All Episodes - Chron-ick
Chronic disease and pain is deep, complicated, hard, messy, laughable...it’s just ick. I’m Elise, your host, and while I’m an expert in living with pain, I’m still learning and talking myself through my Chronic-ick life.
View Podcast Details20 Episodes
We are loved all the way through
I encountered “believe it better” theology, but instead of breaking down, I changed my mind about community.
Muddling Through Shame
There is no necessary legacy, and you don’t have to DO anything with your pain or make anything of it. Let’s middle through that one together in a short 10 minutes.
There Are No Short Straws
Welcome to Season 2 of the Chron-ick Podcast! I'm not going to give too much away, but today, I'm telling you a story of family, and of hope, and of joy. I'm also giving you my *soon to be famous* apple cider recipe. Follow me on @chron_ickpodcast on Instagram!
Grieving Through the Ick
I’m grieving today. I’m struggling, I’m processing. I’m not able to have grace for myself, today. This is me at my most imperfect. I’m holding this space so that you have a safe place when you’re feeling imperfect too; when you feel like moving toward is too hard. This is for me, it’s for you; for us. It’s a safe space for all of us who dwell in the “ick” of chronic mental and physical illness, pain and trauma.
Hear Me Out: Be Your Own CVO
Elise ate a subpar sandwich, which sparked an inner fire about how we should all be our own Chief Vibe Officers. This episode includes sandwich shop rankings, the virtues of chili-mac, horrible bosses, not-so-horrible bosses, and how to get loud and advocate for yourself in and out of the workplace.
It’s my birthday & My dog is puking & I’m getting stuck with needles
Title says it all, but Elise is still celebrating like the queen that she is, and YOU need to do the same today and everyday. You’re a queen and you should celebrate that, no matter your circumstances and no matter the deeply rooted psychological junk telling you (especially as a woman) not to celebrate yourself. QUEENS - let’s celebrate! 🎉
BONUS FROM PV: Go Chase Your Waterfalls
A BONUS EPISODE from Puerto Vallarta! Elise chased waterfalls yesterday and it was a long journey of intentionally taking graceful actions to get there. Today she encourages you to change your routine from expected actions to graceful actions in order to chase down the waterfalls you’ve been dreaming about.
The Patrick Stokes Takeover Episode: The Compound Effect
Elise’s husband Patrick takes over the podcast from vacation in Puerto Vallarta, giving a hot take on the state of sports in Denver before discussing “The Compound Effect” by Darren Hardy and how the concept of compounding could help us all become healthier and happier, even if we’re living with a chronic condition. At the end, Patrick puts on his Patricio hat and it gets NSFW as Elise and Patrick discuss Night 1 in PV.
Chronic Conditions & Reflection: Move Forward to Think Forward
WOAH. This week Elise needs a pulpit. We talk about how cultivating grace for ourselves IS participating in social justice. We also talk about how moving your body, or mimicking movement, can help you “think forward,” out of your current situation. Elise also reveals her first GUEST SPEAKER on next week’s vacation episode from Puerto Vallarta.
“Confessions of a Deeply Flawed Individual that May or May Not Help You”
Today is all about how to get good guidance! In seeking sound, love-filled guidance we can learn to have more grace for ourselves and others. Elise also debuts the title of her future memoir, kinda sorta shares the best smoothie recipe ever, and shares the good and the bad of her vacation to Retiree Land. Follow along this week on Instagram @chron_ickpodcast.
How to Have Grace for Yourself
Like any true Liberal Arts student, Elise makes an acronym for how to establish a daily practice for building your “Grace Muscle.”
Pain is Not Your Teacher
This episode is about FUN! Okay, and it’s about how viewing pain as a teacher is super harmful. We’re going to laugh all the way through it, and then we’re gonna go bring Celine Dion Energy to the rest of our week. Spotify isn’t working, so look up “River Deep, Mountain High” and dance with me after listening to this episode!
Hating to Love to Hate “Doing the Work”
“Doing the Work” is so buzzwordy and cliche, and although Elise would rather be a True Crime Podcaster, she’s talking doing work, on yourself, for yourself, by yourself. Oh, and she has a third autoimmune disease and she’ll tell ya all about it...sort of.
Strong, Not Tough: Navigating Drama Without Compromising Your Health
This one features Maury Povich. Just kidding, but this episode truly has drama worthy of a Maury episode! In the midst of crazy, Elise has learned a few things about how toughness isn’t the same as strength, and why - for physical and emotional health - toughness has got to go for good.
Finding Joy in Unpredictability & Directionlessness
Elise hiked the Flatirons and tore the labrum in her left shoulder...and found it to be a joyful experience? Find out why Elise has new hope for her painful, unpredictable life and why there is hope and joy for your experience too.
SURPRISE! Elise’s Shoot-For-Pluto Health Goal is Revealed
It’s a doozy, Elise definitely isn’t qualified, but she’s doing it anyway - no take-backs. This is a HUGE, scary goal but it’s going to be so much fun (!!!), and hopefully it will inspire you to make your own shoot-for-Pluto health goal.
Building Your Health Goals: Shoot for Pluto, Land on the Roof
When we think “health goals,” too often, we think calorie counting or numbers on a scale. To really achieve better health, we have to leave diet culture and societal norms behind to dream up bigger health goals! Today’s episode also feature a new segment: “Good News & Good Stuff” to help you on your way to feeling well.
Finding Softness in Hard Suffering
Chronic pain and suffering isn’t always physical - it can be emotional too. When we experience hard suffering, we tend to “harden” physically and emotionally. What if we worked on “softening” instead? What could that mean for our own pain and for the pain we cause others out of our own pain?
What To Do About Anxiety? Self-Coach Yourself
Yep! It’s true - we all have anxiety, especially while dealing with chronic illness and pain, and extra-especially when we’re “in the waiting.” In this episode, Elise finds a self-coaching model to help us figure out where our anxiety actually comes from and where anxiety will eventually lead us (1:57) She also shares the amazing ways YOU, the listeners, handle anxiety in a healthy way (26:54).
Waiting for the Diagnosis: Build Your Starter Pack
Hi and welcome to Chron-ick! I’m Elise, your host, and I have lived with chronic diseases and pain for 15 years. I’m podcasting to help myself through it and today I’m introducing myself and talking about building a “Waiting for the Diagnosis” starter pack. It’s a lighter day. Let’s talk chronic pain and have some grace for ourselves and each other.