| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| MidwestJim |
Posted - 07/15/2004 : 06:32:50
I recall reading posts in the past from people that have recently seen Dr. Sarno and commenting on his discussion of "conditioning". I'd appreciate any and all comments on this and any other new thoughts he may have post-MBP.
In my own experience, I've definitely noticed that I seem to be conditioned in many ways. For example, when I wake up the first thought I have is "Do I have a headache" - oftentimes a headache quickly starts. Or when I receive some (even very minor) personal rejection, I immediately freeze up and get a sunken feeling in my stomach. It's all too much like clock work, which is why I'm so interested in learning more and discussing it with others.
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| 2 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| austingary |
Posted - 07/15/2004 : 07:37:55
JohnD: What I need to do...is to somehow try to undo that first assumption that I make about the pain, and try to move the thought from an absolute black and white distinction to a more gray thought that opens the door to all possibilities.
Absolutely! I could not agree more! How arrogant we are to think otherwise. We are the products of not only a billion years of evolution but also of an immeasurable number of environmental factors, of which we are mostly unconscious!
Yet, we get a pain and we think we know exactly what has caused it. "That's a muscle strain!" "That's TMS!"
And we think we know, because we have read a couple of paperback books or gotten the opinion of a doctor or a chiropractor or a yoga instructor, exactly the right thing to do about it, the one and only thing to fix it!
Maybe that's part of the TMS-prone personality, to think we have to nail everything down to one category or another, then to try to enforce a "party line" doctrine about it. That has to cause a lot of mental "tension" in a world where, in fact, most of life is Mystery. And most of what is not mystery is still pretty much guesswork.
We should all step outside at night and contemplate the heavens. Fifty to a hundred billion stars in this galaxy. Fifty to a hundred billion galaxies. And that's just what we have evidence for. The universe could even be infinite -- as impossible a concept for the human mind to wrap itself around as, "How does the food get into those cans?" would be for our dogs.
See if the heavens don't say to you, as they do to me, "How can you be so sure, little fellow?" |
| JohnD |
Posted - 07/15/2004 : 07:17:17
I think that conditioning is huge. I've noticed with myself that subconscioulsy if I have pain in a certain area, I make an absolute statement regarding that pain (ie pain in my foot means stress fracture, etc...), and then later am able to look at it rationally and laugh it off. What I need to do and I know this is going to be a process is to somehow try to undo that first assumption that I make about the pain, and try to move the thought from an absolute black and white distinction to a more gray thought that opens the door to all possibilities. |
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