Dissolve chronic lower back pain. Feel relaxed and confident in your body again.

Why I made this guide (click the toggle to read)

This guide contains 5 videos — each with a written summary.

• [ ] Intro: Overview & Expectations
• [ ] Part 1: Feet
• [ ] Part 2: Breath & Pressure
• [ ] Part 3 + 4: Slow Movement & Relaxation
• [ ] Part 5: Mind & Relationships

Intro — Overview & Expectations

https://youtu.be/4RRvdjDUQBE

Summary

• I had chronic lower back pain for 5 years
• I was performing at a high level output wise, but I didn’t feel good in my body at all
• I felt broken + disconnected in the middle, so I would lock up and brace excessively to try to protect myself from pain during movement, which I later realised was only worsening my pain
• Foot strength, breathing mechanics, slow movement and relaxation helped a lot, because they helped me re-connect my body in a way that didn’t require fearful overcompensation
• Load + stress management was also really important — I had a habit of making dramatic, sudden changes to my training loads out of excitement, or the expectation of what should be possible based on past performance. I learned to meet myself in the moment, acknowledge the role of sleep, mental health and financial stress on my body’s recovery, and work to support my system as a whole rather than “flogging a dead horse”.
• Focusing on my mental health, work and relationships helped me significantly reduce pain. What became evident was that I had used training as an emotional outlet to self-soothe because other aspects of my life were turbulent. This meant that I approached training with an urgency and neediness which wasn’t conducive to long term progress. When I started to focus on enjoying my life as much as possible and maximising my other abilities, my body responded better and I felt better overall.