Improve Pain Through Mindful Yoga with Neil Pearson

This episode of the podcast is a conversation with Neil Pearson about how yoga and mindfulness can help you improve pain, understand your body’s signals better, and find relief. Neil is a physical therapist, yoga therapist, and author known for his work integrating yoga and pain science.

If you are someone who lives with pain, and you’re wondering how yoga or mindfulness could help, this interview will offer plenty of concrete information. I think you will really appreciate Neil’s hopeful and empowering message that, yes - we CAN change our pain.

It’s also a great listen if you teach movement or meditation, and you want to better serve students who may be coming to class to cope with pain. This episode is a great introduction to some of the science that can help you communicate with your students about pain, and confidently handle those moments when someone experiences pain during class.

In this interview with Neil, you’ll hear:

• why he’s taken this approach of integrating yoga and mindfulness with pain science
• how movement changes pain by re-training the nervous system and influencing inflammation
• why it’s beneficial to “turn towards” pain with mindful awareness, rather than trying to downplay or ignore it
• autonomic synchrony and how practicing yoga or mindfulness in a group may be beneficial for pain reduction
• and why improving pain takes more than just finding the physical cause and fixing the tissues.

Neil explains some of the counter-intuitive aspects of how pain works, so we can move away from outdated concepts that may limit our potential recovery. We discuss the impact of dramatic, negative language (like “this joint is bone on bone” or “this disc is shredded).” And, he also talks about how yoga can provide a direct experience of being able to change your pain, which can be a powerful counterpoint to some of our common misconceptions.

Be sure to check the podcast page on my website and look for Episode 84 to find the resources that Neil mentioned during this conversation, as well as the links to his work with Pain Care Aware. Those can all be found at movedtomeditate.yoga/podcast.

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Guest Bio: Neil Pearson (PT, MSc(RHBS), BA-BPHE, C-IAYT, E-RYT 500) is a physical therapist, yoga therapist, author, researcher, Clinical Associate Professor at the University of British Columbia, faculty in three yoga therapy schools, board member for International Association of Yoga Therapists and pain care advocate. He is the founding chair of CPA’s Pain Science Division, and the recipient of awards honouring his work in pain care, patient education and physiotherapy by Queen’s University, the Canadian Pain Society, and Physiotherapy Associations of BC and Canada, including the Canadian 2021 Medal of Distinction. 

Neil conducts research into the effects of yoga on veterans with chronic pain and people with osteoarthritis. He is a consultant to Partners in Canadian Veterans Rehabilitation Services, and to Lifemark’s 300+ clinics in Canada. Neil is a past board member for Pain BC, Canada’s premier non-profit transforming the way pain is understood and treated. He co-authored Yoga and Science in Pain Care 2019,  and authored the patient education ebook, Understand Pain Live Well Again in 2008 (translated to French and written Mandarin), and is lead contributor to many free patient resources offered by Pain BC.

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You can learn more about Neil Pearson on the Pain Care Aware website. 

You can also follow his work on Instagram @paincareaware

For more links and resources mentioned in this episode, find the show notes at movedtomeditate.yoga/podcast.

The Ease In To Meditation course starts on January 28th! Check out this accessible movement-based approach to learning mindfulness. 

Feel free to reach out through my website with any episode requests, topics you'd like to hear about, or guest interview suggestions. You can also connect with me on Instagram or Threads at @addie_movedtomeditate (for mindfulness, movement, pictures of Pacific Northwest nature, crocheting projects, and my adorable kitty, Mustache).