Finished SEP

It was a great journey the last 42 days, I have been in touch with many emotions and have gotten to a deeper part of my soul...though my synthoms have not changed , I am dealing with them without as much fear and anxiety which overall means less pain. I know this ins just the start of my journey I am going to back off from tms learning for awhile and use what I have learned to continue this road travel with a different out look. All you have been a great support and a treasure chest of knowledge as I dug myself out of being afraid all the time.

The Journey Yet Continues.

 

Hi Boston,
Glad to hear your fear and anxiety have gone down. Best of luck on the rest of your healing journey.

 

Thx Blake 5 steps forward 3 steps back lol

 

Hi, Boston Redsox. You've come a long way in TMS knowledge and healing since you are
in touch with your emotions and reflecting on how they affect your mental and physical sides.
It really is a wonderful journey and you've reached success in dealing better with fear and anxiety.
Before I learned about TMS those two boogeymen were constant companions,
but now I seldom see them. I am a much more positive person thanks to the SEP, journaling,
mindfulness, deep breathing, and laughing.

Keep up the great work and your symptoms will be Gone with the Wind.

I just watched a really good recent movie about family relationships and kept thinking the people
needed to know about TMS.

The movie is called NAKED AS WE CAME, and means we are naked when we come into this world.
It is getting good reviews at film festivals. I watched it on Netflix Streaming. It is available on DVD
from Netflix or to purchase.

 

I was like you, Boston: I saw those connections between my emotions and my TMS symptoms during the ISTDP exercises in the SEP, but that didn't really reduce my pain much, not at first. It's taken me a long time to develop and use those initial insights. However, now 2 years later, they're paying really big dividends as I get better and more pain-free on a year by year, month by month, now day by day basis. I think I was being obsessively overly intellectual about the process at first. But for some of us it takes longer to assimilate our new knowledge and convert it into what Michael Brown calls, I seem to remember, a "felt sense" of your emotional life as it manifests in your body.

But you've started on "The Great Way" of self-healing, which is, as the Third Zen Patriarch said, wide open for those who have no preconceptions. Good luck!

 

Thx Walt and Bruce for your thoughts and comments….my journey still continues as I have the weapons to fight off my fear and anxiety most of the time lol…I will continue my quest for reducing my pain, but I am going to take a short break from any other programs was thinking on starting Alan Gordon but will wait and see what more sinks in or not from what I learned about myself and tms.

 

Hey Boston that's great news! Your perseverance to get through this is now laying the foundation for your TMS healing journey. It's a wonderful moment when you stop fearing the symptoms; when you realise YOU are in control and not your TMS. Now you can start building on this, in the confidence that you're on the right path.

I always imagine the fear and anxiety as the flame on a gas cooker: you can turn the (fear and anxiety) knob up or down and the result will be a boil or a simmer…however, once you turn off the the flame the water is still at boiling point and needs time to cool down. You're at that stage now, and recognising that is very powerful to recovery.

Many (including myself) go through periods of frustration when pain levels don't diminish even after doing the work, but all that means is our nervous system just needs more time to settle, as the flame might have been turned on 'high'.

Well done!

 

Thx Colly

 

Very good analogy Colly do da day, I might steal that one and claim it as my own. Thank God no one reads these.

I use the giant sponge as a guided tool in consults. Think of your unconscious as a sponge the size of your car. to change your brain's behavior, you must soak that sponge. But the soaking is done with your new accurate thinking that comes from an eye-dropper of conscious water.

No change occurs until that giant sponge is soaked with the eye dropper, one drop at a time. But if you stop dripping the accurate information in on a steady basis, the sponge begins to dry, and so it takes more soaking, longer dripping. The dripping of accurate conscious information into the unconscious must be steady and sure, with less doubting. Once the sponge is soaked your brain accepts the change and alters its behavior.

Slow, steady persistence of the accurate information into the prefrontal cortex eventually altering the amygdala, hypothalamus, ANS, etc., on down the brain chain.

Steve

 

I like the sponge technique. It's a very good image. Re-programming our subconscious about our hidden emotions
takes time, but if we stick at it, the sponge gets soaked and we are at more peace with ourself.

 

Haha that's right Steve, we don't read your posts ONCE - we read them several times

Of the two, I prefer your spongier one, as it conveys the image of patience and persistence so well!

Your last sentence reminded me also why TMS learning has been so useful - I wouldn't have known a hypothalamus from a hippopotamus before!