Slowing Down! Essential to healing TMS

I’ve heard it said that SLOWING DOWN is essential to healing TMS. And I’ve been wondering why it’s so painfully difficult for me.

And then I thought about it.

• When I was 5 years old, I started taking care of my sisters (and my alcoholic parents)
• At 14, I ran our household (my mom was sick), I also got straight As and swam on a swim team
• At 20 I dropped out of college, moved, got married and supported my husband who was in college
• In my 20s I had 3 kids and an in-home childcare business, finished college, started freelance writing and got divorced
• In my 30s I launched a new career and was a single mother of 3 boys
• In my 40s I managed those 3 wild teenaged sons and was in a high stress journalism career
• In my 50s I continued that career until I got laid off ($tress, $tress, $tress!)
• In my 60s, I launched a new writing business and lived through a pandemic

Then came the TMS CRASH — Now, I can’t do much. It’s just SILENCE!!! (I’m stuck with myself.)

No wonder I’m literally going crazy! I don’t know how to QUIET DOWN!!!! I don’t know how to live a stress-free life. I’ve never had one.

And yes—it’s what I need to learn.

I keep trying to plead with my TMS brain— if I learn how to do this, will you trust me enough to let me out of this TMS jail?

How do you change a lifetime of complete stress?

(one day at a time)

 

I feel you. I don’t know how to live life in peace either. I think not knowing is good though - it’s saying: I no longer want to do it the way I did . It’s surrender. I (try to) meditate. Every day, I just sit with myself and I sit with the whirling whoosh of unrest. I don’t know. I feel you!

 

Thank you! I’m glad there are others like me. I bet a lot of TMSers are. I listened to this great Dan Buglio interview yesterday, and the guy he interviewed named Dan, is healed. He was talking about quieting down. That’s what got me thinking! https://www.tmswiki.org/forum/threads/my-pelvic-pain-success-story-video.28975/ (My Pelvic Pain Success Story (video))

Meditation has helped me in the past. I need a whole lot of it now. And consistency is key. But facing yourself—and learning to feel value in who you are, not what you do—that’s hard.

 

I totally get that struggle, because it’s hard to just "be" when we’ve been working so hard. It’s like your body doesn’t know how to let go. Honest, I think it’s baby steps like just allowing yourself to sit in the discomfort and not really rush to fix it. Absolutely meditation helps, but we don’t have to wait till we’re actively meditating for the real shift to happen – it really starts with accepting that, yes, you do need to take time out of your day for horizontal stretches and breathwork; however, you are enough, even when you aren’t doing anything.

 

Love all of this!!! Baby steps is also a good reminder! And being willing to sit with the discomfort.