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© 2024 Susi Hately
Description
You are a yoga teacher or a health professional who wants to integrate yoga therapeutically. You want a more holistic, biopsychosocial approach to helping your clients heal. You want to empower them to listen and to learn about their bodies.
In From Pain to Possibility, Susi Hately, B.Sc. Kinesiology blends modern understanding of anatomy and biomechanics with the ancient wisdom of yoga. This weekly show will share Susi's best ideas from over 25 years of helping her clients reduce and eradicate pain.
In From Pain to Possibility, Susi Hately, B.Sc. Kinesiology blends modern understanding of anatomy and biomechanics with the ancient wisdom of yoga. This weekly show will share Susi's best ideas from over 25 years of helping her clients reduce and eradicate pain.
350 Episodes
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In this episode, we explore the in-between: the often misunderstood stage between pain relief and real, sustainable strength. This is the phase where people frequently get stuck, either pushing too hard too soon or relying on temporary fixes that never fully resolve the underlying issue. You'll learn why this space is essential, why it can feel confusing or uncomfortable, and how to move through it with clarity and confidence. We break down what actually needs to happen during this transition phase, how awareness shapes stability, and why easing effort often leads to deeper, more efficient strength gains. Whether you're recovering from pain, rebuilding your movement foundation, or learning how to load your system effectively, this episode sheds light on the principles that make progress not only possible, but lasting.
In this episode, I dive into why hip flexors often feel tight even when they aren't actually short. Many people rely on stretching for relief, but tightness is often a sign that the hip flexors are overworking to compensate for other muscles that aren't supporting the pelvis, spine, and legs properly. I explain how to identify these patterns and why stretching alone may not create lasting change. I also share a three-step approach to hip flexor strengthening, focusing on awareness, precise strengthening, and integrating coordinated movement into everyday activities. By retraining your hip flexors in this way, you can reduce tightness, improve mobility, and create long-term support and stability for your body.
In this episode of From Pain To Possibility, I explore why restorative yoga often leaves people feeling anything but restored. It's not about props or perfect alignment—it's about creating a state where your nervous system feels safe enough to truly settle. I share insights from my experience teaching restorative components in the Therapeutic Yoga Intensive, showing how breath, awareness, and subtle movement can turn any pose into a restorative experience. You'll learn how to recognize when your body is truly resting versus just enduring a pose, and how to bring a tone of rest into both stillness and movement. I also explain how cultivating awareness and listening to your body can recalibrate tension, support healing, and make restorative yoga deeply therapeutic.
In this episode, I explore why your hamstrings aren't the real problem, even if they constantly feel tight, overworked, or impossible to stretch out. I share why the sensation of "tightness" is often a protective response rather than a true tissue issue, and how patterns involving your hips, pelvis, feet, breath, and even your shoulder girdle play a massive role in how your hamstrings behave. I break down the most common coordination and stability issues I see in clients, why stretching rarely leads to lasting change, and how curiosity, clarity, and better system-wide organization naturally help the hamstrings soften without force. If your hamstrings have been gripping for years, this episode will help you finally understand what they've been trying to support.
In this episode, I wrap up my three-part mini-series on choreography and awareness by sharing why awareness-first teaching often creates deeper, more lasting change than even the most precise cues. I explain how students can follow instructions perfectly yet still brace, grip, or feel pain, and how awareness helps their bodies reorganize into movement that's lighter, clearer, and more efficient. I explore how awareness improves neuromuscular coordination, reduces guarding, enhances mobility, and builds ease without extra effort. When we shift from simply correcting alignment to observing patterns and sensations, students not only move better—they feel better.
In this episode, I continue my three-part mini-series for yoga teachers who want to evolve into confident, effective yoga therapists. Today, I walk you through how we can bridge the gap between choreography and awareness, using a grounded, movement-based sequence of Goddess, Warrior 3, and lunges. I share an excerpt from one of my live practices, originally recorded during the pandemic, to demonstrate how we can use traditional poses as tools for developing interoception and proprioception. You'll hear how I guide awareness through the feet, hips, and breath, helping students feel their bodies move rather than simply performing shapes. This episode invites you to slow down, listen, and discover how conscious movement builds stability, ease, and strength, from the inside out.
In this episode of From Pain to Possibility, I explore the real difference between teaching choreography and teaching movement — and why that shift is essential if you want to help people truly reduce pain. Choreography gives structure, predictability, and confidence, but it teaches shapes rather than change. When we rely on set sequences and perfect cues, we can miss the compensations, gripping, and breath-holding patterns that keep people stuck, even if their poses look "right." I share why choreography is a helpful starting point, but not the path to sustainable healing, clarity, or nervous system trust. I also walk through what happens when we step beyond choreography and into perception, awareness, and real-time listening. This is where we start seeing how people are actually moving — not just what they're performing. When teachers release the need for a preset plan, they begin to see the room differently, cue differently, and help students reorganize movement at a deeper level. This is the doorway to genuine strength, ease, propulsion, and long-lasting change.
In this episode of From Pain to Possibility, I dive into decoding migraines—not as random or mysterious attacks, but as patterns that can be understood, softened, and shifted. I share how awareness, calm, and curiosity can help you see the early signs of pain before it takes over. Through real stories from clients and graduates, you'll hear how moving from force to awareness changes everything. Migraines stop feeling unpredictable and start becoming information the body is trying to share. I also guide you through a gentle awareness practice to help you sense tension, soften around discomfort, and reconnect with your breath. You'll learn that when the nervous system feels safe, the body reorganizes from protection to support—and that's when lasting change begins.
In this episode of From Pain to Possibility, I continue my gait series by exploring the stance phase: the moment our bodies meet gravity and the ground. I share why gait isn't about fixing what's "broken," but about recognizing how our systems creatively adapt to support us. When we meet those adaptations with awareness instead of judgment, we shift from forcing change to allowing it. You'll learn how noticing the simple act of walking, how the foot lands, how the pelvis stabilizes, how breath flows, can reveal powerful insights about coordination, balance, and ease. I guide you through an experiential practice to sense your own stance and discover how receiving support from the ground transforms movement from effortful to effortless. You'll see how restoring clarity in gait restores trust in the body, reduces compensation, and opens the path to more graceful, grounded movement.
In this episode, I share how my eight-year-old son, Lewis, inspired me to see gait in a whole new way. When he decided he wanted to improve his walking, we began exploring small, mindful movements together — tuning into how his pelvis, ribs, and legs worked in harmony. What unfolded was a beautiful reminder that propulsion isn't about strength or effort, but about awareness, coordination, and trust between the body and the nervous system. You'll learn how awareness, sensitivity, and trust between the brain and body create lightness in both movement and life. For me, propulsion isn't about pushing forward — it's about allowing forward. As Lewis' movement became smoother and more effortless, his energy and confidence lifted too — showing how ease in motion mirrors ease within, and how true progress unfolds when we move with clarity, connection, and trust.
In this episode of From Pain to Possibility, I explore one of the most fundamental human movements, gait, and how it reveals key insights into knee pain, fatigue, and overall movement patterns. Walking isn't just about the feet and knees; it's a coordinated dance between the hips, pelvis, ribs, and breath. When one part of the system fatigues or stiffens, the knees often end up taking more than their share of the load. You'll learn how to recognize early signals of fatigue, tune into your breath, and notice subtle shifts in stride and rotation that show where your system might be compensating. I'll guide you through simple ways to restore balance while walking: small pauses, stretches, and breath resets that prevent pain before it starts. Gait isn't about perfect mechanics; it's about awareness, adaptability, and allowing your whole body to share the work with ease.
In this episode of From Pain to Possibility, I dive into one of yoga's most debated cues: is squaring the pelvis in Warrior 1 anatomically impossible? I share why I don't see it that way, and how the real focus should be on intent, coordination, and clarity of movement. When we shift the lens away from "possible vs. impossible," we uncover how this pose can actually reduce pain, build stability, and retrain motor control. I also talk about why the glutes aren't usually "weak," but simply bypassed, and how refining coordination can make strength and stability a natural outcome rather than something you force.
In this episode of From Pain to Possibility, I share how symptoms like fatigue, fog, or pain are not signs of decline but invitations to reorganize and step into the next version of yourself. Instead of pushing them away or labeling them as aging, I show how they can become messengers guiding you through identity shifts and new possibilities. You'll hear the seven principles I use with clients and in my own life, from noticing whispers before they become shouts to staying curious, shifting incrementally, and trusting the body's coherence even when it feels messy. When we listen this way, symptoms become guides rather than interruptions, leading to more clarity, ease, and resilience.
In this episode of From Pain to Possibility, I share what it means to shift from being a yoga teacher to becoming a healing facilitator. This isn't just about learning more cues, sequences, or anatomy. It's about reconnecting with why you were drawn to this work in the first place and learning how to integrate what you already know with new skills that truly support healing. I talk about how precision, nervous system regulation, and integration help create lasting change, and why your own teaching voice and repeated phrases are clues to the model you're already building. You'll hear inspiring stories from trainees who combined their backgrounds in yoga, fitness, and healthcare into their own frameworks, and how this shift allowed them to create powerful results for themselves and their clients.
In this episode of From Pain to Possibility, I wrap up my three-part series on becoming a movement detective. We've explored the importance of being an eyewitness and stepping into detective mode, and now I'm bringing it together with integration. This is where observation and curiosity meet, and the body naturally reorganizes without forcing or fixing. I share real client stories and examples from trainees to show how integration happens when we follow coordination patterns and honor what the body communicates. You'll hear how this approach applies to the spine, gait, neck, and core retraining, and why small, precise shifts often create lasting change.
In this episode of From Pain to Possibility, we continue our three-part series on becoming a movement detective. In the first episode, we explored the power of being an eyewitness, noticing clearly without rushing to fix, name, or judge. Now we move into the next step: shifting from eyewitness to detective. This isn't about blaming one muscle or finding a culprit. Instead, it's about learning how to recognize coordination patterns and see how the pieces are working together, or not, under different conditions. You'll hear how detective work means layering observations, asking better questions, and resisting the urge to assign a single cause. Compensations are not mistakes but creative strategies, and when we approach them with curiosity, we begin to uncover what is truly driving pain or limitation. This shift not only builds trust and safety with clients but also helps them step into awareness themselves, becoming their own movement detectives.
In this episode, I'm kicking off a three-part series on becoming a movement detective. Instead of piling on exercises or trying to "fix" the body, it's about observing, listening, and asking better questions, like a detective gathering clues. By slowing down and noticing patterns, we start to see what's really going on beneath the surface. You'll hear how this shift transforms both the practitioner's approach and the client's experience. Treating stories, sensations, and complaints as clues rather than problems opens space for trust, insight, and sustainable change. I'll also share why distinguishing between clues and conclusions matters, and how modeling curiosity leads to deeper breakthroughs.
In this episode, I'm exploring a gap I see so many skilled practitioners fall into, not because they don't have enough tools or techniques, but because of how they're approaching pain. Too often, we slip into "fix-it mode," seeing clients as though something is broken. What I've come to understand is that pain isn't the problem to solve; it's a signal. And compensation patterns aren't mistakes. They're creative solutions the body has used to get the job done. I'll walk you through how to shift from a diagnostic mindset into an observational one, how this helps clients feel safer, and why that safety is the foundation for meaningful, lasting change. You'll hear practical examples you can use right away to reframe pain, support your clients with less bracing and more ease, and start retraining movement in ways that actually stick.
In this final episode of my three-part series, I explore what happens when a client doesn't want to talk. Whether they're silent, shut down, or resisting the moment is rich with information, not failure. I'll guide you through how to recognize the power of presence, how to stay grounded when words are few, and how co-regulation begins not with fixing, but with holding space. If you're a practitioner, teacher, or healer, this one's especially for you.
In this episode I explore what happens after the pain starts to subside, those powerful moments of relief that so often get brushed aside. This is where real change begins. You'll hear how to help your clients (or yourself) recognize what's present when pain is gone, and why naming that new sensation- calm, spaciousness, stability, creates the foundation for lasting nervous system and movement repatterning. We're not just chasing symptom relief; we're cultivating a felt sense of safety, awareness, and inner trust.
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