"The body's intelligent. We just have to show up. I equate it to a dance where the body leads and I follow." —Peter Stuart
You can run from nagging pain, but it keeps showing up in new ways—wrecking sleep, fouling up moods, and shutting down energy. The worst part? Real answers are rare, and the world keeps telling you to just “push through” or “try harder.” Maybe it’s not about willpower at all—it’s about listening to the actual story your body’s been trying to tell for years.
Peter Stuart spent decades fighting through his own injuries, dismissed symptoms, and invisible struggles before discovering gentle myofascial therapy. His hard-won insights as a chronic pain “insider” and now trauma-informed therapist reveal what really keeps people stuck and what finally helps them move forward with less pain and more hope.
Get the truth about pain, trauma, and what real healing looks like, plus smart self-care tools, the science behind gentle relief, why support systems matter, how medical dismissal damages recovery, and the most overlooked reason chronic pain lingers in this episode.
Connect with Donna:
Website: https://www.donnapiper.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/donnapiper
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thedonnapiper
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thedonnapiper
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@thedonnapiper
Episode Highlights:
02:41 Pain and Identity: How Chronic Pain Changes Who You Are
10:30 Why Relief Doesn’t Last: Understanding Chronic Pain Cycles
18:09 The Mind-Body Link in Pain
27:33 How Trauma Gets Stuck: The Science Behind Chronic Pain
33:22 When Emotional Release Ends Pain
42:47 Overcoming Medical Dismissal
47:17 Chronic Fatigue, Brain Fog, and Healing Brain
55:00 Support Speeds Recovery
59:19 When Pain Affects Relationships
01:06:56 Fast Action Beats Waiting
01:12:36 Connection Heals: Why Real Relationships Matter
01:17:38 Don’t Wait: Heal Before It Gets Worse
Resources:
🎧Listen to Peter’s interview with Coach360
How Trauma Leaves a Mark and What It Means for Healing: https://www.coach360news.com/how-trauma-leaves-a-mark-and-what-it-means-for-healing/
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Life keeps piling on until your body keeps the score. It’s time to listen! Catch this week’s episode as Donna and trauma-informed therapist Peter Stuart drop truth bombs on trauma, chronic illness, pain relief, holistic healing, and smart self-care.
#DearBodyImListening #MCAS #Lymphedema #Lipedema #ChronicIllness #TraumaHealing #BodyWork #MyofascialRelease #InvisibleIllness
Quotes:
03:31 "It's a real identity shift. Not very talked about is when you lose who you think you are to pain, the amount of depression that sets in later on." —Peter Stuart
11:56 "My body is learning to survive but creating new pathways… Chronic pain is very insidious, and it changes you." —Donna Piper
14:59 "Aggressive styles tended to flare the nervous system, and the last thing you want to do is flare the nervous system with somebody who has chronic issues." —Peter Stuart
16:40 "A low-level pressure will create a change in the nervous system over time. It's patience… Incremental change over time creates permanency in the brain to make those changes happen and establish new neural pathways." —Peter Stuart
17:08 "The body's intelligent. We just have to show up. I equate it to a dance where the body leads and I follow." —Peter Stuart
18:56 "The pelvis is the foundation of the body. If you're off in your pelvis, everything above and everything below is going to be off." —Peter Stuart
25:12 "Sometimes people just want to tell their story— they just have pushed it down." —Donna Piper
30:22 "If you ignore people's scars, then you're doing them a great disservice." —Peter Stuart
34:18 "Most people will emote without making a connection to an event. It's just stuff that we've held on to—baggage—and just feeling like they have a safe place to allow that to happen." —Peter Stuart
35:41 "As much as your brain is trying to say, your thoughts are trying to control things all the time, your emotions and your feelings need to be expressed as well for health." —Peter Stuart
37:27 “No one goes through childhood unscathed. Everyone has stuff. Life brings stuff with us.” —Donna Piper
39:05 “Most people who get into my profession are very empathetic people and are on the sensitive scale pretty high— and that makes for a really good therapist to be able to understand that some people will have these traumas.” —Peter Stuart
42:06 "Most women usually underdo their pain… People can't see pain." —Donna Piper
56:51 "Having a provider that has that listening aspect is supportive, too…Just by not being dismissed, that's support." —Donna Piper
01:00:02 "Let's grieve what was so we can embrace this new path." —Donna Piper
01:06:59 "Once you recognize that you've changed, if there's a shift in pattern or your inability to do activities that you normally did, get on it. The sooner you get on your situation, the more likely you won't have to incur more, because trauma is cumulative." —Peter Stuart
01:10:36 “Being in relationship with what other actually is a healing aspect.” —Donna Piper
01:10:54 “It's the relationship between the therapist and the patient and the transference and countertransference—that is the magic. It's not really the technique always.” —Donna Piper
01:17:20 “If you want to get good at therapy, get therapy.” —Peter Stuart
Connect with Peter:
For more than 30 years, Peter has helped people overcome chronic pain and trauma through trauma-informed myofascial release — a gentle, body-led approach that integrates science, empathy, and nervous-system awareness. He teaches practitioners worldwide, emphasizing that true healing addresses the whole person, not just symptoms.
Peter’s grounded, compassionate style would complement Kristen’s audience beautifully, particularly around themes of emotional release, embodied healing, and reconnecting with self after trauma.
Website: https://stuartseminars.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/peter-stuart-88a18447/
