Returning to movement and activity while recovering from pain can feel extremely high stakes. And it's often laced with advice, guidance & prescribed routines from professionals like PTs or physios, as well as fear, frustration, uncertainty and a host of other emotions. To recover from chronic pain, finding safety, ease, and even playfulness & laughter are incredibly important. What’s a shortcut to get there? An exploratory mindset when you move. Read on to learn exactly what an exploratory mindset is, how to cultivate one, and how it can help you in your pain recovery journey.

Imagine your brain not as a passive observer of reality, but as a prediction machine -- constantly making its best guess about what’s happening in your body and environment, and adjusting based on those guesses. Emotions and sensations like pain aren’t hardwired reactions that live in specific parts of your brain like we've long assumed. Instead, they’re constructed experiences. Your brain draws on your past history, context, and sensory input to make meaning and experience, and pain is one of those experiences. Keep reading to learn more about what leading-edge neuroscience has taught us about how the brain creates pain.

Working to create more space & ease from pain or challenging emotions? Slow down, tune into your body & mind, and get to know the little details about what you’re experiencing in the moment. When you slow down in mindfulness and get into the granular details of your experience, the activity of two important neural networks shifts significantly, helping your nervous system move from “fight or flight” to “rest & digest.” Learn more here about how a specific mindfulness practice can turn down the volume on intense feelings, and the neuroscience behind why it works so well.