Dancing With Pain: Living With Chronic Illness and Learning to Surrender — Lorraine Ansell

Lorraine Ansell spent 40 years in pain without knowing it. Waking up feeling like she'd been "hit by a plane," feet that hummed, a body that bruised at the slightest touch — she assumed everyone felt that way. It wasn't until lockdown, a TikTok algorithm and a very thorough letter to her GP that she was finally diagnosed with hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, and four decades of unanswered questions suddenly made sense.In this season three opener of Successful AF, host Jess West sits down with Lorraine — author of The Surrender Agenda, voiceover artist and dancer — for an honest, surprisingly funny conversation about what happens when there's no cure. Lorraine's radical idea isn't to fight her chronic pain, but to dance with it: to surrender, accept, learn and ultimately love the body she has.In this conversation, you'll hear:How decades of symptoms got dismissed as "growing pains" — and why women so often aren't believed by the medical systemWhat it took to finally get a diagnosis after 40 years, and how to advocate for yourself with your GPWhy "surrender" is a position of strength, not weakness or failureHow Lorraine reframes chronic pain as a dance partner rather than an enemy to defeatWhy rest is "revolution time," and how stripping life back changed her relationship with successThe case for bringing pain "out of the shadows" the way we've started to with mental healthThis one is for anyone living with chronic pain, invisible illness or an undiagnosed condition — and for anyone exhausted by the battle of trying to outrun something that lives inside them.The Surrender Agenda by Lorraine Ansell is available online, on Kindle, and as an audiobook in Lorraine's own voice.Love this episode? Hit subscribe and leave us a review! And if you know someone who's redefining success on their own terms, nominate them at [email protected] - we're always looking for incredible people to feature.Connect with Jess:Instagram: @kalicoaching.coWebsite: www.kalicoaching.co.uk