Hi John,
That's a very interesting question and I look forward to other people's responses. I know that sometimes I get a really bad neck or back pain and I just absolutely can't even bend my back or neck the slightest bit without very bad pain. I do take some time off and let it subside before I tackle physical activities again. I don't think there's anything wrong with that. Sometimes there really might be an injury or a muscle strain and like any real injury it heals in a short amount of time and then you're back in business. In January, I went snowboarding and on one of the last runs after 2 days on the mountain I was going down a challenging run when I felt a twinge in my back as I was carving a hard turn. Almost immediately, I felt pain and stiffness and I knew I did something. I was in pain for a few days, moving around like I was 90 yrs old, but I was back to normal in a week. I could be wrong, but I don't think that was TMS. Maybe it was, but it resolved on it's own and I was back in business in just a few days.
However, I wanted to say something about this statement you wrote and perhaps this will give you some insight into your question about ignoring pain and the pain continuing for abnormal amounts of time (months or years) which I do think is TMS (i.e. chronic pain)
I've read that to conquer TMS you must ignore the pain when it tries to distract you.
The statement is incorrect and I think it's important to make a distinction because it's the difference between being
stuck in pain and getting
un-stuck. Ignoring the pain doesn't help. (Disclaimer: What follows is pretty much what I have learned from Monte Hueftle's "
Master Practice") Pain ought to be viewed as a
SIGNAL. A signal to
think psychological. What does this mean? It means to accept the pain as a signal to become aware of thoughts, feelings, or typical TMS personality traits that are being exhibited in the
present moment. For me personally I have found that I am able to overcome pain when I am able to become aware of my
thinking patterns that are generating the inner tension and repressing emotional energy. When I get the signal, I stop thinking of the pain, distract myself from it, and I redirect my mind to start probing my thoughts looking for a thought that is negative (worry, fear, striving, controlling, etc) and then I redirect my mind to a more positive thought or series of thoughts. I carry a written mantra that I read sometimes If I can't think of something. Or I might recognize that I'm exhibiting a certain personality trait such as people-pleasing or being overly self-conscious. I become aware of it and I redirect my thinking to something more open. For example, if I notice that I'm worried about what other people will think of me, I change my thoughts and say "I don't care what others think of me. I'm just going to be the very best person that I can be and do the very best job that I can do. That's within my control. I can't control what other people think. Let them think what they want to think." This is "active" whereas ignoring the pain is passive and keeps you stuck in that inner-tension generating mode which created the pain in the first place and keeps it around.
If I have pain all the time, the I'm pulling out that "mantra" card all the time. If' I'm walking the the street pain free and suddenly I feel some pain in my Achilles tendon (like happened today) I pull out my card and read it and then move on. My card says something very simple on it: "Thank you for signaling me and making me aware of my thoughts and feelings. I know what you're trying to do. I don't think that way any more. I don't need you any more." This might sound incredible simplistic, but it's sending a very powerful message to your subconscious.
Hope that helps!
