Chronic Pain & Trauma: Gently Breaking The Invisible Link with Science
Release Date: 11/05/2025
How Trauma Rewrites Pain Part 3—When Trauma Turns on the Immune System
Dear body, I’m listening
“Trauma doesn't just live in your memories, your fascia, or your nervous system. It can also reshape your immune system, especially when no one helped you feel safe. That doesn't mean it's your fault, and that doesn't mean your body isn't on your side. It means that your body has been on your side this whole time, trying to protect you the only way it knew how.” —Donna Piper Some days your body throws signals you cannot ignore, but no one seems to hear them. The swelling, the exhaustion, the crashes that make no sense on paper start to feel like a secret only you and your body...
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Thermal Imaging for Health: Early Answers, Less Guesswork with Dr. Robert Kane
Dear body, I’m listening
"It's a balance between getting information and trusting experts. It's really important that as a patient, you have to be your own advocate." —Robert Kane When it comes to our body, uncertainty can be the hardest symptom to treat. Worry sets in when answers are fuzzy, and bouncing between specialists leaves us more confused than before. The real question is: how can we know what’s happening inside before a health crisis begins? After doubting conventional answers and searching for tools that deliver real clarity, Dr. Robert Kane turned a career in health into a...
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Chronic Pain & Trauma: Gently Breaking The Invisible Link with Science
Dear body, I’m listening
"The body's intelligent. We just have to show up. I equate it to a dance where the body leads and I follow." —Peter Stuart You can run from nagging pain, but it keeps showing up in new ways—wrecking sleep, fouling up moods, and shutting down energy. The worst part? Real answers are rare, and the world keeps telling you to just “push through” or “try harder.” Maybe it’s not about willpower at all—it’s about listening to the actual story your body’s been trying to tell for years. Peter Stuart spent decades fighting through his own injuries, dismissed symptoms,...
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How Real Connection Supports Healing (Even When You’re Exhausted) with Heather Nelson
Dear body, I’m listening
“Push your life to be the life that you want and not accept that it's just the way it is. Every choice that you make should be toward loving the life that you have.” —Heather Nelson Connection isn’t just a feel-good extra. It’s a lifeline when the world feels heavy and invisible battles make us want to shut down. Isolation, overwhelm, and invisible struggles don’t need to be our whole story; even small acts of reaching out can reshape everything. The truth is, connecting with the right people and sharing our messy middle is stronger than any secret solution. Heather...
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The Science of Rest— What the Lipkin Study Taught Us About ME/CFS
Dear body, I’m listening
“Pace first, safety builds capacity.” —Donna Piper There’s a kind of tired that sleep can’t fix, a crash that feels invisible to everyone but you. You push, you pace, you try to “do all the right things,” yet your body still calls a timeout. Maybe it’s not weakness or lack of willpower. Maybe your body’s simply working harder than anyone realizes. In this episode, Donna unpacks a revolutionary study on chronic fatigue, the real science behind “the crash,” and why pacing, rest, and nervous system care are the new power moves for healing. Expect myth-busting,...
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Beyond the Diagnosis: Reclaiming Life and Purpose With Lipedema with Hiba Hamati
Dear body, I’m listening
"Trust your instinct… Our bodies sound an alarm bell that something isn’t right, and we ignore it for years. Don’t ignore it. Don't accept the bare minimum answer. Just because your labs are normal does not mean that your body is functioning optimally." —Hiba Hamati Going to doctor after doctor, trying every tip, and still wondering why your pain and swelling never make sense. You know there’s something happening that nobody else seems to see, and not getting answers just wears you down. This chat right here puts a name to all that frustration. Hiba Hamati...
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If Only I Were Skinny…
Dear body, I’m listening
"Your body is not the enemy—the world's impossible standards are. And every time you name that truth out loud, you don't just free yourself, you also free someone else.” —Donna Piper Some lies are so loud they start to sound like truth—like the idea that confidence waits on the other side of weight loss. And the hardest part? The shame of not being skinny can at times feel heavier than our own weight, turning every step forward into a fight against an invisible anchor. Donna spent years believing her size erased her gifts. It wasn’t until she uncovered her...
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How Trauma Rewrites Pain, Part 2: When Fight or Flight Gets Stuck
Dear body, I’m listening
"If trauma rewrote the wiring one way, that means safety relationship and somatic practices can rewrite it the other way— it is the long game; there is no quick fix.” —Donna Piper Sometimes you do everything right, but your body keeps sending SOS signals no one else can see. Doubt creeps in—is this real, or is something deeper going on? You’re not alone; your body’s story matters, and what you feel makes perfect sense. For years, Donna felt invisible, questioned, and let down by quick fixes and dismissive answers. Her experience battling chronic pain, trauma, and...
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Dollars and Cents: The Real Financial Stress of Being Sick
Dear body, I’m listening
"I'm not my bills. I'm not my debt. I am worthy of care." —Donna Piper Being sick isn’t just exhausting—it’s expensive in ways nobody warns you about. The stress of medical bills, insurance denials, and endless receipts can weigh just as heavily as the symptoms themselves. If you’re tired of feeling like your wallet is as worn out as your body, you’re not alone. In this episode, Donna opens up about the real price tag of chronic illness, sharing her journey through misdiagnoses, out-of-pocket treatments, and the emotional toll of fighting for care. She breaks down the...
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How Trauma Rewrites Pain, Part 1: My Body Kept Score
Dear body, I’m listening
“Moving is medicine. There's something with moving that you don't need to know why or how, or how it relates to your emotions or trauma. And just like how trauma rewrites pain, it is also the opposite when you feel safe, embodied, and in a compassionate relationship with yourself, you can rewrite your story for safety.” —Donna Piper Sometimes pain isn’t just in your head—it’s woven deep into your body, shaping how you move, feel, and even how you see yourself. When life keeps telling you to “push through” but your body keeps shutting down, it’s easy to wonder if...
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"The body's intelligent. We just have to show up. I equate it to a dance where the body leads and I follow." —Peter Stuart
You can run from nagging pain, but it keeps showing up in new ways—wrecking sleep, fouling up moods, and shutting down energy. The worst part? Real answers are rare, and the world keeps telling you to just “push through” or “try harder.” Maybe it’s not about willpower at all—it’s about listening to the actual story your body’s been trying to tell for years.
Peter Stuart spent decades fighting through his own injuries, dismissed symptoms, and invisible struggles before discovering gentle myofascial therapy. His hard-won insights as a chronic pain “insider” and now trauma-informed therapist reveal what really keeps people stuck and what finally helps them move forward with less pain and more hope.
Get the truth about pain, trauma, and what real healing looks like, plus smart self-care tools, the science behind gentle relief, why support systems matter, how medical dismissal damages recovery, and the most overlooked reason chronic pain lingers in this episode.
Connect with Donna:
Website: https://www.donnapiper.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/donnapiper
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thedonnapiper
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thedonnapiper
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@thedonnapiper
Episode Highlights:
02:41 Pain and Identity: How Chronic Pain Changes Who You Are
10:30 Why Relief Doesn’t Last: Understanding Chronic Pain Cycles
18:09 The Mind-Body Link in Pain
27:33 How Trauma Gets Stuck: The Science Behind Chronic Pain
33:22 When Emotional Release Ends Pain
42:47 Overcoming Medical Dismissal
47:17 Chronic Fatigue, Brain Fog, and Healing Brain
55:00 Support Speeds Recovery
59:19 When Pain Affects Relationships
01:06:56 Fast Action Beats Waiting
01:12:36 Connection Heals: Why Real Relationships Matter
01:17:38 Don’t Wait: Heal Before It Gets Worse
Resources:
🎧Listen to Peter’s interview with Coach360
How Trauma Leaves a Mark and What It Means for Healing: https://www.coach360news.com/how-trauma-leaves-a-mark-and-what-it-means-for-healing/
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Life keeps piling on until your body keeps the score. It’s time to listen! Catch this week’s episode as Donna and trauma-informed therapist Peter Stuart drop truth bombs on trauma, chronic illness, pain relief, holistic healing, and smart self-care.
#DearBodyImListening #MCAS #Lymphedema #Lipedema #ChronicIllness #TraumaHealing #BodyWork #MyofascialRelease #InvisibleIllness
Quotes:
03:31 "It's a real identity shift. Not very talked about is when you lose who you think you are to pain, the amount of depression that sets in later on." —Peter Stuart
11:56 "My body is learning to survive but creating new pathways… Chronic pain is very insidious, and it changes you." —Donna Piper
14:59 "Aggressive styles tended to flare the nervous system, and the last thing you want to do is flare the nervous system with somebody who has chronic issues." —Peter Stuart
16:40 "A low-level pressure will create a change in the nervous system over time. It's patience… Incremental change over time creates permanency in the brain to make those changes happen and establish new neural pathways." —Peter Stuart
17:08 "The body's intelligent. We just have to show up. I equate it to a dance where the body leads and I follow." —Peter Stuart
18:56 "The pelvis is the foundation of the body. If you're off in your pelvis, everything above and everything below is going to be off." —Peter Stuart
25:12 "Sometimes people just want to tell their story— they just have pushed it down." —Donna Piper
30:22 "If you ignore people's scars, then you're doing them a great disservice." —Peter Stuart
34:18 "Most people will emote without making a connection to an event. It's just stuff that we've held on to—baggage—and just feeling like they have a safe place to allow that to happen." —Peter Stuart
35:41 "As much as your brain is trying to say, your thoughts are trying to control things all the time, your emotions and your feelings need to be expressed as well for health." —Peter Stuart
37:27 “No one goes through childhood unscathed. Everyone has stuff. Life brings stuff with us.” —Donna Piper
39:05 “Most people who get into my profession are very empathetic people and are on the sensitive scale pretty high— and that makes for a really good therapist to be able to understand that some people will have these traumas.” —Peter Stuart
42:06 "Most women usually underdo their pain… People can't see pain." —Donna Piper
56:51 "Having a provider that has that listening aspect is supportive, too…Just by not being dismissed, that's support." —Donna Piper
01:00:02 "Let's grieve what was so we can embrace this new path." —Donna Piper
01:06:59 "Once you recognize that you've changed, if there's a shift in pattern or your inability to do activities that you normally did, get on it. The sooner you get on your situation, the more likely you won't have to incur more, because trauma is cumulative." —Peter Stuart
01:10:36 “Being in relationship with what other actually is a healing aspect.” —Donna Piper
01:10:54 “It's the relationship between the therapist and the patient and the transference and countertransference—that is the magic. It's not really the technique always.” —Donna Piper
01:17:20 “If you want to get good at therapy, get therapy.” —Peter Stuart
Connect with Peter:
For more than 30 years, Peter has helped people overcome chronic pain and trauma through trauma-informed myofascial release — a gentle, body-led approach that integrates science, empathy, and nervous-system awareness. He teaches practitioners worldwide, emphasizing that true healing addresses the whole person, not just symptoms.
Peter’s grounded, compassionate style would complement Kristen’s audience beautifully, particularly around themes of emotional release, embodied healing, and reconnecting with self after trauma.
Website: https://stuartseminars.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/peter-stuart-88a18447/