Journaling and getting in touch with the raw&difficult stuff

Bonnard

Bonnard

Well known member
Dr. Sarno suggested a daily writing practice that identified stressors, personality traits, and distressing emotions. Also, anger and annoyance that you can't express, for whatever reason.

Nicole Sachs has described her JournalSpeak as 'Rage on the Page.'
This is in her instructions:
"You’re getting your hidden, unfelt feelings out onto the page, so they’re not stuck - being expressed through your body."

And, this:
"Invite your feelings to rise. They won’t always do so right away, and that’s okay! True readiness is everything. Just stay the course and you will be surprised what comes out."
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I have a really hard time (and symptoms can return) when I've got multiple difficult situations/stressors at the same time. And, that has happened over and over for me.
This is a great, full list of stressors, focused on life changes that are hard to deal with. I've had several times when I would check off so many items on that list.

There is still a lot of pain just under the surface for me. When I journal, it can be hard to get there.
I've been working on some ways to jump-start that process, to get to the deeper stuff more quickly.

I'm curious if others have gotten stuck in this way?
Do you have ways to get to the stuff that's hard to reach?
 
My perfectionist brain is here and in full force. After that last post: I want folks to know I'm doing the TMS thing the right way! I need to go in and edit my post to let everyone know that I'm not tryin' to force anything. I did the consistent journaling / patience thing. What we do to ourselves... :)

Heck, it's right there in Nicole's instructions:
"Invite your feelings to rise. They won’t always do so right away, and that’s okay! True readiness is everything. Just stay the course and you will be surprised what comes out."

 
@Bonnard
I understand! I’m like a block of Pollyanna ice. Nothing wrong here. I journal, but if I get angry, it’s usually intellectual and medicinal. I can’t FEEL it. I’ve been staying the course for the past year—TMS work out the wazoo. Felt like I’m getting nowhere. Then the past few days I had a breakthrough. It’s bubbling up from the depths. A volcano of anger. It feels amazing. I do believe the journaling— for better or worse— laid the groundwork. I was repeatedly telling my brain: “it’s ok. Anger isn’t going to kill us. Let’s do it.” Then, when the time is right— if you’re willing to listen—stop and really listen— your inner child will tell you enough to get you in touch with what’s in there. And then it’s add water and stir.
 
Diana-M said:
“it’s ok. Anger isn’t going to kill us. Let’s do it.” Then, when the time is right— if you’re willing to listen—stop and really listen— your inner child will tell you enough to get you in touch with what’s in there.
Click to expand...
Oh, wow, I just had the most interesting spontaneous response from my inner child while reading this.
She was so insistent, "But, but, anger could kill us though.... Mom said that Dad got so angry she was afraid he might kill her. And, I've seen it, he's just...it is so scary."
This is at the root of anger for me. Learned that anger was connected with violence, resulting in pain and fear for all those around even if it made the one expressing anger feel "better" (although I know now that it actually didn't make my father feel better to express it that way)

Teaching my inner child that anger isn't synonymous with bringing more pain to the world seems to be the crux of it, somehow showing her that it can actually be a force for good, alchemized to form something that actually is quite beautiful and empowering. (I definitely resonate with that resulting feeling of empowerment)

Just found this quote from Ghandi...
“I have learned through bitter experience the one supreme lesson: to conserve my anger. As heat conserved is transmuted into energy, even so our anger controlled can be transmuted into a power which can move the world.”
 
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