When I sat down with Reanne Murray, what struck me first wasn’t her knowledge of breathwork or her articulation of fibromyalgia — it was her presence.

Calm. Considered. Deeply embodied.

Reanne lives with fibromyalgia. She is also a mother, a breathwork practitioner, and a woman who has spent years learning how to listen to her body in a world that often tells women to override it.

This wasn’t a conversation about fixing anything.
It was a conversation about relationship — with breath, with pain, and with the nervous system.

Fibromyalgia Is Not Just Pain

One of the most important things Reanne spoke about was how fibromyalgia is often misunderstood as a purely physical condition.

Yes, there is pain.
Yes, there is fatigue.
But beneath that is something more complex — a nervous system that has been under pressure for a very long time.

Fibromyalgia doesn’t arrive overnight. It builds slowly, often alongside stress, emotional load, hormonal shifts, and years of being “strong” or “capable” while ignoring subtle signals from the body.

By the time many women receive a diagnosis, they’ve already learned not to trust their internal cues.

Breath as a Point of Entry

What Reanne shared so beautifully was how breath became a place she could return to — not to control symptoms, but to check in.

Breathwork, in her experience, isn’t about forcing calm or “fixing” the nervous system. It’s about creating enough space to notice what’s actually happening.

When pain is present, breath offers information:

• Am I holding?

• Am I bracing?

• Am I pushing when I need to soften?

For someone living with fibromyalgia, this awareness is powerful. It shifts the focus from enduring the body to collaborating with it.

Why “Pushing Through” Often Makes Things Worse

Reanne spoke candidly about the cultural narrative many women internalise — that healing requires effort, discipline, and perseverance at all costs.

For people with fibromyalgia, this mindset can be devastating.

Pushing through fatigue doesn’t build resilience — it often leads to crashes.
Ignoring pain doesn’t create strength — it amplifies fear.
Overriding the body teaches the nervous system that it isn’t safe to speak up.

One of the most important takeaways from our conversation was this:
Healing begins when we stop trying to overpower the body and start listening to it.

The Role of the Nervous System

Fibromyalgia is increasingly understood through the lens of nervous system regulation.

A system that has been under chronic stress — emotional, physical, hormonal, or psychological — learns to stay on high alert. Pain signals become louder. Recovery takes longer. Fatigue becomes persistent.

Breathwork, gentle movement, and moments of stillness aren’t luxuries in this context — they’re necessities.

They provide the nervous system with something it rarely gets: a sense of safety.

What This Means for Pilates

As Pilates professionals, conversations like this matter.

Many people who walk into our studios are not looking for a workout. They are looking for relief, understanding, and somewhere they don’t have to explain themselves.

Reanne’s experience reinforces what so many of us already know intuitively:

• Progress is not linear

• Capacity fluctuates

• Safety precedes strength

Pilates, when taught with awareness and care, can support people living with fibromyalgia — not by fixing them, but by helping them rebuild trust in their bodies.

A Final Reflection

What stayed with me most after speaking with Reanne was her gentleness — not just in how she speaks, but in how she lives.

Fibromyalgia has taught her to listen earlier, rest sooner, and honour her limits without apology.

There is wisdom in that.

And perhaps that’s the invitation for all of us — practitioners and clients alike — to soften our grip on outcomes and return to the body as a place of dialogue, not demand.

🎧 Want to hear the full conversation?

You can listen to Episode 71 of The Pilates Lounge Podcast: Fibromyalgia – Self-Healing Through Breath with Reanne Murray on your favourite podcast platform.