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Finding New Effectiveness In Your TMS Work

Discussion in 'General Discussion Subforum' started by Ann Miller, Jan 6, 2022.

  1. Ann Miller

    Ann Miller Well known member

    So you completely (or mostly) believe that your symptoms are due to TMS or mind/body syndrome, and you're doing the work of looking at your emotions, maybe journaling, maybe meditation, some somatic tracking thrown in, but it just doesn’t seem to be enough. You’re not getting any results…no shifting or lessening of pain. Nothing. Now what?


    Take heart. I’ve got practical tips here that will help you maximize the effectiveness of the work you’re doing. Read on.


    • Our nervous systems need to know that we will show up for ourselves in a reliable way. To that end, try to dedicate yourself to whatever program or method you’ve chosen with faithfulness. Resistance? Yea…it comes with the territory here. Practical tip: try habit bundling. This is where you pair a difficult habit with one that you do every day or look forward to. I bundled journaling with lunch. So every day, I would eat lunch, then journal for 20 mins, then meditate for 10-20. There was no decision on when I would journal or if I would journal. It was built into the day with lunch. Another idea, would be to pair your TMS work with a cup of hot tea, soft music, candle etc. So you’re creating a cocoon for yourself and your time in self reflection.

    • Look for layers and layers and layers of emotions. If you’re journaling or doing a rapid fire “right now, what am I feeling?” series of questions, make the time ultra effective by looking for the layers. Never ever stop with the first emotion you get to. I guarantee you’ve got ten more under that. You’ve got to go deep, to all the gritty, beautiful parts of yourself. Don’t believe for a minute that you don’t have deep layers…you’re human right? Pettiness, envy, murderous rage, grief, shame, they’re all there. Go get ‘em. And while you’re looking, don’t forget to find excitement, compassion, and jubilation. Because when we repress, we repress ALL the emotions including the joy.

    • Where do you feel those emotions in your body? Where does that envy live? Burning gut? Where do you feel that excitement? Fluttery heart? Somatic track the emotions as feelings. Feel the wave of anger? It’s powerful and red and washes over and around. Experience your emotions as bodily sensations.

    • You might need to take action and make some changes in your life. This doesn’t mean that you’ll definitely need to make huge changes in your life with your career, kids or spouse, but you may need to take action in other meaningful ways. You might need to work on boundaries, or time management, or communication skills or simply learn to turn off the notifications on your phone. (raises hand) Your introspection will guide you here. Yes, we want to uncover our emotional triggers, but the real trick is to minimize them in the first place.
    Best of luck to each of you.
    www.pathsbeyondpain.com
     

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