In This Episode

• Meet MAP Practitioner and medical intuitive, Elynn Light, and hear about how she works with the mind to resolve chronic pain patterns . 
• How resolving mental and emotional patterns can change the brain's perception of pain.
• Why Elynn calls her certification in the MAP Method "the best investment" she's ever made.

Show Notes

Join me for episode 77 where we hear from MAP Practitioner, Elynn Light,, about how she uses the MAP Method of neural retraining for chronic pain patterns and trauma healing. Hear how she learned about the method after training in many other techniques, including hypnosis, and why she calls it the “best investment she ever made” – the most fun to use and with the best results.

In this episode we discuss:

• Elynn’s background in nursing and the many alternative modalities that she has trained in to resolve her own pain from a car accident.
• Her observations of the impact of working with the subconscious mind with a hybrid hypnosis method.
• Her assessment of hypnosis vs. the MAP Method.
• Why she decided to train in the MAP Method and why it is her primary modality still.
• Her focus: helping people release pain naturally and how she uses her intuitive skills in MAP sessions.
• How physical symptoms, including “real pain” can be resolved by working with the mind and our thoughts and emotions.
• The connections between trauma and chronic health issues.
• How sensitive clients are more strongly impacted by even small painful emotional events.
• A client with thyroid issues who improved after a session on a painful emotional memory.
• A client with leg pain that resolved subconsciously-held negative emotions.
• The same part of the brain that processes emotional pain also processes physical pain.

If you enjoyed this episode, you may also enjoy hearing my discussion in episode 74 about MAP for Chronic Pain. Check out our MAP for Chronic Pain program at https://www.mapforhealth.us

To learn more about the MAP Method, please visit  MAPforHealth.us for our free courses and all of our MAP Programs. To schedule appointments online, please visit: TCNeuralRetraining.com.

Full Transcript

Note: generated by AI, accuracy not guaranteed.

[Music]

Welcome to The Flourish with Neural Retraining Podcast.

I'm your host, Madeleine Lowry, founder of Twin Cities Neural Retraining and a certified

MAP Method practitioner, specializing in anxiety, sensitivities, and chronic symptoms and conditions.

Join me for episode 77 where we hear from MAP practitioner, Elynn Light, about how she uses

the MAP Method of neural retraining for chronic pain patterns and trauma healing. Hear how she learned about the method after training in many other techniques, including hypnosis, and why she calls it "the best investment she ever made", the most fun to use and with the best results.

As always, we must disclaim that the information we share in the podcast is for educational

purposes only. As MAP method practitioners, we do not diagnose or treat disease.

Instead, we work with the mind to optimize health.

Now let's talk with Elynn.

Thank you so much Elynn. I'm really, really happy to have you on my show today and I'm really excited to talk to you about your work with the MAP method, a method that I know and love.

Yes.

And hear all about how you found this method and how you use it and your successes with

it. So welcome Elynn.

Madeleine, thank you so much for having me.

It's a pleasure to be with you today as always.

So Elynn, let us know a little bit about your background and how you came to this work

because this is a very little known method and I'm always curious to hear how different

people have come to it.

Yes. You know, I'll give you the brief brief of my background. I was in nursing and then I went

to alternative medicine and then I started studying all these different alternative modalities

and perhaps the motivator for me was my own body pain.

I was in a car accident at age 19 and so that put me on a journey for what else can I do

to get out of pain, which is natural, a natural method I didn't want drugs or surgery and

certainly today I wouldn't want opioids.

So I went on this journey for all these alternative modalities. I would say possibly 30 years of them and so you just keep collecting methods, modalities and closer to, so that's way back and then zooming in closer the five years around coming to MAP.

I got certified in rapid transformational therapy which was a hybrid hypnosis. And I was delighted to see how speaking to the subconscious mind could change somebody's life.

I actually had a client that was a school teacher and she had like Crohn's so that whole

diarrhea, food situation so that she was unable to eat because of having to go to the bathroom

at school. And then of course if you're teaching all day for eight hours and not eating, your

blood sugar is crashing. And in one hypnosis session that woman was 90% better.

You know when I and being a nurse I was surprised and I was like wow telling the subconscious mind is so potent, so powerful to see that this woman has struggled with this in like one session.

Now she's taking a vacation, on a plane, you know able to eat.

So I already knew that talking to the subconscious mind was powerful but that was jarringly like

what would you say pointed, you know a very pointed situation like whoa so I found that

with that not everybody was looking for hypnosis and the sessions were you know like three

hours and I don't love making the recordings and they're important.

So you know I just would feel like the sessions were long and expensive and you know so of course then I was like open to other things. Fast forward to the pandemic I moved out of California state to Washington state and everybody was then you know housebound and gaining weight. And everyone talked about the "COVID 20" and I thought oh my gosh I love EFT emotional freedom tapping. I'm going to get certified in this Brittany Watkins tapping for emotional eating.

I just thought, who wouldn't want this? And what a way to help a lot of people and have you

know make money. It is my profession you know, have a lot of clients, have fun, and help everybody lose weight. Won't this be fun?

Well I took the certification and I will say certain companies, certain teachers have better

structures in place to teach and to certify and to make tools easier to utilize.

I found that it was none of those things. Many of us were you know talking about what

should we do about all this money we just spent being unhappy candidates you know. And so

I will say there were some powerful takeaways. I mean anytime you're going to be spending

thousands of dollars and months and months training and practicing you are going to learn

something so I won't say it's wasted because there's those powerful takeaways.

A friend of mine was already in MAP and she kept saying you will love MAP you need MAP. And she knows that I'm very interested in trauma and have worked a lot on the emotional side so even

though I was a nurse, I was a psych nurse, addiction medicine, you know really working with the

psyche and the mind and the subconscious mind really has been my journey for I would say

40 years so this friend kept insisting that MAP was the end all be all. And I just thought well

do I want to invest in yet another certification and do all those practice pre sessions and studying

and learning... and I will say that it's the best investment I've made in my career.

It's the most fun, the best results. People at the end of a session will say,"Oh my God this worked so well for this issue, can we look at another issue? I mean it's a self propelling method because of the quick results clients are getting.

So that's my long story of how did you come to MAP a friend just

kept saying you've got to have MAP and I was like yeah I don't know so I am very glad that I finally

well I didn't not finally I didn't wait forever you know on but I listened I was glad that I jumped in.

Wow, what a story. So well you know people often ask me they say well this MAP is this like hypnosis and then they wonder could MAP which really only requires that we be in that meditative state, could it be as good as hypnosis or is hypnosis really better because we kind of like bypass in some way the conscious mind I don't know what is your thought about that since you have used both.

Do you know that such a great question. I remember receiving a hypnosis session.

I was assigned to do a half to do trade. I'm giving a long answer but I had to do this trade I did this

hypnosis session with a person I didn't didn't like or trust and I was the client right. And so I was

like oh my god I'm just I'm not gonna let myself sink I'm not gonna let myself go I don't want to be

vulnerable but I'll just you know have a session the session still worked even though I didn't really

let myself go as deep as you would in a hypnosis session.

And so this points to me that the subconscious mind is listening even if we aren't clocked out in some deep deep deep state and we see that over and over again I almost want to say the subconscious mind is listening we don't have to be in that deep state.

And some people really worry like when we're in a hypnosis state of mind most people say what

don't feel any different. I don't think I'm hypnotized. And then we get into that whole conversation about am I deep enough? or am I hypnotizable? And oh, and so this reminds me of MAP in a particular session that I received with one of the MAP practitioners comes to mind on this. I was doing a session for pain in my hip and when that practitioner went to the anatomy commands and he's going through all the systems and he says urinary and I said yes please I mean he did this just cursory of adding the urinary system in with the commands and my bladder symptoms changed a minimum of 50 percent on frequency and urgency. With a slight, he only mentioned you know we're going through of course I'm working on a hip so I'm thinking muscle system skeletal system maybe the nervous system he just throws in urinary and boom I'm like oh my gosh and as a woman it's really nice to not be having that aggravation of having to run to the potty or have to worry about pantyliners. I'll be forever grateful to Ed.

Yes, doctor Ed?

Yes so I don't think we need to be that deep.

Yeah possibly for for some types of things maybe buried memories, I don't know. I never

do it anymore.  I just go straight to MAP. 

I mean it's an interesting question because I have seen in you know in the chats of MAP practitioners several people who were trained in hypnosis, who had

a lot of training hypnosis and have come to MAP and have said I don't do hypnosis anymore.

I just don't do it. It's not necessary and MAP is just easier. Like MAP just seems to work

for most people. Yes right from the first try, so we don't yeah it that's unnecessary.

Yes yes there's that whole you know going down the ten stairs and where they deep enough and checking and you know with MAP I'm like it was very surprising to me that the subconscious mind is this responsive you know?

And we know that our subconscious is going to protect us and and we see that in MAP if there are any parts that really have an agenda to protect us they will they will be in there. It's a really nice

difference. it's just MAP is quicker or more fun you know there's less investment often per session

depending on which practitioner you're seeing you really get more bang for your buck with with

MAP better results.

Yeah well thank you for sharing that. So you've learned all these things over all

these years and then you learn the MAP method and so now is is that the foundation of your practice or you do use a lot of different tools at the same time?

You know that's a great question. Another reason why I love MAP is because we can incorporate any other tools and so I start with MAP and then as you know Madeleine we we work with a chart to have the super conscious say where to go first and follow just because my mind might say oh they have a pain in their hip let's go to anatomy and command those muscles to release and let go but I follow the chart like we're trained.

I follow my clients unconscious mind and very often it will take me to energy and so in MAP we can go to anything that's blocked in chakras or in meridians but when when I first

started my pendulum was taking me to energy energy energy. But it wasn't chakras or meridians.

And so that's where it tells me use your intuition or use something else.

So of course it's really fun to just have this structure like oh it's anatomy tell a muscle you know come into the muscle system and give our commands that we know by heart and just boom boom boom but when it goes to energy I've like oh no I'm on my own again with my intuition.

But I'm just you know developing trust in faith more and just saying okay am I meant to use this system that system this system or am I meant to just close my eyes and see what I see? And so the beauty of MAP is that we can bring in all of our other skills and talents and one of my strengths is my is my intuitive gift for healing.

I don't know when anyone's going to win the lottery or get married or what color car to buy

but when it has to do with the body and the health I'm telling you the information I get is...

You know as an intuitive I had an example this week, at the beginning of the session I get energy.

I'm like okay here we go I'm going to close my eyes and let's see what I see

and so I saw this dark energy in somebody's center and almost like a big knife coming into their

heart and so I use something called active scalar waves and it's basically just energy to move

eject release remove.

It's like there's it's just like taking your trash out if there's energy

there we don't want the body we just command and whatever way you use scalar waves

commanding that energy out. And you know it's sometimes the sessions are are pretty like

whoa wild you know? I'm like releasing this energy and then I see this like mummy body coming out of this person and it's like you know I I would never make that up you know it's this it's almost like you know them what's that phrase they say? Anyway yes exactly I'm like yeah I never made that up so.

And then you know day or two later just something more normal like close my eyes

he was going on in a leg and then it looks like a tight band squeezing the leg but bringing that

intuitive visual in gives you know gives me useful information and then clearing that out then we

come back and see what's remaining and then come back to the MAP commands to say is there anything else in MAP that would be useful in treating this symptom for the person? So I I love that MAP is that fluid.

What words would you say Madeleine? It's just it's very friendly.

Yes I think of it as a Swiss army knife kind of.

Yes, ooh I like that can I borrow that?

Sure yeah.

It's like well the knife not really the tool we need, let's pull that corkscrew out. Yes you know a lot of times people come to me that have been everywhere and they'll say you're my last stop or I'm desperate or I've tried everything and you know people come with things that probably aren't going to be simple easy fixes. So we want to bring in all this wonderful information to be able to help them.

Yeah so tell me more how you use this in your practice are you can you tell us a little bit about what kinds of issues you focus on in your practice?

Yes well my website says release pain naturally. And so because of my journey has been with body pain you know I've got a lot of experience physically emotionally and energetically about what those journeys are like and so when somebody comes in and they do say when

you're picking a niche as a coach: What has been your journey? Well my journey has been about pain and health and how do I get better, and that includes the emotions that go along with.

You know when you've had struggles you could feel powerless or depressed or frustrated from just dealing with something, spending so much money not in not being where you want to be with your health so my website says release pain naturally but because my practitioner listing also includes trauma and success, I really do see the gamut of people.

Right now I'm doing working with people with some health issues

They're like I had this incident and I've been dizzy ever since and they've been to doctors

and the doctors are saying there's nothing wrong you know there's nothing we can do for you

and so it's really exciting to just get these unusual physical symptoms where somebody is

struggling and it's impacting their life.

So I mean I'm actually working with somebody right now that's around 50 and in a transgender journey and all you can imagine that there are emotions that come up with that and and I think we learn as practitioners. You know because my first my first thought was well can't... so if you're born a male but you're a sensitive kind whatever male can't you just stay in your male body and express your feminine your beautiful heart and your beautiful spiritual nature without changing the body? You know we just kind of start there like is all this really necessary? You know all this gender changing? Can't we just express or masculine as a feminine or and so you know we get to learn too, because we have to drop... I've had to you know just drop judgment and be present.

Be present to what's going on for that person and see are they needing to release those

emotions and traumas from their childhood and I don't think it's just a gender journey. It's like

in childhood if we weren't supported and loved for every aspect of ourselves, which most of us

weren't, you know supported and encouraged, we're going to have those disempowering emotions. We're going to have those belief imprints and some of this is going to be expressing through physical medical issues. You know like whatever I'm now allergic to life and everything in it right because my childhood does not feel good to me. And so I think that is is a gift to just be able to listen and be present. And we're always still learning and growing as practitioners.

Mm-hmm yeah I think what we learn as mad practitioners is really how to be be there for the client who whoever is there for you know seeking our help. We are really, we really have to be completely neutral, right, open to whatever it is that they're bringing completely compassionate and understanding and loving. I mean I think that is the secret sauce-- we have to love that person

that is in front of us that we are trying to help, because that is the energy that we need to transmit

in way.

And you're absolutely right. That is the energy we need to transmit! I have received

craniosacral therapy over the years and my practitioner locally is one of the teachers and he says

I tell my students that being present is the most important thing that I do.

And you know that just sticks like okay get in your heart get present and I love that you're actually

using the word love because when we're in that loving space we're creating a safe space and then

whatever needs to come forth can come forth. Yeah so it's it's a sacred you know this kind of moves me to tears really because we're providing a sacred healing space and we're providing love

and in that space of love we get to see miracles happening. Miracle healing things that have

really plagued and hurt our clients for sometimes many decades and so it's it's really an honor to be in this healing journey and to meet other practitioners like yourself who are doing the same

and similar things you know it's it's um I think it's um sacred work.

Yeah as you said it's an honor it's a privilege and I think one of the things people don't

understand is that when they are you know choosing a MAP practitioner it's not just that we're

schooled in this modality, right?  It is who the person is as a person that is what we are bringing

to the work, you know, it is what we know about MAP, what we know about everything else that you've learned, your life experiences, and who we are as a person.

Because as we go through that MAP certification program we're doing a lot of self work. There's a lot of self healing happening right? We are going ,to many many many MAP sessions ourselves to clear things clear things, clear things, clear things, so that we can be that that clear channel

for the person that comes to us for for help or for healing.

Yeah absolutely Madeleine you've  said that very beautifully and you're very really gifted not only with your use of words but with your skill with MAP. I really loved receiving the session from you last month and look forward to continuing to experience your work again sometime.

Thank you. So tell us more about how you use the MAP method to deal with chronic pain because I would say this is a really big hurdle that people have to get over is their understanding of like how is it that we can work with the mind which is emotions and thoughts belief systems that kind of thing to change something that they perceive to be physical.

Yeah and the first the first thing is it's like: yes you have a physical symptom and so we take a pause. And what do people do that have a physical symptom they go to a doctor a chiropractor a massage therapist if not a surgeon a neurosurgeon. They're like cut this off me! Take this away! Right? And so I even noticed myself when I have pain I'll be like oh what supplement can I take for this and it does even I mean as much as I am ingrained that the first thing you do what you have pain is look for the emotion, look for the belief, look for the energy, even me I'll be like oh let's have some more anti-inflammatories! Let's take some more vitamins! 

I think somehow we're hardwired because it's physical we think we should do something physical and so I have to affirm my clients: yes it's physical, and no you're not crazy, you know that's step number two. Like no you're not crazy you do have a physical pain this--you're not making it up. You're not crazy but if you've had pain and suffering long enough then you start to get willing well I've exhausted every physical avenue there is for this pain maybe I should look somewhere else.

Yeah on my journey I had all of the deep tissue physical things from chiropractic to Rolfing to you know let's just try to urr you know man handle that body to let that thing go! And then I found cranio-sacral work which is when we're trained they say use a nickel's worth of pressure on the body. And my brain was in such resistance I'm like oh my god this can't possibly do anything because they're putting a fulcrum in the body of a nickel's pressure.

Like what would the weight of your fingers that it takes to hold up a nickel that's what they train

us for. It's light pressure and it is so powerful. And now this was the you know many years ago I don't know how many if I had to guess I'd say 20. I had to switch from all this deep heavy stuff to go oh something that's more subtle and lie there and try to be patient because me, I'm a like: Let's wrap it up! let's get it done! Let's get it moving! And so then to have to be in that space of I'm trusting my body knows what to do here.

We are so... it's a mindset change to go from I need a darn baseball bat or a surgical

scalpel or something I need this pain is big, I need something big in the physical realm! It is so

normal to go there. I still I do I just have to like discipline myself and say let's look first

to the energetic, emotional, and the belief. What's going on?

So that's so when I'm working with clients I use a pendulum and charts and I'll say: What is the primary cause? What percentage of this is physical? And so for me because I I'm now inclined to go what are the emotions being carried in there and held in those muscles? What emotions are being held on in those muscles?  So I'll just say what percentage of this is... Well, actually the first question we should ask is is this even yours? Are you carrying it? Is this just energy you're carrying that's somebody else's and it needs just an energy release?

So when I'm working with a client I'm going to check: is it yours? How much of it is

emotional? How much of is energetic and how much of is physical? Because maybe they need a

psoas release. I don't want to spend three sessions releasing emotions on them with they need a

psoas muscular release to get their hip to let go.

So I think that's another beauty of MAP is we're not just coming in with one thing. Oh if I'm a physical therapist and thinking of a hip pain then I want to do psoas and cupping and dry knee the like. No I'm asking: What's needed here? Because I don't know.

And if I show up like that like you were talking about being present and being an open channel if I

come to pain as an open channel then we can move through it more quickly.

Do you have any more questions about how I would work with pain? You know it's kind of the water I swim in so I can't tell if I really answered that question.

Well yeah. I think you know I work with chronic pain also. As I said it's one of the hardest things for people to understand how working with the mind could affect something they feel is real pain.

"Real pain."

Real pain, right, and I mean I even did a session yesterday and this was for someone I had done a lot of sessions for, and she said to me: "Like this is real pain, you know."

And you know I just did the session anyway and her "real pain" came down through this from

 a 10 to a 3 during a 90-minute session. Right so even quote real pain has exacerbating factors that are in the mind. And that's what people don't understand right when you're talking about... uh I'm not talking about acute pain here right? If you broke your leg,  you like there's going to be pain yes. If you burn your finger there's going to be pain right? But when when you're talking about chronic pain patterns, yes there is something going on in the mind that is contributing to that.

As you said it we're not going to say it's 100% but there is something going on in the mind that may be intensifying the perception of pain because pain is all about perception. I like to explain to people that there is no pain until that nerve impulse is interpreted by the brain. And i,f the brain is in a fear state it is going to over interpret a pain signal right.

Yes.

The brain can even it can create pain where there is no signal.

Yes.

It is that powerful.

It is that powerful! I'm glad we were digging in to this...

Yes and they call that this well one of the schools of thought calls it central nervous

system pain because as you, Madeleine, you are brilliant and so you probably already know this but we're on the topic so central nervous system pain. It's where then we've got to get the brain

in the nervous system calm down because it's overreacting with all that fear and likely some you know there's usually a reason how that brain got that way.

And how things are going when I was in college I remember thinking oh I'm a hypocondriac I am going to ignore all of my body symptoms I don't care what they are I'm just not going to listen today and at the end of the day I had an actual pin in my clothing it was poking me poking me but I chose to ignore it and I'm like oh there was some cause there! But it's really a good skill to learn to command that brain to calm down.

Yes and I know some people that are only now working with central nervous system pain and no matter what they're experiencing they're telling the brain: I'm safe it's okay shut up! I think that's an extreme also.

So anyway I think it's good to understand all the ways that the body can create pain and all

you know the different ways that we can address it. But if a person's not addressing and using

that subconscious mind they're really working with a hand tied behind their back aren't they?

Well it's just something that I think is often productive to explore you know.

I agree.

Yeah and  we have grown up in a culture that sees physical issues, symptoms, you know as

having a physical cause and need to be addressed on a physical level. And in many cases we you know we've kind of beaten that horse past death, you know. I mean right? And you as someone who's gone through this journey you you felt that in your own life like there must be something more that could be helpful because I've tried all these things and they're just not helpful enough.

Yes!

I mean I'm not saying you should stop doing any of the things that you find helpful but if you

haven't also added in some way of working with the mind the subconscious mind you know I think maybe you're missing an opportunity

I agree more than 100%. And because of the the amount of money and the number of years and the amount of suffering that I was in, I like to help shortcut that for people. It's like, I'm like don't spend 10, 20, 30 years pounding out all of these... I love that you said "beat the horse beyond death." It's like okay well I'm going to find the next doctor, the next doctor, the next doctor, and God forbid they're on a million drugs because that really can be so harmful to the body's capacity to heal.

You know so yes I love that you're really accentuating the point the point because it's so hardwired in us: if I have physical pain, there's got to be a physical reason. And then the next step is usually what doctor do I need to see right?

Yeah and when you step onto that path then you're stepping onto the path of drugs

and surgery which is what doctors are trained to give us. And once we start cutting the body up

it's harder to heal when you, because you've interrupted those energy systems, and some of those natural healing pathways. I'm not saying that surgery is never necessary, I'm just saying don't jump to that as a first conclusion you know.

Right yes because surgery is hard to recover from even if it's successful you know it's recuperation time is is significant so yeah yes and it's worth looking at your options.

Yes so tell us more about you know what kinds of issues you work with and what kind of results you've seen. Maybe you can tell us about a couple of your clients and how working with the minds yeah emotions working with the thoughts the belief systems and you talked about trauma... Trauma you know can you talk a little bit about how trauma and things like chronic health issues like pain are related.

Yes actually one client comes to mind and I haven't seen her in a while so I'm trying I'm wracking my brain for what else was in her history. Okay but you know many of us have had a sexual boundary crossed either in a touch, I mean the extreme would be well, the extreme extreme would be violent rape, but sometimes a person has had something like an unwanted touching and it could be brief .

So I have a client I mean and this is another time where we have where I have to drop judgment be neutral and come in love because when you hear that somebody had a two-minute incident and it wasn't rape and it's having this extreme impact on their life. It's like you know in our culture we say put your big girl panties on get over it, move on!

Or we assume that it couldn't be the problem right we just assume there's maybe something

else.

That's a good point too. There must be something else. But with this case I just knew okay it's this incident.  So this gal was on I don't know her she had her thyroid taken out because her thyroid the blood test numbers everything was just so off the charts. And so when you have the hyperthyroid you know it's a burns too much and you can't sleep and you probably

already know this but for listeners anybody who wants to know so when these numbers are so high with the thyroid-- that's in your endocrine system -- so it's affecting everything it's throwing you off and likely you're gonna be you know in that fight or flight whoa whoa whoa everything is kind of too excitable.

But the point is with this client she'd you know done all the medical stuff including having her take thyroid taken out there's the surgery she had taken different medications she's on

this monitoring she had one MAP session with me where we went back to that childhood incident.

But she you know she just really carried this sexual boundary crossing. By the way of a woman to

woman-- it's not always a man. So we also have to let go of that you know and she's like every time I drive by their their house and this was I'm guessing more than 20 years ago so all those triggers that are still like I drive by her house. I'm living in the house where it happened whatever those triggers are.

So we did one MAP session she had the blood test her numbers came into a very normal range. I

you know what I actually oh my gosh I have it right in front of me! Thyroid blood levels she says are now right down the middle the numbers were up to 30 and 50 then it went to 11 and the one I spoke with her last she said they're now 1.3. And this was doing the emotional release and letting that little girl you know release the trauma of that event. Very often when we don't speak up and we're holding all that it affects the thyroid and the throat as you likely know, Madeleine, and so sometimes the body part is really related the body part that's affected is really related to what didn't happen or what did happen right.

So in this case I mean that was so much I mean fun for me to go oh there's a blood test that says this worked! We went from 30 to 1.3 so that's that's an example of thyroid and a big change. And so that was clearly that was clearly an emotional situation that had that very strongly physical impact on this woman's life you know trying to work when your systems are that out of balance is you're really fighting against a lot of energy. There's such a big energy drain when when people are in pain or have like a thyroid that's out of control.

Yeah yeah yeah.

I mean it's a great story. It also illustrates that you know it is not just what happens to you but

is what your mind does with it right? For sensitive people even a small incident can have an

outsized effect.

Yes yes that's right so because I'm a sensitive person I never question when somebody

brings a sensitive issue to me you know we take them seriously and with compassion and just show up to work with what's there. Yeah this work is so rewarding when we see these kinds of results

That might be a good enough example unless you want others.

Yeah I mean maybe you could talk about a chronic pain client and what you observe of the mental and emotional roots you know that contributed to their pain.

Well yes I had a client this week who has you know he's a vet so he can go to the VA and see as many doctors for getting some more physical answers for that physical pain and take some drugs for it. So I close my eyes and I said what I'm seeing is a tight band around your leg and as I feel into it, it just like intuitively goes: Oh that's anger!

It's like a you know a tightness. Yeah and so it's great if the if the answer comes to the client but

if it comes to us, we could say: Do you fill that tightness? Yeah. So do you fill that tightness

and then my question would be: Is it holding anything in? or is it holding something out? To really help that client drop in energetically and emotionally.

So this guy just gone through a divorce. Well it's no fun to have to give over half of your money I don't care what gender you are right. If you're having to give up half of everything you've worked for your whole life for it would certainly be normal to have some some anger and that was locked in the leg, you know.

And and so oh here's the other thing that people do: It's in the past. I've made peace with it.

Do you get that Madeleine?

Yeah.

Yeah it's in the past .I've made peace with it. I'm like well maybe you did, but  your body hasn't right! And so you know... and a lot of us are not what you would call like I don't go around like an angry person. I'm not angry. I don't express anger but like this divorce case would be certainly a really poignant case to say, yes but was there any part of you that felt like you don't deserve it. I don't want to give you half.

You know like that part that might want to say: Hell no! You know like I'm not giving this to you.

And then the adult self shows up in the mediation and is very kind and agreeable and and settles.

And in MAP we talk about parts having reactions and that we have different parts so there's

that one part that says: I'm gonna be adult, I'm gonna be kind. I'm gonna settle. And then there's

the other part that is possibly in rage or anger. Or you know, who knows, defeat sadness like in divorce. I'm sure there's a lot of things like it didn't work out I'm a failure I'm sad I'm blah blah blah blah blah blah.

And so it would certainly make sense that the body could be carrying some of this. You know so

anyway he dropped from a six to a two when we released that anger. I just said you can do it

inside your head or you can speak up. And I know with MAP we say we can just give a command to release it, but my style is if there's something that wants to be expressed or said I'll make space you know.

Like what would that part... if you wouldn't be in trouble or carted off to jail, what would that part

like to say or do? And I always say I'm not saying we're gonna leave this session and go do it.

The whole point is to release the energy out of the body. Yeah yeah because you know we want to keep that smiling, I'm a good person, good face onto the world. But what about all the anger that we've swallowed and the frustration and the irritation and that's just one of the emotions that that can be carried in the body, right, because you know there's more there's more emotions than anger.

But this particular case this guy had seen so many doctors and you know it's gone on for years and he's a super young 68 year old, you know, we we would still call him an athlete but he'd cut into his athletic prowess. You know to the point where he's like what's happening to me in my life? And all you know all of that and so it's really fun to give people back their vitality and their capacity to engage and enjoy life.

Absolutely. Thank you for you know just giving us that example, right, because it is...

I like to remind people that it's the same part of the brain that processes or

interprets those pain signals that is also processing emotional pain.

Yes right.

The same part of the brain. And some part of the brain or some of us we take our painful emotions and we don't feel them but we transmute them to physical pain. Now not everyone does this. I'm sure you and I'm sure you're aware with working with the clientele that you do often what we see is that this is a pattern that is laid down when we are young. In childhood these are patterns that are created when we are young because of course that's when the nervous system is developing. That's when all of the sort of default behaviors are being created.

All those conditioned behaviors so many people who have these chronic pain syndromes you know there was something in their childhood that prevented them from maybe dealing with their emotions appropriately right. They had to bury them they had to hide them.

Their negative emotions weren't okay.

They weren't allowed or maybe there was stuff going on at home that was chaotic, or it was abusive, or it's for whatever reason like they had to suppress or repress how they felt or what their needs are because there was a greater good right. They had to perform in some way keep themselves or their siblings safe. Or take on maybe more of a parentified role than should be normal for a child. So there maybe these are just a few examples, right, but there are reasons why.

This is what I see in my practice, right. There are often reasons why we see people with chronic pain symptoms and there are kind of the...it's almost like a two-step process right. There are patterns laid down a childhood and then often there is some kind of stressor, or life change. Something that preceded the development of the pain symptom. I mean of course it could be a car accident, right, but but for other people it is the divorce, or it is that time at work where your your idea was taken by someone else and something unjust happened to you.

Yeah.

I mean it could be anything but if you think back to when that pain symptom arose often there was something going on in the month to year or years prior. Feelings burdened by something that is kind of the step two of the process right that creates and perpetuates that pain symptom. Often that's helpful for people to think through when they think about: Could my pain symptom be something that could be improved by working with the mind?

Is there a contribution of the mind in what I am going through? And it might it be worth it you

know to to try a few sessions with with Elynn.

I mean how many sessions do you suggest for someone  who comes to you and says you know I have this chronic pain symptom it's been going on for some time? What do you suggest for like an initial trial.

I always tell people I'm very open to a one session wonder, but why don't we think about three sessions and then assess where we are at that time?

Yeah because sometimes it is a one session wonder. Yeah yeah people go... oh my gosh one time I had somebody refer someone to me and I you know they give you I give people the option of giving me a history you know and I got this like book. And I'm like whoa we're talking you know years worth!

She had one session I never heard back from her and I assumed she didn't like it. The person who

referred her said, "No she's touting your work, she's very happy, she's feeling great. sShe didn't feel the need to come back." You know sometimes it's someone just follows through fall through the track on the follow up and you don't get to hear that. And it was like really one session wonder got rid of like that whole book of everything that was going on. So we can hope for one, but realistically I know for myself I still have layers that I'm wanting to peel off because it just allows me to be happier healthier, just have more natural vitality.

So the short answer would be three sessions.

Yeah I agree with you. I agree with you while one session wonders can happen they are in my experience rare and three sessions for anything like a physical symptom.  I feel like three sessions is you know you're just starting to get the flow of a session you know starting to understand how this all works. And I think three sessions is a good trial, but then often for people who like the process they continue on right because three sessions in my work, it's usually not enough to get to the physical level. I feel like three sessions, we're still working at the mental and emotional level and the trickle-down effect often requires three more.

You know like at least three more sessions so yes so but three's good for to try the process to see how it works maybe you're feeling emotionally or mentally better after three sessions and you're thinking yeah you know this seems this really seems to work for me let's keep going.

Yes or they get excited want to take on another area of their life. Don't you hear that often? Like wow I'm just thinking of what other areas of my life I could use this for.

Yes. Madeleine, you have such a gift with words and I'm more of an intuitive so it's

harder for me to interpret like sensation and feelings but you are so blessed with being able to

use the words to really name what goes on, so I always enjoy a conversation with you because you spell it out in a way the mind really can get it. So I appreciate your contribution to this conversation.

Thank you, and I appreciate you taking the time to come and talk with me today because I

think there is a lot that we've discussed in this conversation that might help people to think about

what they are suffering with in a in a new way. To consider a new approach working with the mind and even consider working with a different modality, which would be the MAP method.

So yeah. And you are an amazing MAP practitioner and so I love that you're providing this service for people who are looking for answers and can choose to meet you and hear your expertise, meet me and hear some of my ways of being, and take those next steps on their healing journeys.

Thank you for taking the time to produce these podcasts because you we know it's time and effort to show up. We're here because we want to help people.

Yeah definitely. So Elynn if people want to learn more about your work and want to contact you what is the best way for them to do that?

My website is called releasepainnaturally.com, all lowercase. I welcome email phone calls and that should all be listed.

Perfect! Thank you so much, Elynn. I really appreciate you taking the time and sharing so much

of your experience and your knowledge.

It's been an absolute pleasure.

Thanks. for joining us for the Flourish with Neural Retraining podcast. Please listen again and remember to follow us and leave a review on iTunes, Spotify, Amazon Music, YouTube Music, or Pandora.

Check out our free courses about the MAP Method and all of our MAP programs including the MAP for Chronic Pain Program at MAPforhealth.us. Or schedule your introductory MAP session at tcneuralretraining.com.

Until the next time, be well and flourish.

Content of this podcast copyright 2024 by Twin Cities Neural Retraining.

Music by Barbara Benn.

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