Just finished my first week of SEP

Hi everyone,

I'm new to this forum, but have been doing a lot or reading. I have had sciatica for 3 yrs now and hoping to fix it by using the tools on this site and outside of it.

I have just finished my first week of the Structured Educational Program. I really like the content and how easy it is to follow. Thank you to those who put in the effort to make it happen. I have not felt any change in my condition and wasn't expecting it to in just a few days. I know how stubborn my mind is and I know its a journey and will take time. I'm happy to put in the effort required.

The pain actually has intensified a bit. I was able to sleep with slightly less pain a few days ago, just before I started the program. But now in the last 2-3 days it has been a bit difficult. I wake up a lot during sleep to change positions, but it doesn't help.

I need to stop thinking about the pain all the time. Which is hard especially when it is always around.

Looking fwd to the weekend now. Its Fri night out here Down Under in Sydney and my partner has just finished making a quiche

Thanks for taking out the time to read my post.

Cheers

 

Hi, Shori. Welcome to the TMS healing community. You have the right attitude for healing. The SEP is wonderful. I found the most helpful thing in it to be the journaling. Look into present stressors... they probably are coming from the past and may "trigger" those past emotions. You need to discover them, then tell your subconscious what they are. Dr. Sarno says you don't need to solve any past or present emotional stressor(s). Just tell your subconscious what they are. It may take a while before that gets through to your subconscious, so be patient and positive. Try to keep active and enjoy each day. I'm glad you have a partner who cooks!

 

Thanks for the guidance Walt, much appreciated.

It's early days in my journaling. I hope in time I'm able to identify the 'past emotions' that are the cause for present stressors. As part of SEP I have listed the past experiences/ events that I believe could be causing the current stress and therefore the chronic pain. Just not sure which one/s could that be. May be its something thats not on the list yet and as I journal may come to light eventually...

 

I'm confident that as you keep journaling you will discover the prepressed emotions causing your pain.
Journaling lead me to discover mine and my severe back pain went away.

I also find it very helpful to live in the present moment. It helps me not to worry about anything bad that may come up in the future.

Your dog is beautiful. Have fun with him or her. If you can, take it for a nice walk.

 

Thanks Walt. I'm also reading The power of Now. Although, I must admit that I keep forgetting to live in the moment I guess it'll come with practice.

I just posted about my Day 10 SEP experience. Seems like I might be onto something.

The dog in the pic belongs to someone else. I love dogs and grew up with them. Since I was born there was never a time my parents didn't have one. My partner and I would love one or two (Boxer and a Malamute), but not possible in an apartment. May be one day soon. Dogs are the best....

Cheers

 

Hey mate, welcome from a fellow Sydney-sider!

Now I've got someone to talk about the weather with ;-)

All the best with your journey through the SEP. I'm just about to finish mine. It's normal for the pain to get worse, in fact it's a good sign. Even better if it's moved to new parts of the body, it means your subconscious knows it's on notice.

As for not thinking about pain, a good step in the right direction is not caring about it. I'm still working on this but I think I'm getting there. Best of luck!

 

Thanks mate. Good to see another Sydney sider on the forum...I wonder how many of us are on here. Could always start a meet-up group and share our experiences in person...

My pain has definitely been behaving strangely. Some nights I can sleep well and other times no respite from it. A couple of day ago as I was about to put on my motorbike helmet I felt like I pulled something in the back of my neck and had pain turning it from side to side for 2 days. Can still slightly feel it...but its almost gone. Possibly TMS...I don't know.

Hope you enjoyed the weekend. The weather has been great lately...