News: December 2025

Everything I Knew About Pain Was Wrong!

A Mind-Blowing Conversation About Chronic Pain and Healing

"Everything I thought I knew was wrong."" That's what I said in October 2024 after the first day of Troy Lavigne's Neuroscience of Massage Therapy class - and at that time I had been in practice for 16 years!

In this eye-opening conversation, Troy Lavigne - massage therapist, educator, and host of The Sensory Approach to Manual Therapy podcast - talks about chronic pain, outdated treatment models, and what actually works. We explore why so much of what we've been told about pain is misleading, and how modern pain science offers a more compassionate, empowering, and accurate understanding of the human experience.

Troy sheds light on the confusing world of manual therapy, shares his own evolution as a bodyworker, and explains why we need to stop looking at people as machines that need fixing.

Whether you're living with chronic pain or simply want to understand your body better, this is a conversation that will challenge what you thought you knew.

Topics we cover:

• Why pain doesn't always mean there's damage
• How your brain and nervous system help create your pain experience
• Why describing your pain more accurately can help reduce it
• What Troy means when he says we're "fluid-filled sacks" - and why that changes everything
• The role of stress, fear, and memory in chronic pain
• What massage actually does (and doesn't do)
• Why you can't always fix pain by "fixing the tissue"
• What makes hands-on work meaningful beyond technique
• How letting go of old stories can open the door to real healing

This is a deep, honest, myth-busting conversation about what it really means to live with pain - and how we heal. Click here to watch!

Be sure to check out Troy's website.

Better Sleep in Minutes:
Neck & Shoulder Self-Massage

Most of us could do with more, better quality sleep. It can be difficult to shut down a racing mind and transition into a peaceful slumber. This series of "mini self-massages" will help you relax your body, quiet your mind, and get the rest you need to be your best. It only takes a few minutes, so get comfortable and let's release the day and embrace deep sleep.

In this 10-minute mini self-massage, we release tension from our neck and shoulders. This is great for those of you who work at a desk, have repetitive strain, or carry upper body stress and tension. Let's melt it all away so we can drift off to sleep fully relaxed.

What's new with me ...

For the holiday weekend, we had a lovely visit with my father-in-law in New Jersey, and then left Sienna there for a fun-filled sleepover with Granddad! Off from work and parenting, Jesse and I enjoyed a relaxing Thanksgiving together, taking an adventure walk through Forest Hills and going out for a fancy and very delicious dinner. Mmm ... pumpkin lasagna.

I have so much to be grateful for, including you! Thank you to my clients, subscribers, and readers for your ongoing interest and support. It means so much to me.

Wishing you all a beautiful holiday season and a wonderful new year!