Day 37 Set a goal and met it! Also in fear of pain

I'm so happy to share that at the beginning of the program we were asked to set some goals, and one of mine was to walk about a mile into the woods to one of my favorite places with my family and today I met my goal! Just as we came upon this sweet little pond Great Blue Heron flew across the water and lit on a branch across the pond. It was a precious and reaffirming moment.

At the same time, I'm a bit nervous today. Earlier, before the walk, my knee got jammed as I slipped on some water. A sort of throbbing pain has continued throughout the day. While I was able to complete my goal and go on this beautiful walk, I've been feeling a lot of fear around re-injury.

I've been talking with my body and mind a lot today. Reaffirming that I'm okay and that my body is designed to heal. I've tried to check in with my inner child, and while she doesn't seem so interested in fear around reinjury, she does know what it is like to hide away from fear. So I'm trying to just feel the fear and know that fear comes and goes and all will be well. At least, this is the self-talk that I've been working on today.

Janine

 

Hi Janine,
I too struggle a lot with fear- it seems to be a learned pattern for me that as soon as something feels off, I become afraid. While I certainly haven't reached a point where I've actually eliminated the fears, I figured I would offer my two cents on the off chance that it could help. The key for me is to start slow. Do one thing that confronts one of your learned fears. And when it goes okay, it will give you confidence to defy the fear again. Repeat until this becomes the learned pattern rather than the learned fear you are accustomed to! While It's definitely been slow for me trying to follow my own advice, I will say that when I have it has been helpful. All the best!

 

Thank you dcl for this great advice! That is exactly it for me too-- as soon as something feels even slightly off, I launch into fear. I will take your advice and confront fear one by one and hope that I gain confidence as I move forward (quite literally). The good news is that the knee jam happened earlier in the day and then I went ahead and fulfilled my commitment and walked further than I've yet to walk. In the past after a slip up I would have stayed low, iced, and kept off my legs. I've been telling myself, "this body NEEDS to walk and move" and it is working! Thanks so much and best wishes to you.
Janine

 

Hi Janine,
Try the runningpain.com site. I have found that very helpful....

 

OOOh. This looks good! Thanks Sean!

 

Wonderful discussion here. Don't forget too Janine that "injuries" are also TMS. That is, Dr. Sarno teaches that we sometimes have injuries that cause pain, and worry, and this is another symptom of TMS. The accident serves the purpose of distraction.

 

Congrats on meeting your goal despite your slip, Janine! Glad you could enjoy the heron. They are majestic birds!