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Hello Reader!

Welcome to this 30th edition of NeuroNotes and happy new year! 🎉 So happy to be starting the year with you, dear readers. ❤️ I hope you've enjoyed some rest, and are now ready to embrace the next stage, whatever that may be for you. I'm curious - are you one to make resolutions or not?

Musings

Over the holidays, I wrote that our mental states - anxiety, hope, sadness or vitality and everything else in between- are also embodied states. Sometimes our pain, which we may think is strictly anatomical, is a reflection of a more complex mind state.

That's natural: for many of you, pain and anxiety travel together. Because both are protective outputs of the same nervous system. Both are intended to keep you safe. Did you know that the International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP) defines pain as "An unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with, or resembling that associated with, actual or potential tissue damage".

So this year, if you're thinking of starting something new, or different, join me, and the hundreds of people I've helped, in caring for your nervous system as a gateway to get out of pain and persistent unpleasant emotional states.

Start by asking: “What is my brain trying to protect me from, and how do I help it feel safe enough to turn the volume down?”

If you want a structured way to begin (without forcing, without white-knuckling), the new self-paced program The 4-Step Reset for Chronic Pain and Anxiety is open. Join now​

🎁 NeuroSomatic Practice of the Week

🧠 NeuroMinute...

Pain (whether physical or emotional) isn’t just a “damage report.” It’s also a protection strategy—and our reaction to it is shaped by biology, context, stress, and most importantly our brain's ability to learn.

Last year I wrote about how pain, and our attention to it, shapes our sense of time. I'd say the same about anxiety - it stretches our sense of time and prevents us from being in action, in movement. Both also rewrite our neural patterns towards increased protection. Most people who live with chronic anxiety exhibit patterns of compulsive muscle contraction that inhibit their ability to move and adapt. I also looked deeper and found that deep inside your brain, the chemistry of pain and anxiety is the same:

• Neurochemical imbalances: Serotonin and norepinephrine help regulate both pain and mood. When they're off balance, both systems suffer.
• Inflammation and gut health: Pain causes stress and is also a sign of inflammation. Ongoing inflammation can affect the brain, leading to heightened pain sensitivity and anxiety.
• Interoception and hypervigilance: People with anxiety are more tuned in to bodily sensations, often misinterpreting them as danger — which amplifies pain.

Slow, attuned, brain-friendly movement is the antidote.

PS: What fun thing would you do if you didn't feel pain or anxiety? Dare to dream!

Warmly,

Joana

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