Next Level Greatness - Holistic Wellness & Success Podcast · Dr. Barbie Kalev - Holistic Success & Embodiment Coach

#115 ~ How Stress Triggers Pain & Somatic Practices for Relief

·29 min·1 clip

Your body triggers the same fight-or-flight response that protects animals from lions—even when the threat is just an email.

The host opens with a personal setup and mentions the dog that keeps trying to get her attention while she records. She says the episode is about why stress can trigger pain in different parts of the body. Hips and jaw come up first as places where tension tends to gather, and elbows get a mention too. She frames the topic as something many listeners may have felt during a stressful period or event. A recent family moment helps ground the conversation. Her mom fractured her hip and had a partial hip replacement, and she says the situation feels emotionally hard because her mother is 84, even though she is doing well. The host then shifts into her own experience with body pain and says it has taught her something she wants to pass along. She wants to give listeners a little information about what may be happening in the body. The next part turns to posture. Stress, she says, often changes how people stand, sit, and move without them noticing. She references Tony Robbins as an example of how body position can change feeling. The point is simple and physical. If someone acts depressed, the body collapses inward; if someone feels proud, the chest opens and the shoulders broaden. That shift changes physiology and the core. She explains that hunching can shift weight unevenly and create strain, including in the hip joints. She invites listeners to notice their own stress posture in real time. Crossed legs, twisted hips, and a scrunched face all show up as examples. Then she moves into emotional storage. The psoas muscle becomes the center of that section. She mentions Liz Koch's book on the psoas and says it took more than one reading before it really clicked for her. The psoas connects the upper body and lower body, wrapping through the pelvis, spine, and hips. She calls it the fight-or-flight muscle. When stress hits, she says, it tightens. And once it tightens, it does not simply reset on its own unless it is manipulated or worked on. The message keeps circling back to the same idea: what feels emotional can become physical. Toward the end, the host leans back into her own unpolished style and reminds listeners that this is just who she is. She says she is recording in her pajamas and speaking from a place that feels natural to her. She asks for Apple reviews and thanks Rebecca for leaving one. She closes by asking for messages on Facebook and Instagram and says she wants to hear how the topic landed. The final note is personal and practical. She wants the word to spread, and she wants the listener to feel directly spoken to.

As heard by us

A body-first look at how stress can show up as physical pain.

The piece frames stress as something that can settle into the body, with pain appearing in places like the hips, jaw, and elbows. It also folds in the speaker's own pain and her mother's hip fracture before moving through posture changes, the core, and the psoas muscle as…

Read the full review in PlayNext →

Why you'd press play

When stress turns into pain in your hips or jaw, press play.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

Listen to the show on

Apple Podcasts Spotify

Play clips from this episode More from Next Level Greatness - Holistic Wellness & Success Podcast