Steve Ozanich
TMS Consultant
The body matters.
For some purpose beyond our understanding we have a body. So, a goal should be to unite our bodies with our “mind.” We will never see Mind in this life. In many ways TMS healing should be called “brainbody healing” and not mindbody healing. No matter how you view it our goal is peace and harmony; the uniting of the divided mind—absent of most conflict.
But as we know separation begins at birth, and through succeeding events, producing trauma, and attunement problems begin. This lack of attunement is the force that disrupts the autonomic nervous system, and creates emotional imbalance, which in turn creates symptoms in TMS. So the goal is finding balance again and ultimate peace. This comes from uniting mind and body, by getting them to work together with little emotional disruption. The soothing of the wounded spirit.
The TMSer is borderline OCD in that obsession rules the day. The obsessing is a means they have chosen as a defense mechanism against further heartache, and for reducing fear. Obsession is a survival tool. It allows for thinking to dominate over feeling. If we “think” then we can’t be trapped by our emotions in which we feel we have no control. In Carl Jung’s words, “nothing inhibits feeling like thinking.” So people who have been overwhelmed in life, by early separation anxiety often go into permanent think-mode in order to never have to feel emotions again (Rainman-like). They then enter a life-pattern of living in their heads as alexithymic robots. They end up procrastinating, never realizing goals and dreams, suffering pain, and forgetting about their body as part of life’s equation. They forget how much the body does matter.
As anyone who has read The Great Pain Deception knows, golf saved my life, not once, but twice. I saw an interview on The Golf Channel where comedian George Lopez interviewed golfing legend Lee Trevino. In that interview Lopez stated, “golf saved my life”—and he began to cry. You could see that it affected Trevino also, and he appeared to get emotional and said, “I know what you mean, it saved my life too.” There is a great peace when you are using your body as a means to an end, and not as a house for worry. AND—when you shift awareness from body to activity.
What I mean by a secondary transparent act, is any act, where you’re using your body and allowing for your brain or mind to daydream, or become secondary to the act itself. The act must also have no goal or ego is involved and emotions are still in play. The act itself should need no forethought to perform it, but should be done for ritual-sake only. When I say “golf” in my example, I mean just hitting golf balls, not golfing where there is a goal.
These acts could include walking, hitting golf or tennis Tom-balls, playing a musical instrument, crocheting, sewing, jogging, juggling, juggling while jogging, and thousands of other possibilities. Some have asked me if I wanted them to become OCD? No—OCD is used to reduce fear. SMT is used to get the body involved without the need to prove anything or to hide anything. Just in the moment.
I would guess that about 60% of the people who have contacted me over the past decade have been marathon runners or some form of 5K-10K runners. They are clearly discharging freeze responses. This isn’t quite what I mean by “secondary” OR “transparent.” These people still have goals in their heads driving them to succeed, to win, to be better, to experience that praise at the end of the test. So this type of act is not secondary, it’s still primary.
The best example of an SMT is the Chinese Baoding balls that supposedly stimulate meridian points to aid in energy flow and in healing. Once the person is engaged in the SMT their conscious brain drops out, somewhat, and their unconscious takes over. This reduces thought chatter and conflict, allowing for emotions and thoughts to appear, but not necessarily be disruptive. So the SMT is a form of active meditation, but the body is now involved because the body matters. True meditation also attempts to unite mind and body. But SMT brings “movement” into the equation.
Life answers may suddenly appear while performing these transparent acts, if you allow for it. So it’s important to be safe and not walking out in front of cars daydreaming.
Tai Chi has been used for such purposes in uniting mind and body in mindfulness acts. The idea is to just “be” in the moment, no mental chatter, without goals. The end result will be inner peace and ANS attunement. It won’t solve your life problems but you won’t care about them for a short time, and that’s enough.
Steve
For some purpose beyond our understanding we have a body. So, a goal should be to unite our bodies with our “mind.” We will never see Mind in this life. In many ways TMS healing should be called “brainbody healing” and not mindbody healing. No matter how you view it our goal is peace and harmony; the uniting of the divided mind—absent of most conflict.
But as we know separation begins at birth, and through succeeding events, producing trauma, and attunement problems begin. This lack of attunement is the force that disrupts the autonomic nervous system, and creates emotional imbalance, which in turn creates symptoms in TMS. So the goal is finding balance again and ultimate peace. This comes from uniting mind and body, by getting them to work together with little emotional disruption. The soothing of the wounded spirit.
The TMSer is borderline OCD in that obsession rules the day. The obsessing is a means they have chosen as a defense mechanism against further heartache, and for reducing fear. Obsession is a survival tool. It allows for thinking to dominate over feeling. If we “think” then we can’t be trapped by our emotions in which we feel we have no control. In Carl Jung’s words, “nothing inhibits feeling like thinking.” So people who have been overwhelmed in life, by early separation anxiety often go into permanent think-mode in order to never have to feel emotions again (Rainman-like). They then enter a life-pattern of living in their heads as alexithymic robots. They end up procrastinating, never realizing goals and dreams, suffering pain, and forgetting about their body as part of life’s equation. They forget how much the body does matter.
As anyone who has read The Great Pain Deception knows, golf saved my life, not once, but twice. I saw an interview on The Golf Channel where comedian George Lopez interviewed golfing legend Lee Trevino. In that interview Lopez stated, “golf saved my life”—and he began to cry. You could see that it affected Trevino also, and he appeared to get emotional and said, “I know what you mean, it saved my life too.” There is a great peace when you are using your body as a means to an end, and not as a house for worry. AND—when you shift awareness from body to activity.
What I mean by a secondary transparent act, is any act, where you’re using your body and allowing for your brain or mind to daydream, or become secondary to the act itself. The act must also have no goal or ego is involved and emotions are still in play. The act itself should need no forethought to perform it, but should be done for ritual-sake only. When I say “golf” in my example, I mean just hitting golf balls, not golfing where there is a goal.
These acts could include walking, hitting golf or tennis Tom-balls, playing a musical instrument, crocheting, sewing, jogging, juggling, juggling while jogging, and thousands of other possibilities. Some have asked me if I wanted them to become OCD? No—OCD is used to reduce fear. SMT is used to get the body involved without the need to prove anything or to hide anything. Just in the moment.
I would guess that about 60% of the people who have contacted me over the past decade have been marathon runners or some form of 5K-10K runners. They are clearly discharging freeze responses. This isn’t quite what I mean by “secondary” OR “transparent.” These people still have goals in their heads driving them to succeed, to win, to be better, to experience that praise at the end of the test. So this type of act is not secondary, it’s still primary.
The best example of an SMT is the Chinese Baoding balls that supposedly stimulate meridian points to aid in energy flow and in healing. Once the person is engaged in the SMT their conscious brain drops out, somewhat, and their unconscious takes over. This reduces thought chatter and conflict, allowing for emotions and thoughts to appear, but not necessarily be disruptive. So the SMT is a form of active meditation, but the body is now involved because the body matters. True meditation also attempts to unite mind and body. But SMT brings “movement” into the equation.
Life answers may suddenly appear while performing these transparent acts, if you allow for it. So it’s important to be safe and not walking out in front of cars daydreaming.
Tai Chi has been used for such purposes in uniting mind and body in mindfulness acts. The idea is to just “be” in the moment, no mental chatter, without goals. The end result will be inner peace and ANS attunement. It won’t solve your life problems but you won’t care about them for a short time, and that’s enough.
Steve
