Day 10 "sitting"

It is certainly a conditioned response, Lolo, and as Ellen said, any kind of counting or measuring reinforces the response because it means you are focused on the pain.

The only way to break the conditioning is to change the conversation inside your brain which right now is obsessed with counting days and measuring pain. You have the ability to change this, but you have to decide that you want to do so, then have the will power to do it.

I was just listening last night to the introductory materials that came with my registration for the Mindfulness Summit, and I was reminded that neuroscience is discovering that we absolutely can change our personal emotional and physical health by reprogramming our thoughts. If you haven't already signed up for the free Summit, I highly recommend it! It's co-sponsored by Sounds True which a couple of years ago offered a wonderful and free series of interviews about self-acceptance (which is also still available). Check out my signature line for the registration link. A whole bunch of us are signed up, so join us!

 

I am suddenly reminded of my brief hospitalization in 2008 when I crashed my bicycle and broke my femur. This was "before Sarno" but I recognized that my pain decreased significantly the moment I heard that the fracture was non-displaced and that it could be pinned up in a short surgery and I could be on crutches the following day.
I was terrified of being bedridden, but when that fear was removed, the majority of the pain went away.

Before and after the surgery the nurses kept asking me to describe my pain level, which I found very annoying because I didn't care, and I had no intention of taking any opioids. My response was that I used to get cramps worse than this and that a couple of ibuprofen would be just fine. Both of which were absolutely true in spite of the fact that I had a fracture across my femoral neck, that someone had sliced through all of my thigh muscles, and then screwed three metal pins into my bone. I had such faith in the process, and in my own ability to heal quickly thanks to this marvelous technology, that there was no reason for my brain to create a bunch of pain or anxiety.

It wasn't until doing this work that I understood the mechanism behind what I experienced at that time. It also kind of explains why my version of TMS typically gave me neuro symptoms and "equivalents" rather than pain, because my brain knew that pain wasn't the most effective way to distract me!

 

Just remember that your brain will latch on to anything physical in order to create a custom symptom designed especially for you to worry about.

So yes, our hormones definitely fluctuate (well, mine don't anymore, but yours still do ) And yes, your brain will be glad to give you any number of symptoms that relate to your hormonal changes.

Special diets are typically a placebo. Placebos without knowledge work on TMS symptoms for a while, but not in the long run. However, I believe that the power of the placebo could, and should, be harnessed, to be used as a tool around which your brain can visualize a different health outcome. Does that make sense?

Example: I take echinacea and extra Vitamin C in the two weeks before April 15 (I'm a tax accountant) when I am burned out and exhausted, but I can't afford to relax and I definitely can't afford to get sick. They say that these supplements don't do a think to ward off a cold or 'flu, but doing this has always had the desired outcome (I don't get sick those last two weeks) and even now that I know they work as placebos, I still take them, because I believe that they are like a mantra to a meditator: every morning and night as I take my C and echinacea, I am reminding my immune system to stay strong and healthy, and I am visualizing that outcome. The thing is, I have faith in my body's ability to do that simply because I have asked it to do so.

Knowledge, belief, and faith. You need all three.