CALL-IN TUESDAY, FEB. 11, OZANICH BOOK CHAPTERS 32 & 33

The Tuesday, February 11, call-in discussion group will be discussing Chapter 32 (“Power Therapies”) and 33 (“Laugh Dammit!”) in Steve Ozanich's book The Great Pain Deception starting at 9 pm Eastern Time. It lasts an hour, sometimes a little longer. Phone lines will open half an hour early so you can talk to hosts and early callers. Here's how to join the discussion (for detailed instructions, visit www.tmswiki.org/ppd/Connect )

• If you're connecting by phone, dial 1 201-479-4595 and when prompted enter the pin code 18311499 followed by the pound symbol.
• If you're connecting via your computer (Fuze Meeting), go to www.fuzemeeting.com/fuze/app/48fb7aa8/18311499 and follow the instructions from there.

For more information, visit www.tmswiki.org/ppd/Call-In_Peer_Discussion_Group.

In Chapter 32, Steve calls “power therapies” alternatives to standard behavioral psychological techniques for TMS healing. They work by taking attention away from pains caused by stress and trauma by reducing fear. This is done by reconditioning habits.

The “power therapies” often deal with meridian points on our body or on energy fields.

They are called “power therapies” because they often work fast to redirect pain from the mind, lowering the fear and anger from past trauma, or ridding the mind of them entirely.

Steve writes about Deprogrammed Dreams as a successful form of power therapy.

He cites an example of a woman who was suffering severe chronic pain. When a psychiatrist, Dr. Clancy McKenzie, asked about her mother who had died ten years before, the woman burst out in tears. She had felt unconscious guilt about her mother’s death.

McKenzie then had the woman program herself to dream about her mother in a pleasant way, and it worked: the pleasant dream resolved all upset feelings the woman had regarding her mother. She said she dreamed that she and her mother had gone shopping together, and all her upset feelings left her.

McKenzie says that programmed dreams have always worked for his patients and that

The therapy goes back at least as far as Biblical times and David interpreting King Nebuchadnezzar’s disturbing dreams. He likens the therapy to a prayer. The programming, or asking before sleep, may provoke a “visit from the higher source during the night with the answers at will.”

Another of McKenzie’s patients was a woman who dreamed of a winding highway. She was given a physical examination and found to have an intestinal obstruction which would require surgery. Instead he programmed the woman to dream getting rid of the obstruction and is was suddenly gone.

Steve says that people with Raynaud’s syndrome had dreamt the answers behind the cutting-off of the blood supply to their hands. He says McKenzie described the syndrome as the “extreme need on one part of the mind to control an extremely objectionable impulse belonging to another part of the mind.” Steve says this confirms Dr. Sarno’s work that when the mind is conflicted with repressed emotions, the blood supply to a part of the body is reduced to create a symptom.

In Chapter 33, Steve writes about the importance of laughter in TMS healing. He puts it sweet and simple, and easy by asserting that “Humor heals.”

More scientifically, Steve says “Laughter dramatically increases the denominator of the rage/soothe ratio which aids in healing.” Laughter suppresses the release of the stress hormone and immune system suppressor, cortisol, thus boosting the immune system’s power. Laughter also releases endorphins and natural painkillers into the spinal canal. The endorphins generate a sense of peace and happiness and pleasure, an analgesic effect that alters mood, relieving depression and boosting disease fighters in the mind and body.

Laughter is the antithesis of anger and worry.

It always works for me. If I get anxious or worry about something, I stop a moment and laugh. There’s nothing funny happening, but I just pretend I heard a joke or what is stressing me is really not that serious, and I laugh. My unconscious mind doesn’t know I’m faking laughter. It just relieves the anxiety, worry or even the worst fear.

Yesterday’s mail included a statement from my mortgage lender that my monthly mortgage due amount would be several hundred dollars more than I had been paying. I immediately began to worry how I was going to pay that for February alone much less the rest of the year. I called the mortgage holder but their office was closed. I had two choices to get through the day, the night, and to be able to sleep that night.

I could either stress and worry about the additional monthly expense or I could laugh. I chose to laugh. There was certainly nothing funny about it, but I pretended it was all a mistake and laughed. A minute or less of laughing, and I put the worry out of my mind. That night I watched a Sherlock Holmes movie on television and then laughed again before going to bed. I slept the whole night without waking up and in the morning phoned the mortgage holder. I was told that indeed there had been a mistake and my monthly payment was to remain the same as it had been. I was very relieved, but would have been stressed-out if I hadn’t made laughter the best medicine to stop my worrying.

Steve says the International Society for Humor Studies holds conferences and workshops on the benefits of humor and health. Therapeutic humor has been found to be a successful treatment for pain and illness. A notable example was Norman Cousins (1915-1990), a political journalist, author, professor, and world peace advocate. He said he cured himself of heart disease and a potentially fatal form of arthritis by training himself to laugh. Cousins developed a positive attitude, faith, and hope partly by watching Marx Brothers comedies.

Steve says in ending the chapter, “Laughter changes the biochemistry from bad to good. Find humor all around you, and heal.” Or just fake it.

We hope you will join the call-in and share your thoughts and experiences on power therapies and laughter.

 

Here is Norman Cousins himself on his own cure through laughter:



This would be a good lead in to Chapter 33 of Steve Ozanich's Great Pain Deception entitled, appropriately enough, "Laugh Dammit - Seriously" p. 309-310.

Here's the Wiki entry for Cousins:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norman_Cousins

As Walt posted above, we'll be discussing this chapter (and Chapter 34 on Power Therapies) this coming Tuesday, February 11th.

 

Thanks, Bruce. Good stuff. You're always on top of things,
like my dog on the couch.

 

Bruce,
Thank you, what a great clip of Norman Cousins. I so enjoyed it!!!

 

Awesome BruceMC thanks, He mentioned vitamin C. I have felt great several times and knocked out many a colds with vitamin c. After the tic byte last year I went back to my vitamin c to help build my immune system up and whether its a placebo or not I know in my heart that I sure felt tons better after taking the vitamin but I also watched a lot of Comedies. Those comedies we're like night and day to the way I felt after laughing. The more I laughed the better I felt. Cousins is an original.

 

So, I am going to take Cousins advise and watch comedies. What comedies does everyone suggest? I love that he said after watching
only 10 minutes of comedies he slept so much better.

 

Walt, thanks again for summarizing the chapters. You are so good at it. You are a gem. I wished you lived next door; I
would babysit for Anne anytime. I am actually going to try to call-in tonight. G.R.

 

G.R. I would watch whatever comedies of the actors you like. I went back to the older comedies from like 1940 and so. That was because Walt had sent me some great movies to watch while I was under the weather. Do you have any favorite actors ? I bet you could google some awesome comedies. To me the older ones are great because it had a lot to do with their body language as much as the jokes ya know. Most time henry fonda would just make movements with his face and I'd start laughing. Felt so good to laugh like that. I still have a monthly comedy night in which I just make time to set and watch various comedies. Bless You

P.S. Would love to hear you tonight G. R.

 

Hi folks! Here's the audio from the discussion Tuesday (sorry it's a day late - technical difficulties). As always you can listen to it right here on the forum using the audio player below. You can also download it as an mp3 by right-clicking on this link (or the link below the audio player) and choosing to save it to your computer. Enjoy!

Click here to download the mp3 audio​

Next up: Chapter 34 (“Giving Aid and Comfort to the Enemy”) and Chapter 35 (“Repetition”) in The Great Pain Deception. Click here to read and discuss Walt's summary and thoughts on these two chapters. Have a great weekend