If it's a bloodflow problem, why doesn't massage or heat help?

Yep, what @Saffron says.

The oxygen deprivation theory is not a bad place for newbies to start, because learning how to use breathing to calm yourself is an important skill in learning to mindfully talk back to your fearful brain - and your fearful brain is actually where all TMS symptoms are generated.

Any treatment that involves the laying on of hands is probably effective as a result of the placebo effect - which is fine as long as you recognize it as such, and use it as a tool. It's actually pretty powerful!
 
I can see where for certain types of pain, blood flow being inhibited could play a factor but:

a. It doesn't matter. We don't have to know exactly how our heart works in order for it to keep beating. We don't have to understand kidney function in order for it to do its filtering. All these things happen without us (the individual) knowing or controlling consciously. Likewise, we can make our pain and symptoms go away without knowing the exact mechanism. (Though, yes, it's interesting to understand the details.)

b. If we hypothetically said blood flow was involved, massage would still only give you release when you massage....and then it would all tighten up again.
For example, I get pain in my throat, my chest, my teeth, the side of my nose. Not all at the same time but it moves around. In whichever area is feeling the pain, I can also recognize that I'm holding the muscles in that area tightly. So one would think that I could massage it away. Nope. I can consciously release the muscle tightness.....for a few minutes....but then it tightens back up. I would guess that it's the same with massage on other areas of blood flow blockage.
Alternatively, when I release the unconscious emotions, the physical tightness releases itself and the pain, the hoarseness, the dry throat (and eyes), the chest pain, all go away. And not just for a few minutes or while I'm releasing emotions-- they vanish completely. Along with the urge to symptom surf, the urge to check on myself (heart rate, etc). It's like you turn off that negative circle of focus-checking-fear-more checking-more focus - more fear.
So maybe it's just metaphorical but it feels like the blood and everything can flow more smoothly.

$0.02
 
learningmore said:
Massage and heat.
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That's great if you want 5 minutes of comfort. Then you stop massaging and stop heating and the pain comes back.
Why bother when you can make the pain go away forever by dealing with why things are blocked up and tight?
 
Celayne said:
Sometimes getting the temporary relief makes it easier to calmly examine emotions and thoughts.
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Fair enough... keep in mind though that is focusing on physical symptoms which tells your brain you are buying into its tricks.
Ideally we want to forget about and ignore the physical symptoms as best we can.
 
Actually being able to accept physical sensations and not fear them is what helps to eliminate them. See Alan Gordon’s lesson on Somatic Tracking.
 
Booble said:
Fair enough... keep in mind though that is focusing on physical symptoms which tells your brain you are buying into its tricks.
Ideally we want to forget about and ignore the physical symptoms as best we can.
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I think that is old thinking. Very sarno.
 
Celayne said:
Actually being able to accept physical sensations and not fear them is what helps to eliminate them. See Alan Gordon’s lesson on Somatic Tracking.
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Yes, that part doesn't resonate for me.

I've spent a lifetime paying too much attention to physical symptoms and trying to accept them, not fear them, quiet them, etc etc etc.
In my opinion the magic of Sarno is in forgetting them, ignoring them. That tells your brain, "F. You. I don't acknowledge your symptoms. There is no point in giving them to me."
 
With apologies to Mr. Gordon, I think that's a big mistake.

To use the drinking problem analogy one more time.....
Accepting symptoms is akin to accepting you're an alcoholic...and you'll be an alcoholic for the rest of your life. And it will always be a struggle.
Conversely, you can skip all the BS that your lower parts of your brain are telling you and say I don't want to drink anymore. And. just. stop. You're in charge. BOOM. End of story.

I think that is what Sarno was trying to teach people. You don't have to wallow in your symptoms. They go away when you stop thinking about them. But they will never go away when you fear them OR welcome them. You may slightly tame them, but they won't go away. Like a child that you are giving attention too. The child likes it. Wants more attention.

Now we are up to $0.04.
 
Accepting the symptoms as they are NOW, right this minute, takes away their power. That is, if you look at them as inconsequential. It’s not focusing, it’s just saying, “there you are Symptom, and I don’t care.”

This method worked for me once I was able to do it, but you should do what works best for you.
 
Booble said:
that part doesn't resonate for me.
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"For me" is the key to everything in this work, @Booble!

Semantics also plays a big role, as we are seeing right here, which makes this conversation very valuable!

I've been doing this for 11 years, and I know that different symptoms respond to different techniques. I can get lots of little symptoms to vanish within moments of the "dismiss and ignore" technique. I have been known to successfully "power through" other symptoms, back when I was going to a gym and being challenged on a regular basis. Other symptoms take more work, which means I have to take the time to face them, acknowledge them, and examine what's going on that my brain is trying to repress. Those are the ones that come back when I'm not being mindful.

Ultimately, the technique that one uses is far less important than having complete belief in and acceptance of the two facts that are universal to the condition we still call TMS (but is being called MBS or PPD by most mindbody practitioners these days):

1) That our brains can create an infinite number of symptoms and physical sensations without any kind of underlying pathology.

2) That we can learn to keep our brains from doing so, and get our lives back.
 
I think Sarno was suggestion that the tense way people’s bodies react to the anxiety, inner stress and tension creates restricted blood flow (personally I have though it creates muscle tension not blood flow restriction) but that doesn’t matter because that is focusing on the physical, which is not the genesis of the problem. It is not focusing on the psychological which was Sarno’s #1 commandment.
 
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