Heal Your Chronic Pelvic Pain – Details, episodes & analysis

If you've ever been told your symptoms are "all in your head," this episode is for you.

Today I'm joined by health psychologist, cognitive behavioral therapist, EMDR therapist, and author Dr. Sula Windgassen to discuss her incredible new book, It's All in Your Body.

Sula has become one of my favorite educators in the mind-body space because of her unique ability to explain the science behind chronic symptoms in a way that is both accessible and 

deeply validating.

Together, we explore why symptoms that often feel random, confusing, or "unknowable" are actually incredibly understandable when you begin to view the body as one integrated system.

Whether you're living with chronic pelvic pain, bladder symptoms, recurrent infections, or another chronic condition, this conversation will help you better understand what's happening in your body and why healing is possible.

In this episode, we discuss:

• Why "It's All in Your Body" is a complete reframe from "It's all in your head"
• The science behind the mind-body connection
• Why your symptoms make sense, even when medical testing is normal
• How the brain, nervous system, immune system, and body constantly communicate
• Why mindfulness and nervous system regulation feel so difficult when you're highly symptomatic
• The difference between acceptance and resignation
• Why suppressing emotions and thoughts often backfires
• Why trying to "think positively" isn't the goal
• The biology behind bladder urgency, pelvic pain, and pelvic floor tension
• How chronic stress can influence the immune system and recurrent infections
• Why the length of time you've had symptoms does not determine how long healing will take
• How small, consistent shifts can create meaningful change over time

Resources Mentioned

It's All in Your Body by Dr. Sula Windgassen

Follow Dr. Sula Windgassen:

• Website: https://healthpsychologist.co.uk
• Instagram: @the_health_psychologist_
• Podcast: How We Really Feel

Ready for the next step?

The doors to Beyond Chronic Pelvic Pain reopen in July. Inside BCPP, I'll teach you exactly how to apply these mind-body principles to your own healing through structured lessons, live coaching, and practical tools that help you change your relationship with symptoms, create safety within your nervous system, and get back to living your life.

👉 Join the waitlist here!

One of the most common pieces of advice in the mind-body healing world is:

"Just allow the sensation."

But what if allowing feels impossible?

What if a large part of you is screaming that this isn't okay, that you want the symptoms to stop, and that you wish things were different?

In this episode, I'm sharing why allowing symptoms often feels so difficult and the missing piece I see over and over again with my clients.

The answer isn't forcing acceptance.

The answer isn't convincing yourself you're okay.

The answer isn't suppressing the part of you that hates what's happening.

It's facilitating grief.

In this episode, I discuss:

• Why "just allow" can feel impossible
• The hidden grief that often exists beneath chronic symptoms
• Why suppressing your frustration, sadness, and anger creates more internal struggle
• How grief helps us stop fighting reality
• The relationship between grief, agency, and nervous system safety
• Why allowing the grieving part of you often makes allowing sensations possible
• How grief can become a powerful facilitator of healing

If you've been trying to force yourself into acceptance and it isn't working, this episode is for you.

Remember, healing is possible for you.

You've got this. 

Rooting for you, Always 💜

Connect with Rachel: 

Get on the waitlist for Beyond Chronic Pelvic Pain (doors opening again this summer)

Get Your Free Pain Flare Plan

Book A Pelvic Pain Strategy Session

IG: thepelvicpaincoach

Disclaimer: This podcast is for informational and educational purposes only and is not a substitute for medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.

If you’ve been doing the work:

✅Regulating your nervous system, 

✅Responding to symptoms with safety

✅Practicing self-compassion

…but you’re still not feeling better yet, this episode is for you.

Because one of the hardest parts of the healing journey isn’t learning what to do.It’s continuing to do it when it feels like nothing is changing.

In this episode, we’re talking about lagging results — the experience of doing the work without yet seeing symptomatic change.

And more importantly… how to stay in the process without spiraling, doubting yourself, or giving up.

Inside this episode, we cover:

• What “lagging results” actually are (and why they’re normal)
• Why constantly checking your symptoms can keep you stuck
• How urgency and outcome-dependence signal danger to your nervous system
• The real mechanism behind neuroplastic healing (what’s happening beneath the surface)
• Why healing often feels like “nothing is working” right before things start to shift
• The difference between inputs vs outcomes (and where to focus your energy)
• How to stay in the work, even when your brain is telling you it’s not working

The core message:

You are not doing it wrong.

The work is working.

The results are just lagging.

A reframe to take with you:

Healing is not like flipping a switch. It’s more like planting a seed.

For a while… nothing looks different. But underneath the surface, everything is changing.

Reflection questions to support you:

• Where am I measuring success only by symptoms right now?
• What inputs am I consistently providing, even if I can’t feel the results yet?
• What would change if I trusted that my nervous system is rewiring beneath the surface?
• What would it look like to stay in process without needing proof right now?

Want guidance and support?

If this episode resonates and you want guidance and support learning how to consistently ground back into what’s actually in your control, so your energy is moving in the direction of healing, Rachel would love to support you inside her coaching program, Beyond Chronic Pelvic Pain.

Inside the program, you’ll get a self-paced curriculum grounded in modern pain neuroscience and specifically tailored for healing chronic pelvic pain, along with weekly live group coaching calls where you can ask questions, get clarity, and receive support applying this work to your real symptoms and your real life.

You don’t have to do this alone anymore.You deserve to live a life beyond chronic pelvic pain.

👉 Learn more about the program here

Rooting for you, always

💜 Rachel

Disclaimer: This podcast is for informational and educational purposes only and is not a substitute for medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.

If you’ve been approaching your healing like something to figure out, fix, or do perfectly… this episode is for you.

In this conversation with psychotherapist and mind-body coach Lauren Garchow, we’re talking about something that doesn’t get nearly enough attention in the healing space: that fun, play, joy, and lightness are POWERFUL healing modalities.

We explore why so many of us struggle to access these states (especially if you’re driven, analytical, or used to pushing through), how pressure builds in the body and contributes to symptoms, and why expanding your life is actually part of how you heal, not something you wait to experience once you’re symptom-free.

This is a grounded, practical conversation that will likely shift how you think about “doing the work.”

Together, We Cover:

• How play, joy, and lightness help regulate your nervous system

• Why fun can feel unsafe or inaccessible (and what to do about it)

• The difference between top-down vs bottom-up healing

• How to start accessing joy when it feels completely out of reach

• Why trying harder can actually make symptoms worse

• The role of self-compassion and acceptance in healing

• How community and co-regulation support your nervous system

• What it looks like to expand your life while you heal

You don’t have to wait until you’re symptom-free to start living your life.

Even small moments of joy, presence, or lightness are doing something meaningful in your nervous system.

This work isn’t about forcing yourself to feel good.It’s about slowly expanding your capacity to experience more of the good.

If fun feels far away right now, start small:

• Listen to a song you love and notice how it feels in your body

• Watch something that makes you laugh (this counts)

• Spend time with someone who feels easy to be around

• Step outside and let your mind take a break

• Notice even one second of something enjoyable

Every little bit counts. 

About Lauren:

Lauren Garchow, LCSW, is a psychotherapist, mind-body coach, and speaker based in Los Angeles, CA. Her own chronic pain healing journey revealed the mind’s powerful ability to change and adapt, igniting a deep passion to support others in their mind-body healing.

As the owner of Lauren G therapy, she focuses on helping women feel at home in their bodies and has guided numerous clients through diverse chronic symptom challenges, including pelvic pain. Her work connects physical symptoms with the broader context of a person’s life, including their experiences, relationships, and identity—empowering clients to explore their minds and bodies with curiosity and compassion.

Lauren deeply values balance in her life. In order for her to show up whole-heartily in this work, she prioritizes having a full life outside of it. A key part of her healing journey was learning to have more FUN and lighten up on herself. She brings this perspective into her work, encouraging clients to cultivate play, creativity, and connection as part of their healing process.

• Website: www.laurengtherapy.com

• Instagram: @laurengarchow

• LinkedIn: Lauren Garchow

 Resources & Upcoming

Somatic Tracking for Dizziness (Live on Curable)March 27 at 10 AM PST→ Join + get 6 weeks free:

In this episode, Rachel introduces a powerful framework:

Stop Healing Thoughts vs. Keep Healing Thoughts

You’ll learn how to identify the thoughts that pull you out of the process of healing, and how to gently shift into thoughts that help you stay in it long enough for healing to actually happen.

In This Episode, You’ll Learn:

• Why your thoughts are not the problem, but how you relate to them is

• How your nervous system state influences the thoughts you think

• What “Stop Healing Thoughts” are and how they keep you stuck

• What “Keep Healing Thoughts” are and how they support healing

• Why healing doesn’t require perfect thinking, just staying in the work

• A simple practice to identify your own thought patterns and shift them
  

Your Takeaway Practice:

Take a few minutes and write down:

1. Your Stop Healing Thoughts (What pulls you into fear, hopelessness, or quitting?)

2. Your Keep Healing Thoughts (What helps you take your next step, even when it’s hard?)

This awareness alone can change everything.

Want Support Applying This Work?

If you’re listening and thinking, “Okay, I get this… but how do I actually apply it to my symptoms and my life?”

You don’t have to figure that out alone.

Inside my Beyond Chronic Pelvic Pain Healing Program, I walk you through exactly how to do this work step-by-step, with guidance, structure, and support.

You’ll learn how to:

• Understand your symptoms through a mind-body lens

• Reduce fear and nervous system threat

• Build safety in your body

• Return to movement, intimacy, and life

• Stay consistent in the work (even when your brain wants to spiral)
  

✨ Learn more here

Many people living with chronic pelvic pain hold onto the hope that if they just wait long enough, their pain will eventually just go away. 

You rest. You avoid certain activities. You give it time.

But months pass. Sometimes years. And the pain is still there.

In this episode, Rachel explains why time alone doesn’t heal chronic pelvic pain, and what actually creates healing.

If you've been stuck in the frustrating cycle of waiting and hoping things will improve on their own, this conversation will help you understand what’s really happening in your body and why a different approach is needed.

Chronic pain isn’t simply a matter of tissues needing more time to recover. When chronic pelvic pain persists beyond normal healing timelines, it often means the nervous system has learned a protective pattern that continues to generate symptoms even when the body itself is safe.

True healing happens when the nervous system begins to receive new signals of safety.

In this episode, Rachel breaks down the three key areas where safety must be rebuilt in order to retrain the nervous system and move out of chronic pelvic pain.

If you’ve been waiting for time to heal you, this episode will help you understand why that hasn’t worked and what can.

And most importantly, it will remind you that healing is still possible.

In This Episode

• Why it’s completely normal to believe that time will heal chronic pelvic pain
• The difference between acute injury pain and chronic pain
• Why persistent symptoms often mean the nervous system has learned a protective pattern
• How waiting, resting, and avoiding can unintentionally reinforce pain pathways
• The three types of safety your nervous system needs in order to heal
• Why healing chronic pelvic pain requires active nervous system retraining, not just time

Mentioned in This Episode

Listen to the Understanding Pain Series (Episodes 2–6) for a deeper explanation of pain science and neuroplastic symptoms.

Ready to Go Deeper?

If you’re ready to stop waiting for your pain to go away and start actively retraining your nervous system, Rachel invites you to join her coaching program:

Beyond Chronic Pelvic Pain

This 4-month coaching container helps you:

• Understand what’s actually driving your symptoms
• Retrain your nervous system out of chronic pain
• Build safety in your body, yourself, and your life
• Return to living a full and empowered life while you heal

The program includes a structured curriculum plus weekly live coaching calls with Rachel for guidance and support as you apply this work to your own body and life.

You can learn more here.

Connect with Rachel

Follow me on Instagram:⁠ @thepelvicpaincoach⁠

Get Your Free Pain Flare Plan (download): ⁠https://thepelvicpaincoach/painflareplan⁠

Disclaimer: This podcast is for informational and educational purposes only and is not a substitute for medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.

This is a special episode. It's the first time I've had a guest on the podcast. 

I sat down with Jill Mueller, a pelvic health physiotherapist with over 20 years of experience, whose own journey with endometriosis, period pain, and fertility challenges led her to dedicate her career to this work. Jill brings together pain science, nervous system education, and deep clinical expertise in a way that I find genuinely rare in this space.

If you have endometriosis, suspect you might, or have had a procedure and are still in pain, this conversation is for you.

We talk about what endometriosis actually is, why diagnosis is so difficult to access, what surgery can and can't do, and what else beyond the tissue may be driving your pain. We also talk about lifestyle, nervous system regulation, the role of emotional health in healing, and Jill's incredible interdisciplinary program, Endometriosis360.

I hope this episode gives you clarity, and most of all, hope.

In This Episode We Cover:

What endometriosis actually is, and why it's so often misunderstood

The different types of endo and where it can be found in the body

Why diagnosis is so hard to access, and what to look for in a provider

Imaging vs. laparoscopy: what the updated guidelines now say

Ablation vs. excision surgery, and why it matters

Why pain can return after surgery, and what that actually means

The role of the nervous system in driving endo-related pain

Conditioned responses, sensory remapping, and how the brain maps the body

Why support groups can sometimes increase distress rather than reduce it

Lifestyle factors, nutrition, and nervous system resilience

The Endometriosis360 interdisciplinary program

Why hope is not naive. It's necessary.

Resources Mentioned:

Endometriosis Network of Canada: find a provider in Canada

I Care Better (US): find a provider in the US

David Butler's Pin Box demonstration on YouTube (sensory motor dysregulation)

Inside Out 2 (genuinely assigned homework from both of us)

About Jill Mueller:

Jill has been a physiotherapist since 2001, but her passion for pelvic health was born from personal experience. After years of struggling with period pain and fertility challenges due to endometriosis, she shifted her focus to understanding and addressing the complexities of this condition.

Through deep dives into pain science and endometriosis research, Jill recognized a significant gap in education and practical support for those living with endo. Whether working one-on-one, leading group programs, or speaking internationally, she is dedicated to empowering people with pelvic health conditions and equipping healthcare practitioners with the knowledge needed to provide better care.

Jill is also a founding member and lead physiotherapist of Endometriosis360, an innovative interdisciplinary virtual group program designed to help individuals with endometriosis.

Connect with Jill:

Instagram: @endotogether | @endometriosis360 | @oakvillephysio

Websites: www.endotogether.com | www.endometriosis360.ca | www.hbpw.ca

Hope can feel almost dangerous when you’ve been living with chronic pelvic pain for months, years, or even decades.

If you’ve been dismissed.If you’ve been misdiagnosed.If you’ve been told your condition is “chronic” (and framed as permanent).

Then…

Of course hope feels naive. Of course it feels embarrassing.Of course your brain wants to protect you from getting your hopes up again (and potentially being disappointed or devastated…again). 

That makes sense. 

And also, we need some hope in order to do the work of healing. 

So, in this episode of The Heal Your Chronic Pelvic Pain Podcast, I’m breaking down:

Why your resistance to hope makes sense

How hopelessness becomes a nervous system protection strategy

The real reason your brain avoids hope (hint: it’s not about symptoms)

What’s actually required to allow hope back in

Why hope isn’t magical thinking or forced positivity

How hope directs your brain toward safety and possibility

Because the truth is:

Hope isn’t being delusional. It’s being directional.

What part of you isn’t allowing you to take your next step?

What is that part afraid will happen? • What is it trying to protect you from?

What would it need to know in order to soften, even slightly?

Can you promise yourself self-compassion no matter how this goes?

Because here’s what I truly believe:

It is safer to allow hope and try, than to deny yourself hope and the possibility of change.

If you’re listening and thinking:

“This makes sense… but how do I actually live this?”

This is exactly why I created Beyond Chronic Pelvic Pain.

Inside the program, you’ll learn how to:

Understand your pain through a pain science lens

Partner with your nervous system

Build emotional capacity

Stop symptom spirals

Reclaim movement, pleasure, rest, and your LIFE. 

This isn’t about enduring pain. It’s about teaching your nervous system that you no longer need it. 

You don’t have to navigate this alone.

👉 Learn more here

Reflection Questions from This Episode Want Support Applying This?

Healing is possible for you. You’ve got this. And I’m rooting for you, always

What’s the best tool for healing chronic pelvic pain?

Is it journaling? Somatic tracking? Pelvic PT? Breathwork? Visualization?

If you’ve spent any time in the mind-body healing world, you’ve probably heard someone confidently say:

“This is what healed me.” “This is the thing.” “If it’s not working, you’re not doing it right.”

And it’s confusing.

In this episode, I’m breaking down the truth:

All tools can work. And none of them are magic. Because it’s not about the tool. It’s about the intention behind the tool and the level of safety you’re building in your nervous system.

When chronic pelvic pain is neuroplastic, it’s not about damaged tissue. It’s about a nervous system stuck in protection mode. The practices themselves don’t heal you. What heals is the shift in meaning, fear, and internal safety that those practices create.

In this episode, we explore:

Why the healing industry often markets one tool as the answer
The real reason tools “work” for some people and not others
The difference between urgency-driven practice and safety-driven practice

The 3 categories of safety required for lasting symptom resolution
How to do a “Threat Audit” to identify where your real work is

When I look at healing chronic pelvic pain through a mind-body lens, I see three core areas that must be addressed.

✨ Safety in your body Understanding pain science. Reappraising symptoms. Learning that pain does not automatically mean damage. Teaching your nervous system that you are physically safe and your body isn’t broken.

✨ Safety with yourself Building self-trust. Allowing emotions instead of suppressing them. Practicing uncertainty tolerance. No longer abandoning yourself when symptoms spike. Reducing perfectionism and internal pressure.

✨ Safety in your life Looking honestly at boundaries, stress, relationships, work, routines, and alignment. Making your life feel authentically safe to live.

You likely don’t need more tools. You likely need a framework that helps you systematically build safety in all three areas.

If you’re ready to stop piecing this together on your own, I’d love to support you inside my four month coaching container:

Beyond Chronic Pelvic Pain Healing Program

👉 Learn more here

Healing is possible for you. You’ve got this.

Rooting for you, always 💜 Rachel

This episode covers one of the most important and most resisted concepts in healing chronic pelvic pain: radical responsibility.

This is not about blame, fault, or doing everything on your own. It’s about what shifts when you stop waiting for someone or something outside of you to fix this, and take the lead in your own healing.

If you’ve been holding out hope for the next doctor, test, medication, procedure, or protocol to finally be the thing that saves you, this episode gently but honestly explores why outsourcing can keep you stuck, and what becomes possible when you claim radical responsibility for your healing. 

Please note: This episode may feel activating. If you’re not in the place to hear this message yet, that’s okay. You can come back to it when you’re ready.

In this episode, we cover:

What radical responsibility actually means (and what it does not)

Why outsourcing healing reinforces waiting and helplessness

How the Western medical model conditions us to look outside ourselves

The grief that comes with accepting no one else can do this work for you

Why healing must happen inside your own nervous system

Reflection questions to help you apply this shift to your own healing

Reflection Questions from the Episode

Where am I still waiting for someone or something to fix this for me?

What am I afraid will happen if I fully stop outsourcing my healing? 

What feels unfair about having to do this work?

What grief have I not yet allowed myself to acknowledge?

If I stopped waiting today, what would I do differently today, this  week or this month?

You Don’t Have to Do This Alone

Even though no one can do this work for you, you don’t have to do it alone.

If you want guidance, structure, and support applying this work to your specific symptoms and your life, Rachel offers a coaching program designed specifically for healing chronic pelvic pain.

✨ Beyond Chronic Pelvic Pain includes:

A self-paced curriculum grounded in modern pain neuroscience

Weekly live group coaching calls for support and clarity

A grounded, compassionate space to stop waiting and start healing

👉 Learn more about the program here

Disclaimer: This podcast is for informational and educational purposes only and is not a substitute for medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.