For those that dealt with chronic muscle tension negatively affecting posture...

C

chriswatts369

New Member
when you fixed your crooked body due to chronic muscle tension, do you think it was more important to do stuff that makes you feel safe or releasing the repressed emotions you had?

which was more important in your opinion?


I have a lot of trauma from child hood including umbilical cord issues (strangulation), sexual trauma etc etc, it feels like an endless rabbit hole of negative emotions and I've spent a whole year purging these negative emotions. I did some somatic experiencing with a therapist and it was quite rewarding.

I've stopped going to my chiro because I acknowledge that it is my emotions causing all this chronic muscle tension in my body.

And even though I do see progress with doing emotional work aka "feeling" my repressed emotions, I feel like if I were to go this route it would take me years just because of how much emotion I have stored from my traumas.

tldr:
Do you think to fix this muscle tension from tms, it is more of trying to feel safer in your own body (meditation, breathwork, etc.) or it is more of releasing the emotions stored deep in the nervous system?
 
I still got a little of crooked posture, but it reduced to the point people won't notice anymore.

For me it is, I guess, a matter of exercising and slowly confronting the pain in the area, sending proper messages of safety. I got some spasms along the way, it sucks of course, but I knew it wasn't tissue damage, just the overprotective brain creating the tension. My PT recommended to increase the exercises when my mind would be calmer, and it worked well.

Now, for the question in point, I think anger release is very important because it's a powerful emotion that creates a lot of stored energy and might easily cause tension if not released. The same for sadness. But maybe you could try not to think of the trauma itself, just feel the somatic energy in your face to chest area, and let it be until it tires itself out. By the way, meditation is not always about feeling safe. My ego for example tends to panic when I meditate, but this is good, because it shows he knows I'm not buying his false alarms anymore. There's a video about different kinds of meditation I saw a couple days ago. I'll try and find it and edit this post with it.

EDIT-----

 
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chriswatts369 said:
Do you think to fix this muscle tension from tms, it is more of trying to feel safer in your own body (meditation, breathwork, etc.) or it is more of releasing the emotions stored deep in the nervous system?
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Hi Chris,
I have some of the same problems you have. Chronic tension and traumatic past. I did a bunch of therapy to release the sadness and anger. But it didn’t do anything for me physically. I’ve had much more luck with using meditation. @TG957 healed from complex regional pain syndrome with meditation. She has a book explaining it—Defying the Verdict, by Tamara Gurin. She also has a blog. https://defeatcrps.com/blogs/tamaras-blog/ (Tamara’s Blog)

Many people here on the forum highly recommend meditation over journaling and anger work. But I do think you have to do some healing on the anger and sadness at some point. I just don’t know if that is the ultimate answer for everyone.

One thing that has helped me immensely along these lines is a simple short book by Claire Weekes, MD, Hope and Help for your Nerves. If you think of your symptoms as a type of panic attack in your body, it all makes sense. Dr. Weekes also has audio books and I think you can find her reading on YouTube.

I don’t know if you’ve heard of Dan Buglio. He’s a TMS counselor who focuses on relieving perceived danger. He had TMS for 13 years. He has a support group, a daily free video and lots of resources on PainFreeYou.com.

I hope this helps!
 
I have terrible posture. I do some techniques to relieve some daily physical symptoms, but focus on TMS work mentioned above.
Dan Buglio has photos of himself somewhere on his website showing how twisted he was. He talks about it in some early videos on his old YouTube channel and how his posture corrected itself.
Just keep doing the work!
 
I agree with all of these great responses, @chriswatts369, and I realize that you were hoping for "the one answer", which you have not received.

That's because there is no such thing as the one answer. If there was, we wouldn't need to be here.

Also, very sadly, I have to be honest and state that there is also no such thing as a quick turnaround in the case of childhood trauma. It sounds like you've achieved a lot in just a year, which is a significant success. From my (admittedly untrained) observations over a number of years here, it's going to take more time to get through those convoluted layers that were built up by your immature and primitive brain, as it tried to ensure your physical survival when you literally had no ability to protect yourself.

It's also a fact that the TMS brain mechanism operates differently at different times, depending upon how any particular individual is experiencing stress at any particular time. This can vary from day to day and even hour to hour.

I tell you this with full understanding that this concept might increase your stress. This is where you get to make the choice to cling to your stress, or to let it go, accept what is, stop watching the calendar and judging your progress or perceived lack of progress, and take proactive steps to move forward with constructive activities.
 
Cactusflower said:
I have terrible posture. I do some techniques to relieve some daily physical symptoms, but focus on TMS work mentioned above.
Dan Buglio has photos of himself somewhere on his website showing how twisted he was. He talks about it in some early videos on his old YouTube channel and how his posture corrected itself.
Just keep doing the work!
Click to expand...

what is the name of his "old" YouTube channel?

I only know his channel that goes by "Pain Free You"
 
JanAtheCPA said:
I agree with all of these great responses, @chriswatts369, and I realize that you were hoping for "the one answer", which you have not received.

That's because there is no such thing as the one answer. If there was, we wouldn't need to be here.

Also, very sadly, I have to be honest and state that there is also no such thing as a quick turnaround in the case of childhood trauma. It sounds like you've achieved a lot in just a year, which is a significant success. From my (admittedly untrained) observations over a number of years here, it's going to take more time to get through those convoluted layers that were built up by your immature and primitive brain, as it tried to ensure your physical survival when you literally had no ability to protect yourself.

It's also a fact that the TMS brain mechanism operates differently at different times, depending upon how any particular individual is experiencing stress at any particular time. This can vary from day to day and even hour to hour.

I tell you this with full understanding that this concept might increase your stress. This is where you get to make the choice to cling to your stress, or to let it go, accept what is, stop watching the calendar and judging your progress or perceived lack of progress, and take proactive steps to move forward with constructive activities.
Click to expand...

thanks for this. yeah I know I sound like I'm getting impatient. I should be grateful because a few years ago I was feeling so helpless and hopeless because I wasn't making any progress with any of the many many healing modalities I was trying. I should be grateful that I finally found something that works and I'm seeing progress everyday even though it might not be that much.

It's just that it feels like life is passing me by and I can't wait to get out there but I can't do the sports that I love because in the back of my mind I'm scared I'll injure myself.
 
chriswatts369 said:
but I can't do the sports that I love because in the back of my mind I'm scared I'll injure myself.
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Well, that's a classic "Yes, but..." answer if I ever heard one!

@chriswatts369, this is your brain on TMS.

This is, in fact, your primitive TMS brain successfully doing the job it was designed to do. Hundreds of thousands of years ago. Unfortunately, that job is simply not relevant in the microscopically short era of the modern world, which is why modern humans have ended up with an epidemic of chronic symptoms.

My advice for anyone who is serious about physical activities is to get yourself a personal trainer and tell that person what's going on. If they are any good, they will know exactly what you're talking about, because their job is to push people beyond their fear. They should be 100% on board with the mindbody connection and how vital it is to manage your mindfulness in order to make progress and reach your goals. This is what all the successful athletes do. A skilled trainer can do this for you while reassuring you that you can't hurt yourself.

Just do it.
 
Cactusflower said:
Dan Buglio has photos of himself somewhere on his website showing how twisted he was.
Click to expand...

chriswatts369 said:
what is the name of his "old" YouTube channel?
Click to expand...

There is this older website that is still up& running:
https://www.truthaboutbackpain.com/ (Truth About Back Pain - Discover the REAL Cause of your Back Pain)

Here is where he shows how twisted his back was:
https://www.truthaboutbackpain.com/125/12-years-of-back-pain/ (Back Pain Picture)
 
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