Breaking Free from Pain: Dr. Amy Novotny's Revolutionary Approach to Natural Relief

What if the pain you've been taught to live with isn't your fate but simply a signal your body needs help? In this eye-opening conversation with Dr. Amy Novotny, founder of the PABR Institute, we explore a revolutionary approach to addressing chronic pain, stress, and anxiety that challenges conventional medical wisdom.

Dr. Novotny shares her remarkable journey from highly-disciplined academic to innovative pain specialist after discovering how changing her breathing mechanics transformed her own athletic performance. She explains how our bodies often remain locked in a protective fight-or-flight state, causing muscles to maintain an abnormal grip on bones and joints that results in pain we mistakenly attribute to aging or structural problems.

The most fascinating revelation? Many people undergo unnecessary surgeries and take lifelong medications for conditions that could be addressed by calming their nervous systems. Dr. Novotny explains that even "bone-on-bone" arthritis doesn't inherently cause pain—it's the abnormal muscle tension pulling bones out of alignment that creates suffering. Through her unique PABR method (Pain Awareness, Breathing and Relief), she teaches patients to release this tension and allow their bodies to function naturally.

You'll hear incredible stories, like how she instantly relieved a collapsed marathon runner's excruciating muscle spasms with a 30-second intervention that left medical staff stunned. For high achievers especially, this approach offers a way to maintain ambition without the physical toll of constant tension. Whether you're dealing with chronic pain, considering surgery, or simply living with stress you've normalized, this conversation offers hope and practical wisdom for reclaiming your body's natural capacity for comfort and ease.

Ready to explore a different approach to pain? Visit PABRInstitute.com for a free consultation with Dr. Novotny and discover how changing your relationship with your nervous system might change everything.

Get ready to break free from obstacles and live life on your terms!

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Chapters

• 0:50 Introduction to Is Your Way In Your Way
• 3:46 Meet Dr. Amy Novotny's Unique Method
• 5:45 Dr. Amy's Personal Journey
• 11:09 Understanding the PABR Method
• 17:52 Marathon Story: Healing Through Breathing
• 26:18 Changing Breathing Mechanics
• 34:01 Arthritis, Joint Pain and Surgery Alternatives
• 39:18 Body Awareness vs. Exercise Programs
• 43:58 High Achievers and Anxiety Relief

Transcript

Cassandra: 0:25

Good day out there to all my listeners and I'd like to welcome you to Is your Way In your Way podcast, and I am your host, cassandra Crawley Mayo, and I am well for the new listeners, because I know we have new listeners. So let me share a bit about what this podcast is about. It's actually about individuals that are in their way. I actually wrote a book titled Is your Way In your Way, so I thought how appropriate it would be to have a podcast titled Is your Way In your Way, and what that's all about are individuals who are stuck.

Cassandra: 1:00

It's kind of like you know you want a new job, you wanna be promoted, you need to get out of a relationship, maybe you need to get over a divorce, I don't know. Maybe you need to get over a divorce, I don't know. Maybe you need to forgive somebody. Maybe, you know, you've just been struggling with stress and pain and you can't figure out how to get out of it. Well, those are the things that we like to talk about on Is your Way In your Way, and today we talk about like, let me share. We talk about topics related to personal development, also business development, and also it will enable you to do some self-reflection, and today our topic is how to calm your nervous system, to alleviate pain, stress and anxiety, so you can go for your dreams. Imagine that Now, who's not stressed these days? Right, and who better yet to talk about this is Dr Amy Novotny. Well, hello, I'm going to call you Dr Amy, and thank you so much for having me on.

Dr. Amy Novotny: 2:03

Absolutely, I'm so glad that you are on.

Cassandra: 2:11

And before we get started and take a deep dive into I'm calling her Dr Amy I want to read a little bit of her bio so you, as listeners, can understand where she's been, who she is, and just have a point of reference that will enable us to move forward with this interview. Dr Amy is the founder of PABR Institute, and that means pain awareness, breathing and relief. She's dedicated to providing natural relief from pain, stress and anxiety through her unique P-A-B-R method. She has a unique method with over 12 years of experience in orthopedics, sports geriatrics, chronic pain and more. She developed this method to address restrictive and painful conditions without reliance on medications or surgeries. Wow, I'm excited about that.

Cassandra: 3:10

Her work has helped countless individuals find freedom from pain and improve quality of life. For example, many of you know Robert Koyosaki. Everybody knows that name rich dad, poor dad. He had some pain in his hand, so in other words, she talks about how the body is in a protection mode when we have so much pain and stress and all of that. So she has actually co-authored several books that are on Amazon and Wall Street Journal bestseller. Outside of her practice, she is an accomplished endurance athlete and award-winning wildlife photographer. She speaks French and Spanish. That has allowed her to communicate and help various clients from all around the world. Oh, my goodness. So, dr Amy, could you explain to my listeners what was life like before you went abroad?

Dr. Amy Novotny: 4:08

So before I went abroad I lived with my mom and one of my brothers growing up in Arizona and my mom was very strict. She was strict but also restrictive. She did not allow us to do a lot of things. We were in activities, but once those activities ended we came home. We didn't really have friends at home. She tried to control most of our behavior as best as possible. So to say it was hard, it really was. But how I coped was I studied.

Cassandra: 4:43

I figured.

Dr. Amy Novotny: 4:44

One thing I could control is I could control my performance in my academics or whatever activity I partook in that she allowed. I just dove into it and I put all my heart into it. So my desire to escape was based on could I get enough scholarships, Could I get enough funding to be able to go study abroad? And that's literally what I did. Now, right before I went I had started to work and so I was able to get kind of out of the house in that sense. But then abroad was really my way to expand and get free.

Cassandra: 5:26

Okay, well, tell us about you being able to speak French and Spanish. All of that occurred when you were born.

Dr. Amy Novotny: 5:33

So in school, starting in seventh grade no, ninth grade, seventh grade I started speaking Spanish. I started taking Spanish classes. Then in ninth grade I started taking French classes. So by the time I graduated high school I was in the AP level for both French and Spanish. And so I started college doing a French major and a Spanish minor, in addition to a biology major and math minor. And so going to study abroad in France allowed me to finish a French major, and I was able to finish a Spanish minor when I came back.

Cassandra: 6:09

Oh, wow, Interesting. So you have done a lot. You know abroad, your studies, your academics and, if I'm not mistaken, you were valedictorian in school.

Dr. Amy Novotny: 6:23

I was salutatorian in high school, valedictorian in my doctoral school yes.

Cassandra: 6:28

Wow. So what? What was it that enabled you to pick? Well, let me ask you this Did you always know what you wanted to do?

Dr. Amy Novotny: 6:37

No, not at all Okay. It just like any other person. It wavered from marine biology to veterinarian, to um, I was going to go into ecology and be a research scientist to ending up as a physical therapist, then switching to nervous system work. So that's where I am now as a business owner, which I never thought I would be never, thought I'd be a business owner that was right.

Cassandra: 7:02

So you went orthopedic. I mean, you did, did you do surgeries or what? Type of work you didn't do that, okay, no.

Dr. Amy Novotny: 7:10

No, no, no. My doctorate's in physical therapy, it's not in surgical procedures, medicine like that.

Cassandra: 7:16

Okay Now, what tempted you to go in the field that you are currently in? Did anything have to do with your backstory, or where did that come from ? You really are on a mission to get have to relieve pain, stress and anxiety with folks.

Dr. Amy Novotny: 7:37

So my background in physical therapy, that that led me to where I am right now because, I got the doctorate in that and I studied about the human body.

Dr. Amy Novotny: 7:47

I was into physics, I was into biology, so it was a good field for a little bit but, I, realized that a lot of people weren't fully healing and a lot of the things were done external to the body.

Dr. Amy Novotny: 7:58

There weren't internal changes. And so at the same time as I was studying and practicing and working with people, I was also starting to run and train for marathons and I was trying to qualify for the Boston marathon. And so I realized when I was running on the treadmill I'd run eight miles on the treadmill three days a week. For the days that I ran, if I changed my bra, my breathing mechanics and my body position, I could feel my body release tension and I didn't stretch, I didn't have to foam roll, I didn't have to scrape and do all the things I was telling people to do as a physical therapist that you had to do, and I felt very free. It just felt good. So I realized at that point, all the physical therapy stuff I was teaching people are not always enough. And so that's when I started exploring what is that? Something else, if I can feel it on myself, how could I put it into a process to help other people? And that's what led me to boom where I am today.

Cassandra: 9:04

Okay, well, I'm hearing that you have a very unique process, and tell us about that. That's part of your institute, right? That's why it's called the Pain Awareness and Breathing Relief Institute, so tell us about that. What happens in that institute?

Dr. Amy Novotny: 9:23

Sure. So in that I work with people one-on-one and I teach them how to calm down the fight or flight nervous system that ramps us up. So in our body we have an autonomic nervous system, one that either ramps us up and gets us really wound up or we have the opposite, that calms us down. And then there's another segment of one that helps us with digestion. So the fight or flight nervous system. We often hear fight, flight, freeze or even fawn, which is people pleasing. So people who are people pleasing, they are still in a heightened state because they're not in a relaxed state, because they're trying to accommodate to someone else. So what I realized is when we work on influencing it and controlling that and working on calming the body down, actually getting the nervous system to stop being overactive, the muscles in your body start to release.

Dr. Amy Novotny: 10:20

Okay, when they release, they can release their abnormal grip on your bones and joints, which could help with joint pain. When they release, they can also release emotions, which can help with trauma, abuse, anxiety, panic, PTSD. When they release, they allow our breathing mechanics to change and how we move our body. So my work then became about how do I get people to learn how to release the nervous system so they stop guarding their body day in, day out for a year, decades on end.

Cassandra: 10:55

Okay, what are some of the let's talk about? I want to know about some of the techniques, because I also read that you have really helped a lot of people that somebody wanted was going to get a knee replacement and, based on the work that you did, they didn't have to get a knee replacement. I even remember a story of a runner I don't know if he was a marathon runner or whatever and as soon, I think, as he got to the finish line, he just collapsed and you were able to see the pain in his body and the paramedics came over. It was just. It was to me, it was scary. It was like he was shaking and I mean he it's kind of like I'm sure he he his nervous system, everything he was tensed up. Tell us about that and how did you help him relieve that pain?

Dr. Amy Novotny: 11:55

that and how did you help him relieve that pain? Sure, so I was running a marathon. It was two marathons back to back. One marathon was done in Michigan, the other one was done in Wisconsin, and I believe that we did Wisconsin first and then Michigan, and so we were on the second marathon and I was running and there was this gentleman, beautiful, perfect specimen of no fat, just perfect tone, Like he looked like a Kenyan or Ethiopian runner and I don't mean to be stereotypical, but he literally looks just like the top runners in the world.

Dr. Amy Novotny: 12:29

And he was running and so at first he was running past me very, very fast because I was just going plodding along and then about mile 23, 24, something like that, I passed him. And I was shocked because I could see he was limping and I just I felt horrible because he should, he should have been done, he should have been flying through that and I never liked to see someone in pain and not going through the experience that they want to be in.

Dr. Amy Novotny: 12:58

So I finished the race and then I was in the finish line waiting for my cousin to finish as well, and I see this runner coming through the finish line and he is hobbling through the finish line and when he stopped moving, his body kind of seized up his legs, his thighs were seized up, his quads and so they rushed and got him a wheelchair. They put him down and he was grimacing and you know, crying out in pain and grabbing his legs, and you get a lot of medical staff to come out and help him, because sometimes it's hard at the finish line the medical staff is there to help you but they're trying to get information out of you, but if you're not really able to speak because you're in so much pain, it's hard to know what to do.

Dr. Amy Novotny: 13:42

Yeah, yeah. So I went up to him and I just whispered in his ears and I said, can, can I help you, can you? And he just kind of nodded a little bit, which was enough for me to say, okay, go ahead.

Dr. Amy Novotny: 13:53

I said just listen and follow what I say. And so I had my hand gently on his chest and I said you know, breathe in. And I said, when you, when you exhale, I said, just follow my hand, just let it fall, let your chest fall under my hand. And then we did this for 30 seconds and there was a little bit more to it, but we did it for 30 seconds and then all of a sudden his eyes popped open and he's like it's all gone. It's all gone.

Cassandra: 14:19

Wow.

Dr. Amy Novotny: 14:21

And he jumped. He just stood up quickly out of the wheelchair and he just looked around and the medical staff's like what the heck?

Dr. Amy Novotny: 14:28

Um why is this guy who's just in excruciating pain, not able to communicate, really like, now all of a sudden is okay? And the guy said I'm fine, I'm totally fine. And he looked at his friend that was on the other side of the fence and and his friend said, hey, are you okay? He said, yeah, I'm hungry, let's get food. And so I just kind of backed up and the guy didn't even realize that I was there or what had happened.

Dr. Amy Novotny: 14:54

He just realized all of a sudden he was out of pain and I had already backed off, so I didn't want to create a commotion or to mention who I was, because I was waiting for my cousin to finish and I didn't want to get right here. Yeah right, oh my gosh yeah, and so basically what we did was his nervous system has had overloaded and his muscles had gone into spasm, and what we worked on in those few seconds was just getting his nervous system to calm down.

Dr. Amy Novotny: 15:22

So his muscles stopped an abnormal contraction that was too much for him and too much for his bones and joints, which causes excruciating pain.

Cassandra: 15:32

Yeah, yeah. So tell us about this breathing. I hear that so much, even when people meditate, you know, even when I work out, I say don't forget to breathe, breathe in, hold your your abdomen in and breathe out and breathe in. But yet you have some techniques. And you know, what I am understanding is not that you don't believe that you don't sit up straight and with your abdomen straight. You know that this these are the things that we're told to do. Why do you think we should not do that? What? Because, first of all, we're all. We all experience stress and a lot of people are in pain, some type of pain, If it's their legs, their knees, their arms, their back. What techniques do you use that are so unique that can mitigate all that?

Dr. Amy Novotny: 16:31

Right. So one I reverse how people breathe. We work on changing what is typically thought of as a normal way of breathing, which it's not really a normal way of breathing, especially's not really a normal way of breathing, especially, I mean, I have a toddler right now a baby, and I've watched him closely. So when we breathe, we don't want to breathe where we're sucking our gut in as we exhale. We actually want to do the opposite where we exhale and lower belly spill out. So what I work on with people is a full process of getting them to change their breathing mechanics so that they don't breathe in a way that tightens them up. We want our breathing to allow us to relax, to calm down. So that means we have to change a lot about what we do, and what I'm saying right now means not much to a lot of people, but it does. It takes time. It's not like I can just tell you all the techniques, because how you have changed your breathing, cassandra, is different from someone else, and how they've changed their breathing.

Dr. Amy Novotny: 17:41

So, what I teach people is I look at their body and I see okay, where is your rib cage position?

Dr. Amy Novotny: 17:48

Okay, it's like this so we need to adjust your rib cage position so it's not high or elevated or tipped, so that we can get your muscles to work correctly, so that your diaphragm works the way it's supposed to do it and air into your lungs. So it's different for everyone. So that's why I say it's. It's not something that is the same process for everyone, which is one of the reasons why I do this with one-on-one on people is working to try to get them to release tension in their body, but I have to do it in a way that serves them.

Cassandra: 18:24

Yeah.

Dr. Amy Novotny: 18:25

If I do it in a way that serves one person, that's great, but it may not be the same for another person.

Cassandra: 18:31

Okay, okay. So is it just breathing that can mitigate the pain and the stress? Is that all you have to do is just breathe?

Dr. Amy Novotny: 18:41

Nope, we're not just doing a hair kumbaya breathing it's not breath work.

Cassandra: 18:45

Okay.

Dr. Amy Novotny: 18:46

Changing your breathing mechanics. We're changing the position of your rib cage and how you hold yourself and how you hold your pelvis, how you hold your rib cage, so that your breathing mechanics allow your body to relax. Then we have to work on stabilizing you. So if you're, if you were learned to relax, let's say you went to a massage therapist and they're pounding on you and you're like, oh, this feels good. And the next day you wake up and you're like I'm just as tight as I was because your nervous system didn't change. You had someone do something external to you and press on you, but they didn't really change your nervous system. So what we're doing is saying, OK, let's teach you how to relax the nervous system so you release the muscles yourself without needing the massage therapist.

Cassandra: 19:36

OK.

Dr. Amy Novotny: 19:37

And then you stabilize your body that way, so the next day you don't wake up and you're tight, like you would feel after a massage. We want you to keep the gains that you've received. So, it's not just working on the breathing mechanics, but it's learning how do we change what muscles you use to stabilize you so you don't go ahead and tighten back up.

Cassandra: 19:59

Okay, okay, yeah, a little bit. I guess you know, and I know you do. When you say you do one-on-one, do they have to come to you? Do you do it virtually, or how does that operate?

Cassandra: 20:12

sure, it's all virtual it's all virtual, wow, so you can actually work with people, see them, see how they are, and that's amazing. Well, tell me about. You have some other techniques and I'm curious because not only the pain and the stress, but I'm hearing that even there's so many people with insomnia. I'm just shocked how many people don't sleep well at night. And one of your techniques is that once you're done, as you indicate, it's not an overnight thing, but people start sleeping through the night. What do you do, like what technique do you use to help people sleep all night? It's all the same stuff, really.

Dr. Amy Novotny: 20:54

It's no different. Yep. So we're teaching them how to calm down the nervous system and they use that before they sleep, they go to bed at night and literally it's the same stuff, you, you, it's no different. Once you learn how to get your nervous system to calm down, you feel your body relaxing.

Dr. Amy Novotny: 21:15

Your body just lets go and you can sleep better. And it helps with nightmares, it helps with insomnia, it helps with that, that brain that just keeps working on edge and won't stop going. It's all of it. Yeah, all the same stuff. It's all. Nervous system work. Your nervous system affects every organ in there that is amazing.

Cassandra: 21:36

Well, look, I I saw that you use straws and you use bubbles, and that's why I'm like is that all part of it? But what you're saying is really getting the breathing straight. Where do the straws come in? Where do the bubbles come in, which I used to love to do when I was younger?

Dr. Amy Novotny: 21:56

that's good, don't stop, okay. Um, so the straw comes in. So when I'm going through changing people's breathing mechanics, the straw comes in because we're working on getting them to blow out where there's not a restriction in their airway. So when you blow out, you want the air to come out where you're not creating pressure. So a lot of times you hear perched lip breathing or they say, bring your lips together and blow out. I don't like that because it creates pressure and you can feel it. As soon as you do that and you bring your lips together and you blow out, you can feel pressure. Pressure start to develop in your chest.

Dr. Amy Novotny: 22:36

So I have people use a straw so when they blow out, they blow out and it's like the air just comes out. It allows the air just to come out like an open hose so that you're not using abnormal muscles to breathe anymore. We want the diaphragm, as it goes up, to push air out, not you to tighten up your neck, your belly, your shoulders, your back. We don't want to tighten up your neck, your belly, your shoulders, your back. We don't want to tighten up areas to exhale. Our diaphragm works really well and if we give the diaphragm a chance to work. It does wonders for us and other areas in our neck and our back and really learn to start to relax.

Cassandra: 23:41

Wow, you see me trying to blow. I don't have a straw or anything, but I'm trying to practice what you're saying because this is really weird. So you get a straw and you blow in it, and then you breathe and you exhale.

Dr. Amy Novotny: 23:56

There's more. You breathe in through your nose, you exhale through the straw. There's more to it. As we go through, I watch your body and make sure parts of your rib cage is going down and in and you can feel like your collarbones relax down. You can feel your shoulders drop down and your belly spills out, so there's a full on process to doing this. That can do wonders for you. And then the bubbles are kind of a. I use them after someone's been practicing for a while.

Dr. Amy Novotny: 24:28

I'll have them practice blowing bubbles because it helps them get out of their patterns that they've been in. Now, if it's a kid, I'll go to bubbles a little bit earlier on in the process because they don't have a lot of stress, tension that has locked them up like adults. So, it's very easy to get a kid to change quickly and just have them start blowing bubbles right away.

Cassandra: 24:51

Oh, my goodness, this is amazing. So let's talk about arthritis, perhaps, like as people get older, and I also remember my mom when she started having arthritis. She she would say it's going to rain. And I also remember my mom when she started having arthritis. She would say it's going to rain. And I'm like what she said. I can feel it in my bones. My bones ache because I can tell it's going to rain. So do you do the same thing for arthritis? Or is arthritis I don't want to say real, I'm sure it's real and bursitis and all of that, but does your technique help with arthritis, or yeah?

Dr. Amy Novotny: 25:33

it does. So arthritis is really just a degeneration of cartilage, the covering on bones. Arthritis doesn't mean pain. Arthritis is just a degeneration of cartilage. You can, you can look that up. You can read all about that.

Dr. Amy Novotny: 25:51

We often associate arthritis with pain because anytime you go to a doctor and you have some type of joint pain, they often take an x-ray and then say, oh, you have a degenerate little tear and tear on these bones. That's arthritis pain. And you know they're really trying their hardest. But I don't believe that's the case. I say that because I've worked with people who are bone on bone, who have been bone on bone for years, and I've worked with them to calm down the nervous system the same stuff we've been talking about. They they do well. They get the muscles to relax. They can feel their muscles relaxing the bone and joint pain goes away.

Dr. Amy Novotny: 26:34

Did the arthritis change? No, the arthritis is still there. The degeneration that is really what arthritis is is still there. But the thing is their bones have changed position because the muscle stopped pulling abnormally on the bones. As soon as the muscles stop pulling abnormally, their bones go back into the normal position. They can glide and they're fine and they're okay. They don't need to, don't need to have a joint replacement injections anymore, because they changed the position, changed the nervous system.

Cassandra: 27:05

they're fine wow, um, this is fascinating. Now I remember so, let's say, because a lot of people I have friends that had two knee replacements, hip replacements, um, and they're, they're, um, they're not old. I mean it's just weird, it's like, and they say, well, I think you probably get it the older you get. I'm like, I hope not, you know, um, so what you're saying is, sometimes people are getting these replacements and it's not necessary, you think absolutely, absolutely.

Dr. Amy Novotny: 27:43

I've worked with many people who've had replacements and regretted getting them.

Cassandra: 27:47

Yeah.

Dr. Amy Novotny: 27:48

Because it didn't solve their issue. It really didn't, and so it often won't. So you think about a surgery like a joint replacement. They're cutting into a lot of parts of your body to create space to you back space. But if the problem was your joints were being pulled abnormally by the muscles? Surgery doesn't fix that. It creates space for you, but if your muscles are acting the same way they did before, it's still going to behave that way on your joints. Now it might create enough space that gives you some benefit for a period of time, but it may not solve everything. For some people it does, but for some people it depends on the person too.

Dr. Amy Novotny: 28:39

There are people who want the surgery. By all means go get the surgery. I the no criticism, no judgment. But there are people who don't want the surgery and those are the people that I would love to work with because they just they don't want that surgery and I'm okay with that. But again, nothing against anyone who wants a surgery If that's their path by all means I'm happy to support them.

Cassandra: 29:04

How long. I guess I'm going to ask something you probably should. It depends on the person, like how long you know how you go to a chiropractor or have physical therapy Like I've had back problems in my life and and they'll tell me what to do and I feel great, you know, and I come home and I do the little exercises, but I don't continue to do them. You know I'm like okay, I feel good, that's it. So with your methodology or modality, is it something that they have to keep doing after you, after they go to the institute, like they can't just stop, they just know the methodology they have to do in order to alleviate the pain.

Dr. Amy Novotny: 29:55

Right. So yes and no, what we're doing, I'm teaching you principles and getting you to sense your body differently, okay, so what does that mean? So if I have you do something, cassandra, I want you to feel what we're doing. It's not just do an exercise and off you go, go lift this one thing and do it five times, for three parts of five. It's not that. It's can I get you to feel something with your body. Once I get you to feel something with your body, once I get you to feel something with your body, now you own it. Your body starts to incorporate that in your daily movement.

Dr. Amy Novotny: 30:40

So we're working on changing how of you at a basic level. So the hope is that as you implement these things, you feel the change. So you just start implementing it in your daily life. So then, once you're done, you can just feel those things. And if you can keep feeling those things, then you're fine to go. Just feel those things, and if you can keep feeling those things, then you're fine to go. If you feel like you forget or you feel some kind of pain crop up, you know your body changed and you've lost the sensation of something. So I tell people. Obviously I'd like you to keep practicing things and depending on the level of activity you are in your life and that, for some people say, yeah, you really should be doing something to this effect, for you know, the rest of your life just like every single day to calm your nervous system every day.

Dr. Amy Novotny: 31:32

I mean, we shouldn't do it for self care, but on the other hand, you can just work on sensing hey, can I sense this part of my body? Okay, good, so I know my body can stay free. So it's not like a gym program, it's not like a physical therapy exercise program. It's different than that. It's more about sensory and can you feel your body work a certain way? So it stays free.

Cassandra: 31:59

Right, so it so pain, it's just like a fever. You have a fever, it's like it's, it's, you have an infection. That's what some people say when you have a high fever, infection or something going on in there. So when you have pain in your body, that's a way of saying, of course, something's wrong with your body, way of saying, of course, something's wrong with your body. But we talked about, like, protection.

Cassandra: 32:34

So the pain is because, let you know, of course, something's wrong and you know it's your back or you know it's your shoulder, um, and so, and like you said, like we all get stressed sometimes, and and you talked about high achievers, you know there are certain things that high achievers do and they and they cramp up. They're so busy working and they do this and people, as I indicated before we started talking, is they live with pain, they think it's just their fate. You know and I know you don't believe that, yes, yes, right, right, um, it's just like, uh, a headache. If somebody has a headache, what you do can alleviate the headache too. Wow, you're like a miracle worker.

Dr. Amy Novotny: 33:27

I just understand how the body works and and occasionally there are people that stump me or it just takes longer because of the trauma in their past. But it's more your bit. Your pain is a signal from your body to your brain that something is out of position and your body is asking for help. So your choices are keep doing the same thing that you have been doing and stay with that pain or whatever that your body's talking to you about, or you can change things. You can change things, and sometimes it's a little bit of a puzzle, depending on how much knowledge you have of the body. But sometimes it's a bit of a puzzle puzzle, depending on how much knowledge you have of the body. But sometimes it's a bit of a puzzle on how do we get the body to stop having this signal. Yes, you have to figure out. Okay, what do I need to change?

Dr. Amy Novotny: 34:16

for some people it's easier to figure that out than others, but that's why I say this is a process. That's why I say I have to look at your body to see what's going on, just like any practitioner will tell you. No one's going to diagnose you with anything without taking a look at you.

Cassandra: 34:34

Okay.

Dr. Amy Novotny: 34:36

Depends on how you're moving. How you move, how you walk, how you stand, how you reach, tells me the state of your nervous system. Stand, how you reach, tells me the state of your nervous system. I want to take a peek at it so I can give you all the right information, so that you know what you have to work on and you can sense and feel. But ultimately, your body tells you. It tells you hey, you're not doing something the way we want you to do it in order for you to be pain free.

Dr. Amy Novotny: 35:08

Are high heels not good for women, not good physically and nervous system wise. If you want to look good, yes, they make you look good.

Cassandra: 35:20

Yeah.

Dr. Amy Novotny: 35:20

Not good for your nervous system.

Cassandra: 35:21

No, Wow yeah, because I can't even wear heels anymore, because if I do my, my lower back oh my gosh, it's unbelievable how bad it hurts.

Dr. Amy Novotny: 35:33

Right, exactly. Your body has gotten to the point where it says please stop. And so the way that your body is positioned right now, cassandra, it's already in a position where your pelvis is tipped forward too much and your low back muscles are already overworking. Putting high heels on exacerbates that condition. So until your body learns to change and to reverse kind of what it's fallen into, the patterns it's fallen into, I would recommend not wearing high heels. That's not to say you can't wear them again in the future if you can get your body to change.

Cassandra: 36:13

Wow.

Dr. Amy Novotny: 36:14

You could wear them again, and I've had many women do that. But it will take some practice and awareness first to change your nervous system before. I would recommend that. So, dr Amy, what is your mission? Well, my mission is to help as many people as possible out of surgery. I want people off medications. I want them, if they choose to have surgery, not to have medications, not to have procedures, if that's what they're looking for. So many people I've heard regret their surgery that they've had, and I hate hearing that.

Dr. Amy Novotny: 36:57

So, even if someone doesn't work with me, if they can hear what I'm saying here on this podcast and other places, it gets them to change how they do things and gets them to think differently. I've fulfilled my mission. I just want to get people to think differently so they seek other forms of treatment. So they pause and look at the treatment that they are receiving and say is this really addressing what Amy's talking about? Am I changing how I can feel things so I own my body again?

Dr. Amy Novotny: 37:30

If not then do something different, whether it's work with me, work with someone else something different, so you stop repeating the same thing over and over.

Cassandra: 37:40

So the work that you do? Is there a community of doctors like you that do what you do Not?

Dr. Amy Novotny: 37:46

yet. Not yet I will eventually work on training other people.

Cassandra: 37:51

Oh, wow, that's amazing. So you are a hot commodity. I do keep busy. Yeah, that's amazing. I want to talk a little bit about those high achievers. They have certain habits and you're not saying all high achievers are in pain, they're in fight mode or whatever, but it's something about high achievers that perhaps do they have more pain, more stress, more anxiety, do they?

Dr. Amy Novotny: 38:24

have more pain, more stress, more anxiety. They can Often someone who's high achieving they like to be high achieving in various aspects of their life physical, mental, emotional. How they hold themselves physically can often lead to a lot of pain, stress, anxiety. I work with a lot of entrepreneurs and I see that very much so in that community.

Dr. Amy Novotny: 38:47

It's not always the case, but it's very, very common, and so I try to work with people on teaching them ways to relax their body and their nervous system and then getting them to change their mindset, because a lot of them will feel, if they sit a certain way or if I coach them to to hold themselves a certain way, they feel like they're slouching, they feel like they're being lazy, even though they haven't changed their work ethic. They just feel that way because they've been trained to believe something.

Cassandra: 39:23

So I have to do a list.

Dr. Amy Novotny: 39:27

No, not in the sense of that. I do screen people, so I screen everyone I work with, because I want to make sure we're on the same page, to make sure that, as we're working, one a person going to do the work to make sure they understand what we're doing is very different. So, I will tell people during the screening process. I'll say, yes, this would be a good fit, or no. Right now this is not the right fit because it's not what you're looking for. And check, check with me later.

Cassandra: 40:03

OK, that's good, that's good, that's good, Wow, that's great. The screening process Wow, so wow, I'm just in awe. What we haven't talked about was anxiety. A lot of people, depression, anxiety. I don't know if it's the same thing, but you know they're all tight and you know, I've seen people you can tell when they have anxiety. So what you're saying is the work that you do now will mitigate it. Stop it.

Dr. Amy Novotny: 40:39

It will help with it, depending on what the person's doing and what's going on in their life. It can help people get rid of it, some people, it helps them lessen it and they can manage it. But it depends so much of anxiety depends on how much a person is willing to change their life. So anxiety usually shows up after a long period of keeping a person's life a certain way, after a long period of keeping a person's life a certain way.

Dr. Amy Novotny: 41:05

Now we can change that, but it depends on how much of a radical change a person is willing to do. That's give or take. You know it's depends on the person, depends on their circumstances. So I can't always promise the moon, because so much is dependent on is the person really willing to change their life?

Cassandra: 41:27

OK. So when you say change your life, it's not just the the body, is it food? You know it's kind of like. Why would they have to change that? Why are you saying change their life because of the way they walk, they talk, they sit, exercise?

Dr. Amy Novotny: 41:45

all that, all of it. It's how they sleep, the position they sleep, what hours they go to sleep, how what they eat, how they carry themselves, everything that you mentioned. Physically that matters how much they move, how much their job stresses them out, their relationships stress them out. All of it depends on that, because anxiety often comes from a chemical change that happens in the body as a result of the whole entire lifestyle. So we have to look at everything and it really is dependent. Is the person able and willing to change and do they feel comfortable changing, or is it going to create more stress or anxiety for them? It really depends on the person.

Cassandra: 42:37

That's amazing. That's amazing. How can people get in touch with you?

Dr. Amy Novotny: 42:43

Sure, they can go to the website PAPR-b-r institutecom. So pain awareness, breathing relief. So, p-a-b-r institute, they can sign up their email list. I have an email blog so I send out letters to people, tips and suggestions. They can reach out for me for a free consultation for that screening process that I was talking about yeah, and. I say that in all love, because I don't want to waste someone's time or money right. I really don't. I care about what I do and I want to do a good job like.

Dr. Amy Novotny: 43:17

I really care about doing a good job. So I say that in all love that I do want to make sure it's a cry fed.

Cassandra: 43:25

Right, right, and I appreciate that and I appreciate you with those values. I think that they're very, very important. Wow, this is, this is incredible For my listeners. You know, when I talk about get out of your own way is your way in your way. Talk about get out of your own way is your way in your way, and many of us it is. It's just, you know, it's like how, how, how bad is the pain, you know, and there's so many of you that don't want to take medication and you're just medicated taking this, taking that, taking this, taking sleep medicine, taking anxiety medication, oh my gosh, blood pressure, all of that.

Cassandra: 44:05

So this Dr Amy has a modality. I'm calling it a modality. Hers is very different than what I've ever heard. And if you're open to it and you are having that pain, and am I not mistaken, you don't take insurance either. Is that right? No, I don't Right, okay.

Cassandra: 44:26

Okay, so she doesn't take insurance, but I have a lot of entrepreneurs on the phone, and wouldn't it be better to feel better than buy that dress? Wouldn't it be better to be better than maybe go on that vacation, which vacations are good? It will enable you to relax, but maybe we have to sacrifice sometimes so that we will not get stuck, because my experience, like I indicated, I've had back pain and it's a lot better than it used to be. But I used to travel 90% of the time on a plane and boy oh boy, sometimes I just couldn't make it and I could tell my body was out of line and I didn't really know about the nervous system stuff, but I'm sure that had a lot to do with it. So I just encourage you listeners, for those who don't wanna have surgery, just call Dr Amy, email her.

Cassandra: 45:20

She indicated the consultation is 15 minutes Yep. 15 minutes free, yep. 15 minutes, Yep. 15 minutes, yep 15. Okay, 15 minutes, 15 minutes free. So, dr Amy Novotny, it was my pleasure to talk with you. I've learned so much and I tell my listeners if there's something that Dr Amy shared, please share this podcast and when you do hit the button that says publish, hit the button that says publish, hit the button that says like, and that way you'll hear more of these fabulous podcasts. That is your way, in your way, broadcast. So again, thank you, dr Amy. It was my pleasure to meet you and my audience, my listeners. I always say bye for now. Thanks again, dr Amy, thank you.