Hey! Another good question, and I understand the confusion.
I encourage everyone to use all these new strategies as different ways to be kind and good to themselves. So, somatic tracking can be done, as Alan describes, as a way of attending to oneself and honing a sense of safety. Somatic tracking shouldn't be done to "make the pain or anxiety go away," -- if that's the energy with which we approach this technique, we are not only pressuring ourselves, but we are also leaving the concept of outcome independence behind.
If you can learn to attend to yourself and be kind to yourself, then that's the win in and of itself, regardless of whether you experience a symptom decrease or increase. In fact, whatever increase or decrease you notice is just further opportunity to practice the skill of noticing the changes in symptoms neutrally/without fear. With this in mind, remaining outcome independent falls right in line with the goal.
And for everyone thinking "But I really want my symptoms to go down!!!" -- I want that for you, too. But working the fear behind the symptoms and learning attend to that fear (and ultimately, to yourself) is the only way out. So just try to keep trusting the process
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Our TMS drop-in chat is today (Saturday) from 3:00 PM - 4:00 PM DST Eastern U.S. (New York). It's a great way to get quick and interactive peer support. Bonnard is today's host.Dismiss Notice -
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
