Somatic Tracking for Chronic Pain & Symptoms: Free Guide

Tanner hosts a solo episode, sharing a free somatic tracking practice from the MBody Community digital course.

Tanner first explains how chronic pain and symptoms can be neuroplastic (caused by the brain, not the body). He then breaks down the sensitization cycle - the feedback loop that makes symptoms sustain and worsen. Tanner provides practical instructions on the how to use somatic tracking to retrain your brain and desensitize pain/symptoms.

The episode includes a free somatic tracking guide you can make part of your daily practice. It's one of 60+ practices from our course - The Somatic Safety Method, published by MBody Community.

Tanner Murtagh and Anne Hampson are therapists who treat neuroplastic pain and mind-body symptoms. They are also married!

In his 20s, Tanner overcame chronic pain and a fibromyalgia diagnosis by learning his symptoms were neuroplastic, not structural. Post-healing, Tanner and Anne have dedicated their lives to developing effective treatment and education for neuroplastic pain and symptoms.

Listen and learn how to assess your own chronic pain and symptoms, gain tools to retrain the brain and nervous system, and make changes in your life and health!

The Mind-Body Couple podcast is owned by Pain Psychotherapy Canada Inc. This podcast is produced by Alex Klassen, one of the wonderful therapists at our agency in Calgary, Alberta. https://www.painpsychotherapy.ca/

Tanner, Anne, and Alex also run the MBody Community, an in-depth online course that provides a step-by-step process for assessing, treating, and resolving mind-body pain and symptoms. https://www.mbodycommunity.com

Check out Tanner's YouTube channel for more free education and practices: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-Fl6WaFHnh4ponuexaMbFQ

And follow us for daily education posts on Instagram: @painpsychotherapy

Disclaimer: The information provided on this podcast is for general in...

Transcript

Focus On Healing And Resources

SPEAKER_02 0:35

Focus on healing. Links in the description of each episode. Hi everyone. Welcome back to the podcast. I'm here today without Anne, and I have something really special for you all. I am giving you a free gift of a somatic tracking for pain and symptoms that actually comes from our digital course. Now, somatic tracking is a brain retraining technique that comes from pain reprocessing therapy. And when used consistently, this can support you in healing your chronic pain and your chronic symptoms. As we know, many forms of chronic pain and symptoms are neuroplastic. And that's what this podcast is all about. Now, with neuroplastic pain and symptoms, this means there is no damage or disease in your body that is causing the sensations. They're occurring due to brain and nervous system processes. So what happens is when your brain and nervous system is stuck in this heightened state of danger and a state of survival, it can trigger very real pain and symptom sensations. Now, early on when I'm meeting with clients, I'm teaching them about the sensitization cycle. Now, the sensitization cycle is a feedback loop. So if you imagine you're experiencing pain and symptoms, and then you respond with danger-oriented beliefs, avoidance behaviors, and nervous system dysregulation, what happens is your brain feels more in danger and then produces more pain and symptoms. More pain and symptoms, more dysregulation, more dysregulation, more pain and symptoms. So you get the idea, this sensitization cycle can keep us stuck in pain and symptoms long term. And so the goal of using a brain-based approach is to help you exit this sensitization cycle and over time desensitize your nervous system. As your nervous system becomes more and more desensitized, pain and symptoms will start to reduce. Healing neuroplastic pain and symptoms, it's kind of like healing a phobia. So you imagine for a second that you have a phobia of clowns. I know it's a bit silly, but imagine you have a phobia of clowns. You're terrified of them, and you've been avoiding them for years. But from an unfortunate turn of events, recently you got a job at a circus. So now you're really worried about this. You're probably feeling really panicked because when you go to your job at the circus, there's going to be a lot of clowns there. And you already know what's going to happen. Your nervous system is going to trigger this fight, flight, fawn, or freeze and shutdown response to essentially try to protect you. And so the goal here, as you're about to go work at the circus, is we need to desensitize your phobia around clowns. And so we can do this two ways. To desensitize your phobia of clowns, we need to tell your brain that you're safe, and we need to show your brain that you're safe. So the telling is part of it. We need to use safe self-talk by telling ourselves, hey, clowns aren't dangerous. I'm safe to be around them. I know they look scary, but underneath all the makeup, they're just people and they're safe to be with. And so there's a telling yourself that, hey, clowns are okay to be around with. I can tolerate this. I can handle this. But the telling will only be part of the story. If you just tell yourself that you're safe around clowns, it's not going to be enough to extinguish the phobia. We also need to show your brain and nervous system that you're safe. And to do this, we need to use this graded exposure. And so what this would look like is you start to approach clowns with small achievable actions. Like what I would imagine doing with a person that has a phobia of clowns is long before they go to their job at the circus, start to look at pictures of clowns. Start to watch some videos of circus scenes that involve clowns and give yourself exposure to approaching clowns in these small achievable steps. Now, you don't want to go too fast because if you too much exposure too quickly, it's going to flare up a lot of dysregulation. So you would need to build up the level of exposure slowly over time. You start with photos, then you do videos, then maybe you just go sit in the parking lot of the circus, and eventually you can attend the whole show. And this is what's going to prepare you for your job at the circus. Now, as you do this exposure to being around clowns, you want to use safety signals to regulate. Exposure is only part of the battle. Yes, we need the exposure to approach the clowns and to show our brain, hey, we can be with these. But at the same hand, we want to use safety signals like breath work, present moment sensing, somatic movement, somatic touch, tapping or massage. And we're using these safety signals while you do the exposure to regulate your nervous system. And step by step, this is going to re-establish safety and desensitize your brain and nervous system's response to clowns. That's the goal. And like desensitizing a clown phobia, to desensitize your pain and symptoms, we need to show and tell your brain that your body's safe. And somatic tracking is a great exposure exercise that can help you do that. Because during somatic tracking, I'm going to have you approach your pain or physical symptoms, describe them, deepen your connection with them, learn to sit with them. What you're doing is you're just trying to get these little healing wins where you feel 2% safer, 2% calmer, your negative thoughts and beliefs are a little less loud. You are able to approach the sensations with more openness. These are the healing wins that you're going for. Because if you can consistently do somatic tracking day by day, and you get these little healing wins, they're going to start to build up. And that's going to reverse that sensitization cycle and over time desensitize your system where your pain and symptoms start to reduce. Now, when you do somatic tracking, you're not trying to make your symptom go away in the moment or control it in any way. This is the biggest mistake that everyone makes. They start to use somatic tracking like a pain medication where they want instant relief. I always tell clients when you're doing somatic tracking, as long as your symptoms aren't too high, I don't care what your pain and symptoms are doing. What I care more about is we're getting these little healing wins where you feel a little bit safer, a little bit calmer. Because long term, that's what's going to reduce and eliminate your chronic symptoms. So let's dive in to the practice. Somatic tracking for pain and discomfort. This is best used when your pain sensations are at a mild to moderate level.

SPEAKER_01 9:08

Begin by closing your eyes or lowering your gaze.

SPEAKER_02 9:25

Breathing deep into your belly. That we need this tracking to do anything, all we are focused on is sending safety signals to your nervous system as you attend to the sensations of pain or discomfort. And notice where in your body you're feeling the sensations of pain or discomfort.

SPEAKER_01 12:00

Are they burning, tingly, presshery, achy, prickly, or stabby?

Curious Attention Instead Of Intensity

SPEAKER_02 12:25

During this practice, I want you to focus on the unpleasant sensations, but we aren't gonna focus on them with a bunch of intensity. You're not studying for a test here, so we don't need to criticize them, scrutinize them, lock on to the sensations, or intensely try to make them change. See, if you can explore the sensations, more how a curious kitten or puppy would explore a room that you're currently in. They would probably be interested in every new object in the room, be goofy, playful, and have no expectation about what exploring the room should be like. Allow yourself to be the curious kitten or puppy during this practice as you explore the sensations. As you explore the sensations in your body, practice softening your gaze to be wider, relax your jaw, drop your shoulders, and allow yourself to explore the sensations with lightness, ease, and curiosity. Explore the sensations even further by noticing what shape, size, color, and texture they are. As you are curious about your pain or discomfort, what do you notice?

SPEAKER_01 16:15

Do they increase, decrease, move or change in any way?

Reminding Your Brain The Body Is Safe

Fireworks Metaphor For Sensations

SPEAKER_02 16:30

It doesn't matter what the sensations are doing. We're just practicing, approaching them, and tracking them with a sense of ease. I know right now it feels like something is going wrong in your body, causing this pain or discomfort. But all your muscles and tendons are healthy, all your ligaments and nerves are perfectly intact. The sensations you are experiencing are actually completely safe and neutral. Your brain has just been misinterpreting what's going on in your body for a long time due to being in a state of survival or danger. So there is actually nothing to change in your body, as there is no damage. For a moment, perhaps remind yourself of some of your neuroplastic evidence to show your brain that your body is actually safe. Keep slowing down your breathing, and each time you exhale, allow yourself to sink into your body, but sink in with a sense of safety. Allow yourself to embody a feeling of safety and ease while attending to the sensations. Have they increased, decreased, moved, or changed in any way? Again, it doesn't matter. We're just working towards cultivating safety in your body. Sensations are kind of like fireworks in the sky. They're all different shapes, sizes, colors. Some are louder than others. The issue with neuroplastic pain and symptoms is we stop watching the sensations of fireworks like a human would watch fireworks. I don't know if you've ever seen a dog at a fireworks show before, but they're not having a good time. They are either whimpering and hiding or barking and angry. I don't know what dogs are thinking, but to them it's really loud and there is fire in the sky. They just don't understand that the fireworks are actually completely safe. Right now though, I want you to practice watching the sensations of fireworks in your body, how a young child would watch fireworks for the first time. When my six year old son saw fireworks for the first time, his little mind was blown. He was interested and likely had a warm feeling inside. See if you can sit back and watch the fireworks show of sensations taking place, knowing your body is completely safe and healthy.

SPEAKER_01 21:55

Slow down your breathing and allow yourself to watch. The show.

SPEAKER_02 22:30

Check in again and notice what the sensations are doing.

SPEAKER_01 22:36

Have they increased, decreased, moved, or changed in any way.

SPEAKER_02 23:14

Start to breathe directly into where you're feeling the sensations and allow the warmth of your breath to soften the edges. Then place your hands over where you're feeling the sensations and allow the warmth of your touch to soothe the area.

SPEAKER_01 24:18

Soften the sensations with your breath and soothe the sensations with your touch.

SPEAKER_00 25:11

For more free content, check out the links for our YouTube channel, Instagram, and Facebook accounts in the episode description.