A somewhat different approach to journaling

Well hopefully my fiance doesn't go that route!

 

Bingo - it's hard to remember in this world of "get in touch with your feelings" and "express yourself" etc that some things we should be mature and adult-like in our behavior. Obviously not calling out Rusty here, we're all guilty of whining sometimes, just like we're all guilty of all manner of sins, but we should recognize that this behavior is not good and can be destructive as Jan says.

I think that's why there are a lot of rules about TMS such as:

- DON'T talk about your pain/symptoms
- DONT give into victimhood mindsets
- DON'T be negative or indulge negative outlooks

 

DON'T catastrophize!

(ha ha)

 

Yep. And although not labeled exactly as "somatic tracking", his technique also involves a form of attentive engagement with symptoms as part of symptom management and healing. So, while he may not call it somatic tracking, the attentive awareness of symptoms is an integral part of his approach. If I remember correctly he says this helps facilitate changes in the brain's expectation and threat interpretation that underpin symptom experiences.

I also like being reminded by him to be the observer/'watcher' of our thoughts, because doing so makes you realise that most of the thoughts that pop into our heads are simply just a load of rubbish/garbage.

I like this too. It makes it so much simpler.

 

The title said how to journal and then didn't journal..or did I miss something? Haha

Otherwise giod article

 

I thought the same... however, he says in the article...

"I did some formal writing although probably not exactly like what most people write or think about when attempting to “solve TMS pain”. Because this works for me, I thought I would share the type of things I write down and think about when I do very rarely find myself caught in a TMS pain distraction trap. Maybe this might help others having less success or trying other things without relief:"

... and he then goes on to show a list of guidance instructions of what he needs to do for himself at the time of experiencing a flaring of pain, with the final instruction to himself being to read those instructions to himself every day.

My take from this is that we too could write down a list of helpful guidance instructions that are personal to ourselves when we are suffering an upturn in pain and/or other symptoms or are otherwise feeling 'stuck' (and perhaps borrow some of his where they seem appropriate to us) and keep reading and reminding ourselves of them every day and even sometimes or even regularly writing them out again to cement it all into our mindset. I think that it serves to concentrate the mind, rather than let the mind flit all over the place, unhelpfully catastrophising or whatever.

 

Basically he'd note down those reminders, but the core message is probably the number 3. He wouldn't (I think) journal to find hidden triggers, but to give himself a break. I think this approach is helping me to finally understand better Gabor Mate's idea of vulnerability, which @JanAtheCPA explained to me already hahaha

 

The article mentions in point number 2 "Fight through the physical pain as much as possible to maintain normal activity". Would this likewise apply to fatigue? Fight throught the fatigue as much as possible?

 

Having been bedridden with TMS which caused me so called 'fibromyalgia' (severe wide spread muscle pain) and profound Chronic Fatigue, from my own experience of fully recovering from the latter (and being far far better than I used to be muscle pain-wise) I took a 'baby steps' approach to increasing activities that were energy draining. If you are experiencing overwhelming undue fatigue like I was, you may find this approach helpful. I do absolutely agree that fatigue needs to be challenged by getting back to doing normal things but with my TMSing brain I needed to get back to normal activities gradually otherwise it overreacted badly. (When I say 'baby steps' I don't mean a 'graded exposure' approach, I mean I would do what I felt I could and just a little bit more and then rest, rinse and repeat, and I very gradually improved; I was never 'gung ho' about doing any activity and I didn't beat myself up with thoughts like 'yesterday I could do this that or the other, but today I can't do half of it, so I'm not progressing', I just accepted that recovery is not linear.)