Hi, JackeetSpud. I'm sorry you have had a setback in TMS healing, but that has happened to others. I healed from severe back pain two years ago after leaning about Dr. Sarno, TMS, and doing the Structured Educational Program. I sometimes get the back pain again, but not anywhere near as bad as it was before. I blame the relapse or setback on renewed worry, mostly about fiances.
If you mean redo the SEProgram, I urge you to do that. A second time in it has helped many others to heal.
You may think that nothing is stressful in your life now, but it could be something that is triggering a past repressed emotion. Journaling in the SEP can help you with this.
Don't lose confidence in TMS. It is often not a process that cures pain once and for all. For me, and many others posting here, it is an on-going process.
It really is a fantastic way to deal with and get rid of pain.
I also suggest you practice meditation. It is helping a lot to relieve my worried mind.
Meditation is a time-honored way of relaxing the mind and relieving anxiety, mental stress, headaches, and even physical pain. There are many ways to practice meditation but I have found the most successful to be a technique called the Relaxation Response.
A friend who is a psychiatrist says about it:
“It is so good, so well established. I taught this approach to stressed out teachers, with success! It is simple, not "spiritual," and readily available. This is important: It is the practice, and becoming a habit that is powerful.”
It is done 20 minutes once or twice a day, before a meal and works best if not practiced within two hours after a meal.If 20 minutes is difficult, start with 5 minutes, then 10, and 15. It really relaxes me and at night in bed, it helps me to fall asleep and stay asleep until my regular morning get-up,
Just sit, close your eyes, don’t listen to any music, try to avoid outside noises.
Let your mind think of a word such as "One " which has no real meaning or association. Say the word silently over and over. At the end of the 20 minutes, picture and feel yourself as you were when you felt your best, and in a place where you felt that way.
Follow the technique below and see how fast you calm. It is similar to Transcendental Meditation but unlike that technique which many consider to be a religion or cult, and that costs $1,000 from a trained TM coach. The Relaxation Response is not a religion or cult and costs nothing.
Here is an article about the Relaxation Response and how to practice it:
Herbert Benson, M.D. documented benefits experienced through traditional forms of Christian and Jewish prayer. Benson published his “Relaxation Response” method of stress reduction without the mysticism associated with TM. Short structured rest periods provide health benefits.
Herbert Benson, M.D.
Associate Professor of Medicine
Harvard Medical School
and founder of the
Benson-Henry Institute for Mind Body Medicine
824 Boylston St.
Chestnut Hill, MA 02467-2508
Phone: (617) 991-0102 Toll free: (866) 509-0732
MBMI@CareGroup.Harvard.edu
The following is the technique reprinted with permission from Dr. Herbert Benson's book
The Relaxation Response pages 162-163
1. Sit quietly in a comfortable position.
2. Close your eyes.
3. Deeply relax all your muscles,
beginning at your feet and progressing up to your face.
Keep them relaxed.
4. Breathe through your nose.
Become aware of your breathing.
As you breathe out, say the word, "one"*,
silently to yourself. For example,
breathe in ... out, "one",- in .. out, "one", etc.
Breathe easily and naturally.
5. Continue for 10 to 20 minutes.
You may open your eyes to check the time, but do not use an alarm.
When you finish, sit quietly for several minutes,
at first with your eyes closed and later with your eyes opened.
Do not stand up for a few minutes.
6. Do not worry about whether you are successful
in achieving a deep level of relaxation.
Maintain a passive attitude and permit relaxation to occur at its own pace.
When distracting thoughts occur,
try to ignore them by not dwelling upon them
and return to repeating "one."
With practice, the response should come with little effort.
Practice the technique once or twice daily,
but not within two hours after any meal,
since the digestive processes seem to interfere with
the elicitation of the Relaxation Response.
