Day 15 Day 15

Today's exercise was to write a dialogue with a person who is causing stress in my life I actually live alone and so there is really no 1 can cause stress in my life right now I obviously wish that my family would have been there to help me out but they have their own constraints and I have made with it so I was quite stumped on what to write.
I think I truly believe that the pain may be coming from TMS. Even if I use logic and not faith, since there has not been much pathology that has been found, TMS seems to be a logical choice. The only thing that I may be doing differently from classical TMS recovery process is that I find that the pain is maintained at a sanity level if I stay away from the computer and maintain a proper posture, so I am not ignoring the pain and starting work on the computer is I had done once in February and it became really bad the point I was unable to open doors and do simple things like going to the restroom. Since I live on my own, I have be able to always have the ability to go to the restroom myself.

The pain for me has not around. It is constant. It increases with activity and goes to baseline without activity. I rarely have pain free moments. I did have one hour approximately closed to pain free last week and I could observe myself feeling extremely hopeful and happy for no reason . It amazed me and that's why remember it clearly .

 

Hi, Browndog. The fact that you had an hour of no pain last week is a very good sign that you are healing. I hope you can regain the feeling of hope and happiness you experienced because positive thinking is very important in TMS healing.

Living alone has its blessings. I am a 85 year old bachelor and love living with just my dog. We get along fine.

Also, meditation is important in feeling better. I especially like the Relaxation Response. Here is some info on it...


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.



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.