Steven Ozanich Can't Tie my shoes

[Barry]

Hi Forest, Steve, Dr. Alexander and all forumites,

After many years of extreme tms, diminished walking etc. I now can walk again with a limp but pretty pain free. In my welding business I wear Blundstones Australian Shoes without laces great for welding terrible for walking distances. My son Zac threw out my remaining old hiking shoes as he realized I never once put them on in many years.

I bought my first pair of hiking boots in over 4 years and had a time of trying to tie them. My torso from the waist down is almost stuck ( not afraid of the pain) whereby my legs don't move properly. Act like the steel I've been workin for 35 years.

I'm somewhat confused on not doing physical therapy type stuff to work myself back to positioning for bending tying and also getting back to walking more challenging terrain. I live to hike and climb and have a mtn in my back yard. I recognize this is not part of the emotional work I need. I pursue that too. My son is great at devising fitness rehab programs for me just only touched on this one (bending etc.), but he got me walking 2 to 3 miles unheard of for me 6 months ago.

Don't read much or anything about the outcome of not using the body properly for many years. I read people feel better and everything comes back to normal. I don't mind the work to rehab myself as I'm a hard work type.

I can't imagine marathon metal work for 35 years hasn't transcended the tms model. I do some body busting things even invented many myself. My favorite is cold bending 5ft lengths of half inch solid round bar into circles cold without jigs OUCH! I never stopped working all throughout severe tms just moved onto a rolling desk chair in my studios. My field work capabilities are shot and now require many men to fill the role I once played.
Thanks Folks.....Bar

 

[Forest]

I think there is a difference between doing physical therapy to reduce pain and building up your stamina. Physical therapy itself won't help you reduce your symptoms as it will keep you focused on the physical. The one thing to keep in mind though is that when you start becoming active again, you may need to gradually build up your strength and stamina. It sounds like you are becoming physically active in the right way. Not as a treatment in and of itself, but as a way to regain your life back and do the things you enjoy doing. Keep it up.

 

[BruceMC]

Barry, Forest et alia: I noticed recently that I can bend down lower and lower until I can tie my shoes by reaching around both sides of my feet. Haven't been trying to stretch to get to that point though. I just seem more and more limber as I meditate and work on my TMS. Same with riding my road bike: now my left leg is stronger and I can make it turn in better orbits on the pedals with less pain afterwards. I guess I could stretch and pull and yank my leg, but it seems to be getting stronger and more limber as a result of my TMS work. I imagine getting the O2 in there helps while exercising too. My improvement seems to be happening gradually though over time as I become less tense and more relaxed. Seems like when I used to try and attack the syndrome by doing PT followed by 25 miles on the bike, all that happened was that the TMS became more entrenched. My advice is to keep doing what you've been doing without putting a lot of stress on yourself. The TMS will go away when it goes away. Now I'm starting to sound like Steve O.! But it sure is nice to be able to tie my shoe laces again. It's the little things that really matter!

 

[Barry]

Thanks for great support. This forum is way more than the intricacies of Tms. Everyone should tune in to valuable lessons for anyone living during these stressful times. Herein lies the philosophical and psychological feedback and discussion thinking folks crave. Not only do you help people heal, there are great lessons underlyingly on coping with everyday pressures. Obviously all are interconnected.
Thanks

 

[Barry]

Thanks Forest and BruceMC for confidence building advice. I don't panic when I can't do something as much as I wish I could, my thought now is I know I will.

 

[Steve Ozanich]

You said that the mountain climbing and hiking is not part of the psychological work, but it is an important part of the psychological healing. That's a form of meditation for you, and also a confidence builder as your brain learns to react differently to motion. We free ourselves from our self-constructed prisons when we do what we want to. And hope shines again.

You have to do what you want to do with your life. Never let your "other brain" stop you. That 35 years of welding hasn't damaged you. You're caught in a conditioned loop, as it appears to be "normal" for you to walk with a limp. If you have worn out a joint that's a hole nuther thing and is not TMS. But that would be very rare. A "good" TMS doc can tell the difference.

Habits run deep, but healing occurs often after decades of erroneous beliefs are uprooted and hope is planted in its place.

Belief is the key to life and death. If you believe you are broken, then you are broken. If you believe you will heal, you will heal. Thinking positive does nothing if little. Belief is king, not wishes and magic dust.

Steve
The owners of Wishes and Magic Dust Enterprises are in no way affiliated with this message. Mr. Ozanich does not represent us and is not a paid spokesperson.

 

[myg]

Wow, it's pretty wild to be replying to a thread where Steve Ozanich posted! I am a huge fan of your book, Steve. So much wisdom in your book! What have you got planned next?

Anyway, I agree with everything posted so far. By not avoiding the activities that you love, you send a powerful message to your TMS. Given time, you will push through and be climbing mountains again. It will happen.

 

[Barry]

Thanks Steve, I actually attempt everything I always have but will challenge the things I am conditioned to fear. An example are hikes that were diffucult when I was in top form. Used many ideas in your book to even begin moving again.Thanks ( to your book and emailing Marc Sopher ), especially after reading everything else and nothing got me moving. I walk everyday and it gets better and better and when it's worse I ignore it.
The walking consistancy has made working hard much easier. I took 4 or 5 years to decline I assume it will take as long to return to normal. I have some unrelated health issues for 12 years that never affected me in the slightest and I have sorta put some of the blame on the tms on that, and it psyches me out towards a faster recovery. Need something to perpetuate tms emotionally I'm assuming. When the pain of bending or better yet my body doesn't bend to tie my shoes I need practical solutions as I don't fear pain just am stuck like I describe in my original question. If I'm stuck on floor or grass I can't stand up without a boost from something. Similar to the tying shoe predicament. Are there tms style practices that are not rehab? Like forcing myself to get off the floor over and over untill I can!

 

[Steve Ozanich]

MYG, I have many plans, but I can only handle one war at a time. I'm smack in the middle of a book campaign, promoting TMS and SteveO. It's a beautiful message that falls on deaf ears. People feel as though they are physically broken, and that TMS belongs to some other poor slob. The doctors have them convinced that they will suffer for a long time. And for many reasons they want to believe it. So it takes both doctor and patient to create a failing illusion. I can't change people's minds. I can only help those who want help. Once again Dr. Sarno is right. He told me to never try to change their minds, and to spend all my time helping those you were open to it. So I am.

Barry, in the words of Ed McMahon, "you are correct sir!" There needs to be something to perpetuate TMS emotionally. But....there is also the albatross called the conditioned response (corrupted memory). Your brain can just loop the false memory over and over like Pavlov's pups. I assume that you're not drooling each time you hear a bell? But that you have some other type of looped response.

I spend a lot of time explaining "fine lines" with people regarding TMS. People question every facet, but that's because they still need their TMS. Doubting is part of the whole TMS process. If we had no doubt there would be no pain. I'm not talking about you, just in general. You asked about practices that are not rehab. Pushing through TMS and rehab are very similar. The difference is in the focus and purpose. The purpose should be to move for good health. There is no good health without movement/motion. As organic beings that live on vibrations, we need to stay in motion for good health. The focus itself should be on the act, and not the body. As long as you monitor your body, or what it's doing, or how it's doing, your symptoms will remain because you're playing right into the brain's devious strategy. That's why I put that quote from Plato in my book, "Attention to health is life's greatest hindrance."

Worrying about the body brings those very same problems to us through vibrational matching, and focus. I've seen it with infections and pain, and with the Ted Kaptchuk studies. The entire medical industry is built upon keeping us worrying with dire warnings. Memes are fired directly at us every day about "early detection." It's called preventative medicine. I'm sure it has saved many lives, but I know that it has ruined many more. That's one of a hundred reasons why my book cover has the balance symbol on it. We are way out of balance and harmony because money entered medicine. The patient became a customer and got lost in the lucre party.

Do I worry? Hell yes. But much less. Do I believe in preventive care? To some degree. Things like glaucoma and others need to be monitored to a degree. We can't just let it all go, for one reason ~~~> the problems stem from the unconscious, we are not aware of them. So people ask me, "Steve, how do I know if I have unconscious conflict?" I ask them if they have symptoms? If not, then they're doing ok. But...things like glaucoma and blood pressure are silent problems. We need to monitor things like that. But we don't need to check our bodies daily for every potential.

Everyone will die some day. But why hurry it along through worry? Why not laugh and live and love each day, thankful for what we have? Paradoxically, this has been shown to extend life and to make us happier. It is the conundrum of the Chinese fingercuffs. The harder you pull the more you imprison yourself. This is why letting go is the key to freedom. It takes faith and courage.

But it is belief that moves mountains. We have been taught to believe the wrong things. My whole campaign is about trying to explain this. But I'm only one man. A single voice. I will do what I can with my time here.

Steve

 

[Barry]

Thanks Steve,
You imparted great wisdom in your response. I will refer to your comments as a reminder of the core direction to stay in.
I mentioned that my progress is connected to your personal story. Plus awesome book. I wish I can convince friends to read it who doubt everything I say and get every procedure known to medical science at the first hint of pain. Oh that works for you but it won't work for me is their retort!

Barry