Day 1 I'm trying!

[Texican]

Week zero took me three weeks because of some travelling and being a "perfectionist" I really wanted to "master" all the week 0 material.

My big goal is to be able to do yoga again after quitting a year ago due to the low back pain I've been experiencing every day for two years. Yoga is a favourite pastime of mine. I finally went to yoga yesterday because I had been experiencing mostly pain free days. It was exciting!

But today I felt pain most of the day and although I keep telling myself that "my brain is trying to distract me from the emotions that I'm feeling" which usually works to decrease the pain... It hasn't really improved the way I felt today. So then the logical part of my brain keeps telling me that the pain free days were a placebo effect and that my pain is due to the yoga yesterday. So I have this internal war going on.

After reading and watching the material from day 1 I already feel my pain fluctuating and right now it feels a bit better. I don't want to give up and I need to commit to doing my TMS homework everyday without missing my readings. I've loved every pain free moment of the last few weeks which felt like a total miracle since I was so discouraged that I'd never feel "normal" again!

 

[Andy Bayliss]

Hi Texican,
Glad you're back in here doing it!!

So then the logical part of my brain keeps telling me that the pain free days were a placebo effect and that my pain is due to the yoga yesterday. So I have this internal war going on.

This is common for all of us, and the first, most powerful thing you can do is name this conflict, or doubt, observe it, and not completely believe it. Try not to fuel this thinking. You can name it, and then bring your attention elsewhere. Anywhere elsewhere! See the doubt and fears, acknowledge them, and then move on. You are so much more than these seemingly "hypnotic" thought patterns.

Here is an article on Fear http://www.tmswiki.org/forum/threads/understanding-and-overcoming-fear.8574/

Here is an article from my blog on doubt, which might also resonate
http://www.tmspainrelief.com/exploring-doubts-about-dr-sarnos-work/

Good luck in your work, and I hope you check out the quick program TMS Recovery Program at the wiki also. It helps build basic skills to deal with fear and doubt.

Andy B.