1 month milestone

Hello friends, hope all is well on your journey to health!

So, I'm happy to report that I've made it one month and some change. Making it past one month is a big milestone for me. Why? Because I've been especially conditioned to think that monthly adjustments and massages are key to keeping free of another potential back related trauma.

It's still astonishing to me, that all this time, my repressed emotions were to blame for my traumatic back experiences.

A few insights:
- Often I would get these moments of terror where my entire lower body would tremble and I'd have to go lay down, and do hundreds of stretches before feeling comfortable with moving again. This time I had one around my month milestone (perfect triggering time), and instead of worrying, I just sat comfortably and idly in my chair doing light meditation, concentrating on my emotions. I had to leave the room for a few minutes, asked my girlfriend not to be offended, I just needed a moment. It took a lot of discipline, but eventually, the tremble just disappeared, and I felt amazingly liberated. I could move without even the slightest worry.
- Most days I barely second guess getting out of the car, out of my office chair, standing too long, sitting in a hard chair, slouching, lifting, I just don't even think about it. So liberating.
- If I feel even the slightest pain, or hint of it, I tell myself this isn't really pain, it's in my head, and sometimes just asking "why?" to my repressed emotions is enough to quell the discomfort or fear.
- Cracks and muscle pains (from rigorous activity) are normal part of life and aging. Often feared if I didn't have that "special crack", my nerve would be pinched, I've now since realized this is just my conditioning
- Sometimes the pain attempts really hard to manifest itself in other areas. Sometimes my lower left back instead of my right bothers me, and I just laugh knowing why.
- My canker sores I get every so often are relieved quickly
- I think I'm better at managing an onset of hives
- TMS is not the only symptom for dealing with repressed emotions, sometimes it may be some other compulsive activity, so a daily emotional/mental assessment is helpful

So now, I'm looking for ways to manage and understand my emotions better. I've never really been into the whole "new agey, hippy, chakra and poses" thing, but the more and more I read/watch it seems the more I see how it aligns with our emotional well being. Ironically I came across this presentation about Emotional Anatomy:


Anyone else find meditation and/or yoga helping them find balance in their lives? Would love to hear your experiences.

 

Hi, Finches. I watched most of the video and liked it. I don't do much actual yoga, but like doing some
Tai-chi. I do my own free-form kind of Tai-chi, just slowly moving my arms and moving my legs.
I combine it with deep breathing and living in the moment, "feeling" each movement. It's relaxing.

 

Under a Raynauds post, I set this out for contemplation:

--There is a wonderful book written by Stanley Keleman (1985) called Emotional Anatomy.

From this I quote:

These patterns of tubal pulsation establish self-identity by generating the feelings that we recognize as ourselves. They give a dimension to existence by creating an inside and an outside, a depth and a surface. This inwardness and outwardness are central in the anatomy of feelings and self-concept.

There is a basic thought-feeling process to all perception. This is to expand, swell, reach out and then pull back, shrink, contract. We go towards the world and then we return to ourselves in a never-ending cycle. It becomes apparent that stress and distress disturb these patterns of pulsations. Sometimes there is a conflict between two poles: we reach out and shrink at the same time. We over-extend and lack the ability to pull back. Or we shrink and lack the ability to expand. Under these conditions our cells begin to lose their range of pulsation and feeling, thinking, and acting, as well as our self-identity.

Cells reach out to the world, cells move away from the world. They take in and let out. How the cell expands and contracts is a statement of assertion. How it maintains pressure is a statement of self-perception. How it takes and gives is communication.
---
I teach and I practice yoga. Self awareness is critical to our healing. Emotions are stored in our bodies. Where we are 'stuck' is where we feel the discomfort or pain.

Finches - many congratulations on your personal milestones. You will find scatterings of Truths under various headings. Some of those headings may be trendy, but you should explore them anyway. Exploring does not equal commitment. You seek, you experiment, you accept or discard what works. Thus, you will find your own, unique methods that work for your situation.

Several days ago, I decided to revisit the concept of chakra work. Chakra simply means wheel, though it is usually represented in the form of lotus flowers. Symbols help us visualize, even if they aren't literal. It is the idea that matters. The work is about opening all your channels, being receptive and listening. Which ever author you read, seek the basics and go from there.

Yoga is a tool. It is a method of creating self-awareness without judgment. People get hung up on the 'perception' of yoga, without understanding the deeper aspects. It is like walking in a field of wild flowers .... pick and choose which flowers catch your heart. Your body already knows. It is your mind that needs to catch up

with grace and gratitude,
^_^

 

Yes, I meditate Daily to soothe my nervous system. I lie down and re-peat I'm calm, relaxed, patient and confident. Then I imagine my face relaxing and it does. I do this all the way to my toes. And last but not least I speak the Affirmations " Peace, Love, Joy, Happiness, Gentleness, Kindness and patience into my body by imaging what the emotion feels like. I have gotten pretty good at getting centered or back in balance.

I have days that I tap while saying I'm safe to let this go, I can let this go now, I'm ok to let this go. I let this go while I breath in and squeeze my wrist and then say peace. Of course I'm letting go any built up tension.

This is just some of my practices so there ya go.

You have come a long way in a month and some change, your doing great. Keep us up-dated.

Thanks

 

Thank you all for your insights.

This is a journey I'm attempting my best to open up to. The masculine portion of my identity is stubborn, fearful of admitting weakness.

I think meditation, especially, will prove useful, as I've realized that my symptoms (what I would sometimes identify to be just misplaced energy) manifests itself in various ways.

@Lily Rose , thank you for that excerpt, much to ponder over there.

 

About being masculine, it reminds me of one of my favorite movies, from the 1950s,
"Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing." An Eurasian doctor (Jennifer Jones) tells her American lover (William Holden)
a foreign correspondent she falls in love with in Hong Kong, that he is stronger than most men
because he is gentle and allows that side of himself to give love.

 

Finches just take your time and it will all come to you as it has been doing. As long as you are doing some type of awareness and acceptance daily then you are working toward your healing. The important part is letting go of all the pressures we have in life. When I say letting go im talking about not getting angered at much of anything anymore. Being grateful for everything and inventing an enjoyable environment to live in and be happy. Those are the keys. Keep us up to date. Thanks

 

Great advice, Herbie, as always. We all need to focus more on being thankful for the blessings we have been given and
not let the downers in our lives take more importance. Maybe imagine a scale in balance of good and bad, or even
the good side a lot higher up than the bad side of the scale. It's part of thinking positive and imagining the glass
half full instead of being half empty. Let's imagine the glass almost full of good thoughts.

 

Finches, Sounds like you are doing wonderful!!! I so enjoyed reading your progress!!!!

 

Herbie, I just love the idea of feeling the positive emotions of love, joy, peace... in your body.
I have not been practicing that but I am going to try it. I would think with practice that
would release a lot of tension.

You always have so many creative and helpful suggestions.