Day 16 Something I don't do enough of

i still have days when I wake up tense from muscle pain and tension. If I had a disturbing dream then it takes a while to calm down.

For a while I was waking up with lower back pain radiating up to the middle. Sometimes dull other times very sharp. A year ago while in the midst of having health anxiety I thought it was something worse than muscle tension. I had a thorough check up and nothing showed up.

For the last two weeks I have been having this pain. It occurred to me that if you don't have TMS then it's logical to assume it's something related to the area. For example if you have lower back pain perhaps it's related to straining to lift or over reaching etc. If one has TMS, then I think we have to be careful of making assumptions about pain and location. I now catch myself realizing that the location of the pain is rather arbitrary, in an hour it might shift to another location. If I spend all day monitoring the shifts then what have I gained besides bewilderment?

So as I layed in bed with pain coming and going I imagined the hands of a warm person giving me a hug or a massage or even a big comfy blanket over me. I was already under a blanket, which is funny. Immediately I noticed a decrease in pain. It didn't just work once, it worked every time.

I did some reading on the benefit of human touch. Info saying its benefits include regulating mood, shifting the nervous system and increase in dopamine and seratonin. I felt it just by imagining. The real thing must be so much better. So I decided to make an appointment for a massage. When was the last time I ever had a massage? Probably a year ago. When was the last time I have been hugged or touched? I can't remember.

I think if you have a partner, wife, husband or loved one, touch is an important component for decreasing arousal of the nervous system and pain relief. If I remember correctly Dr. Peter Levine, an expert in somatic therapy, has a video on hugging oneself even. This amazes me. We need each other in many capacities, yet because of our lives or situations of pain we may have overlooked this essential component, I know I did.

Happy healing