For many of us, being chronically ill or in pain can take a toll on our mental and spiritual health. It can also deeply affect our relationship to our bodies: putting us at war inside our very own skin. We may have forgotten what it's like to be inside a body without pain or sickness. And we may have long lost the sensations of pleasure, joy, and ease. 

We may have spent years trying to ‘fix’ the problems and pain our bodies present, only to be left feeling hopeless, exhausted, more stressed, and often in more pain, or more sick.

You might feel like you tried everything: from doctors to supplements, diet changes, energy work, and plant medicines, and nothing worked, only to leave you feeling hopeless. Perhaps you even feel doubtful there could be a day you feel well.

The dominant Western medical model has also damaged our relationship with our bodies. Doctors claim to be experts of our bodies, leaving us to question our intuition and self-knowledge. We leave appointments feeling powerless over our healing at best, and at worst, we can be traumatized by the gaslighting, power-over structures that claim to want to heal us. We have become ridden with anxiety awaiting testing, biopsies, and diagnosis, all the while affecting our quality of life. It isn’t hard to see how being sick = getting sicker, or following the pain leads to more pain.

The miracles of healing disease and pain have been systematically taught out of us.  We may have forgotten our bodies’ brilliance and capacity to know what it needs to heal and feel better. Our inner child may be activated in its wounding, believing we are wrong or doubting our intuition.

The good news is, your pain & illness is a doorway. The hard news is, you might have to be the one to open the door.

Through this 4 week series, we will explore practices that resource the pain/sick body by attuning to the felt sense of safety, pleasure, and boundaries. We will practice embodied safety to get our nervous system out of fight/flight/freeze/appease and learn tools to notice when we are in these states and how they affect the pain/sick body. We will locate the felt sense of pleasure and/or what gets in the way of it, and how to use pleasure as a resource for our sick/pain bodies. We will practice knowing and expressing our felt sense of yes, no, and maybe - boundary-setting tools that give a sense of autonomy and personal power. We will also explore tools for self-advocacy in medical settings. And perhaps most importantly, we will practice witnessing and listening to the pain & illness in our bodies.

All of these practices and tools will help you build an “inner pharmacy”, along with a deeper sense of self-trust and intuition. 

This is not a program to 'fix' your pain & sickness quickly. I can't promise instant solutions. This course is not a band-aid, cure-all, but instead offers to meet you where you are, allowing for the pain/illness to unfold in a unique to you way that feels safe & perhaps even pleasurable. 

Of course, we can stay open to the possibility you may have some instant results. EIther way, you will have tools to continue practicing and building upon for years to come.

The Down & Dirty Deets

• 1.5 hours on Zoom four times:

  • Wednesday, Sept 18th 10:00 am - 11:30 pm central time

  • Wednesday, Sept 25th 10:00 am - 11:30 pm central time

  • Wednesday, Oct 2nd 10:00 am - 11:30 pm central time

  • Wednesday, Oct 9th 10:00 am - 11:30 pm central time

FAQ

• Will I be cured of my illness/pain? I can't guarantee that, but I can bet your relationship to your pain/illness will change, and with that, quite possibly your quality of life. It's also very possible that the tools and practices in this class will set you up to reduce your symptoms and pain over time, if not during the duration of the class. You may also find these practices and tools help you become more receptive to other complementary treatments such as acupuncture, massage, physical therapy, and even allopathic medicine. There is also a very good possibility you will come away with other benefits such as being more open to receiving help, feeling more access to pleasure, being better able to advocate for yourself in both clinical and intimate settings, deeper access to your own intuition, and more confidence, among many other possibilities.

• I'm not sure if I am "sick" enough or in enough pain, can I still join? This is a very valid question and I suspect one you are grappling with on a deeper level in your life. The truth is, you deserve to live a life free from chronic pain and sickness and any amount of feeling unwell is hard and worthy of attention, healing, and support. You are most definitely welcome.

• How do I know if my pain/sickness is chronic? "Chronic" is medically defined as something that lasts 3 months or longer and most often gets worse over time. However, for this series, your personal definition of "chronic" will do just fine. If you think it's gone on too long, it's too long. Come on in!

• I have a long-term illness and use allopathic medicine & prescriptions to cope, can I still participate? Yep! This course will be a great complement to other practices.

• Will this be recorded? Yes, the recording will be available to you after each class forever. Closed captioning also will be available.

• Do I have to attend all 4 classes? No, you do not have to be but my recommendation is that you commit to coming as much as you can. The more attention and devotion you put into this, the more you will receive.

Investment & Payment Options

• Cost: $350 early bird sign-up before Sept 6th

• $400 sign-up between Sept 6th - Sept 13th (enrollment closes Sept 13th)

• Some scholarships and partial scholarships are available - please be in touch if you'd like to access these funds. Please don't let money be a barrier to working with me.

Please sign up below by “adding to cart” - there is a short questionaire that will help me get to know you a little and thus serve you better. Then you''ll need to proceed to ‘cart’ in the upper right hand corner of your screen to check out. *Apologies for the clunky check out system.

***If you are paying sliding scale - which I offer on any honor system - you will need to receive the questionnaire from me manually (i.e. don't bother filling it out if prompted).

An email with further information will come from me: Lauren@TheBodyErotic.com

If you're still undecided and would like to chat and see if this course is right for you, send me a note: Lauren@TheBodyErotic.com - I'd love to hear from you!

(please check your spam if you don't hear from me within 24-48 hours)