The Self Care Sunday blog is written by Stephen, a back pain specialist with over 60 years of experience in health working with doctors and health professionals, certified yoga teacher, certified personal trainer, performance nutrition specialist, and author of Sciatica Secrets and 90 Day Reset Journal for Pain Free Living. Articles cover nervous system regulation, breathing mechanics, myofascial release, self-compassion, sound therapy, anti-inflammatory nutrition, traditional East Asian bodywork, and the relationship between sleep and chronic pain. All content is grounded in peer-reviewed pain science and clinical practice.
All articles
Touch work8 min
Pai Da and the Lymphatic System: A Five-Minute Daily Practice
The lymphatic system has no pump. Pai Da — a traditional Chinese self-patting practice — gives it one. A daily five-minute sequence covering all major node clusters.
Food & Supplementation8 min
Adaptogens for Stress: What Actually Holds Up
Ashwagandha, rhodiola, and reishi are everywhere. But what does the clinical evidence actually show? A clear-eyed guide to adaptogens for stress, cortisol, and nervous system regulation.
Wellbeing7 min
What Reading Does to Your Brain
Reading about pain consistently is not passive information transfer. It trains the nervous system's filter, updates the brain's body map, and rehearses safety before the body moves.
Wellbeing7 min
Cold Water and the Vagus Nerve
Why ending your shower cold for 30 seconds changes your stress response. What vagal tone is, how low vagal tone affects chronic pain, and how to improve it.
Food8 min
The Gut-Brain Axis and Chronic Pain
The gut and the brain are in constant two-way communication, and that communication directly affects pain sensitivity, mood, and nervous system regulation.
Wellbeing8 min
What Cortisol Does to Your Whole Body (And Why Small Reductions Matter)
Chronic stress does not just cause back pain. Cortisol reshapes immunity, sleep, digestion, mood, and recovery across every system in the body. Take the self-assessment to find out where you sit.
Wellbeing7 min
Self Care is Self Love: Why It Matters and How to Make It Real
The practices only fully work when the person doing them believes they deserve to feel better. Here is the science behind self-compassion and why it changes everything.
Wellbeing7 min
Sound and the Nervous System
How sound affects your nervous system, why low-frequency listening helps the body downshift, and a simple two-minute practice.
Breathing7 min
Breathing That Settles You, Not Stresses You
Why most people over-breathe under pressure, what dysfunctional breath mechanics do to your nervous system, and a simple practice.
Touch work8 min
The Psoas Muscle and the Stress Response
The only muscle connecting your spine to your legs is also the one that holds your stress. Why it matters and how to release it.
Breathing7 min
Why You Wake Up Exhausted Even After a Full Night of Sleep
If you sleep eight hours and still drag through the morning, your breathing at night may be the reason.
Breathing6 min
The Two-Minute Breath Check Before You Get Out of Bed
Two minutes of quiet awareness before your feet hit the floor can shift the whole tone of the day.
Touch work5 min
The Wall Rib Release: Two Minutes to Decompress Your Back
A simple standing release using nothing but a wall and your own breath to soften the thoracic spine.
Touch work6 min
The Desk Reset: Five Minutes of Gentle Release for People Who Sit All Day
Sitting compresses the spine and braces the nervous system. This three-part sequence undoes some of that.
Touch work6 min
What Your Jaw Tension Is Telling You About Your Back
Jaw tension and back pain are not separate problems. Both are expressions of the same nervous system state.
Food6 min
The Sunday Health Snack: Simple Food for Steadier Energy
One simple, anti-inflammatory bowl that takes five minutes and sets a gentle tone for the week.
Food7 min
Three Things Worth Cutting Back On Before You Cut Anything Out
Not a diet. Three small reductions that quietly shift how the body feels, without making food complicated.
Food6 min
The Sunday Morning Tea That Supports Your Nervous System
Four simple ingredients, a warm cup before anything else asks something of you, and a ritual worth building.