jokeysmurf
Well known member
It's been 6 days or so since my second big break through. Things still continue to amaze me how quickly the pain and symptoms dissolve. I had the greater part of yesterday about 6 hours where I had absolutely no symptoms or anxiety or anything. It was like being my old self again. It was great.
I think Pendulation as part of Somatic Experiencing for me was deceivingly simple yet difficult in the beginning. I wasn't really sure what to look for or that I could pick and choose shifts by first allowing myself to feel the symptom and gradually shift my focus to something else.
For me the key was to shift my focus or attention to something outside myself. If the pain or symptom persisted i would go back and forth. Some days it would reduce just a little other days it would reduce a lot. It always worked to a degree.
I stumbled upon a book by Dr. Les Femhi, called Dissolving Pain. He mentions Dr. Sarno. As it turns out he is describing Pendulation and Orientation, only he calls it Open Focus. Whatever you want to call it, for me it works tremendously. As I understand this, what you are doing is attending to your internal state, taking an outside step and just becoming and observer - this part is key so not to continue to overly attach meaning to our sensations. Also as we just observe and pendulate we "break" old neural highways of pain - we quite literally are teaching ourselves how to become calm and pain free and forming new networks, new associations and new memories. All of which come into play the next time pain or symptom come up. If done enough you will have a memory of pain which continues to be replaced be a new experience, one of less and less pain until it is essentially gone.
Happy Healing.
I think Pendulation as part of Somatic Experiencing for me was deceivingly simple yet difficult in the beginning. I wasn't really sure what to look for or that I could pick and choose shifts by first allowing myself to feel the symptom and gradually shift my focus to something else.
For me the key was to shift my focus or attention to something outside myself. If the pain or symptom persisted i would go back and forth. Some days it would reduce just a little other days it would reduce a lot. It always worked to a degree.
I stumbled upon a book by Dr. Les Femhi, called Dissolving Pain. He mentions Dr. Sarno. As it turns out he is describing Pendulation and Orientation, only he calls it Open Focus. Whatever you want to call it, for me it works tremendously. As I understand this, what you are doing is attending to your internal state, taking an outside step and just becoming and observer - this part is key so not to continue to overly attach meaning to our sensations. Also as we just observe and pendulate we "break" old neural highways of pain - we quite literally are teaching ourselves how to become calm and pain free and forming new networks, new associations and new memories. All of which come into play the next time pain or symptom come up. If done enough you will have a memory of pain which continues to be replaced be a new experience, one of less and less pain until it is essentially gone.
Happy Healing.
)