Post #15: The Mind Body Healing Pyramid: an infographic to guide your recovery process
<3 minute read
Imagine the keys to your recovery as pieces of a pyramid
The base of the pyramid lies in building empowerment and nourishing your mind, body, and spirit so you can build a foundation from which healing is possible. You’re nourishing your brain and body with practices that regulate your nervous system, reduce stress hormones, and build the internal and external conditions for neuroplastic change. It’s not fluff: practicing self-compassion, gratefulness, spiritual exploration, flow activities, social engagement, boundaries, and physical movement with lightness & ease are necessary for healing.
Rachel, 3rd from the left, along with other Little Rock Hikers, taking in the view from the top of Petit Jean Mountain in west-central Arkansas (10/2022).
When I could no longer work in my demanding family physician job in 2021, disabled after years of worsening chronic repetitive motion pain, with new heart palpitations, difficulty swallowing, and weight loss, I intuitively knew I needed a healing environment. I joined a hiking group and spiritual community. I often hiked in pain, but the beautiful scenery and social connection was a good distraction. My sudden, partially healing, aha moment when I found out about the mind-body model (on Labor Day!! 2022) was only possible because I already created a foundation for healing. Later in my recovery, I also played the piano, sang in a choir, painted, and took a beginner’s acting class (because, why not?).
-
EAET safely guides a patient to process stressful emotions that ingrain as bodily symptoms. It involves safely acknowledging, experiencing, expressing, and letting go of emotion. EAET involves review of mild current stressors and may work up to past trauma or psychological stress and expression of emotions linked to it.
CBT, which processes conscious cognitive thoughts rather than emotions, has not shown significant benefit in reducing chronic pain or neuroplastic symptoms.
Evaluation of Emotional Awareness & Expression Therapy (EAET) compared to Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) in a population of older veterans showed that EAET was superior to CBT for the outcomes of reduction in chronic pain, anxiety, depression, PTSD, and general life satisfaction [Yarns, et al, 2024].
In a study on fibromyalgia patients, EAET led to significant improvement in overall symptoms, widespread pain, physical functioning, cognitive dysfunction, anxiety, depression, positive affect, and life satisfaction [Lumley, et al, 2017].
The middle third of the pyramid encompasses emotional processing. You’re working with the brain’s limbic system, helping to regulate emotions, reduce threat responses, and create space for new, healthier patters to form. This is where my guidance in Emotional Awareness & Expression Therapy, journaling, and several audio recorded meditations come in. As I now recommend to clients, I used Dr. Howard Schubiner’s Unlearn Your Pain Workbook to guide each of these practices in my own recovery.
The pyramid’s top third is your brain retraining (Pain & Symptom Reprocessing) techniques. You’re consciously applying what you know about how neurons fire together, how repetition strengthens pathways, and how the brain rewires through practice and attention. It’s all about downplaying fear, reassociating body systems with functionality, and predicting positive outcomes. I consciously reassociated my painful arms with the joy of playing the piano, over the frustration of typing on a computer. I affirmed that eating would nourish my body and I would not allow my brain to continue to send alarm messages through tension in my esophagus. I no longer feared my heart palpitations. And over a year or so, I gradually got better. I got back to life after mind, body, spirit transformation.
It’s all neuroscience in action. Each piece of the pyramid is essential to recover, and each third builds on the piece below. The best part of all: you are empowered to create your own healing.
Rachel, feeling good and back in action at Badlands National Park, South Dakota.
Start with the 5-Minute Readiness for Recovery Self-Assessment to determine areas to prioritize in your recovery or a Free 15-Minute Consultation with Dr. Rachel Hollander.
