Day 8 Day 8 of the Program, Day 40 of the Calendar

Hi All - I am on day 8 of the structured program but it has taken several weeks to get there. I am not finding time to do the exercises or sometimes I am falling asleep during them because I am wiped. I do notice that whenever I complete a day of the program, I feel more relief. I am continuing on but I was wondering if the results will be there.

I would welcome any comments from others on the timing of how you got through the whole program and if taking too much time in between program days inhibited your recovery.

All the Best,

John

 

Hi John,
I have the same problem and will probably take 80-100 days to get through the 42 day program. The worst part of it is the self-flagellation you endure for skipping a day even though you know that's reinforcing the mental patterns that got you into this mess in the first place. My friend journals in bed through hand-writing the exercises and I've likewise started doing the exercises in bed on my laptop, which has helped my persistence, but certainly hasn't perfected it. I guess I can only recommend that on the days you feel yourself perking up from the exercises (those days where epiphanies start shooting out your fingers) keep going, and on the days you feel yourself bullshitting because you are just too tired, give yourself permission to wrap up the journal entry and exercise and trust yourself that epiphanies happen on their own accord and your only job is to provide them the opportunity. If they are too sleepy to come out, fuck it!

 

Thanks, Swandive. That's a great approach and the BS scenario you write about desdribes my situation exactly. I'll try the bedtime writing.

 

Glad to know I'm not the only person punishing myself for falling behind on this! Day eight for me also.

The last few days have been more difficult for me than the first few. I'm trying not to punish myself for the back track in progress, since overall the progress I have made has been great. I have just been in a bit more pain this week. This could be related to the fact that I've had a relatively intensive week at work, where I have been 'on show' a lot with meetings/presentations etc, which I suspect may be a trigger.

I think I'm finding it quite difficult to get a sense of what the unconscious emotions actually 'feel like' in my head. Does anyone else have this difficulty? It seems plausible that I have them (based on TMS theory), since I am quite strict with myself and how I spend my time. In particular, I think I spend most of my thinking time obsessing about how to optimise every situation I encounter, whether it is joining the shortest/fastest queue in the supermarket, or producing the 'best' report etc

 

Helix- you have proven again to me that we all have these similar traits ie the grocery store line. I am laughing at myself as I write because I get so over the top pissed at myself when get stuck on a slow line and watch as the line next to me clears 3 or 4 shoppers to our 1. To your issue about what the emotions feel like, I have the same challenge but just gave into the program thinking that it may not be a black and white epiphany - especially given that we both really just started - but rather a gradual enlightenment as I step through. I find that the continuous free writing helps but I cannot necessarily pinpoint why or what feeling I am expunging that makes me feel this way. I continue on...