From Stuck to Shift: What We Can Learn From Chris Sykes-Popham’s Recovery (and Why Freeme Matters)
When you listen to a true recovery story, something happens in the body.
Your shoulders drop.
Your breath loosens.
A small part of you whispers, “Maybe this is possible for me too.”
My recent YouTube conversation with Chris Sykes-Popham, founder of the Freeme app, is one of those stories.
Chris lived with ME/CFS, cycles of severe fatigue, unexplained symptoms, and years of trying to find answers. He saw the revolving door of different practitioners. He experienced the “maybe this” and “maybe that” interpretations, the frustration, the fear, and the gradual loss of hope.
But like so many people who ultimately recover, his life changed the moment the frame changed.
Not “What’s wrong with my body?”
But: “What is my nervous system protecting me from — and how do I show it I’m safe?”
And everything shifted.
🎥 Prefer to watch?
You can view the full conversation with Chris Sykes-Popham on YouTube
or try the FreeMe app via The Pain Habit: https://freemehealth.com/getapp?source=ThePainHabit
The Moment the Story Changes
The most powerful part of Chris’s story is not just that he recovered — it’s how he recovered.
He didn’t “fight” his symptoms.
He didn’t push harder.
He didn’t stumble upon a magic treatment.
He understood his symptoms differently.
He recognised the role of overprotection, threat perception, conditioned responses, emotional load, unconscious narratives, and nervous-system dysregulation.
He saw how his system had become stuck in a loop — and how recovery wasn’t about fixing the body, but about teaching the body it was already safe.
This is the same shift I see in clinic every week.
People don’t get better because they force their body to change.
They get better because they change their relationship with their body.
Chris embodied that shift — and then he built an app so others could do the same.
Why Freeme Matters (and Why I’m Talking About It)
In the interview, Chris and I explore all the things that contribute to persistent symptoms:
The precursors and risk factors
The emotional and cognitive loops
The unconscious protective patterns
The biology of threat
The psychology of safety
The stuckness
And, crucially… the way out
Freeme is built on the same mind-body principles I teach:
Awareness
Presence
Emotional regulation
Pattern recognition
Reducing overprotection
Building capacity for safety
Creating real-world momentum
It doesn’t replace therapy or clinical care.
But it does act as a daily companion — a structured, simple, supportive guide for recovery built by someone who’s lived the journey himself.
👉 If you want to try Freeme, here’s my referral link:
https://freemehealth.com/getapp?source=ThePainHabit
The Real Message in Chris’s Story
Behind every persistent pain or fatigue condition is a human nervous system doing its best to protect you.
Sometimes it protects too hard.
Sometimes it gets stuck.
Sometimes it confuses emotional threat with physical threat.
Sometimes it locks you into loops you didn’t consciously choose.
Recovery begins not when you “fix” the symptoms,
but when you understand what they’re trying to say.
Chris’s story is a powerful example of this truth:
When your story changes, your physiology changes.
When your physiology changes, your life changes.
Watch the Full Conversation
If you want to go deeper into the science, the psychology, and the lived experience of recovery, the interview is here:
🎥 Watch the Freeme Recovery Conversation Here
If This Resonated…
You might also like:
The Pain Habit Book – understanding pain through a new lens
The Recovery Reflection Journal – a gentle structured guide to build awareness
1-Minute Lessons Playlist – short, digestible nervous-system insights
My private Facebook group – a supportive space for your recovery journey
And if you’d like quiet reminders that healing is possible:
👉 Join my reflections by email.
You don’t have to figure this out alone. Here are some helpful next steps…
Join our FREE private Facebook group, The Pain Habit Community, and connect with people who have recovered or are on their way..
Sign up for The Pain Habit Blog below to receive future insights.
Subscribe to The Pain Habit YouTube channel for weekly guidance.
Buy The Pain Habit book. Order here.
But truly — take what you need, in your own time.
