call them pain circles). From low back pain to anxiety. From neck and shoulder pain (which is what plagued me for years) to depression. From hip pain (such as hip bursitis/hip dysplasia) to PTSD.

I have women who have tried working closely with doctors and specialists and have tried the pain meds, but still experienced pain.

I have women, who like me, have been told that they will have chronic pain forever.

I have women who have asked their doctors or pain management specialists about alternative therapies only to have their question dismissed.

I have clients who were told that the only solution is surgery.

BUT what ends up happening is we work together to develop a simple - yet aggressive - alternative approach to feeling good again - some of my clients (I love calling them Warriors) have even avoided invasive surgeries.

I mentor women who have spent their time and money “trying everything” to help make them feel better - to little (or no) avail.

I mentor women who want to get control of their life, their health and find their joy again.

You see, my clients don’t have just one condition, and usually don’t have just one area of pain. BUT the one thing they all have in common is…
They refuse to settle and are tired of wasting their hard earned money, their precious time, their emotional and mental health on their journey from pain to peace.

They’ve been told to exercise or stretch, but they hurt too much to move. They’ve been told to try yoga, but they can’t touch their toes. They’ve been told to lose some weight, but they haven’t.

BUT they’ve NEVER been told HOW or WHY...and that is where I come in : )

Will The Warrior Mastery Method work for me?

I love this question. And the answer is I really don’t know yet. But I tell you what, if you’re willing to open your mind and make some fundamental shifts on your current journey, and you’re ready to quit wasting time, money and energy to figure this out by yourself, then we really should talk.

What about my doctor/specialist?

I’m all about thinking outside the pillbox, with that said I’m (also) all about your healing team.

By working together I’ll be your advocate until you find your voice on your journey - what I mean is that if you have professionals who are on your team - I help you make sure that they are supporting you - and I’ll remind you that more often than not, you have the right to be very selective of the individuals you allow on your healing team.

You talk a lot about pain circles and other circles - what do you mean?

Say you have low back pain, imagine that your back pain is floating around in you like a big, heavy, red circle. You can’t escape it, you feel it all the time, it influences your activity and your productivity, it messes with your mind, mood and your emotions. When you live with persistent pain it seems as if your pain circle is not only the biggest circle in your life, but the only one!

BUT, your life is made up of a number of circles! What are your other circles?

What are mine? Spending time with my Farmboy (hubby Brian) is one. Doing things with and for my kids is another. There are more - taking my four dogs (Cody, Stanford, Fisher and Shasta) out on a walk, gardening, cooking, going out with my BFFs to catch up.

As we embark on your journey from pain to peace your pain circle(s) start to shrink and your other circles - well, those begin to GROW!

How much will my pain circle(s) shrink?

The Warrior Mastery Method: Your Journey from Pain to Peace in 3 Steps is a 6 week program. During that time you will learn more about your pain, your ability to heal and you’ll identify the steps that currently are your weakest link - we assess and explore the steps. We then identify your simple, straightforward strategy so that you can carry on after you exit the program.

I can’t tell you how much success you’ll have during our 6 weeks together, but I can tell you that your level of commitment to your health and happiness, your openness to being mentored, your active participation and even your questions will directly correlate with the shrinking of your pain circle(s) and the growth of the other circles in your life. In order to create the change you desire and deserve, the execution of your unique self-care strategy that we develop is required - you have to show up for yourself a little every day. You’ll need to quit under-optimizing your time, energy and resources.

Why should I believe you over my doctors, specialists or therapists to be successful on my journey from pain to peace?

It really isn’t about believing me over them. Actually, it’s about working with me and your doctors, specialists or therapists. We are all in this together! Our priority is your health and your well being.

Mother Teresa said, “I can do things you cannot, you can do things I cannot, together we can do great things.”

I can’t, wouldn’t, don’t want to do what they do. And they can’t, wouldn’t, don’t know how to do what I do. BUT you need us to be successful on your journey from pain to peace.

If a successful journey from pain to peace relied solely on your doctor (and/or your pain meds for that matter) you wouldn’t be looking for an alternative, the number of people in chronic pain wouldn’t be 1.5 BILLION (that’s close to 100 MILLION just in the United States) and we wouldn’t have the opioid epidemic we are experiencing around the world.

Scientists, doctors, therapists and specialists agree with me that it takes so much more than just the doctors and the drugs. Like the human body, pain is complex. And if you’ve lived with pain long enough you appreciate that the issue isn’t just about the tissues - it’s biopsychosocial!

Did I mention I have successfully shown 100% of my clients how to decrease their pain circle(s) and increase the other circles in their life? My clients are feeling good, feeling in control and living a more active and joyful life. Their journey has led them from pain to peace.

Have you ever turned down someone who wanted to work with you?

You bet! I love helping people who are living with persistent pain yet are ready to embark on a personal journey from pain to peace. But we have to be a good fit. My clients may be suffering on some level, but they aren’t comfortable being a victim and prefer being a victor. They have to have the courage to embark on this journey - they have to be ready to participate like a pro, not like an amateur. The Warrior Mastery Method is simple, but it takes work.

Is there a guarantee?

Absolutely! If you try my program AND it doesn’t work for you, you will get all of your money back.

Let’s say you decide to continue doing it the old way, or your way. And months or years later you’re still living in pain, sadder, more stressed, more fearful, less hopeful, having missed out on opportunities to enjoy your family and friends, you will have gained nothing and wasted a lot.

But imagine - On the other hand, say you go out on a limb and you decide to embark on this journey my way. And after 6 weeks you’re happier, healthier, less anxious, less fearful, more energetic, better informed, and more empowered, and your pain circle(s) have shrunk - maybe have disappeared - and your other circles are bigger and brighter, you have no regrets, you’ve gained many things... you can confidently say the program was a sound investment.

Are you a doctor?

Nope. I am a lot of things, but doctor is not one of them. I am a self-care mentor to people in pain, who want to feel good. My education is in economics, my certifications are in yoga, and the MELT ® Method, but my “street cred” comes from having been a pain patient for a number of years. I’ve come out the other side of my pain to peace journey - and today I live pain-free.

And it is my lived experience more than my schooling or my trainings that helped me develop a program designed for those living in pain.

Now that I’m on the other side I have created the Warrior Mastery Method so that women and men can get through their journey much faster and cheaper than I did.

While a pain patient and after my healing I dedicated my time and energy to brain and pain science. I’ve interviewed experts in the pain and healing space (not just scientists and doctors, but pain patients as well - and let’s face it pain patients are the real pain experts). I have studied the biological, psychological and social factors - I’ve scoured books, research papers, journals, and articles to better understand pain and its implications on the human body, mind and spirit.

To be clear, I’m not a doctor, but I am an expert in the field, perhaps more importantly, I’m also a peer - I know what it’s like to be where you’re at right now. I’ve lived through the fear, the not knowing if I’ll ever feel better, the anxiety, the stress, the depression, the not knowing your purpose, the moodiness, the anger, the sleepless nights, the weight gain, the embarrassment and the jealousy, the loneliness as well as the frustration of not knowing what makes it worse.

Will this program require a lot of my time, because I don’t have any?

Walt Disney said, “Let me tell you something about life...always finish what you start, and anything worth doing is worth doing well.”

This program doesn’t require a huge investment of your time. We take it step by step, most of the program can be done at your own pace. However, I’ll be there keeping you on track until you finish what you start, and I’ll be there to remind you why it’s in your best interest to maximize your time and effort throughout the program.

Are you going to ask me to diet?

Oh goodness no. I hate diets. I want you to enjoy the 6 weeks. You’ll laugh, you’ll learn but I’ll warn you - inevitably my clients' relationship with food and nutrition evolves - all because of them, not because of a diet.

And everyone experiences pain differently. What you need is different than what someone else needs. So the strategy we put in place is entirely dependent upon where you start and where you want your journey to go.

I don’t mind sharing that my clients have told me that they are less stressed out about how pain is affecting their life since starting my program AND they’ve admitted to me that they didn’t think they could feel good again - they didn’t know it was possible.

How long is your program?

Six weeks. The start of the 6-week program begins after our Warrior Mastery Method Milestone Discussion.

How much does the program cost?

The investment in your health and well-being is a four-figure investment that I’m happy to share if you are interested in working with me and are serious about improving the quality of your life.

Why so much?
First, you don’t even know how much it is yet : )~

Second, opportunity cost. Did I mention I have a Bachelor’s degree in Economics? There is an opportunity cost to living in pain.

Justin Wolfers, an economist who teaches at The Wharton School, and frequently contributes to the Freakonomics Blog, has discussed the opportunity cost of training for a marathon. I’ll summarize his economics of running (you substitute running for learning the Warrior Mastery Method)...

The time I spend running is time I don’t spend doing something else (sitting on the couch, sitting at my desk, shopping, you get what I’m saying). So how do I choose to spend my time (which by the way is a limited and precious resource)? Economic theory tells us that you only engage in that activity only as long as it yields greater benefits than the alternative.

Each hour you spend running, is an hour you don’t spend doing something else. Although his economics on running is kind of tongue and cheek, he argues that running, despite its high opportunity cost, is still worth it.

How do you save me time and money?

The return on your investment (ROI) is priceless. In fact, in addition to saving you money (appointments/doctor visits, gadgets, pain meds, etc), you improve areas in your life that pain has negatively impacted (sleep, weight, relationships, your mental and emotional health). Your journey from pain to peace, when not executed correctly, will ultimately be an expense in terms of time, money and so much more, which at the end of the day exceeds the investment in The Warrior Mastery Method.

I mentored a woman who had been seen by many doctors, therapists, specialists and still lived in pain. She attended workshops, read books, tried pain meds, but got little if any pain relief. She could put a price on all of those things.

What she couldn’t put a price on was the damage her life in pain was inflicting on her mental and emotional health, her relationship with her husband, her children and grandkids, and her involvement in her church and in her community.

How do I start my journey from pain to peace?

Just schedule a call with me to save a spot on my calendar. When you schedule, there is a short Q&A to fill out. This will give me a good idea of where you are on your journey.

If I believe I can help you by sharing a few resources, I will send them to you and cancel our call. Otherwise, I’ll come prepared for our call with a customized strategy to share with you and you’ll have my undivided attention.