0:01

Every

0:11

little thing you think

0:14

that you need Every

0:25

little thing you think that

0:27

you need Every

0:30

little thing that's just feeding

0:32

your greed Oh, I bet

0:34

that you'll be fine without

0:36

it You're

0:39

listening to The Minimalist Podcast with

0:41

Joshua Fields-Milburn and T.K. Coleman Yes,

0:44

thank you, Malabama. Hello, everybody. Today we're

0:46

answering your questions about minimizing chronic pain.

0:48

So let's start with our callers. If

0:50

you have a question or comment for

0:52

our show, we'd love to hear from

0:55

you. Give us a call. Our phone number is 406-219-7839 Or

1:01

better yet, you can email a voice

1:03

memo right from your phone to podcasts

1:05

at theminimalists.com Let us know if you're

1:07

a Patreon subscriber so we can prioritize

1:09

your message. By the way, big

1:11

thanks to our patrons. Your support keeps our podcast 100%

1:14

advertisement-free Because

1:17

sing along at home, y'all. Our

1:21

first question today is from Taylor in

1:23

Denver, Colorado. Hi, my name

1:25

is Taylor. How do I

1:27

let go of pain and anger I have

1:29

towards doctors who chose not to believe me,

1:32

resulting in a very long delay

1:34

in a formal diagnosis and medical

1:37

intervention? This has resulted

1:39

in permanent damage to my body and

1:42

chronic debilitating pain. I am

1:44

so angry and grieving

1:47

what could have been the quality of

1:49

life I have lost as

1:51

a result of their incompetence. I

1:55

appreciate any guidance or tips that you

1:57

can provide. on

2:00

how I can let this resentment and

2:02

anger go. Thank

2:04

you, Minimalists. Oh, Taylor, my

2:06

heart goes out to you and I certainly

2:09

identify with this because I have felt

2:11

that same sort of anger with respect

2:13

to my own chronic illness and chronic

2:15

pain. Now TK, throughout this episode, I

2:18

wanna talk to you about the three

2:20

things that really helped me minimize my

2:22

own chronic pain and disease. But first,

2:24

I think we should answer Taylor's question

2:26

head on. She's asking, how

2:28

do I let go of the anger

2:31

that I feel toward my doctors for

2:33

not helping me with my own chronic

2:36

pain? I'm thinking about

2:38

this quote from the Buddha when he

2:40

said, holding on to anger is like

2:42

drinking poison and expecting the other person

2:44

to die. And

2:46

isn't that what we do? I'm so mad at

2:48

you. I'm so frustrated with you. I'm so upset

2:50

by you. I'm so offended. You

2:52

make me so angry, TK. I'm

2:56

holding on to that poison. I'm drinking the

2:58

poison. I'm expecting it to affect you in

3:00

a way. And so I think maybe that's

3:02

the first thing to think about. There's another

3:04

quote that I wrote down here from Mark

3:07

Twain. He said, anger is an acid that

3:09

can do more harm to the vessel in

3:11

which it is stored than to

3:13

anything on which it is poured. Wow,

3:18

those are really powerful and powerful arguments

3:20

in the form of these pithy proverbs

3:22

for why it can

3:25

be deadly, why it can be self-destructive

3:27

to hang on to anger, even when

3:29

we feel very self-righteously justified about it.

3:31

I do think it's important to emphasize

3:33

the fact, however, that letting go of

3:35

anger doesn't have to be like a

3:37

game of hot potato, where

3:39

you drop it as fast as possible.

3:42

And the goal of the game is to get

3:44

rid of it in as short of a time

3:46

as is conceivable. Letting go

3:48

can also take the form of

3:50

doing something constructive with that, sending

3:53

it out into the world, radiating it, projecting

3:56

it outwardly in a way that is healthy

3:58

or in a way that's created. sleeping

34:00

grounded on a pillow. That's not why I did

34:02

it. I did it because when I travel, I

34:05

still want to sleep grounded. Over the last

34:07

four years, there has not been a single

34:09

night that I have not slept grounded. Even

34:12

if I'm traveling for filming or out on

34:14

tour, I bring something with me

34:16

so I'm grounded. There was literally one night where I

34:18

couldn't and

34:20

I woke up the next morning feeling

34:22

quite a bit of inflammation. I didn't

34:24

know why. It turned out someone had

34:27

accidentally unplugged my cord from the

34:29

electrical grounded outlet. Not

34:33

the electrical outlet, it's the grounded port on the

34:35

electrical outlet. There's no electricity involved

34:37

in any of this. It's just an extension

34:39

cord into the ground. Anyway, I'm getting too

34:41

far into the details here. I also have

34:43

a pair of flip-flops there right over there.

34:46

If I want to walk grounded in the city, we're

34:48

gonna talk about shoes here in a little bit. But

34:51

I found that if I

34:53

was grounded the vast majority of the day, my

34:56

symptoms continued to abate. And even now, I

34:59

mean, there are times where I'm not grounded.

35:01

Driving down here this morning, it's

35:03

a two hour drive from Ohio when you hit traffic,

35:05

I was not grounded that whole time and that's okay.

35:08

It's not about having 100% grounding all the

35:10

time, but my hypothesis, at least for me,

35:12

ended up being true. The more I was

35:14

connected, the more I set

35:16

my body up to heal itself. The

35:18

grounding didn't heal me. It just

35:21

allowed my body to have the environment in

35:23

which it could heal. What

35:26

to expect when you start grounding. This

35:28

is what I've noticed from a lot of different people. So

35:30

I put it here at the end of the essay. Most

35:32

people experience less inflammation, less pain and better sleep. Benefits

35:35

usually arrive quickly through, though

35:38

these improvements can be gradual for some people. Certain

35:41

people may not feel any benefits until

35:43

they increase their grounding time. A

35:45

few people feel a slight tingling, which

35:47

is a sign of improved circulation, which

35:50

subsides as the nervous system

35:52

relaxes. Athletes often experience

35:54

less muscle soreness and faster recovery after

35:56

workouts. I know my wife definitely has.

36:00

And she was as skeptical as I was about all of

36:02

this and maybe even more so. She

36:04

also started tracking her sleep with an

36:06

aura ring and her sleep improved pretty

36:08

dramatically, specifically her deep sleep. In

36:11

rare cases, some sick people experience

36:13

temporary flu-like symptoms which are likely

36:16

related to the body detoxifying. I

36:18

think they call this a Herxheimer's

36:20

reaction whereas a healing crisis

36:23

you may have referred to before, but

36:25

it could be that your body is

36:27

just overwhelmed with detoxifying and so that

36:30

has happened. I've seen just a few rare cases where people

36:32

are like, oh yeah, for a day I felt like I

36:34

had a little bit of a cold or a flu or

36:36

something like that as I started grounding

36:39

more frequently. A person

36:41

with radiant health and great sleep may not

36:43

feel a big difference. So Savvy D over

36:45

there, we just got him an

36:48

earthing mat for his bed. And

36:50

I think the thing to know

36:52

here is like, you know what? He may not

36:54

notice much of anything at all, but

36:57

grounding still serves as a natural form

36:59

of prevention for these people. Now, I

37:01

think people like Savvy D, unless they're

37:03

really interested in it, don't even try to talk

37:05

to them about earthing. Earthing is

37:07

for people who are experiencing significant

37:09

chronic pain, inflammation in their

37:12

life. And it is

37:14

one of several tools that I've

37:16

used to simplify my life and

37:19

simplify my health and eventually heal

37:21

my body. In conclusion,

37:23

with the help of studies, researchers, testimonials,

37:25

and my own experience, I've done my

37:28

best to succinctly present the merits of

37:30

earthing in this essay. But

37:32

if you walk away from this exploration

37:34

with only one takeaway, let it be

37:36

these words of wisdom from

37:38

Olivia Ramirez Smith, author of the

37:41

Mother Earth Effect. Quote, one

37:43

of the best things a person can

37:46

do to lessen the likelihood of developing

37:48

a chronic disease is spend

37:50

at least part of their day connected

37:52

to the earth. It really

37:55

is that simple. And

37:58

yes, I have some links to some additional resources. my

44:00

situation is, I'm not gonna live

44:02

in denial. But then there's the

44:04

kind of acceptance as resignation where you say,

44:06

hmm, it looks like

44:08

changing my reality or positively influencing

44:10

it, it's gonna require a lot

44:13

of discomfort and I don't even wanna

44:15

think about that. So I'm just gonna give up. And

44:18

that's the kind of acceptance you refuse to

44:20

have. And I really like that, I really

44:22

like that idea. I like that distinction, I

44:24

refuse to give up. I

44:26

won't accept this because I'm not ready to give

44:28

up yet. And I really was at a point,

44:30

in 2019, worst year of my life by far,

44:33

I woke up every morning and wish I hadn't. And

44:35

it's not because I was suicidal in

44:38

the sense that I no longer wanted to

44:40

live, I no longer wanted to live with

44:42

that excruciating level of 10 out of 10

44:44

pain. I was in

44:46

a lot of pain and I'm not anymore.

44:48

I can get on this microphone and say

44:50

confidently that I have improved more than 90%.

44:53

And there are still some days where it's like, oh yeah, my

44:56

ankle feels a little inflamed or

44:59

oh yeah, I got a little pain in my shoulder right

45:01

now. We're gonna talk about that coming up as well on

45:04

page two. And there are a few

45:06

other things that like, oh yeah, but my life is 90%

45:08

better. I'm functional and

45:10

those are things that I'm accepting in the

45:12

sense that I'm not gonna let it get

45:14

in the way, but I'm also not even

45:17

giving up on those. I know that my

45:19

body can continue to heal and those symptoms

45:21

will continue to abate. Sometimes it's helpful for

45:24

me personally to remind myself that I'm not

45:26

smart enough to give up. There

45:28

are some situations where I know I've worked

45:30

my butt off, I've carefully considered the cost.

45:32

I honestly acknowledge the trade-offs and I say,

45:35

nope, I'm abandoning ship here. I

45:37

don't wanna go any further. But there are a

45:39

lot of things where I feel that temptation to

45:41

give up like, no, there's just no answer for

45:43

me. And I have to remind myself, dude, when

45:46

was the last time you learned a new trick

45:48

in this area of life? When was the last

45:50

time you asked some questions? When was the last

45:53

time you lifted your finger to read about it?

45:55

When was the last time you really tried something

45:57

new? You're just running up against the wall of

45:59

your- I

52:00

really admire your ability to unpack that

52:02

with someone through many of the stories

52:04

that they are telling themselves. Now, since

52:06

it is October, you decided, I know

52:09

money is kind of tight right now,

52:11

to do some holiday pricing around clutter

52:13

counseling. So if you tried to sign

52:15

up before and it was a little

52:18

bit too costly for you for the

52:20

next three months, end of the year,

52:22

Q4, you can do holiday pricing for

52:24

the rest of the year. It's perfect

52:26

if you can't afford it before. Also,

52:28

TK is offering one clutter counseling scholarship

52:30

per month until the end of the

52:33

year. So if you can't afford a

52:35

session and you would like to get

52:37

a scholarship, we're going to offer

52:39

one of those per month. Just send

52:41

a less than two minute video to

52:43

clutter at the minimalist.com. Now,

52:45

please note appointments are available online

52:47

via Zoom or in person at

52:49

the minimalist offices here in Los

52:51

Angeles, but spots are limited. So

52:54

please, please, please be patient if you're

52:56

unable to schedule an immediate appointment. Book

52:58

for next week if this week is

53:00

full. Malabem, what else you

53:02

got for us? Here's a minimalist insight from one

53:04

of our listeners. Hello,

53:06

this is Kata from Germany.

53:10

I'm a Patreon subscriber

53:12

and I got a listener tip.

53:16

Currently, I play a

53:18

different 30-day challenge. I

53:22

read one of the minimalist essays

53:24

a day by tipping on random

53:26

essay on the website, the

53:29

minimalist.com archives. And

53:32

that feels really good. And

53:35

I review my minimalist approach and

53:37

the thoughts on minimalism

53:39

and it helps me to

53:42

get on living

53:45

a value-driven life. Thank

53:48

you. Bye bye. Kata,

53:51

I'm so glad that you're enjoying those essays

53:53

over at the minimalist.com. Also over there, you

53:55

can check out the essay that I read

53:57

today and a bunch of

53:59

free. resources for you to download if you'd

54:02

like. For anyone else who has a list

54:04

or tip or insight about this episode, leave

54:06

a comment on Patreon or YouTube, or better

54:08

yet, you can send a voice memo. We

54:10

need more of these. We want your insightful

54:13

insights. We want your listener responses. Just send

54:15

your voice memo to podcastattheminimalists.com. We would love

54:17

to feature your voice on the show. Even

54:19

if it's just a simple minimalist tip that

54:21

you have. All right, that's the first 34%

54:23

of episode 463. If

54:28

you don't want to miss this one,

54:30

we'll see you on Patreon for the

54:32

full maximal edition, which includes answers to

54:34

a bunch more questions. Questions like, how

54:36

can I heal the chronic shoulder pain

54:38

that is ruining my life? What can

54:40

I do to best support someone who

54:42

is in pain? Which

54:44

functional medical doctors does

54:46

JFM trust? How do

54:49

you deal with the guilt of not being able to

54:51

give 100% of yourself to loved ones while

54:55

you're struggling with chronic pain? What's the best

54:57

way to talk to my friends and family

54:59

about my illness? How much

55:02

of my illness is in my head?

55:04

And what are the best options for

55:06

treating Lyme disease, Epstein-Barr virus, CMV, and

55:08

other viruses? Plus a million more questions

55:11

and simple living segments over on the

55:13

Minimalist Private Podcast. We also have an

55:15

outstanding home tour. From one of our

55:17

listeners this week, just visit patreon.com/The Minimalist,

55:19

or go down and click that link

55:21

in the description to subscribe and get

55:23

your personal link so that our weekly

55:26

Maxwell episodes play in your favorite podcast

55:28

app. You'll also gain access to all

55:30

of our podcast archives all the way

55:32

back to episode 001. By

55:36

the way, Patreon is now offering free

55:38

trials. So if you'd like to test

55:40

drive our private podcast, you can join

55:42

for seven days for free. And that

55:44

is our Minimal episode for today. Big

55:47

thanks to Earthing Studios for the recording

55:49

space. On behalf of Ryan Nicodemus, T.K.

55:51

Coleman, Malabama, post-production Peter, Spire Jeff and

55:53

Spire Dave, A.B., Savvy D and the

55:55

rest of our team. I'm Joshua

55:57

Fils-Milburn. If you leave here with just one message.