Day 5 Journaling

Did the day 5 but finding it very difficult to do the journaling. Day 5 asks to pick an event from the list created on day 3 and write about it for 15-20 minutes. Even though I tried 2 different subjects, all I manage was a few minutes of writing for each. How important is the journaling, can one do the SEP without putting too much emphasis on the journaling or even not doing it at all ( yes, I am that bad when it comes to writing)

 

Hi again, Arnie. You probably had no repressed emotions for the list on Day 3. I suggest you just make a list of things from the past, present, and future worries and journal about them. I consider journaling to have been perhaps the best thing I did in TMS healing. It led me to discover emotions I had been repressing since I was a boy. You don't have to be a good writer. Just write whatever comes to mind. Forget grammar, punctuation.

 

Thanks Walt, I'll try.

 

Arnie,

Journaling is just a tool. You don't have to do it and lots of people recover simply by challenging their symptoms but it helps to understand why we journal.

Here are a couple of links from the archive:

http://www.tmswiki.org/forum/threads/stress-headaches.13092/ (Stress headaches)

Don't let the title throw you. Scroll through the thread to the place where I answer the question 'why do we journal?' posed by @Ines . I'm on my phone so I can't hyperlink to it directly.

http://www.tmswiki.org/forum/threads/right-or-wrong-way-to-journal.12780/#post-67328 (Right or wrong way to journal?)

This thread offers thoughts on how to journal.

Hope this helps.

 

Hi Arnie,

I reckon the journaling is an important part of it, and you'll see that you do get a lot out of it. You don't have to be a good writer to be able to do it - no-one but you will be reading it anyway.

Maybe don't go looking for things you think are repressed or not. Just start writing and let each thought lead to the next one. It can almost be like a stream of consciousness. If you can get one insight out of 20 minutes of writing, then it's been a good session. Even describing everything that you remember about an event is a powerful thing - you don't realise how much you remember until you start putting it down in words.

And if you get stuck, just ask yourself things like - How did I feel at the time? How do I feel about it now? Does it remind me of other events in my life....As you write one thought down you'll think of new ones.

My problem with the writing is not so much with doing it, but I really don't want to do it. I wondered whether it's because I'm afraid of what I will uncover, but I think the real reason is I feel like it's really indulgent and I was brought up thinking self-indulgence is not a desirable characteristic.

But this is one time when self-indulgence is not only ok, it's a requirement!

All the best with your writing, just write whatever comes to mind, and write the way you'd speak. Hope this is a help.

 

Many thanks Plum,

In the "Stress headaches"thread you say;


" You don't have to journal in order to reconnect to your emotions. You can favour more body-oriented approaches"

What are the more body-oriented approaches? I would definitely like to try them.

 

Thank you, but my issue is I can not find things to write about for 20 minutes, most I could manage is 3 minutes so far !?!?

 

Bearing in mind it is your intention that kinda matters here you can pretty much use any form of exercise or movement as long as you are using it to tune into how your body feels. You need to develop your awareness in terms of sensations and your reactions to them, such as do the feelings/sensations scare you? Do they bring pleasure or relief? You see most of us do a really good job of freaking out when we actually feel the physiological stuff happening. We are more comfortable intellectualising about our emotions. This is easy to relate to if we consider panic or fear, but many of us also stuff down lovely feelings such as pleasure and excitement. Of course the whole range of emotions applies.

With body-oriented methods we seek to feel how our body feels without judgement and certainly without needing to describe it in terms of why we have those feelings (which is the challenge of journaling). Actually the body-oriented methods make more sense and have greater integrity than mind-oriented ones because it is the mind that gets us into the whole TMS mess. Once we become at greater ease with how our body feels (and looks, operates etc) and we no longer deny these feelings, TMS loses its reason for being. Emotions are short-lived and sometimes very intense but they pass quickly and leave us completely if we feel them and ideally express them, so crying, shouting, laughing and such.

The ways I have embraced this approach is mainly by swimming. Twice a week I go to the baths and swim and then I use the jacuzzi and sauna. I find there is something very soothing and emotionally healing about being in water and this sense is shared by many others. There are lots of walking-wounded there overcoming a range of challenges from car accidents through to operations and injury, and there are a handful of severely autistic kids who can be massively calmed down just by being in the pool. There is something primal about the relationship humans have to water.

Speaking of primal, sexuality is an awesome healing path. Mostly because pleasure tips the rage-to-soothe ratio in our favour but also because there is an ancient tradition devoted to channelling sexuality into health and happiness. Tantra is fabulous and it doesn't have to be esoteric and weird. I really like this audio series:

http://www.soundstrue.com/store/taoist-sexual-secrets-608.html (Taoist Sexual Secrets)

A lot of people love yoga. I favour Yin Yoga because you hold easy poses for longer periods and my body likes that. It often releases emotions and memories during practice and I gently contemplate them. Massage reigns supreme on body-oriented methods. I honestly believe a good massage once or twice a week would fix pretty much anything. Finding the right person and affording it is a challenge for most of us. Lastly there are very specific psychosomatic techniques that really do the job. Trauma Release Exercises (TRE) are incredible, can be self-taught and leave you feeling so sublimely peaceful and at one with your body and mind it is almost a religious experience. You'll find a book by David Berceli on Amazon and there are videos on YouTube. Essentially Berceli devised these techniques to help people overcome the horrific traumas of war and disaster. They are very popular with veterans and totally obviate the need for therapy. I don't do them any where near as often as I'd like because you really need some privacy and time afterwards to bask in beauty of the release, but I thank god for Berceli because TRE is amazing. Watch this:



Hope some of these ideas help. Feel free to ask more questions if you need to.

Plum x

 

Thank you for all of these great suggestions, Plum. I especially love the swimming. It is my favorite meditation method. Works like a charm and always leaves me relaxed. I will check out the video, too. I haven't heard of it, so thanks!

butterfly_queen