Hi Katie, the only thing that I did was to follow the instructions in Dr. Sarno's book. I spent 15-20 minutes, every day, meditating and repeating, to myself, the statements from his book. To be honest, I don't remember which book they are from, or what page. I bought both The Mindbody Prescription and Healing Back Pain, so it's in one of them. (I have lent both books out to friends, so I don't have them here to look it up.) But, here is a link to a you tube video that shows them. So, as I said, I would spend 15-20 minutes per day repeating them to myself.
A few other things that I think have been helpful was to keep checking-in with myself to notice when I was feeling anxious or stressed. I would try to identify why I was feeling that way. Then, I would remind myself that I needed to be in the moment, and not be thinking about the past or the future.
But, I think the most important thing that has helped me is that I believe, without a doubt, that my physical pain is due to TMS. And, I stopped ALL physical treatments for my pain, and returned to normal physical activity. Dr. Sarno stressed these things in his book - that we need to "acknowledge and accept" that the pain is due to TMS and not due to any structural issue. To be honest, it took a few months for me to work through my doubts, especially when it came to the burning pain in my feet. What helped me, I believe, is that I experienced immediate relief of some of my back pain while I was reading Mindbody Prescription. Then, over the last 4 months, my feet pain started to slowly improve, along with other body pain, which gave me encouragement. However, there were a few times when my pain got worse or I would have pain in new area's of my body. When this happened, I did not freak out and run to a doctor. I just would keep repeating the daily reminders. And, I also realized that I had stopped doing the daily meditation/reminders. I came to the realization that TMS is a life-long condition, and that I would have to do the mental work, every day, for the rest of my life. I also have to work, daily, on not being a perfectionist and a "goodist".
I am not completely pain-free. I would say at least 90% better, though.
I hope this helps. Let me know if there is anything else I can tell you about my experience. I am happy to share it with anyone.
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Alan has completed the new Pain Recovery Program. To read or share it, use this updated link: https://www.tmswiki.org/forum/painrecovery/Dismiss Notice