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Hillbilly
USA
385 Posts |
 Posted - 10/17/2006 : 09:51:32
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Edited by - Hillbilly on 04/19/2007 13:14:34 |
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shawnsmith
Czech Republic
2048 Posts |
Posted - 10/17/2006 : 12:52:46
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Neil,
Best wishes Neil. Whatever worked for you to become pain free is good news indeed. I hope you maintain a 100% pain free life and share your good fortune with others. Health is indeed a precious gift and we must take care of ourselves if we wish to maintain it.
I remember another Neil who I knew all my life and who was the same age as I was. (I am now 42) Several years ago he committed suicide - after a few unfortunate personal incidents in his life - as he thought life was not worth living. No one saw it coming. He was a really nice guy but he came to the end of his rope and gave up even though he had no health problems at all, but just a profound loss of hope. But life is worth living. It is indeed wonderful and we must seek to live it to the fullest everyday, be thankful for whatever comes our way and always remain full of hope. And I hope for you, Neil, that you live your life to the fullest and remain full of thanksgiving for the blessings that has been bestowed upon you.
Health and happiness to you and success in all that you do.
Shawn |
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Hillbilly
USA
385 Posts |
Posted - 10/17/2006 : 13:45:23
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Shawn,
Many thanks for the kind sentiments.
Regards,
Neil |
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Darko
Australia
387 Posts |
Posted - 10/17/2006 : 16:41:09
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Neil,
Congrats and all the best to you. Thanks for the recommendation on the book, I will certainly take a look at it. I do agree with you, sometimes just "the knowledge" isn't enough. Some people need actual tools to aid in recovery. Once again, good luck and thanks for your contribution.
Darko |
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Littlebird
USA
391 Posts |
Posted - 10/17/2006 : 16:48:15
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Neil, thanks for posting this. It's good to know you've been successful and I especially appreciate your mention of fatigue, since that is one of the symptoms that has interfered most with my ability to function. It literally takes me a week to accomplish what I used to be able to do in one day.
After reading the page at the link you provided, it seems that the physical component of this program is aimed at reconditioning the responses of the autonomic nervous system, and could be viewed as complementary to ideas of Sarno and other TMS doctors. They do talk about how the emotions trigger physical changes in the body, through the autonomic nervous system, so it would seem to me that this program wouldn't be viewed as perpetuating the idea of disease or structural weaknesses as the source of pain and other symptoms. No doubt some people may disagree, but I'm glad you shared the information for anyone who may be open to checking it out.
Hope things continue to go well for you.
Corey
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Hillbilly
USA
385 Posts |
Posted - 10/17/2006 : 17:55:20
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Edited by - Hillbilly on 04/19/2007 13:15:11 |
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floorten
United Kingdom
120 Posts |
Posted - 10/18/2006 : 09:05:59
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Congrats, Hillbilly! That's an inspiration to us all.
You mentioned your books and the DVD, and that you'd be willing to send them on... I have the books myself, but as I've just posted in another thread here, the HBP DVD is tricky/expensive to get here in Europe.
Would you be prepared to send me it, and then it could be a communal copy for all us suffering in Europe? Once I've watched it I can send it on to other sufferers in Europe. That way it might help 10 or 20 people in it's life!!
What do you think?
Many thanks,
Greg.
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"What the Thinker thinks, the Prover proves."
Robert Anton Wilson |
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tennis tom
USA
4749 Posts |
Posted - 10/18/2006 : 10:47:25
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quote:
Originally posted by Hillbilly
Sarno's work was to me invaluable, as it got me to finally stop worrying so much about losing my health, going on disability, etc., and reduced the tension and anxiety just by knowing that I wouldn't hurt myself if I engaged in normal activities. It WAS NOT, however, the do all, end all that is advertised in the books and videos.
Congratulations on your recovery Hillbilly. I've enjoyed your posts here and feel you've always added a positive and rational view to the board. I don't feel anyone needs to hang out here more than they feel necessary. They should hopefully get well and return to "normal activity" with a new understanding of health matters.
I don't find doing somatic yoga as a refutation of TMS. TMS theory to me is learning a practical everyday understanding of how our psychology can effect our physical well-being and cause psychosomatic "dis-ease".
Until one gets their "head together" it's hard to return to normal activity. I think the Good Doctor's medicine has served it's purpose for you as a tool to help you return to normal activity.
I recall I took some classes with Thomas Hanna's wife some years ago who carried on with his work after his death. I think I have a copy of their book "Somatic Yoga". I'll dig it out and give it another look.
Thanks for your particiapation, good luck and no need to be a stanger here if you have the urge to say something.
Best Wishes,
tt
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HilaryN
United Kingdom
879 Posts |
Posted - 10/18/2006 : 12:50:57
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Great to hear of your recovery, Neil, and thanks for posting what worked for you.
Floorten, are you sure American DVD's work over here? I thought they didn't. Best check first.
Hilary N |
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Hillbilly
USA
385 Posts |
Posted - 10/18/2006 : 15:04:47
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Thanks TT, Floorten and Hilary,
Floor, I will be glad to send along if compatability isn't an issue. Perhaps you can copy & change formats? TT, I have heard about yoga being practiced this way, but am not sure if it is the same as the book or not. Might be worth dusting off for some hip relief. Perhaps your results were less than thrilling?
I am so impressed with this technique that I am seriously considering becoming a practitioner. There are less than 100 certified folks in the world trained in this modality. If you don't live in Cali or Canada and really can't travel readily, chances are you're doing it solo, which I understand takes much more time and more focused effort. Word sure travels slowly in the mindbody realm, heh? I'm not bitter about the process though because even though I spent over 1K total in books, failed treatments and lost wages, not to mention an abundance of sleep when the anxiety set in full force. It has been a journey of self discovery that I would gladly do again. I'll be a better human from here on because of this. Bottom line: don't ever, ever, ever, ever, ever give up. |
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tennis tom
USA
4749 Posts |
Posted - 10/18/2006 : 17:51:50
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Hillbilly,
I did a google and found this info from Yoga Journal:
"Hanna Somatic Education & Somatic Yoga
Hanna Somatic Education practitioners assess a client's habitual posture, and then retrain the nervous system to provide easier and more efficient posture and movements. If Hanna Somatics sounds similar to Feldenkrais and the Alexander Technique, it should. Its founder, Thomas Hanna, built on the work of those two disciplines. Hanna's key concept was sensory motor amnesia, "a condition in which the sensory motor neurons of the voluntary cortex have lost some portion of their ability to control all or some of the muscles of the body." Hanna believed sensory motor amnesia caused "perhaps as many as 50 percent of the cases of chronic pain suffered by human beings."
Hanna identified several ways to overcome this amnesia. He favored a technique he called "pandiculation." In pandiculation the client "voluntarily contracts muscles or muscle groups against gravity or against a practitioner and then slowly decreases that contraction," explains Hanna's widow, Eleanor Criswell Hanna, who carries on his work in Novato, California. According to Criswell Hanna, stretching muscles simply triggers the stretch reflex that causes them to contract again; by first contracting and then lengthening the muscle, pandiculation retrains the nervous system to recognize the whole range of actions available.
Hanna Somatic Education involves sessions with a certified practitioner in which the patient lies on a table. Criswell Hanna says the average patient requires only three sessions; she stresses that Hanna Somatic Education places "a big emphasis on you becoming your own somatic educator—because it's your own body."
Criswell Hanna also teaches Somatic Yoga, which combines Hanna Somatics and yoga. Classes begin with eight somatic exercises which Hanna says "allow a person to take control of the muscles." As in doing pandiculation with a practitioner, the emphasis is on contracting particular muscles and then letting them go. Each yoga pose is done slowly and is followed by one minute of deep breathing, self-awareness, and integration. Classes end with pranayama, guided relaxation to create pratyahara (quieting of the senses), and meditation. Somatic Yoga doesn't focus on providing aerobic or muscularly demanding exercise. "It's more of a neurological workout," says Criswell Hanna." |
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PeterW
Canada
102 Posts |
Posted - 10/18/2006 : 18:28:02
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Neil, I really appreciate you telling us about your path out of pain. Do I understand you correctly that you worked with just the Somatics book and that you weren't actually physically seen by a practitioner? (And that you also just used TMS books and weren't diagnosed by any TMS practitioners).
It's great to hear success stories like these, no matter what route we take to get there. I'm curious how long you have been recovered. Congratulations, best wishes, and if becoming a practitioner feels right to you, well go ahead and do it!
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Hillbilly
USA
385 Posts |
Posted - 10/18/2006 : 19:31:48
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| Gone! |
Edited by - Hillbilly on 04/19/2007 13:15:56 |
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Wavy Soul
USA
779 Posts |
Posted - 10/18/2006 : 19:33:06
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I'm a great believer in "both/and" so I love this thread. I do yoga and other conscious movement practices, get naturopathy/homeopathy and a very occasional adjustment from a doc who is sort of osteopathic. It all seems to me to be part of a healthy life, and I am excited about developing an ever-healthier body as the years pile up.
I feel as though I am "youthing."
Waking up to the trance of believing in and perpetuating symptoms and illness has been central to my even being able to do any of the above, so I both credit Sarno et all and also see them as a part of a holistic healthy life. For me, that is. (to each....)
Good job Hillbill
xxx
Love is the answer, whatever the question |
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VladY
USA
4 Posts |
Posted - 10/19/2006 : 08:29:00
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Well... I discovered Somatics before Sarno and it did not help me a bit.
If I understand it correctly - they think that the reason for the pain is partially contracted muscles, caused by the brain forgetting how to fully relax them. This does not explain however the typical pain pattern that I had (such as pain appearing by the end of the work day, as if sitting on a chair the whole day would make it hurt, and disappearing exactly at 9PM). Does this mean that the brain is unable to relax them only at certain times? Sounds like conditioning to me. Exercised are pretty good, I must admit, no question about that. Make you feel 10 years younger. Did not help the pain though.
Just my experience, no intention to start a flame war. |
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Hillbilly
USA
385 Posts |
Posted - 10/19/2006 : 09:10:14
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| Gone! |
Edited by - Hillbilly on 04/19/2007 13:17:20 |
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VladY
USA
4 Posts |
Posted - 10/19/2006 : 11:46:01
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Just to clarify: I did not stop doing the exercises, still doing them, not as often as before though. I just do them for a different reason now - it feels real good, like I said.
Anyway, I'm truly glad it helped you. |
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Hillbilly
USA
385 Posts |
Posted - 10/19/2006 : 13:33:01
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| Gone! |
Edited by - Hillbilly on 04/19/2007 13:18:11 |
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floorten
United Kingdom
120 Posts |
Posted - 10/20/2006 : 11:52:54
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Hillybilly: thanks for agreeing to send the DVD. It's muchly appreciated!
Regarding the DVD format, I can play US DVDs on my PC no problem. I'll also make a region-free version of the disk to go with it, so that people without the ability to play US DVDs can watch it too.
What now? Shall I send you my address via a personal message?
Thanks,
Greg.
--
"What the Thinker thinks, the Prover proves."
Robert Anton Wilson |
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Hillbilly
USA
385 Posts |
Posted - 10/20/2006 : 12:00:29
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Greg,
I re-enabled emails, so just follow that protocol. It'll be next week before I can ship. |
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wrldtrv
666 Posts |
Posted - 10/21/2006 : 23:02:06
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If you're still there, Hillbilly, I started to read the "Somatics" book. Very interesting. The idea of "sensory motor amnesia" makes sense, as does the bit about the level of muscle tone present when the muscle is SUPPOSED to be relaxed corealating with the level of pain. I can certainly see that in my own body. Hanna says that almost everybody tends to get stiffer, tighter, as they get older due to the accumulated stresses of life. I'm wondering if the increasing miscellaneous aches and pains and stiffness I've felt in recent years is due to this pattern.
While reading, I tried to tie in Hanna's view with Sarno's. I'm trying to see if there is a basic contradiction between the theories or can there be common ground. There would seem to be this difference: whereas Sarno says most of these pains, eg back pain is psychosomatic and the rx is thinking psychological, Hanna says that while the pain might have been created by accumulated stresses, the solution is physical--relearning the movements our brains & muscles have forgotten via specific exercises.
I'll continue reading to see where he goes. So far, I find no fault with the reasoning.
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Thanks for everything, guys and gals!
