The Cure for Chronic Pain with Nicole Sachs, LCSW

People in our communities often refer to their favorite "Nicole-isms" - things I say over and over that hold a great deal of guidance for your recovery. We decided to dedicate a few podcasts to a deep dive into what I mean by some of these phrases, and how you can get the most out of them to aid in your ease and progress on this path. Today, we are taking on a few big and important ones: What Hurt...

S3 E99 Lately, many of Lisa and my conversations have been focused on the essential role of MINDSET in transforming chronic pain. Today on the podcast, we revisit an episode that got a ton of great feedback last winter when it first came out. In it, I discussed a bout of severe wrist pain that came out of nowhere, what it could have meant for me if I didn't understand TMS, and the mindset I immedi...

When Jonah Primo, host of the in-app podcast Work in Progress on the WAKING UP app contacted us, Lisa and I were elated. We are long time fans of WAKING UP and its founder, neuroscientist Sam Harris, and we were enthusiastic about sharing space with such a like-minded person. But that was just the beginning. Jonah's own pain story was stunning, and we quickly jumped on the chance to have him on ou...

The day has finally come! Lisa and I have spent months and months working with designers and developers to ideate, explore, expand, and ultimately create our new website: www.yourbreakawake.com. Not to fear - www.thecureforchronicpain.com and www.nicolesachs.com will both take you there as well. The new site is not only here to offer you everything we teach with better technology and more ease (al...

As always, a heart-opening and eye-opening Q&A with the wonderful, brave warriors of our membership community. Just like you, they are walking the path of this work, and when they have questions it is such a great opportunity to share the answers with all of you. Today on the pod we discuss heightened anxiety when the nervous system is stuck in fight or flight, managing symptom flare as they ebb a...

We get A LOT of emails and messages about insomnia. So when we were perusing past episodes to find the most important content to bring forth during this busy summer season, this one caught our eye. It's so easy, without the right awareness, to get caught in the unconscious loop of feeling numb, and "waiting" for things to change before doing this or that to help yourself. We put things off all the...

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. We were able to meet and hug it out last summer at Omega and he will be returning this...

Each time we meet as a community, I am blown away by the honesty, vulnerability, kindness, wisdom, and support this group provides one another. I love to share space with them and answer their questions. Today was an especially emotional and deep session, and I'm proud of us for getting to some really tough and probing questions about stress, holding ourselves with self-compassion during backslide...

I first saw Jan's name in the oldest TMS forum around - The TMS Wiki. She was such a robust contributor, they called her a Beloved Grand Eagle. Over the years, I made note of Jan's wise and thoughtful contributions. She often re-posted this podcast and offered advice on how it could help others! When I reached out to Jan to share her story, she enthusiastically agreed. Her journey with TMS is long...

Elizabeth Endres, Wellness influencer and TMS warrior herself, and I sat down for an interview this week, and I loved it so much I decided to post it to our platform as well! Enjoy this conversation which hits all the hight points of my story, Elizabeth's experience with my work, and her excellent questions which get to the root of what TMS is all about. If you are new to this work (or are just lo...

Recently we had the most enlightening conversation in our Membership Community. Lisa and I were leading our monthly community-wide meeting, and one of our members shared about how triggered she was when she was bored. She recounted growing up with 30-40 cousins, and she was the youngest. Every time they had family events, she had to sit there for hours, not being seen, heard, or cared about. She w...

I met Jaime Henle at a weekend retreat I ran back in 2022 in North Carolina. Jaime had no idea what she was getting into, walking into a room with the hope of, "a relaxing weekend with meditation." Well, she did get that to some extent, but she got a LOT more. Jaime had been suffering from chronic back pain since her first daughter was born, and in retrospect, many other TMS symptoms over the year...

Our teen ambassador Kate is back! After our first podcast on Teens Teaching Teens this past winter (Season 3, Episode 74), parents from all over the country wrote to us about their teens' struggles with chronic issues. Kate and I started working to connect these kids with the mindset and work they needed to heal. Catherine was one of these kids - A D1 athlete who is off to college to play Lacrosse...

I met NBA Denver Nugget's Forward Michael Porter, Jr. at a rather low point in his life. He had been diagnosed with degenerative disc disease while still in his teens, and by the time we crossed paths he'd had three back surgeries that didn't cure his pain. In fact, in the Summer of 2023 when we came together, he was in a flare so bad he was struggling to walk up the stairs. Thankfully for Mike, h...

I met Monica when I received the loveliest email about her pain journey. Monica had been suffering with chronic pain and symptoms for quite some time, and through her understanding of MindBody medicine and doing my work, she was thriving. As so often happens, Monica used the jumping off point of her own recovery to change her professional life as well. After training in somatic tracking and pain r...

This month's Q&A in our Membership Community was SO inspiring and insightful. Each month this fellowship gets together to hang out in an intimate group and ask me anything about their TMS/symptoms/diagnoses/worries/fears and whatever else. This month was so GOOD. Join us for great info on topics such as health anxiety, neck and shoulder pain, vertigo, pelvic pain, classic Sarno back pain, and so m...

How great to connect with another Sarno OG! Karen, like me, sat across from Dr. Sarno in his iconic office at The Rusk Center for Rehabilitation at NYU/Langone in New York City back in the day when he was still in practice. His confident and unapologetic style was the inspiration for everything I do and teach, and Karen is right there with me. I have been hearing from Karen for years, as although...

Shit! Sometimes all the best planning is not the best after all. I was traveling for two weeks and made a technical misstep - hence, no pod yesterday. Heartened by the many of you who reached out and asked, "Are you okay?? Where are you?" I recorded a last minute brain dump to offer you a little boost on this lovely Saturday. Much love! -n. BRAIN SCIENCE DEEP DIVE WITH GIGI COCKELL AND ME! (75% fu...

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...

Bri really went through it. Her myriad TMS symptoms cascaded into panic attacks so severe that she had to put her entire life on hold (including her marriage), take her kids, and move in with her mother to be taken care of. This is not an unusual story. As I always remind you, although TMS is completely curable with my methods, the pain IS NOT in your head. You are not dramatic, overly sensitive,...

When I first met Gigi Cockell last year, I had no idea how impactful she would be on my life. I thought she would be yet another precious success story that I could highlight here on the pod, but she quickly became much more. Gigi has her Master's in Biology (she did her studies at Oxford and it shows) and is one of the best out there is explaining the brain science behind TMS. Soon Gigi was teach...

Today in my Membership Community we had a great convo on so many TMS topics. It is the best best to be with this incredible group and get to know them - their struggles and their wins. On our call today we talked a lot about, "What hurts versus what hurts worse." This is a big theme when it comes to all areas of acceptance in recovery from chronic nervous system dysregulation (which causes most ch...

I get so many questions about how to *actually* find a way into a self-compassion practice, and why it's so important. Today on the pod I give you my best thinking on the topic, how to pause and become aware, and why is essential to have self-compassion at top of mind. Until we disrupt our habitual thinking and consider the way we carry on in life, we are in danger of repeating old patterns again...

Evie came on the pod originally last year. Her story is one that inspired me deeply, as she recognized and overcame her chronic pain so young. As we open ourselves to the challenge of teaching younger and younger people, it is so important to realize that young and old - we are all the same when we wake up to this life changing knowledge and do the work to rid ourselves of chronic conditions. Send...

I never miss a chance to use my life and my process to help you. The best teaching tool I have is my own lived experience. Today I share an unexpected and painful symptom imperative I encountered: powerful nerve pain shooting from my inner wrist up my forearm. I paused immediately and began to embody the mindset that I teach you here - reminding myself it was TMS and that I was safe - and then pro...