Show Notes
What’s the best tool for healing chronic pelvic pain?
Is it journaling? Somatic tracking? Pelvic PT? Breathwork? Visualization?
If you’ve spent any time in the mind-body healing world, you’ve probably heard someone confidently say:
“This is what healed me.” “This is the thing.” “If it’s not working, you’re not doing it right.”
And it’s confusing.
In this episode, I’m breaking down the truth:
All tools can work. And none of them are magic. Because it’s not about the tool. It’s about the intention behind the tool and the level of safety you’re building in your nervous system.
When chronic pelvic pain is neuroplastic, it’s not about damaged tissue. It’s about a nervous system stuck in protection mode. The practices themselves don’t heal you. What heals is the shift in meaning, fear, and internal safety that those practices create.
In this episode, we explore:
Why the healing industry often markets one tool as the answer The real reason tools “work” for some people and not others The difference between urgency-driven practice and safety-driven practice
The 3 categories of safety required for lasting symptom resolution How to do a “Threat Audit” to identify where your real work is
When I look at healing chronic pelvic pain through a mind-body lens, I see three core areas that must be addressed.
✨ Safety in your body Understanding pain science. Reappraising symptoms. Learning that pain does not automatically mean damage. Teaching your nervous system that you are physically safe and your body isn’t broken.
✨ Safety with yourself Building self-trust. Allowing emotions instead of suppressing them. Practicing uncertainty tolerance. No longer abandoning yourself when symptoms spike. Reducing perfectionism and internal pressure.
✨ Safety in your life Looking honestly at boundaries, stress, relationships, work, routines, and alignment. Making your life feel authentically safe to live.
You likely don’t need more tools. You likely need a framework that helps you systematically build safety in all three areas.
If you’re ready to stop piecing this together on your own, I’d love to support you inside my four month coaching container:
Beyond Chronic Pelvic Pain Healing Program
👉 Learn more here
Healing is possible for you. You’ve got this.
Rooting for you, always 💜 Rachel
More from Heal Your Chronic Pelvic Pain
What can you do when a pain flare is loud, uncomfortable, and not something you can make stop in the moment? A building fire alarm kept going off for two weeks, sometimes during coaching calls and sometimes in the middle of the night. The experience reminded me of what it was like to live with chronic pelvic pain: knowing what was happening didn’t make the sensations disappear, and I couldn’t always change the situation right away. In this episode, I share how I supported myself through those moments, from putting in earbuds so I could keep coaching to noticing the comfort of my bed while I waited for the alarm to turn off. We talk about acknowledging discomfort without pretending it isn’t there, choosing what might support you, and considering whether you want to take a values-aligned action or rest. There’s no right or wrong choice. For me, showing up for the things I cared about, even when my symptoms were intense, supported my sense of agency. Your choice may look different. The invitation is to ask what you need and how you want to spend the time while you wait for the flare to pass. In this episode: Why knowing a symptom is a false alarm doesn’t always make the discomfort go away
If you've ever frozen on the exam table, or spent the drive home replaying everything you wish you'd said, this episode is for you. For so many of us with chronic pelvic pain, gynecologist visits are part of the recovery journey. And they can be really hard, both physically and emotionally. Many providers aren't trained in trauma-informed care or familiar with conditions like vaginismus and vulvodynia, which means it often falls on us to speak up for what we need. In this episode, I'm sharing the things I didn't know I could ask for when I was healing, so you can walk into your next appointment feeling more prepared and a little more in control. In this episode: Why telling your provider about pain with penetration out loud matters (even if it's already on your intake form)
When I was living with chronic pelvic pain, I believed that if I had symptoms, I was suffering. It felt impossible to enjoy my life or loosen my urgency to heal while pain was still there. Because I felt like I was always suffering.
Do you have to quit your job, leave your relationship, move, or completely restructure your life in order to heal?
Even though no one can do the healing work for you, that doesn’t mean you have to do it alone.