<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><rss xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" version="2.0"><channel><title><![CDATA[How We Really Feel Podcast]]></title><description><![CDATA[How we really feel]]></description><link>https://www.howwereallyfeel.com/blog</link><generator>RSS for Node</generator><lastBuildDate>Thu, 28 May 2026 08:24:53 GMT</lastBuildDate><atom:link href="https://www.howwereallyfeel.com/blog-feed.xml" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml"/><item><title><![CDATA[Why Your Nervous System Is Not Overreacting, It's Doing Exactly What It Learned To Do]]></title><description><![CDATA[If you have ever been told that your pain is psychological or that stress is making it worse, like that should be simple to fix, this episode offers a more honest and useful explanation of what is actually happening. The nervous system and chronic pain are not separate conversations. They are the same one. What Happens in the Body When You Feel Dismissed Sheren Gaulbert explains the neurobiology in a way that is both accessible and genuinely clarifying. When the threat response fires (whether...]]></description><link>https://www.howwereallyfeel.com/post/why-your-nervous-system-is-not-overreacting-it-s-doing-exactly-what-it-learned-to-do</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a157c24b3f40ff4eeeb8d90</guid><category><![CDATA[Episode 5 - how we really feel]]></category><pubDate>Wed, 27 May 2026 08:00:13 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/cbc9f1_4efbb5b1d91c4f83ae1a95b51f685e44~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Kami Abdullayeva</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[When Your Body Becomes the Enemy and What It Takes to Call a Truce]]></title><description><![CDATA[There is a particular kind of exhaustion that comes from fighting your own body. Not just the pain itself, but the effort of trying to be believed. Of going back, again and again, to a system that keeps sending you home with nothing. Of learning, over time, to distrust your own experience. Both guests in this episode know that exhaustion from the inside. Two Stories, One Familiar Pattern Carla Cressey, founder of The Endometriosis Foundation, spent years in severe pain before receiving a...]]></description><link>https://www.howwereallyfeel.com/post/when-your-body-becomes-the-enemy-and-what-it-takes-to-call-a-truce</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a0dc964dd66a932def96693</guid><category><![CDATA[Episode 5 - how we really feel]]></category><pubDate>Mon, 25 May 2026 08:00:17 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/cbc9f1_4efbb5b1d91c4f83ae1a95b51f685e44~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Kami Abdullayeva</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Body Image, Sexuality and Injury: What Two People Who've Lived It Want You to Know]]></title><description><![CDATA[Changes to sexual function after spinal cord injury are common. They're significant. And they remain one of the least discussed aspects of life after injury in clinical settings, in rehabilitation, and in public conversation. This episode goes there. When Your Body Was Your Identity Both Niall and Steve came into their injuries as people who had invested heavily in their physical selves. Niall used his body to access mountain environments and jungles. Steve was a 6'1" high school football...]]></description><link>https://www.howwereallyfeel.com/post/body-image-sexuality-and-injury-what-two-people-who-ve-lived-it-want-you-to-know</link><guid isPermaLink="false">69ff63434f7ebdc9f6ad6cc1</guid><category><![CDATA[Episode 4 - how we really feel]]></category><pubDate>Sun, 24 May 2026 08:00:07 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/cbc9f1_4efbb5b1d91c4f83ae1a95b51f685e44~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Kami Abdullayeva</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Beyond the Wheelchair: The Less Visible Realities of Life After Spinal Injury ]]></title><description><![CDATA[There are things that happen after a spinal cord injury that almost nobody prepares you for. Not the physio. Not the muscle work. The other things. The ones that people tend to lower their voices for or skip over entirely in clinical consultations. This episode doesn't skip over them. The Fart That Got a Round of Applause Niall McCann did not know, before his paragliding accident, that he would lose control of when he broke wind. Nobody told him. It came as a surprise, and for a while, an...]]></description><link>https://www.howwereallyfeel.com/post/beyond-the-wheelchair-the-less-visible-realities-of-life-after-spinal-injury</link><guid isPermaLink="false">69ff61f0ecab901137544b19</guid><category><![CDATA[Episode 4 - how we really feel]]></category><pubDate>Fri, 22 May 2026 08:00:13 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/cbc9f1_4efbb5b1d91c4f83ae1a95b51f685e44~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Kami Abdullayeva</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Why Recovery Small Wins Aren't Consolation Prizes but Actually the Whole Point]]></title><description><![CDATA[At some point during his early rehabilitation, Steve Kearley would wait until no one was watching. Then he'd look down at the 12-inch floor tiles beneath his wheelchair and try to move. One inch. Maybe two. And feel genuinely good about it. It sounds like a small thing. It wasn't. The Night Shifts Nobody Saw Steve was 17, a serious athlete who had been planning a college football career before a car accident changed everything. The gap between who he had been and where he now was felt...]]></description><link>https://www.howwereallyfeel.com/post/why-small-wins-aren-t-consolation-prizes-but-actually-the-whole-point</link><guid isPermaLink="false">69ff60e84f7ebdc9f6ad6818</guid><category><![CDATA[Episode 4 - how we really feel]]></category><pubDate>Wed, 20 May 2026 08:00:13 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/cbc9f1_4efbb5b1d91c4f83ae1a95b51f685e44~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Kami Abdullayeva</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[The Story You Tell Yourself During Recovery Matters More Than You Think]]></title><description><![CDATA[Most people, when they imagine serious injury, picture the physical challenge. The muscle building, the physio sessions, the slow return of function. What Niall McCann and Steve Kearley's experiences reveal is that the narrative running in your head is doing at least as much of the work and in some ways, a great deal more. Two Injuries, Two Very Different Starting Points Niall, a biologist and National Geographic Explorer, was flying a small parachute when he flew into the side of a mountain....]]></description><link>https://www.howwereallyfeel.com/post/the-story-you-tell-yourself-during-recovery-matters-more-than-you-think</link><guid isPermaLink="false">69ff5f847e54dfff8bffb5cb</guid><category><![CDATA[Episode 4 - how we really feel]]></category><pubDate>Mon, 18 May 2026 08:00:17 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/cbc9f1_4efbb5b1d91c4f83ae1a95b51f685e44~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Kami Abdullayeva</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[What Psychosexual Therapy Actually is and Why the Toolbox is Bigger than You Think]]></title><description><![CDATA[Many people don't know psychosexual therapy exists until they need it. And by the time they arrive at a first session, they're usually carrying a mixture of relief that they've finally done something and dread about what that something might involve. The gap between what people expect and what actually happens is significant, but closing that gap is part of what makes the work effective. What Happens In The Room Psychosexual therapy is practical, curious, and grounded. It looks at what...]]></description><link>https://www.howwereallyfeel.com/post/what-psychosexual-therapy-actually-is-and-why-the-toolbox-is-bigger-than-you-think</link><guid isPermaLink="false">69fcd768ff1f3255572a9715</guid><category><![CDATA[Episode 3 - how we really feel]]></category><pubDate>Sun, 17 May 2026 08:00:15 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/cbc9f1_4efbb5b1d91c4f83ae1a95b51f685e44~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Kami Abdullayeva</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Sex and Intimacy in Chronic Illness: Why They're Not the Same Thing, and Why That Matters]]></title><description><![CDATA[Intimacy and sex get used as if they mean the same thing so often that most people have stopped noticing. In healthcare settings, intimacy tends to be the word everyone reaches for when they can't quite bring themselves to say sex. It's softer, safer, easier to write in a notes field. However, the blurring of those two things causes real problems, particularly for people navigating chronic illness, pelvic pain, or a body that no longer feels like it used to. The Dwindle Nobody Talks About...]]></description><link>https://www.howwereallyfeel.com/post/sex-and-intimacy-in-chronic-illness-why-they-re-not-the-same-thing-and-why-that-matters</link><guid isPermaLink="false">69fcd667666cfccd94179706</guid><category><![CDATA[Episode 3 - how we really feel]]></category><pubDate>Fri, 15 May 2026 08:00:10 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/cbc9f1_4efbb5b1d91c4f83ae1a95b51f685e44~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Kami Abdullayeva</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[When Illness Changes Your Sex Life, But Your Clinician Won't Talk About it]]></title><description><![CDATA[Here's something that comes up again and again in this episode: sexual dysfunction and chronic illness travel together constantly. Through cancer diagnoses, pelvic conditions, hormonal changes, prostate treatment, recurrent infections and more. And yet in most clinical settings, the subject never comes up at all. Not once. Not even as a footnote. The Silence That Does Its Own Damage Lorraine Grover, nurse and psychosexual therapist with over 20 years of experience, knows this from both sides...]]></description><link>https://www.howwereallyfeel.com/post/when-illness-changes-your-sex-life-but-your-clinician-won-t-talk-about-it</link><guid isPermaLink="false">69fcd3ec25e3fb6b30c92d79</guid><category><![CDATA[Episode 3 - how we really feel]]></category><pubDate>Wed, 13 May 2026 08:00:07 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/cbc9f1_4efbb5b1d91c4f83ae1a95b51f685e44~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Kami Abdullayeva</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Why Nobody Told Us How Sex Actually Works (and What That Costs Us)]]></title><description><![CDATA[Most of us became adults carrying a full set of assumptions about sex and almost none of the knowledge to support them. Nobody sat us down. Nobody explained what was normal, what varied, what changed. And yet somehow, we were all supposed to just know. That gap between expectation and reality is where so much unnecessary shame quietly takes root. Marinated in Messages We Never Chose Long before we have any sexual experiences of our own, we absorb a dense set of beliefs about what sex is, what...]]></description><link>https://www.howwereallyfeel.com/post/why-nobody-told-us-how-sex-actually-works-and-what-that-costs-us</link><guid isPermaLink="false">69fcbe1775e14b340e577b3f</guid><category><![CDATA[Episode 3 - how we really feel]]></category><pubDate>Mon, 11 May 2026 08:00:10 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/cbc9f1_4efbb5b1d91c4f83ae1a95b51f685e44~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Kami Abdullayeva</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[What Trauma-Informed Pelvic Care Actually Looks Like And Why It Changes Outcomes]]></title><description><![CDATA[There's a moment in this episode where Dr Sula describes her own experience of urodynamic testing. She was alone. Nobody explained what was happening. She was handed a backless gown, connected to equipment, told to cough, told to sit on a transparent toilet. When the test was done, she was shown the door to a bathroom that opened directly onto a waiting room full of people, with no regard for the significant pain she was in. That experience isn't an anomaly and the issue isn’t just that it...]]></description><link>https://www.howwereallyfeel.com/post/what-trauma-informed-pelvic-care-actually-looks-like-and-why-it-changes-outcomes</link><guid isPermaLink="false">69f4d9f490b4365cb8607fd0</guid><category><![CDATA[Episode 2 - how we really feel]]></category><pubDate>Sun, 10 May 2026 08:00:13 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/cbc9f1_4efbb5b1d91c4f83ae1a95b51f685e44~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Kami Abdullayeva</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Bladder Retraining, Bladder Drill and Why Getting Them Mixed Up Makes Things Worse]]></title><description><![CDATA[Somewhere along the way, many people with bladder urgency get told to retrain their bladder. Hold on a bit longer. Build up gradually. Resist the urge. It sounds reasonable. For some people, it works well. For others, it quietly makes things significantly worse — and the reason comes down to a distinction that even clinicians sometimes miss. Two Approaches, Two Very Different Outcomes Bladder retraining and bladder drill are not the same thing. They're used for different presentations, and...]]></description><link>https://www.howwereallyfeel.com/post/bladder-retraining-bladder-drill-and-why-getting-them-mixed-up-makes-things-worse</link><guid isPermaLink="false">69f4d8dbb7104c93b99d25a2</guid><category><![CDATA[Episode 2 - how we really feel]]></category><pubDate>Fri, 08 May 2026 08:00:15 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/cbc9f1_4efbb5b1d91c4f83ae1a95b51f685e44~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Kami Abdullayeva</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[The Pelvic Web: Why Pain and Symptoms Rarely Stay Where They Started]]></title><description><![CDATA[Here's something worth knowing before you spend another year trying to work out which organ is the problem. Inside the pelvis, the organs don't operate independently. They share nerve supply, they share space, and as the research increasingly shows, they share the consequences of each other's distress. Closer Than Any Diagram Suggests Anatomical textbooks tend to give the impression that the bladder, bowel, uterus and pelvic floor live in tidy, separate compartments. The clinical reality is...]]></description><link>https://www.howwereallyfeel.com/post/the-pelvic-web-why-pain-and-symptoms-rarely-stay-where-they-started</link><guid isPermaLink="false">69f4d7b97db2f4343a417951</guid><category><![CDATA[Episode 2 - how we really feel]]></category><pubDate>Wed, 06 May 2026 08:00:12 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/cbc9f1_4efbb5b1d91c4f83ae1a95b51f685e44~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Kami Abdullayeva</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Why Your Bladder and Brain Are Always Talking (And What Happens When the Line Gets Noisy)]]></title><description><![CDATA[Most people, when something goes wrong with their bladder, start looking for a physical explanation. A structural problem. An infection. Something that shows up on a test. What the science of neurourology suggests, though, is that the conversation happening between your bladder and your brain is at least as important as anything happening in the organ itself. The Bladder Brain Connection is Active Every Moment Filling, sensing, waiting, deciding – our bladder and brain are in constant...]]></description><link>https://www.howwereallyfeel.com/post/why-your-bladder-and-brain-are-always-talking-and-what-happens-when-the-line-gets-noisy</link><guid isPermaLink="false">69f4d3b1edf5696920d22ae1</guid><category><![CDATA[Episode 2 - how we really feel]]></category><pubDate>Mon, 04 May 2026 08:00:14 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/cbc9f1_4efbb5b1d91c4f83ae1a95b51f685e44~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Kami Abdullayeva</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Perimenopause, Bladder Symptoms and the Conversation Most Women Aren't Having]]></title><description><![CDATA[Hot flushes and mood changes get most of the airtime when perimenopause comes up. But for many women, the first signs show up somewhere else entirely – in the bladder, or in symptoms that look a lot like recurrent UTI. In this episode, we are having a conversation that is long overdue. An Early Warning Sign in an Unexpected Place The vaginal and urethral area contains some of the highest concentrations of oestrogen receptors in the body. So when oestrogen starts to shift, which can happen...]]></description><link>https://www.howwereallyfeel.com/post/perimenopause-bladder-symptoms-and-the-conversation-most-women-aren-t-having</link><guid isPermaLink="false">69ef6efb7cb0726b2da787f3</guid><category><![CDATA[Episode 1 - how we really feel]]></category><pubDate>Sun, 03 May 2026 07:00:09 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/cbc9f1_4efbb5b1d91c4f83ae1a95b51f685e44~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Kami Abdullayeva</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[UTI Testing and Diagnosis: Why a Negative Result Doesn't Mean You're Fine]]></title><description><![CDATA[You know something is wrong. The symptoms are real: the urgency, the burning, the sense that your body is staging a quiet protest. And yet the test comes back clear. Normal. Nothing there. For so many people navigating recurrent UTI or chronic bladder symptoms, this is the moment that does the most damage. Not the symptoms themselves, but the doubt that follows a negative result. This episode tells us what that negative result actually means, and what it doesn't. What Standard UTI Testing and...]]></description><link>https://www.howwereallyfeel.com/post/uti-testing-and-diagnosis-why-a-negative-result-doesn-t-mean-you-re-fine</link><guid isPermaLink="false">69ef6c9bd00855f52b1e0f36</guid><category><![CDATA[Episode 1 - how we really feel]]></category><pubDate>Fri, 01 May 2026 07:00:27 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/cbc9f1_4efbb5b1d91c4f83ae1a95b51f685e44~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Kami Abdullayeva</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[The Bladder and Bowel Connection Nobody Told You About]]></title><description><![CDATA[Most anatomy diagrams make it look like your pelvic organs live in separate villages. They don't. They're neighbours, and what happens in one has a direct effect on the others. Hopefully after this episode this will become much clearer for you, because this is one of those things that, once you understand it, you start to see everywhere.  Closer Than You Think Inside the pelvis, the bladder, bowel, and reproductive organs share space, nerve supply, and as it turns out, bacteria. When one is...]]></description><link>https://www.howwereallyfeel.com/post/the-bladder-and-bowel-connection-nobody-told-you-about</link><guid isPermaLink="false">69ef69a415d16921748cfbfe</guid><category><![CDATA[Episode 1 - how we really feel]]></category><pubDate>Wed, 29 Apr 2026 07:00:09 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/cbc9f1_4efbb5b1d91c4f83ae1a95b51f685e44~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Kami Abdullayeva</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Why Your UTI Bladder Symptoms Might Not Be What You Think]]></title><description><![CDATA[Most people don't talk about their bladder until something goes wrong. And when it does, they often find themselves in a frustrating loop: Tests come back normal, symptoms don't shift, and somewhere along the way, a quiet voice starts wondering: is this just me? Is it in my head?

It isn't. And this episode of How We Really Feel (episode one) explains exactly why. ]]></description><link>https://www.howwereallyfeel.com/post/why-your-uti-bladder-symptoms-might-not-be-what-you-think</link><guid isPermaLink="false">69ea30a2c992063310d250fd</guid><category><![CDATA[Episode 1 - how we really feel]]></category><pubDate>Sun, 26 Apr 2020 23:00:00 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/cbc9f1_4efbb5b1d91c4f83ae1a95b51f685e44~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Sula Windgassen</dc:creator></item></channel></rss>