#059 - Tim Doyle - When Your Body Speaks: What The Mindbody Connection Reveals About Stress & Pain

From chronic back pain to unexpected breathwork challenges and jaw tension, this solo episode unpacks the power of the mindbody connection through real, raw personal experiences. Learn how internal awareness, emotional resilience, and presence can dissolve physical discomfort—and why understanding your own nervous system can be some of the most empowering work you ever do.

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Transcript

What’s up outworkers. From chronic back pain to unexpected breathwork challenges and jaw tension, this solo episode unpacks the power of the mindbody connection through real, raw personal experiences. Learn how internal awareness, emotional resilience, and presence can dissolve physical discomfort—and why understanding your own nervous system can be some of the most empowering work you ever do.

Tim Doyle (00:02.124)

What is going on everyone? Welcome back to another episode of Outworker.

Tim Doyle (00:11.874)

What is going on everyone coming at you with another episode about worker and this is a fun one again because every once in a while I love to do these. This is a solo episode. Just me hopping on here and being able to use this medium and use this platform for me to share more of my own stories, my own experiences and use my voice for myself. I love interviewing people. love connecting with people on this podcast.

but it's also so fulfilling for me to be able to just hold this space for myself and be able to talk with myself, but then also share stories that I have. And for this episode, I'm to be diving deeper into my relationship with the mind body connection and something that I'm really proud of, which is

started over started a few years back but is now really just within the last few months has really developed you know I've really

develop myself as being this person who understands the mind body connection within my own personal experiences, but then also working with other people. And that is stem from my experience of healing from my chronic back pain. for me, chronic back pain and healing from herniated discs was synonymous with mind body connection. Like that is just how I knew it.

I was like, like I was dealing with really bad chronic pain in my back and this mind body work and this mind body connection is what helped me healed. And I really hadn't experienced it in other ways or I really didn't know about it in other ways. I was like, I know about it when it, when it comes to my back.

Tim Doyle (02:15.926)

That has changed now.

There have been other physical, I don't know if you would call them ailments or just different instances where

I've been challenged physically, nothing even close to as bad as the pain that I was feeling with my herniated discs and my back pain, nothing even close to that. But two instances, and one of them pretty recently where...

I experienced my body feeling something and going through something and not because there was necessarily something wrong with my body or something physically had happened, but it was a physical manifestation. It was a message. And the first one happened. The first one was actually kind of, it went on for a good amount of time and it was something that

was very stressful and very tough to deal with. Like I said, not as bad as my back, but it was annoying. So at the end of October, this is actually something that I made a solo episode on. I had gone to a retreat in Austin, Texas, and a component of that retreat was doing breath work. And...

Tim Doyle (03:52.952)

That was the first time I'd ever done breath work and it just like completely unlocked something within me. Like I absolutely loved it. The way that I felt during it, but then even more importantly, and especially afterwards, the feeling of presence and calmness and the quietness of my mind, which was the biggest thing. I was like, wow.

this is something that I love to do and definitely something that I'm going to continue to do, especially because it was like, this can take five to 10 minutes out of my day. Like that's all it takes. Like what I would do for my breath work once I got into the routine, there was this guided breath work that I would do that was eight minutes long. And then I would just do a

10 to 15 minute meditation. And it was beautiful. I would do it in the middle of the afternoon. So it was a good breakup between, you know, morning and night where almost like a time to re-center myself. And I absolutely loved it. And there'd be some times where I did it right before I'd go to the gym. And I love that even more where I was like, it was just like such a different experience working out where it just felt like I was in total peace.

And it was beautiful. And I was like, I'm like I said, I'm to do this every single day now, especially because it doesn't take that long. And that's what I was doing. I had gotten into that routine and was seeing real benefits. And there was one session that I was doing about two or three, two or three weeks afterwards.

Tim Doyle (05:48.14)

where I was breathing and I felt like some tightness in my chest. I didn't think much of it. And then like right at the end,

Like where my chest meets the top of my abdomen, where I would say it was my diaphragm, completely just locked up on me and very hard to breathe. And I'm not saying hard to breathe from the standpoint of, I literally can't breathe or struggling to breathe, literally speaking.

but it was just very, very hard to take a deep breath and very, very uncomfortable and really bad shortness of breath. And obviously uncomfortable in the moment, but obviously like I've learned, you know, don't worry about it or don't, you know, blow things out of proportion or just like allow yourself to kind of stay calm, which I was able to do.

I was like, wow, this is really, really uncomfortable. And like I said, very, very hard to breathe.

And this had actually kind of similarly had happened to me.

Tim Doyle (07:18.86)

my freshman year of college, not from breath work, but there was just like a moment where like I just had this shortness of breath and that went on for a couple months as well. And what helped me or what I thought it helped me was like, okay, I'm just going to start taking Advil and it'll go away. And that's what I started to do. Started taking Advil, wasn't helping really bad shortness of breath.

throughout the entire day, like, was not able to take a deep breath. My ribs would feel so sore.

And it got to the point where I was like, all right, I guess I have to go to my doctor about this and explained everything that was happening. And I said, it started after doing breath work. And he was like, I really never heard of that. That's kind of weird, but he's like, I think we should put you on a steroid pack. And because you, might've

have some inflamed cartilage or you know in your chest you might have this thing called cassochondritis and cassochondritis is something that I had heard of because that's what I got diagnosed with my freshman year of college when I was dealing with the same stuff and I was like okay like just need to get this inflammation down. So already

And I wasn't in mind-body mode because like I said, I only knew mind-body connection and I only experienced it with back pain, herniated discs. So with this, I'm like, okay, conventional treatment plan. Let's start taking a steroid.

Tim Doyle (09:14.876)

And it just goes to...

the idea that I'm a person who knows about the mind-body connection. know about how my mind can play into my physical well-being and feeling things physically. And I've been deep into this work, but still, like, it's so easy to jump back to, there's something physical here or something physically is wrong within my body that needs to be fixed.

So imagine like when you don't know about the mind body connection at all and you don't know about this work how you can just stay within that loop and within that cycle for so long. And so started taking a steroid pack, yeah, it wasn't helping at all. Still like real trouble breathing. When I would work out, it would be really, really tough. So I got to the point again of like, okay, I'm gonna stop working out again.

And the thing that did help me though was the mindset. Because like I said, this wasn't as bad as everything that I was dealing with my back.

But like I've talked about before, I was like, okay, that was a really crappy experience of what you dealt with with your back, but it turned into such a gift and does such a powerful experience. And so how can I not bring that same approach to everything that I'm dealing with now with not being able to breathe easily and feeling this discomfort?

Tim Doyle (10:57.88)

How could I not bring that same approach in the moment now before I even get rid of this? And that's exactly what I did. And that's the approach that I took where I'm like, okay, this can be a very beneficial experience for you. And how I framed it as well, because what I learned with breath work and what I was taught with breath work is like, okay, you're learning the power of your breath.

And that's what I told myself by not being able to breathe easily. And as I normally would, I'm like, you're learning the appreciation of your breath. You're learning the power of your breath by doing this. And that's how you have to see things like.

Tim Doyle (11:48.256)

I gained a much greater appreciation for my breath and the power of the breath by not being able to

feel the power of it. Like I had a lack of power.

I felt weak. I felt incapable of feeling the highs of the power. But I knew it was okay. Like if you feel these lows, that will give you the same experience because once you get out of this, then you will feel the power and you won't even have to go as high. Just getting back into your natural state of breathing will allow you to feel the power of your breath.

And I wasn't, I wouldn't have been able to have that type of mindset if it wasn't for everything that I dealt with with my back. But like I said, I kept, I had that same mindset, but I went back into the conventional approach. So I was like, okay, the, the steroid pack isn't helping for me. I was like, okay, if we needed to get an x-ray then. So I got an x-ray. There was some like shadowing on it they thought I had pneumonia.

So I got prescribed antibiotics for pneumonia that I started taking. And my doctors were like, yeah, pneumonia is going around. So I mean, this could make sense. like, I don't feel sick. Like I'm completely fine. But that's like what the reading showed. And I was like, all right.

Tim Doyle (13:26.914)

That didn't help at all. I was like, yeah, probably because I don't have pneumonia.

Then I got...

another x-ray to see if anything had improved or before even this is actually this is a crucial part of the story actually before i got the second x-ray

I had.

potentially thought.

Tim Doyle (14:02.434)

that maybe I had had a hernia.

and there was potentially a surgery needed for this. And this is getting into the exact same mindset of just like, okay, we're taking out back pain and we're just gonna swap in this other thing. And I'm like, so when you start thinking about surgeries, taking more pills, no matter what the thing is, that will exacerbate whatever it is you're feeling.

Like that will exacerbate the feelings of not being able to breathe easily. And something else that manifested because of this, when I started getting into the mindset of I have a hernia and it was also, I didn't believe that I did. I never truly thought I did, but I had people on my ear.

telling me and potentially saying, this might be what you're actually dealing with. And this might be a different route that we have to take.

Tim Doyle (15:10.166)

And deep, deep down, I truly believe that that wasn't what I was dealing with. But when you get that into your head, it's tough not to wrestle with it. And something that had happened, I was in the shower one morning and I got out and was just incredibly lightheaded. And I was like, I am going to faint.

Like I'm very, very close to fainting. Like this has never happened to me in my entire life. I've never had, I've never fainted in my entire life. Never had an experience where I felt like I was even close to fainting, but I was like, I am very, very lightheaded. Got very, very cold, very, very pale. What did help me though, and this got into the mind body approach because I didn't faint. I was able to stay conscious and stay calm.

because I knew I was like, all right, don't go into fight or flight mode. Don't be reactionary here. Allow yourself to feel these feelings. Allow yourself to literally feel this physical state of, allow yourself just to feel cold. Allow yourself to kind of feel a little bit wobbly.

because then you can find your equilibrium in that it's not until you become reactionary and like, my God, like I shouldn't be thinking like this, then that's just gasoline on the fire. So thankfully that passed very quickly. And then like I said, got another X-ray. Yeah. And nothing is wrong here. Then I got a CAT scan because they were like, okay, we might need to get a, you know, deeper image. And they were like, nothing's wrong here.

like we don't see anything. like, what is going on? And you know, my doctor's like, yeah, like this is really weird. he's like, obviously nothing is wrong with you. you're obviously kind of just dealing with something just, you know, cause it, got at the point where it was like my doctor like really couldn't do anything else for me. So just like, you know, monitor it. and so it eventually kind of just went away.

Tim Doyle (17:28.462)

But was also because I was like, it was at the end of the year.

Was getting like a little bit better and what was funny like I wasn't lifting weights, but the thing that had helped me Was like running for some reason running and doing cardio Allowed me to get into a rhythm with my breathing and then afterwards I would stop and be like, oh wow, like it feels like I can get deep breaths again and get into a normal routine of breathing again, and it was

On the last day of the year and I hadn't worked out since Thanksgiving. So I hadn't worked out for like six or seven weeks. And I'm like, I just got to go to the gym. Like I got to get a freaking workout in, especially before the end of the year. And it felt really, really good. And I was like, man, like I think, I feel like I'm like getting a lot better actually, but still hadn't put the mind body.

into the equation yet.

But I was like, yeah, like I think I'm like getting really, really better. And it kind of just naturally subsided from like, yeah, I'm not dealing with it anymore. And that's kind of what happened my freshman year as well. Because like my parents would ask me like, so like, how did, how did you get better your freshman year? I was like, I don't like it just kind of naturally subsided where I just woke up one morning or just at some moment it was like, yeah, I'm not dealing with this anymore or it's gone. And it was the exact same thing again.

Tim Doyle (19:04.588)

you know, five to six years later, dealing with the same stuff and it just naturally subsided. And then started getting back into working out, normal routine. I'm like, boom, great. This is, this is done. This is behind me.

And then I was like, I shouldn't be doing breath work to be safe. And I gave it a good amount of time. And this was also.

right around the time when I was gonna move to Austin, Texas. And I actually pushed my move back because I was like, all right, like start of the year, I wanna be in Austin, Texas. And then all this comes up and I'm like, man, like I'm not going to move halfway across the country when I'm like dealing with stuff. I wanna be like, I feel like I am fully ready, fully healthy, fully confident to be able to make this move.

So I pushed it back and then I get better. And obviously my first thought when I get better, which was like end of December, early January, like, right, like I'm moving to Texas. So started the entire process of moving to Texas of, you know, finding an apartment, all that stuff and the entire apartment process that could be an entire.

podcast episode in itself, but it was just such a stressful process with so many different problems that happened on top of all the stress of just doing a move in general, especially, you know,

Tim Doyle (20:55.374)

this big of a move where it feels like, like this is a real life change. Like I'm making a big change here. And so yeah, there would be times where I'm like, feeling the weight of this. I'm feeling the stress of this. And like I said at the start,

What breath work would help me with was being present, staying calm, quieting your mind. And I was like, after a very stressful, chaotic day of dealing with all moving stuff, I was like, I gotta do a breath work session. I was like, I'll keep it really light, keep it really gentle, but like, I really need to do a breath work session because it's gonna help.

And I did it very light and not as bad or not as like sudden. But like kind of like in the moment, but then especially afterwards, I was like, that didn't feel good or like it feels like I shouldn't have done that. But I was like, that is what it is, whatever. And then I got up the next morning or a couple of days after, and I'm like, man.

feeling all this stuff again. Like why is this coming back? And I got back into the mindset of like, or I got into the mindset of like, all right, my body is just not built for breath work. I guess I just can't be doing this stuff. Like I love it, but it's, you know, it's having ramifications or it's having, you know, negative effects on me and my body.

But I had already started the process of moving or, you know, rent, getting an apartment lined up and flights and all this stuff where I'm like, well, I'm dealing with this stuff again, but I'm still moving. And so so many different factors playing into this now. And then I'm like, okay, I guess I shouldn't be working out again. And working out helps me with stress. And I was like, my gosh, you're like, the last couple of weeks before I moved up,

Tim Doyle (23:12.974)

Austin, Texas, honestly, I was just a fricking mess and a fricking headcase. knew the one thing though was like, knew like I was, I stayed ground. I was like, no, like you need to be doing this. Like this is the exact move that you want to be doing and that you need to be doing. And you know that when you do get there, you're going to be so happy that you did it. But throughout the entire moving process and that first week,

that I was here, I was like, man, like, still dealing with lot of tightness. Thankfully this time around, my breathing wasn't affected at all, but just super tight throughout my chest and throughout my back.

Tim Doyle (24:00.76)

but still hadn't put the mind body approach to it or wasn't thinking in those terms was still thing of like, what is wrong with my body? Like what is happening here? Because like I said, I had only known about this stuff, right? I'd only experienced it up until this point with my back and pain, but not other physical manifestations, whether it's with tension and tightness or

with breathing.

Tim Doyle (24:34.764)

And the way that I finally came around to understanding and appreciating and feeling like this is a mind body thing, there's nothing wrong with your body, but this is just something that's physically going on within your body. From a mind body perspective is I went on chat GPT and I was like,

These are all the things that I'm dealing with.

Tim Doyle (25:09.688)

These are the things that haven't helped me. Like what should I be doing or what am I doing wrong? And I had used ChatGPT before, so it already had a history of knowing who I am as a person and knowing all of my background work with mind-body connection and all that good stuff.

Tim Doyle (25:38.08)

and it practically said right at the start like you of all people should know that this is a mind body thing dude.

It was like you are not dealing with a physical problem in your body. This is a manifestation. This is a physical manifestation from your mind.

man, it's like, yeah, that makes a lot of sense. Cause then I started like adding more stuff of like, yeah, I don't feel any pain when I work out. And sometimes it feels good after I run and chat. She was like, yeah, like if you were dealing with a physical problem, those things would not feel good for you.

Tim Doyle (26:31.104)

and within a day.

when I was applying the mind-body approach and the mind-body work that had helped me with my back, when I applied it to this.

My breathing returned to normal.

my chest and my back relaxed. They weren't tense or tight anymore. And I was like, wow.

mind body connection. was like, this stuff is truly, truly powerful.

Tim Doyle (27:06.358)

And now for me, like at the start, it was about understanding the relationship between mind and body. And now as I've gotten older and I've learned more and I've put more of this stuff into practice, now it's more so of like the relationship between me and the mind body connection. Cause I'm like, wow.

This isn't just my back. I'm feeling this in other parts of my body, which is a cool feeling like I said

I'm happy that I went through this and I'm happy that I experienced this because I'm like, wow, like I had another mind body.

intervention. And I had, I'm also having the thought literally right now is like, imagine if I didn't know about the mind body approach. I could still be struggling with my breathing to this day right now.

Tim Doyle (28:08.556)

And it's just so powerful that I was able to, okay, have the conscious awareness now of this is a mind-body thing. And within a day, be like, this isn't a problem anymore. I've returned to my natural state.

Tim Doyle (28:33.646)

I'm still not doing breath work. I'm still very, very cautious.

haven't done it since. And who knows if I'll get to a point where I do do it again, but I'm like, it's just not worth it. Because I guess I have the thought in the back of my mind that if my breathing does get out of whack, I know it's just my

Tim Doyle (29:01.292)

mind and my body being reactionary rather than actually something being wrong. And I guess that would be an interesting experiment, but that's something that I'm not trying to do anytime soon because I'm not trying to knowingly put myself into a uncomfortable state like that, especially when it comes to breathing.

Tim Doyle (29:26.978)

So yeah, that was the first week of February that that finally got resolved after those two instances.

Tim Doyle (29:40.044)

And then the second mind body experience that I had was just very, very recently.

And it was in a different part of my body where my jaw...

tightened up.

very, very quickly, like just out of nowhere. And I was like, where is this coming from? Like, what the heck is this? Like, this does not feel good. Like, I would feel it in my jaw, up into my ear, was also feeling it down into my neck. And my neck was getting very, very tense.

This time around though.

Tim Doyle (30:29.206)

I knew pretty quickly. I was like, this is a mind body.

Tim Doyle (30:36.814)

was like, nothing's wrong with me. Like, where would this have just popped up out of nowhere? Like, it's not like I did anything in the moment where I was like,

Tim Doyle (30:48.846)

This is why my jaw just locked up. Out of nowhere I was just sitting on the couch. And this happened.

Tim Doyle (30:58.872)

The annoying thing about it though, or what was different about it compared to understanding with my chest and my breathing with the mind body connection is like I said, with that one, when I understood it was the mind body connection within a day, I was able to.

Tim Doyle (31:22.21)

get back to my normal state. But with my jaw and the reason why I knew this was a mind body thing as well and this has to go with people want to understand like, okay, how did he know this was a mind body thing so quickly or how can I see within my own life of I'm dealing with stuff like this? I had went through a couple weeks back like a big change in my life.

that didn't know was coming.

Tim Doyle (31:58.702)

And things like that, whether it's a good thing or a bad thing, just big changes can cause physiological changes within you. And I knew, was like, okay, it's not a coincidence. Never dealt with a jaw problem in my entire life. Not a coincidence that this thing happens two weeks ago and now I'm feeling this for the first time ever. That's not a coincidence, this is a mind-body thing. So I knew that very, very quickly.

But I wasn't able to.

get rid of those symptoms or those annoying feelings with my jaw within a day. Like it wasn't until just a few days ago where...

it subsided. And I think one of the reasons why it didn't subside is because I was still being very reactionary of like, man, it's annoying. This is really, really frickin annoying. Even though I knew it was a mind body thing, just like, this tightness is uncomfortable. And I was not going into full fight or flight mode. But like I said, I was, I was being reactionary and I was kind of

fighting against it and I was getting annoyed. I wasn't allowing it just to exist. Wasn't allowing myself just to feel it. But this is also one of the benefits that I've experienced with this mind body work because when it was

Tim Doyle (33:32.588)

With my entire experience with my chronic back pain and going through that entire journey, I was incapable of being in the moment. I was always just focused on my pain, just feeling like I was elsewhere thinking about different things, was never able to just like be present.

Tim Doyle (33:55.938)

When it came to my jaw this time around though, it's almost like the pain and the sensations had an opposite effect where it allowed me, but also forced me.

to be present and to stay grounded.

And that is such a remarkable thing and something that I'm so proud of, to be able to say like, the very same thing a few years ago was getting me all out of sorts. And now that same thing is actually keeping me grounded and staying present. And when you're able to be in tune with your mind and your body like that on a

very, very deep level and that takes a little bit of time. Like I said, that the, it's about four, four and a half years that I'm talking here between it totally making me crumble to now. this is actually keeping me grounded and staying present. Like it takes time.

Tim Doyle (35:09.998)

But that's where the gift of these types of things can come into play. Where it's like, when you're in tune with your mind and your body like that and you're able to feel these sensations and these physical manifestations and understand them for what they truly are. Because I could be at the mindset right now or this could have come up and I'm like, okay, I have to go to a jaw doctor.

I need to get another x-ray and that just totally gets your mind racing and gets you further into this narrative and perception of there's something wrong with me, there's something wrong with me, there's something wrong with me. When you get into that mindset of there's something wrong with me,

that will exacerbate those sensations that you're feeling and it will continue because that's exactly what your mind wants. When you think there's something wrong with you, it becomes that much easier for those things to stay and for those things to become your natural state. But I knew I was like, there's nothing wrong with me. There's nothing wrong with me. And I was like, ooh, he knows, he knows deep down there's nothing wrong with him.

And so it took a little bit of time, but it finally was like, wow.

those feelings and those sensations in my jaw and my neck have been able to pass.

Tim Doyle (36:43.222)

And so yeah, it's been a special experience, like I've said throughout this entire episode, just being able to have a continued relationship with the mind body connection, where I haven't just experienced it within my back now, but in other parts of my body. And I'll probably, as time goes on, I will continue to have moments like this.

Tim Doyle (37:11.394)

But when I look at it from the vantage point of, okay, these can be beautiful moments and these feelings can be things that can really help me.

Tim Doyle (37:24.234)

It just totally reframes how you deal with your physical, mental, and emotional well-being.

when you see the problems or when you see the things that...

Tim Doyle (37:44.024)

People wanna tell you your problems as...

things that will guide you instead.

Tim Doyle (37:55.704)

you just become so powerful. And I don't see, I'm not saying that in an egotistical type of way.

like internal power, feeling that, like I feel so internally powerful. when this thing with my jaw subsided, I'm like, I am freaking powerful. And everyone can feel like that because that's what I tell people. I'm like, you have been handed a gift here because it's.

the keys or the stepping stones for like, okay, here, take this, feel this, because this is how you can feel powerful.

Tim Doyle (39:00.44)

And then that power just exudes into all other areas of your life.

So with that.

always fun doing one of these solo episodes, sharing more of my personal experiences, because it's always great to connect with other people, but then it's also great to bring it back home and be able to just connect further with myself and use my voice for myself.

So until next time, keep out working.