Books - after Sarno, what?

oceana15

oceana15

New Member
Hi all! Just finished reading The Mindbody Prescription and it was absolutely life-changing. Since "information is penicillin" to TMS, I want to keep reading and becoming more informed. What other books have you read that really put things into perspective for you and helped you heal? I need recommendations!
 
If you want to see what treatment with Dr. Sarno was actually like, I'd recommend Use Your Mind to Heal Your Body, by Stephen Conenna. Stephen was a patient of Dr. Sarno's who attended Dr. Sarno's group sessions and even worked with one of Dr. Sarno's core psychologists (Dr. Sherman). It shows you what it was like to be one of Dr. Sarno's patients and to get the full treatment program.

About it, Dr. Sarno wrote, "Based on my experience of many years in dealing with back pain what Mr. Conenna has written about this disorder is very much in tune with my concepts of cause and treatment. I recommend this highly." It's rare for Dr. Sarno to recommend a book at the "highly" level, which I think indicates that he thought this book was special.
 
Those are excellent TMS books, and I would like to put in a plug for my book with Eric Watson, especially for those wanting to add the spiritual element to TMS healing: God Does Not Want You to Be In Pain. It can be ordered best from CreateSpace e-store under Eric Watson or Walter Oleksy.
We tell how important spiritual belief was and is in our healing. Some TMSers have said it helped them a lot.
 
Thanks for your helpful suggestions, everyone! I will be reading all of these books in succession. The Conenna book sounds particularly interesting -- I'm sure we all would love to be seen by Dr. Sarno if we could (if he's still seeing patients, that is).
 
oceana15 said:
Hi all! Just finished reading The Mindbody Prescription and it was absolutely life-changing. Since "information is penicillin" to TMS, I want to keep reading and becoming more informed. What other books have you read that really put things into perspective for you and helped you heal? I need recommendations!
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Don't want to sound like I'm trying to be a smart-arse or killjoy here but in many ways I'd suggest if you have read Sarno that is all you really need. Talking from bitter experience it really is to easy to get drawn into the need to gather and assimilate more and more information relating to TMS and this often actually has the perverse effect of stopping us doing the hard yards. I think many people have commented as this as almost like TMS'ing about TMS.

I am of course not suggesting this is how things will play out but I'm just offering up my experience and also a counter to the all the reading suggestions you are likely to get from people. Whereas my Kindle used to be bloated with TMS and self help tomes to which I would always scurry I now have it full of Swallows and Amazons and Percy Jackson. I've come to the conclusion that once you have grasped the basic concept of somatisation then ignorance becomes bliss.
 
Spot on Huckleberry. I healed when I stopped looking for new books, videos, worksheets etc. and just did the mental work relentlessly. Reading one book after another is yet another TMS distraction that prevents you from doing the real healing work.
 
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Hi, I'm completely new to TMS and it's actually my first comment ever on this forum and would like to thank you for the insight on just doing the mental work Huckleberry.
I'm on my second Sarno book and have many other books on my list that are next and I can already recognize that it's my goodist personality. I'm trying to get all the info and worrying about it all day. I'm getting there by recognizing it I think. It's been 2 weeks so far.
 
I think Steve Ozanich's book of the Top 10 Sarno ideas is a good fast "updated" language of the Sarno books. It's short and plenty.
 
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MWsunin12 said:
I thing Steve Ozanich's book of the Top 10 Sarno ideas is a good fast "updated" language of the Sarno books. It's short and plenty.
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Agreed, it's good for a TMS quickie read, and he's almost done with his audio book and one more TMS book. His "Top 10" book is probably small enough to store in the medicine cabinet.
 
I'm on day 11 of SEP and one of the first success stories I read was by AnitaV (over in the Success Stories subforum). I found a lot of encouragement in her words, especially when she talks about the importance of being able to answer every fearful question our brains might ask us to derail us. Of course, because I'm still dealing with deep feelings of inadequacy, I find that I can silence my brain's insidious questioning (i.e. "what if you think this is TMS but it's actually structural and you end up injuring yourself badly?" etc etc) a lot better with information that I get straight out of books written by experts on this topic. I'm finding this helpful at least until I work out that I'm perfectly adequate as I am and I can trust my own answers. Basically I was trying to arm myself with as much knowledge/info as possible so I can answer all those fearful and irrational questions (inside my head) right off the bat, as soon as they come up, and avoid getting caught up in the trap of fear. The whole concept of TMS is still very new to me and I have tons of questions so I guess I'm still in a "gathering info" phase.
 
The basics will never change. As the good doctor keenly observed in HBP there are 2 pillars to healing. The first pillar is the acquisition of knowledge into the nature of the disorder, and the second pillar is acting on that knowledge. Those who heal get to pillar 2.

So the first stage is gathering the information, reading, listening, learning all about TMS and how the mental affects the physical. But at some point the sufferer has to stop gathering and start living (at pillar 2.) The incessant gathering, and desire to read more and more well past the point of current knowledge is TMSing, ie, the person is putting off the healing. It's a defense mechanism against healing (albeit unconscious). I call pillar 2 "letting go of pillar 1." You can't take the second step until you leave the first one.

Now--some people may not connect with the original source/info. I did, and still feel that HBP is all anyone ever needs. But I realize that it doesn't work for everyone, so I wrote GPD. But it too may not connect with someone, so they seek until they find that thing that pleases them. That's still pillar 1, and some may spend some time there gathering. It's ok, and not a bad sign. It usually takes a neutral person to point out to them that they're delaying the healing. This can be done by asking them questions about TMS, if they know it inside and out, pillar 2 is eagerly waiting to be stepped on.

Steve
 
Steve Ozanich said:
The basics will never change. As the good doctor keenly observed in HBP there are 2 pillars to healing. The first pillar is the acquisition of knowledge into the nature of the disorder, and the second pillar is acting on that knowledge. Those who heal get to pillar 2.

So the first stage is gathering the information, reading, listening, learning all about TMS and how the mental affects the physical. But at some point the sufferer has to stop gathering and start living (at pillar 2.) The incessant gathering, and desire to read more and more well past the point of current knowledge is TMSing, ie, the person is putting off the healing. It's a defense mechanism against healing (albeit unconscious). I call pillar 2 "letting go of pillar 1." You can't take the second step until you leave the first one.

Now--some people may not connect with the original source/info. I did, and still feel that HBP is all anyone ever needs. But I realize that it doesn't work for everyone, so I wrote GPD. But it too may not connect with someone, so they seek until they find that thing that pleases them. That's still pillar 1, and some may spend some time there gathering. It's ok, and not a bad sign. It usually takes a neutral person to point out to them that they're delaying the healing. This can be done by asking them questions about TMS, if they know it inside and out, pillar 2 is eagerly waiting to be stepped on.

Steve
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I so appreciate when you post on here, Steve O. And, that you always give dr. Sarno the kudos. Pillar 2!! Maybe I'll make Tee-shirts that say that. Only Sarno peeps would get it.
 
Thank you for your response, Steve. This concept of the two pillars is very helpful! I do have a tendency to over-inform myself and to be a "model student" and to try to learn everything there is to know about X or Y. I'm actually a PhD student, so clearly that's just part of my personality. I will definitely look out for signs of being stuck in (or getting too attached to) pillar 1.
 
I would say that most or all TMSers have that personality to over think, read, and worry--Beta manufacturers. Thus TMS. They practice life without ever jumping in. Others are off living life while the TMSer analyzes it.

Take your time oceana. No hurry, gather at your own speed. The time will come when you're ready. It's never about healing, it's about letting go. It will happen when you no longer care what your body is doing. TMS thrives on fear and worry, don't feed it.
 
Gathering info is necessary. It is hard to stop though. I know I have been there. I distracted myself 2 years gathering books and videos. After 2 years I had not made one bit of progress. I was then troubled by contradictions between books which brought me even further away from healing.

It is also compounded by the concept of TMS knowledge/penicillin that stipulates that the more you read/learn about the theory, the better at a subliminal level.

I think we have all witnessed that patient on the other forum that gathered info for more than a decade and that then turned anti-Sarno, posting irrelevant medical information. Sad for him.

You eventually need to jump and do the mental work. It is scary and can be unpleasant but there is no alternative.
 
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