Pain and Illness: How Taking a Pass on the Blame Game Helps You Get Your Groove Back

Laura McReynolds is a writer, a life coach, a Reiki practitioner, and, occasionally, something of a smartass. After spending the first half of her working life as a business columnist, restaurant critic, ad agency owner, and radio voiceover talent highlight of career: cast as talking tomato, Laura studied with O Magazine columnist and Oprah life coach Martha Beck to be a life coach, and also incorporates the teachings of visionaries as disparate as Byron Katie, Eckhart Tolle, Elizabeth Lesser, Mr. Rogers, and the Dalai Lama into her practice. With a focus on “second act” midlife course corrections, Laura helps clients dig deep, dream big, and discover the small, manageable steps that will take them to the lives they were meant to live. As author Anna Quindlen has said, on a different subject, “sometimes you do everything right and something bad happens. It’s as simple, and as scary, as that.” Beating yourself up for getting sick gets in the way of recovering to whatever degree is possible, and in the way of adapting physically—and emotionally—to your new paradigm. We’ll discuss how to productively reflect instead of getting stuck in regret, and to learn to find and embrace the meaning and joy even amidst pain and illness.