People who healed from reading Healing Back Pain- how did you do it?

Hi all! I'm sorry if this is kind of a stupid question. I've read Healing Back Pain and if I'm not mistaken, Sarno talks about resuming all normal physical activity despite your pain as being the most important component to healing, including exercise, getting back to work, driving, etc.

I am in so much pain right now I can't fathom doing that. I guess I just don't fully understand. If you've had success with this method, would you be willing to share a more detailed account of how you did it? Did you really just grit your teeth and go for a run in the throes of level 9 or 10 pain? Did you wait until your good days? Did you just start small and notice the pain dissipate as you progressed?

I hear these stories of people healing in 4-6 weeks by just "toughing it out" and I honestly don't understand how that happens if you're in debilitating pain.

 

You take baby steps, conquering one obstacle at a time. For me, I began with stopping lying in bed all day. Then, using the stairs. Then, sitting in chairs for lengthy periods of time. Then, very simple excercises. Then, light walking around the block. I didn't tackle running until about 6 weeks. Pick one simple activity, say chair sitting, which you have convinced yourself is not harmful now, and try conquering it. Every evening I'm going to watch tv for one hour, or something, and once you realize you can do it, your mind becomes convinced and you can move on to the next obstacle. Each little victory you achieve further persuades the mind (the unconscious) that this is all TMS and that is how the syndrome is undone. By the time I attempted running at 6 weeks post HBP, I had already eliminated pain in virtually every other activity by follwoing Sarno's treatment, and so I was 100% sure in my mind that he was right. I came home with pain screaming in my hips but I just laughed at it because at this point, such excessive pain now had the OPPOSITE effect - rather than scaring me, it's overreactive, extreme nature further confirmed TMS (running should not cause that much pain).

Sarno says near the end of The Mind-Body Prescription not to rush yourself, but be patient and try and try again. There were definitely times when I tackled a particular activity head-on, pain be damned, but I would definitely not start out that way. Start with baby steps. Using baby steps I got from bedridden to playing soccer in several months. You can read my full story at the blog link below:

https://christianvictorianliterature.com/2019/01/18/my-story-a-victorian-healing/ (My Story: A Victorian Healing)

 

I started with testing it out, what you really want to conquer is the FEAR of physical activity, not necessarily the physical activity with 0 pain. You can do physical activity, still have some pain, and you are still safe!! You need to train your subconscious to know that you are safe doing these things, EVEN if the pain comes up. I am a dancer and when I had my back pain and read the part in dr sarnos book of resuming all physical activity, I immediately went and danced, and resumed my night afterward as a normal person would do - made dinner right after, etc. instead of icing my back after dancing which I normally wouldve. I had little to no pain! that test was enough to instill the belief i needed to keep on