Hello Everyone,
February 8th – Update
What is it that keeps people stuck in TMS?
Why does TMS reappear in a person's life after years of no symptoms?
How much to we really need to know about TMS in order reverse the symptoms and strategy?
Before we get to that important discussion, I want to share a very effective exercise with you. - Asking good inner questions. Asking ourselves an inner question is one of the significant keys to effectively practice Think Psychological and Think Clean. This is a really good subject to genuinely journal about. As you are reviewing your day and taking inventory of where your thoughts/emotions/energy were spent, take some time to reflect on how asking yourself a better question could have made a significant shift out of a tension generating pattern. A good mindful question can remind you that you have a choice to stay in an old pattern like worry or you can choose to redirect into a more balanced pattern. Ask yourself the right question and instead of spending loads of energy and half your day in anger/resentment you become aligned with a more present-moment based and open thought pattern. Here are some examples but I highly encourage you to develop your own questions with words that resonate with you.
Here I am focused on my back pain. I know exactly what is going on here. Thank you for the signal, for helping me be more aware, but I don’t need your physical reminders anymore, get out of here now. What is going on with me right now, why am I so tensed up? How can I be here in this situation and be more balanced?
Why is this person/situation bugging me so much? How can I be more flexible and less rigid right now?
Here I am in my striving, worrying, self-conscious, pleasing pattern! Is this where I want to be? How can I bring the best of me to this situation and leave the wasteful energy patterns behind?
Realize that you are being mindful to have the presence to ask yourself these energy changing questions to begin with and that is a good thing. Your intention with this language is to have it guide you out of any physical focus or out of your tension generating patterns. You’re not looking for a 180 or 360 degree turn. A good question will guide you to a choice; remain in physical focus or go psychological; remain in an angry repressing behavior or become more open; stay in a tight, un-flexible attitude or choose to think and behave in a more allowing way. Keep at top of mind that it is our present moment-to-moment energy (thoughts/behaviors/attitudes) that are being communicated to our nervous system. You can choose and consciously participate here if you want to—(highly recommended) or allow your old conditioned, tension generating patterns to take over. Use good questions to help guide your self into a higher quality (less tension) thought/behavior pattern. This is your real-life working practice. Use this when you can’t call time-out and go and be with your emotions. Use the sitting with emotions practice discussed in the January 10th update when you can call time-out and just be.
Questions:
What is it that keeps people stuck in TMS?
1. Not having 100% acceptance that inner tension/stress is the cause. This leads to:
· Keeping some physical treatments and physical thinking – Major sticking point.
· Not having the confidence and conviction to talk to this strategy correctly.
· Not doing genuine inner work (journaling, good questions, emotional awareness—identifying repression patterns)
2. Hoping that they can just read a book and it will sink in and they don’t have to change anything.
· The subconscious effect is very real in this mind body syndrome but it can be a big, huge sticking point for some. – More on this in the TMS reappearing question below.
3. Fear of change.
· Staying angry instead of forgiving
· Holding-in feelings instead of expressing openly and freely how they feel – People can always find a good reason to justify holding it in. Pay attention if this is you and begin to challenge why you hold stuff in.
· Experiencing life situations (feeling) without the repressing mind activities (worry, pleasing, perfecting, controlling, striving, being self-conscious).
Change is healing –Caroline Myss
Why does TMS reappear in a person after years of no symptoms?
1. As noted above, the subconscious effect—having symptoms disappear with only TMS awareness and a little Think Psychological practice is very real. People that receive this effect usually do not change their tension generating thoughts, behaviors and hence their repressing activities, however their symptoms go away. Over time (2, 5, 10 years) they are still generating inner tension, repressing emotional energy and eventually the nervous system responds to all of this over-stimulation with new symptoms. This person may now experiences that TMS awareness will not reverse the disorder on this occasion. They know it is TMS, believe it 100% but awareness is now not enough to reverse the continued, conditioned pattern of tension generation and repression.
· What is the solution? If this person can accept change and do the emotional awareness and inner work required they can efficiently reverse the pain strategy.
· Sticking points for these people are doubt and fear which can begin feeding the strategy.
· Another hurdle is to not get stuck in the deeply repressed emotions therapy path. Many people have issues that need addressed and healed. The key to healing repressed emotional energy in TMS is to learn how to stop repressing and start experiencing or feeling this emotional energy in the present moment. You can heal a 30 year old wound, but if you continue with repression activities today you are going to feel those painful effects today.
How much do we really need to know about this mind body syndrome in order to reverse it and live symptom free?
1. The short answer is not very much. At the very least not as much as most people think. Yes, we have to learn about TMS, the distraction strategy and the basic principles of Think Psychological. This education is important because a person will need acceptance and confidence to reverse the strategy and the symptoms. You can learn the basics in 15 minutes. A good source of information is: http://tmswiki.wetpaint.com/ Treat this site like a library (get the info you need and get out) and not a hangout. Hanging out and posting and reading and asking questions day after day will keep you distracted even though it appears you are doing the right work. Once you get the basics your work is to address the cause. Ask yourself, how am I generating inner tension and repressing emotional energy? This is where you now need to be focused. Be careful not to get intellectually distracted in all the TMS information and self sabotage your work.
2. Does a person need to know the biochemistry of TMS or how our inner tension is being manifested into pain and other symptoms in order to heal? If you are a practitioner or researcher then go for it. If your objective is to eliminate pain and symptoms from your life then stick to addressing how you are generating inner tension. Understand that your pain is real it’s not in your brain. Understand that the process is taking place in your autonomic nervous system. How often to you consciously interrupt your breathing, blood flow, digestion and heartbeat? Your job is to affect the quality of energy before it reaches your nervous system. Once it gets there, it’s there. Analyzing and investigating and needing to know all of these details can easily keep you distracted and in the pain/symptom strategy. Dr. Schubiner mentioned to me that he has a new book coming out next month that will explain more of this process. You may want to check out his new information if you need mind body connection confidence. Whatever the biochemistry is – oxygen deprivation or something else, your job is to: think psychological, avoid the distraction strategy, develop your emotional awareness and do your inner work.
At the end of the day, by bringing confidence and acceptance to this mind body syndrome and to your daily moment-to-moment work of being more open, balanced and flexible and you are on the most effective and efficient path of healing.
If you are stuck, email or call me and we’ll work through it.
Stay the course,
Monte Hueftle
TMS Mind Body Coach
818*486*8525
www.runningpain.com/updates
www.runningpain.com/tmsvideos
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TMS Pain Update - A message from Monte Hueftle
Posted - 02/09/2010 : 11:23:53
