Take action !

According to Dr. John Sarno and peers, Journaling is a wonderful tool for discovering our greatest fears, worries, anger,....
But, in my opinion, that is just the first steep, useless without the second and definitive one.
I can write about my panic to fly. My first and unique experience was devastating.
BUT if I just write about that and think "I should not have fear of fliying" things doesn't change.
The real solution arrives when, after the acknowledgement of my fears (not easy, indeed, with my emotional issues) I TAKE ACTION: I go to the nearest airport and take a plane ... despite the "catastrofic" effect, both in my mind and my body, I foresee.
Lose fear and take action !
Lose the fear of pain .... lose the fear to rejection, isolement, failure, anxiety.... and TAKE ACTION.

 

The Proof
by John Thornton

I started my journey to recovery from chronic pain through Dr. Sarno’s books and, likely, so did you. His books are the gateway to changing the way we think about chronic pain.

They are instrumental in changing our belief about what’s causing the pain and that in itself can help stop the pain. But our experience is that, for most people, the books are not enough. If you are not getting better just from reading and positive affirmations, you are not alone. For most people the solution comes from ACTION, not just from things like in-depth, long-term psychotherapy.

After doing chronic pain coaching for almost three years and curing myself, I must say that the people who get better and stay better are the ones who not only read, but who also have a regular exercise regimen of physical activity. I know it works for me to keep the pain away. I had chronic pain for years and since reading Sarno and becoming pain free, I have NO FEAR of the pain coming back. Why? Because my exercise regimen won’t allow it.

If the premise is that psychological tension creates tense muscle tissue, then by constantly stretching that tissue I give my body no opportunity to tighten up again- no matter what psychological challenges life throws at me. Yes, I have changed my belief system as Dr. Sarno suggests, but I cannot entirely (nor can anyone) eliminate stress.

The human body has 600 groups of muscle tissue that are constantly trying to tighten up (and create pain) as a result of daily life stressors. You can’t journal it all away. It’s not possible. However, by moving and flexing as many of those 600 muscle groups as you can on a regular basis, you will not give chronic pain a chance to set up shop.

... John in Southern California... recovered from back pain a couple of years ago, but then struggled to stay better -until he instituted a regular schedule of going to the gym. According to John, “Now the pain is gone for good!” Great job John! ... the number one rule is — KEEP MOVING!

 

Dear MBO, if this physical regime works for you then it’s fine. But it doesn’t work for most of us. I had pelvic pain and I had all sorts of physical therapy, did my exercises twice a day. But if your brain and the stress commands clenching, your muscles will always be tense. My doctor told me I could do as much relaxation of the muscles and physiotherapy as I want to. If I don’t change my mental attitude, I will still be in pain.
And the same goes for back pain etc. However, I fully agree that one should be physically active. Although I don’t belief that it is necessary to go the gym three times a week. Walking, hiking, going by bike, doing a bit gymnastics or yoga at h9me, maybe playing tennis or working in the garden, all this contributes to a healthy body and a good muscle tone. Taking the stairs and not the escalator is a beginning ...