End of Structured Educational Program. Need help with further resources.

Hey Everyone.

Today is my 41st day on the Structured Educational Program. Although I haven't witnessed any tremendous reduction in my symptoms but I have started thinking psychologically about my symptoms.

Can you suggest some further resources to keep my momentum going ? Also anyone know any TMS Therapist in India who can help me with my recovery ?

 

This is very good news. It takes awhile for most of us!

Did you do the TMS Recovery Program at the Wiki? This is very good, and at the end, if you scroll down, I think you find extended inquiry questions to deepen the material with journal reflections... This is a start.

You should read Dr. Sarno every day, and read all his books... Healing Back Pain in an audio book being narrated by Dr. Sarno, on Amazon. Also, you can find a CD which has his lectures for purchase.

You can do the 12 daily reminders every day. Look for on Utube. Forest put them up. I wrote them on a piece of paper and reviewed.

You can check through the Resources section at the Wiki to find folks who work by skype from other places. Not sure about local therapists in India. I do international TMS Life Coaching on skype or other vid platforms, but I am not a therapist.

You could also ask the Forum with more posts, for specific books/resources for specific issues you feel you want support with: anxiety, mindfulness, self-compassion, etc.

You could also start the SEP over and do it twice. Others have done this. Hope some of this helps.

Andy B

 

Hi, Just a guy. Andy is right about Dr. Sarno's 12 Daily Reminders. They are the basic principles of TMS. I especially like the extended version by Herbie, another member of this web site. I list them below.

You also could find good reading on TMS in the two books of Steve Ozanich.

Herbie’s Extended Version of Dr. Sarno’s 12 DAILY REMINDERS

1. The pain is due to TMS. This is real pain or anxiety but it is caused by subconscious tensions and triggers, stressors and traits to your reactions and fears and also when at boiling point your conscious tension can and does also cause real pain.
2. The main reason for the pain is mild oxygen deprivation. This means that when you get in pain or anxiety then the blood is restricted from going to your lower back, for instance. The blood being restricted causes oxygen deprivation which causes the pain. Remember, where there is no oxygen then there is pain in the body. Also, the pain stays because of fear.
3. TMS is a harmless condition caused by my REPRESSED EMOTIONS so even though you think you can harm yourself from the years of pain you have felt and how you feel in general -- so far no reports have been heard from TMS healing knowledge causing damage to anyone, it only helps.
4. The principle emotion is your repressed ANGER -- this means under your consciousness lies something that happens automatically to everyone. TMSers have repressions that are stored because of our personality traits, traumas, stressors, fears, strain, etc... When these stored repressions build and build, then eventually they cause the brain to send pain into your body to keep you from having an emotional crises. The mind-body thinks it is helping you.
5. TMS exists to DISTRACT your attentions from the emotions, stressors, tensions and strains of your personality traits because if you can get distraction then you won’t have to be in emotional turmoil. When you don't face and feel your emotions and they get repressed because you didn't want to deal with something -- they are just adding up in this beaker, ready to pour over and create real pain and anxiety in your body.
6. Since my body is perfectly normal, there is nothing to fear. So in reality when I fear the pain or anxiety I just cause myself undo strain and tension adding to the beaker of pain. If I fear, then I feed the pain, If I fear, it’s impossible to recondition. Fear keeps the pain and anxiety alive in the body through focus.
7. Therefore, physical activity is harmless. If I want to work against the pain I could but it’s better to lose some of the pain so when I start my life over I have to be in pain trying to heal because facing the repressions and all the other activities that cause the pain and reversing my fear and focus to them, then I can heal.
8. I am resuming all normal physical activity. I don't fear moving anymore. I believe in my body’s ability to heal now. I can move as I want. I will not fear moving with a bent back anymore. I will also practice going out and acting normal again, not in fear of what pain might do to me.
9. The pain is unimportant and powerless. Its only power is how it is hidden -- its illusion, its fear.
10. I will keep my attention on the emotional issues. I will think about my emotions and feel my emotions throughout the day. I will not judge, criticize or fear my emotions. I will not run from my emotional issues but face every one of them. I will feel my emotions fully and cry if I need to. Then I will release the emotion and get my mind and thoughts back to my life and living in the present.
11. I am in control of all of this. This is how I recover.
12. I will be thinking PSYCHOLOGICALLY AT ALL TIMES. This means I will keep my thoughts on psychological issues like happiness, fear and anger -- traits and triggers, conditioning and journaling -- The science behind mind-body/TMS healing, etc.... This way I will not feed my thoughts to the body -- that is a trick of TMS. TMS will always try to get me to focus on the body caused by the pain until I break its show and flair. When I get my attention off physical symptoms and on to emotional issues and psychological issues then I will not feed the fear of the physical issues anymore, thus making the TMS of no pain effect on the body. This will in return, give us the cure and become pain-free.

 

What Walt and Andy B said, keep studying the TMS info--and then sleep on it!



“Pity me that the heart is slow to learn
What the swift mind beholds at every turn.”

― Edna St. Vincent Millay, The Harp-Weaver and Other Poems

Quoted in Dr. Sarno's books.

 

Thank You @Andy B , @Walt Oleksy and @Tennis Tom for your valuable insight. I have started reading The Divided Mind and I guess I will start the SEP again.

Hoping for some new knowledge.