🎁 Free Resource Download your free Cultural considerations in chronic pain guide → HERE.

In this episode, Asami swaps roles to become the guest, opening up about years of living with debilitating chronic pain, the cultural values that shaped her response to it, and the surprising one-session breakthrough that changed everything.

Whether you're an Asian Australian navigating your own health challenges, a mental health practitioner seeking deeper cultural understanding, or simply curious about the mind–body connection in multicultural contexts, this conversation offers insight, relatability, and hopefully, hope!

You'll learn: 

✅ How Asian cultural beliefs like grit and stoicism can shape our relationship to chronic pain and seeking help 

✅ Why recovery isn't always a straight line, and how to balance rest with building resilience 

✅ Practical mindset shifts to approach chronic pain without fear 

✅ How to find culturally competent healthcare providers who understand Asian Australian experiences

💡 Episode Highlights 

• Our senior producer Yeo takes over hosting duties 
• Asami's life in 2018, working full-time in trauma, and the onset of chronic pain
• Facing years of treatment with no improvement from various Melbourne practitioners
• The single osteopath session that changed everything
• Parallels between chronic pain, mental health, and experiencing racism in Australia
• Lessons from recovery and ongoing pain management strategies

🧠 Key Quotes: 

"The moment I realised my body wasn't broken was the moment I started to heal."

"I think a lot of us grow up being told to just push through pain, and that can make it harder to ask for help when we really need it."

"When you understand pain as your nervous system trying to protect you, it changes the way you respond to it."

🛠️ Resources & Links 

🔗 Find culturally competent practitioners on our Asian Mental Health Practitioner List: justshapesandsounds.com/asian-australian-mental-health-practitioners

🔗 Related episode: Interested in Asami's journey? Check out this episode. 

🙌 Stay connected with us 

Website: https://justshapesandsounds.com  

Instagram: https://instagram.com/justshapesandsounds

LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com.company/justshapesandsounds 

If this episode helped you understand chronic pain from a cultural perspective, please subscribe and share to support other Asian Australians on their healing journeys. 💛

Keywords: chronic pain, Asian Australian health, cultural competency healthcare, mind-body connection, chronic pain management, Asian cultural values, Melbourne practitioners, multicultural health, pain and mental health