| Author |
 Topic  |
|
|
WHforster84
USA
4 Posts |
 Posted - 05/09/2012 : 20:03:58
|
Hello-
I'm a musician who's suffered from soreness/RSI in my arms for the last several years. I've posted here once before. So far I've been working through Sarno's method for the last couple months (I had been to doctors and PTs before this). I am definitely seeing a connection between my emotional state and my pain/discomfort level. That is encouraging. The other thing that helps is that I have a friend who is a musician who completely cured his very serious injury using Sarno. He started me on this path.
What is difficult is that I have yet to 'crack the code' so to speak, in the sense of consistently reducing my symptoms. I should also say that my life the last several months has been especially stressful, with tons of pressure both work-wise and in my personal life, etc. which has made it difficult at times to stay calm and 'think psychologically.' One thing I've noticed is that sometimes I just get super anxious and fearful about my future and about whether I am doing the right thing with regards to Sarno. My ability to play music is my profession, my passion, my identity really, so it hits very close to home. Much of the time I am able to stay positive and work on the underlying emotions (and have been going to a therapist for the past several months when I started this). But often it overwhelms me.
I think this fear/doubt is holding me back. Does anyone have suggestions for how to remove/face fear when dealing with TMS issues? |
|
|
MichaelB
USA
79 Posts |
Posted - 05/09/2012 : 23:34:16
|
Hi. Being a professional artist, I think I understand anxiousness. Like minds art and music.
Just to talk this out actually helps me. I think just thinking Sarno and psychological thinking can help us all who have such problems. For what it is worth it, I think kind thoughts for you. Keep on writing. Maybe enough of us totally might have "the cure". I've face fear in the military many times but that's logical. This sort sneaks up on you. I know it is hard, but keep the faith. |
 |
|
|
SteveO
USA
272 Posts |
Posted - 05/10/2012 : 13:43:31
|
"Does anyone have suggestions for how to remove/face fear when dealing with TMS issues?"
Fear must be overcome grdually, not only the fear of pain, but also the fear of doing the wrong thing. It is a very gradual process so don't hurry it. Everyone who has healed has doubted and feared at first. It's human nature.
I think the best way to overcome fear is to keep asking question, keep reading all types of TMS information, keep reading success stories....etc. The brain changes "its mind" slowly, or we would be those "highly unstable animals" Dr. Sarno spoke of.
The deeper part of the brain changes its current views slowly, and you get to this deeper part through the conscious brain--the conscious portal prefrontal cortex. So keep reading and thinking about TMS. This seeps into the deeper brain like an osmotic process. It is within the deep brain or what people are calling the unconscious that final healing occurs.
You can believe and understand TMS at the conscious level but that doesn't mean anything. You have to "believe-understand" at the unconscious level where the change needs to occur.
I'm a musician too. I play acoustic guitar, my Breedloves are my therapists and best friends, although they are highly strung.
Try not to heal fast it slows healing down. Do not pay attention to your body; this is monitoring progress and also slows healing. Be patient, relax, and see yourself as healed, this is guided imagery. People don't use guided imagery enough. You have to see yourself as happy and pain-free. The body will follow what you visualize.
Good luck. TMS healing is an esoteric process that only a lucky few accept and heal with. If you believe in TMS you will heal in your time, no one else's time. Belief is the most important aspect. And as you know, if you fear you really don't fully believe it yet. ...but you will.
Steve |
|
|
|
WHforster84
USA
4 Posts |
Posted - 05/14/2012 : 07:07:39
|
Thank you Michael and Steve for the replies. It's very helpful to hear your perspective and words of advice, especially to be patient and not rush the process. I think my own wanting it to be over is another kind of pressure that I've put on myself, in addition to the many pressures of my everyday life. Plus, I read about other people who are 'cured' in a matter of days or weeks, and I get frustrated that it hasn't 'happened' for me. Of course, my friend said it took him six months, so everybody is clearly different, and I've already very much seen a connection between my emotions and my physical state.
The last couple days I've tried to be much more 'in the moment' and be present, rather than worrying about the future, which has been helpful. Too often it seems I am just thinking about all the things that might go wrong or might not work out that I am not aware of all the wonderful things that are happening right in front of me.
So, those are just some thoughts, and again thanks for the replies-- |
|
|
|
tennis tom
USA
4749 Posts |
Posted - 05/14/2012 : 09:07:24
|
quote:
Originally posted by SteveO
"Does anyone have suggestions for how to remove/face fear when dealing with TMS issues?"
Fear must be overcome grdually, not only the fear of pain, but also the fear of doing the wrong thing. It is a very gradual process so don't hurry it. Everyone who has healed has doubted and feared at first. It's human nature.
I think the best way to overcome fear is to keep asking question, keep reading all types of TMS information, keep reading success stories....etc. The brain changes "its mind" slowly, or we would be those "highly unstable animals" Dr. Sarno spoke of.
The deeper part of the brain changes its current views slowly, and you get to this deeper part through the conscious brain--the conscious portal prefrontal cortex. So keep reading and thinking about TMS. This seeps into the deeper brain like an osmotic process. It is within the deep brain or what people are calling the unconscious that final healing occurs.
You can believe and understand TMS at the conscious level but that doesn't mean anything. You have to "believe-understand" at the unconscious level where the change needs to occur.
I'm a musician too. I play acoustic guitar, my Breedloves are my therapists and best friends, although they are highly strung.
Try not to heal fast it slows healing down. Do not pay attention to your body; this is monitoring progress and also slows healing. Be patient, relax, and see yourself as healed, this is guided imagery. People don't use guided imagery enough. You have to see yourself as happy and pain-free. The body will follow what you visualize.
Good luck. TMS healing is an esoteric process that only a lucky few accept and heal with. If you believe in TMS you will heal in your time, no one else's time. Belief is the most important aspect. And as you know, if you fear you really don't fully believe it yet. ...but you will.
Steve
Great post SteveO, that bears repeating (or is it bares, or beers repeating?)--whatever--so I'll repeat it. I would recommend folks here read it at least ten times for it to sink in and tape it to the medicine cabinet. As Edna said, "The quick mind sees at every turn what the heart takes forever to figure out" or something to that effect (or is it affect?).
BTW, reading your chapter on the id-ego-superego and your explanation is one of the best I've seen. I'm finally starting to figure out the differences between those little suckers. I'll check and see how many of your books were "stolen", I put three out, people do borrow them and mail them back on occasion.
Cheers |
Edited by - tennis tom on 05/14/2012 09:10:15 |
|
|
|
Composer
USA
16 Posts |
Posted - 05/14/2012 : 10:39:52
|
Hey WHforster,
I see a difference in seeing one's self as a musician and then having it as the source of livelihood. You have both, yes? So do I. I make my living composing and playing and teaching piano and singing, performing, etc.etc.. So, while some people can sit back after a long day of work and play through some tunes on the guitar or at the occasional gig, you must always have your act together. Or so it seems. It also seems likely that most people don't notice when you do or don't have your act together. Maybe this can really serve you well, because it means you can risk failing and facing your fear more readily and easily than someone who only occasionally approaches their instrument or sees music more as a hobby or therapy.
Do you feel anxiety when beginning to practice? Have you developed a warm up to alleviate this anxiety that often distracts from actually playing?
When you just play without the warm up, does the anxiety slowly fade?
Do you feel anxious about not having enough time to practice?
Do you compare yourself to all the musicians you know?
Maybe these all can serve as times when you can observe the anxiety rise and then fall. Does anxiety really do anything else? Unless we feed it with fear?
|
|
|
|
Joy_I_Am
United Kingdom
138 Posts |
Posted - 05/18/2012 : 03:21:24
|
This is a subject close to my heart. I am a writer, I am paid for it rather than 'earning a living' from it (!), but I see it as my vocation. When I am in the zone, nothing on this earth feels better; I feel I'm doing what I'm supposed to be, fulfilling my purpose.
So why do I procrastinate so damn much?! Fear, as you say in the title of this thread. Fear, pure and simple. It's entirely self-driven - no one else tells you to do it or needs you to do it, so there's the self-doubt about whether you should be doing it at all. You spend a lot of time alone, in a state of high receptivity - you have to get vulnerable, have to 'peel away a layer' to get to the good stuff - so you're highly suggestible, open to the anxieties of TMS.
Also, there's the sheer amount of dicking around that's involved! You have to do it, looking out the window is part of the process, but god, it plays on your nerves. It's not all 'Finding Forrester', "punch the keys!" macho BS with Mozart playing in the background. Okay, I do play Mozart...  But you can spend hours, days or months on a piece, only to find that it isn't working, or do something that you think is great but just isn't 'suiting the market' at that time... You take risks every day, with no guarantee of payment at the end of it.
Add to this the sort of sensitive personality that draws you to be an artist/writer/musician in the first place, and I think you have laboratory conditions for TMS.
This is not special pleading for us 'poor wee artists', by the way. Work is work, and anyone can create; everyone who writes a post here is composing something, communicating with others - it's what makes us human. It's just that there's an additional pressure when you do it as a job, when you say 'This is what I am' and at the same time have to ask yourself on a daily basis 'But is it (and am I) good enough?'
Thanks for raising this, lots to think about... |
|
|
| |
Topic |
|
|
|
Fear
