I’m taking a few days off for my sister’s wedding, and I didn’t want to leave without giving you something worth sitting with.
This week I’m re-releasing one of my favorite Full Plate conversations — my interview with DK Ciccone on chronic pain, movement, and what it actually looks like to come back to your body after years of fear, restriction, and feeling like it’s let you down. And I’m making the full episode free (the paywalled second half included.)
On a personal level, I’ve lived with chronic pain for almost 20 years, and this conversation helped me put language to things I’d been carrying for a long time.
DK is a weight-neutral Pilates instructor, pain reprocessing therapy practitioner, and author of You’re Meant to Move. She brings both the science and the lived experience, which is a rare and deeply needed combination.
We cover a lot of ground: what’s actually happening in the nervous system with chronic pain, why the pain is completely real even when imaging shows nothing, the concept of kinesiophobia and how fear of movement compounds pain over time, and what it means to rebuild a movement practice that isn’t rooted in punishment or control.
We also get into why weight loss is not a solution for chronic pain (and why dieting may actually make it worse), the role of trauma and disconnection in the chronic pain experience, and DK’s “refuge and reach” framework for finding your way back to movement incrementally and with compassion.
If you’ve ever woken up wondering what part of your body is going to hurt today — this one is for you.
Lastly, if you’ve been a free subscriber and this episode resonates, I’d love for you to consider supporting the show at the paid level (if feasible for you). It’s what makes the work — and the occasional intentional days away — possible.
In this episode:
DK’s journey with chronic pain and her past as a dancer
How chronic pain forms and why the pain is real even in the absence of ongoing tissue damage
The nervous system science behind pain sensitization — and why catastrophizing physically amplifies pain
Kinesiophobia: the fear of movement that develops after chronic pain, and how to work through it
Somatic tracking and pain reprocessing therapy as tools for understanding pain signalsHow to explore the difference between pain and discomfort
DK’s “refuge and reach” framework for rebuilding a movement practice incrementally
Exploring functional movement versus “exercise”
The research debunking weight loss as a solution for chronic pain
Why restriction and dieting actually increase chronic pain risk — and the clinical evidence behind it
How trauma and disconnection from the body compound the chronic pain experience
What embodied movement looks like when you’re coming back from years of diet culture messaging
