Finding What Works for You: A Personalized Approach to Mind-Body Tools

There’s no one-size-fits-all approach to chronic pain. What helps one person might not

land for another—and that’s not a failure. It’s just part of the process.

When you’re living with pain, it’s easy to feel pressure to “fix it”—to find the one perfect

technique or strategy that will make it all go away. But healing is rarely that

straightforward. Often, it’s more like building a toolkit: trying out different practices,

noticing what helps, and letting your approach evolve over time.

Some people are drawn to techniques like “mindfulness” or “breathwork”, which can

support greater body awareness and help calm the nervous system. Others connect

with “yoga nidra”, a guided form of deep rest that promotes healing by inviting the body

into stillness. Tools like “parts work” allow for gentle exploration of our internal

landscape—acknowledging the many different “parts” of us that carry emotion, pain, or

protective roles.

And some find powerful shifts through “Emotional Freedom Techniques” (aka “EFT

tapping”) a simple yet effective practice that combines acupressure with focused

awareness.

These aren’t just techniques—they’re invitations. Each one offers a different way to

listen to yourself, to soothe your system, and to work with pain rather than against it.

What’s more, these practices don’t have to be used in isolation. In fact, many people

find that integrating different tools—like combining tapping with parts work or

breathwork with mindfulness—can create a more supportive, layered experience.

There’s room to mix and match, to weave together what works for you.

It’s also worth noting that what helps can shift over time. A practice that feels grounding

one week might feel inaccessible the next—and that doesn’t mean you’ve lost progress.

It just means your needs are changing, and your toolkit can adapt with you.

You don’t have to love meditation. You don’t have to “get” tapping right away. And you

don’t have to force anything that doesn’t feel right. What matters most is that you’re

honoring your own pace and paying attention to what feels supportive.

You might be surprised by what begins to shift when you feel safe enough to

experiment—without judgment or urgency. Sometimes, the smallest practices become

the most powerful. A hand on your heart. A breath that says, “I’m here.” A moment of

rest that reminds your system it doesn’t have to stay on high alert.

You don’t have to commit to a whole system or philosophy. You just have to stay open to

the possibility that relief can come in many forms.

Curious how it works?

Let’s take a closer look at one tool that many people find helpful—EFT “tapping.”