About me
My name is Taylor Robertson, and I am a coach who helps people learn how to overcome neuroplastic chronic pain.
For over a decade, I dealt with various chronic symptoms throughout my entire body: runner's knee, tendonitis, shoulder issues, tension headaches, food allergies, to name just a few.
But by learning to discern the difference between neuroplastic and physical symptoms, I was able to eliminate most of the pain and symptoms I was experiencing and began living an active life again.
I offer one-on-one online coaching sessions with people to help them learn about neuroplastic healing techniques so they can start living a life with more mental and physical freedom.
Training
Holistic Life Coach & MindBody Syndrome TMS Practitioner
Foundational Pain Reprocessing Therapy (PRT) Training
Meditation Teacher Training (50 hour)
membership
International Institute of Complementary Therapists
My Story
I spent most of my twenties unable to run because of a searing pain that would radiate out of my left knee. This runner’s knee was the result of an ambitious training run but maybe not in the way you would expect. It wasn’t because this run had done permanent damage to my body; it was because I believed this run had done permanent damage to my body. That belief, as it turns out, was what caused my pain to persist for the better part of six years.
When my injury was at its worst, I was trying lots of different structural interventions (physiotherapy, yoga, stretching, etc.), but nothing seemed to help. With growing frustration, I found myself constantly getting injured, even in places other than my knee, regardless of how careful I was when doing physical activity. At the gym, I became semi-obsessed with getting my form completely perfect to minimize the risk of injury. But despite my best efforts, riddled with worry and anxiety, I just seemed to hurt a lot more than I would think a guy in his mid-twenties should be hurting.
It wasn’t until after much reading and research, mired in hopelessness and resignation, that I discovered how focusing on the body was not the answer. Counterintuitive, right? It seems so plausible that the place where the pain is emanating from is probably where the cause of that pain should be, right? It’s understandable we would think that, because sometimes it is true. We can truly hurt ourselves and the pain can be a true representation of what is going on in our bodies. That is a possibility, but I found that that's not always the case. Though resistant at first, I eventually came to realize that my mind could in fact be the sole author of the pain that I was feeling in my very body.
While it probably sounds too good to be true, I was indeed able to eliminate that pain by only using tools and techniques that involved my mind. That’s it.
The type of pain that I was dealing with is what we call neuroplastic, and what that means is that the pain is learned through repetition and fear. As I educated myself, I learned that there were neurocircuits in my brain that were sending distorted, inappropriate signals that led me to feel pain. But, luckily for us, the ‘plastic’ in ‘neuroplastic’ means that things can change. Those neurocircuits were not fixed, and, through patience and gentle perseverance, I was able to rewire those neurocircuits, causing my left knee to feel fine even after going on longer runs.
My left knee had healed back when I was 21, but it wasn’t until I was around 27/28 that I was able to tell my brain that the knee was okay, that there was nothing to be afraid of. Isn’t that wild? Nervous system-wise, it was all just a big misunderstanding.
Going through this journey, getting back to running feels like a miracle to me. For most of my twenties, I thought I’d never run again. But fast forward to today, here I am in my late thirties, running and feeling stronger than ever. So understandably, I want to share this with others, to show them that chronic pain is not necessarily a life sentence. I can’t claim that all chronic pain is neuroplastic, but I can claim that there is growing evidence that this is the true cause of chronic pain for a lot more people than we think. When you start to dig into the science, and when you start to apply the principles to yourself, the results can surprise you, profoundly.
Disclaimer
The information provided on this website is mainly for educational purposes and should not be used for diagnosing or treating a health condition, illness or disease, nor is it a substitute for professional care. If you suspect that you may have a medical or psychological issue, you should consult a health care provider in the field. This website provides advice on how to deal with neuroplastic chronic pain resulting from TMS through a mindbody perspective, and the content is not intended to serve as a substitute for drugs or other therapies.