Breaking Free from Quick Fixes: How ClearBody Reconnects the Mind and Body for Lasting Wellness

It’s 8:00 AM on a Saturday and I’m on the 405 headed to an appointment with a cup of coffee teetering dangerously in my lap. I’m running late, but that’s not unusual.

What is unusual is that the appointment is with ClearBody founder, Maryam Javanbakht. If mention of the ‘405’ didn’t immediately betray my Southern California roots, then my cavalier attitude (and very loose definition) about ‘wellness’ surely will. Much like my cup of coffee, when it comes to my health, I strike a hard and precarious balance: I workout 5-6 days a week, but sit for 95% of my day in front of a glowing screen. Walking for me is more likely to happen on a treadmill indoors than on any of the picturesque hiking trails that are routinely featured in the glossy images of SoCal you’ll see. I buy organic, but mainline M&M’s, and have had a tumultuous relationship with sleep for as long as I can remember (surely from that cup of coffee that’s hanging in the balance. In fact, I’m nursing a cup as I write this now.)

As someone living in Orange County, it’s not lost on me that I’m centered squarely in the capital of people who have mastered the art of looking healthy and, yet, people are not well. Aging here is optional, and so too, is the annual visit with your GP. Between Botox and Ozempic, we’re full of quick fixes, and despite how things look on the outside, that’s a big problem. 

According to the CDC, the prevalence of chronic diseases in the U.S. has steadily increased over the past two decades and is expected to continue rising. Currently, an estimated 1 in 3 Americans suffer from at least one major chronic condition, such as heart disease, cancer, diabetes, obesity, or hypertension. Alarmingly, 42% have two or more chronic conditions, and 12% have five or more. These preventable and treatable diseases are linked to five of the top ten leading causes of death in the country. Beyond the personal toll, managing chronic diseases accounts for nearly 90% of the annual $4.1 trillion healthcare expenditure in the U.S.

At the risk of sounding glib, it’s more likely that your doctor is an influencer than a medical practitioner these days. “Healthy living” is a hashtag, and while the discourse is promising, unsurprisingly — and based on the glut of statistics I just threw at you — we’re missing the mark. 

That’s where Maryam comes in. 

Equal parts soft new-age wisdom and hard science, Maryam is the embodiment of warmth. Her mission she says? “Calming the mind to heal the body”. As someone who’s deeply skeptical of anything that feels remotely “woo woo”, I’m inclined to rebuke any wellness routine that demands I meditate, muchless listen to my body. But when she suggests I come in for a visit to see what ClearBody is all about, I don’t hesitate. 

Founded in 2017, Clearbody was born from a desire to upend the entire health-medical-wellness regime (my words, not hers) by integrating a more comprehensive approach that acknowledges the interconnectedness of the body and mind. Recognizing that conventional practices often neglect the crucial role the nervous system and mental health play in overall wellness, Maryam developed a unique method that merges principles of mental health therapy with physical therapy (a la The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk). And that’s not just for those that have bad knees and sports-related injuries. Her target audience, I’m shocked to find, is people like me (the 9-to-5’er often blissfully unaware of a blinking engine light). 

Within five minutes of sitting down at my consultation, I transition from adamantly defending myself (“No, I’m great. Really!”) to admitting a whole lot more. And that’s really the challenge with what I’m going to call the ‘un-wellness space’: it’s not a problem until it is. What starts as living with your shoulders hovering near your earlobes all day and a consistently furrowed brow, turns into much bigger problems like cardiovascular issues and a bad back. The stress, and the struggle, are real. 

The session, which lasts 90-minutes in total for first-timers like me, always starts that way, according to Maryam. “It’s not unusual that a new client comes to me with one very acute problem in mind and by the time we’re done, we’ve gotten to several root causes.” This, she says, is her jam: the getting-to-know-you of it all. And based on my experience, brief as it may have been, I’d have to agree with her. After the initial conversation, she gets to work. 

The next hour consists of what I’m going to call a full-body inspection. Between light tweaks and touches, Maryam works me up and down, explaining her craft as she goes in a hushed tone of voice that, at this point, I’m convinced has the prescriptive power to drop your BPM in the ‘near-dead’ range. I say that, because that’s exactly what happened to me. As we address a few specific areas (tense shoulders, clicking joints, and jaw pain), I realize that much more time has passed that I was aware of. And I am relaxed. Like, really relaxed. 

It’s at this point that I begin to understand why Maryam is constantly beating the drum of the ‘bio-psycho-social’ model that underpins the entire ClearBody method. This fusion targets not only the physical symptoms but also the regulation of the nervous system, offering a more profound and holistic path to recovery, especially for those grappling with chronic pain. The result is a deeply personalized, compassionate treatment experience, guided by expert hands and designed to foster genuine, lasting healing. It’s this model that gets at that impossible frustration most of us face when we know something’s wrong but we’re not quite sure why (in spite of supplements and yoga classes, prescriptions and painkillers) we can’t seem to kick it. Her services range far and wide and include integrative physical therapy, nervous system regulation, chronic pain management, manual therapy, movement therapy, mindfulness-based therapy, postural assessments, customized exercise programs, education on body mechanics, breathwork, and stress reduction techniques

I prepare to leave her office feeling decidedly more loose…and with homework. Yep, you read that right. Homework. As in, exercises (meditations and movements) and books to read (you can see a list of her recommendations below). And this is precisely what sets Maryam apart from other practitioners in her space. Maybe, because even she is remiss to identify as any one thing over another. She is neither therapist, nor physical therapist, and yet her approach borrows the best of everything and resembles more teacher than physician. All said with the very real disclaimer that if you’re not willing to do some work, the ClearBody method will not work. 

As I take my (now empty) thermos of coffee and head back onto the busy and buzzing freeway, it occurs to me that perhaps what’s most meaningful about what Maryam offers her clients is a type of wellness that is so necessary for modern living. Between the two extremes of white-coat dawning doctors and “influencer medicine”, ClearBody comes through to the fore as an antithesis to the worst parts of each: a detachment that can be so maddeningly frustrating (one struggles to know you and the other never will). Instead, Maryam sits in a firmly (and intentionally) ambiguous place therapeutically speaking – her stance on wellness, however, is anything but. Put simply, the ClearBody method aims to help us better understand. Period. Understand ourselves, chronic disease (and where it comes from), and how to be a better consumer of information so you might save yourself from another quick fix in lieu of something better altogether. 

Even more remarkable is the honesty. She promises better, but not perfect. And something about that in and of itself feels like an exhale. “Let’s get 1% better every day”, she says, referencing smash hit Atomic Habits. 

One session in, and I’ve already referred her to members of my own family. While ClearBody is firmly planted in Southern California, she offers extended learning about pain management and wellness for those in further zip codes. No quick fix by any means, but one can only hope we all find a Maryam Javanbakht in our lives. 

ClearBody Syllabus: Essential Reads for Understanding the Mind-Body Connection

1. The Way Out by Alan Gordon
Link: The Way Out
Why Read It: This book delves into pain reprocessing therapy, emphasizing the crucial link between the mind and body in managing chronic pain. It’s a foundational read for anyone looking to understand how mental patterns can perpetuate or alleviate physical pain.

2. No Bad Parts by Richard C. Schwartz
Link: No Bad Parts
Why Read It: Exploring the concept of internal family systems, this book illustrates how pain can act as a protective mechanism. It teaches readers to connect with and understand their pain, rather than just fighting it—a key principle in the ClearBody method.

3. You Are Not Your Pain by Vidyamala Burch & Danny Penman
Link: You Are Not Your Pain
Why Read It: Ideal as an audiobook, this book is perfect for those who appreciate guided meditations. It offers practical insights on how mindfulness can help manage chronic pain, aligning with ClearBody’s holistic approach to wellness.

4. When The Body Says No: The Cost of Hidden Stress by Gabor Maté
Link: When The Body Says No
Why Read It: Gabor Maté explores the profound effects of chronic stress on the body. This book is essential for understanding how unaddressed emotional stress can manifest as physical ailments, reinforcing the importance of addressing both mind and body in healing.

5. Dopamine Nation by Anna Lembke
Link: Dopamine Nation
Why Read It: This book examines the modern struggle with addiction and the neurochemical underpinnings of pleasure and pain. It’s a thought-provoking read for those interested in how our brain chemistry influences our behaviors and health, complementing the ClearBody philosophy of addressing root causes.