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The System

Sofa, according to my personal understanding of and strong belief in the TMS mechanism (and notice that I am in 100% agreement with @Caulfield about the fact that it's not a condition or illness) your brain is doing a FANTASTIC job of distracting you from your repressed emotions. Ironically, it's doing this as you spend your time and energy hoping to design a designated series of distractions so that you can enter a rigid "system" that will keep you from ever having to access real emotions.

It occurs to me this is actually a pretty good description of many religions.
 
JanAtheCPA said:
... your brain is doing a FANTASTIC job of distracting you from your repressed emotions
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Jan, thanks and that is the reason I'm trying to think outside the box on this one. TMS is a tricky beast, and the root of it resides deep, deep within our unconscious brain. Finding the key to unlock the info is much easier said than done, hence my interests in this area.
 
You've got the basic concept there, but I think your brain led you in the opposite direction, which is absolutely classic. I am constantly amazed, even after seven years doing this work, at how STRONG the negative pull is, at how my brain still constantly tricks me into going negative, and how easily I fall into the Distraction hole.

It's kind of a constant battle, fighting the negativity and the desire to simply be distracted. Taking the upper hand requires a lot of will power, and I certainly do not always win.

Check out the SEP. The good news is that it provides some of the structure that we perfectionists crave!
 
Hi @Sofa. I was thinking that you might find the success stories/methods used by ACE1 and johnaccardi interesting (if you're open to the idea of using affirmations and visualizations to reach and possibly reprogram the brain); their stories can be found here http://tmshelp.com/forum/forum.asp?FORUM_ID=4 (TMSHelp Forum - Success Stories). I'm using these techniques (and reading the books that ACE1 and johnaccardi recommend) and I'm noticing some (as yet only) small (but I think important) changes for the better in my symptoms. (I'm afraid I haven't come up with any novel ideas re your idea of using flash cards, but affirmations can be put on cards.)
 
Hi @BloodMoon
Thanks for those links! I will check them out. You got my attention when you said "...possibly reprogram the brain"!!
Hope you are doing well.
El Sofa
 
Sofa said:
You got my attention when you said "...possibly reprogram the brain"!!
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This then might also interest you (if you haven't seen it before) - an article entitled 'Training the brain to beat pain' https://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/health-science/training-the-brain-to-beat-pain/news-story/45ad7b7daaaf3c4bbbab6c76b0190ac7 (Nocookies). The doctor featured in the article has a website http://neuroplastix.com (Home | Neuroplastix) (but I'd read the article first as it gives a good overview).
 
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How about this? The other TMS. ;) I can't link to it, it's a Kindle book, so I'm posting a screenshot. The book is The Science of Enlightenment by Shinzen Young.



upload_2018-9-30_14-23-12.png
 
@BloodMoon , Very interesting article, and yes it does seem applicable. Has it been working for you yet? I realize it may take some time. If you have good results I may give this a shot. Where can we find images of the two brains mentioned? Thanks again!!
 
Sofa said:
@BloodMoon , Very interesting article, and yes it does seem applicable. Has it been working for you yet? I realize it may take some time. If you have good results I may give this a shot. Where can we find images of the two brains mentioned? Thanks again!!
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That article - which I'm a huge fan of and post quite often myself - is referring to neuroplasticity. It's the mechanism behind things like meditation. It's a very natural part of the mind-body connection. It can also help us learn how to better balance our emotions. It's not really a "hack." I recommend viewing this as an opportunity to get in touch with yourself, relax your nervous system, and feel confident, as opposed to viewing it as a potential system that needs to be built to "trick" your brain. It's all nature. :)
 
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Sofa said:
@BloodMoon , Very interesting article, and yes it does seem applicable. Has it been working for you yet? I realize it may take some time. If you have good results I may give this a shot. Where can we find images of the two brains mentioned? Thanks again!!
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Here are the images:

The brain in chronic pain - http://www.neuroplastix.com/styled-4/styled-4/persistentpain.html (Persistent Pain | Neuroplastix)

The brain free of pain - http://www.neuroplastix.com/styled-4/styled-4/nopain.html (No Pain | Neuroplastix)

I did this method for maybe two weeks and had a little bit of progress from it, but have since given it up to just go on living a normal life. That said, in his manual (which I bought), there are a lot of testimonials from people who say that it has worked wonders for them (like the woman in the article). So, it's another tool to try out!
 
Sofa said:
[COLOR=#000000]Where can we find images of the two brains mentioned? [/COLOR]
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Go to the neuroplastix website - [URL='http://neuroplastix.com/'][U]http://neuroplastix.com[/U][/URL] - and click on 'graphics' on the right hand side and then you can click on 'Acute pain', 'Persistent pain' and 'No pain' to see the three brain images. (I decided not to buy the neuroplastix book as I saw a review on amazon that said that most of its contents were already on the website.)
[QUOTE="Sofa, post: 103071, member: 8328"]Has it been working for you yet? I realize it may take some time. If you have good results I may give this a shot.[/QUOTE]
I tried the neuroplastix brain visualizations before I ever joined this forum. I found doing them extremely tedious, so I've been looking for a more 'interesting' way of trying to retrain my brain using its neuroplasticity, a way that I might be able to actually stick to.

Dr Moskowitz said that it doesn't really matter what you visualize, so sometimes I do still use the brain pain maps to focus on when my pain spikes (I don't stare at the brain pain maps, I just mentally picture them as I've memorised where the 'hot spots' are that need 'extinguishing') but mostly I'm doing visualizations throughout the day where I picture and 'feel' my body working properly, moving fluidly and being pain free.

Dr Moskowitz has also said that he found that purely visualizing the brain pain maps didn't work for all of his clients and other additional tactics had to be employed for them to get pain free, e.g. self-soothing techniques. So I decided that I wouldn't spend months just visualizing the brain pain maps in case I was one of those people. I'm therefore also using self-soothing techniques, e.g. yoga nidra, which I find is extremely calming and meditative plus I also do qigong - I do both things daily.

The other thing I'm doing - which I believe is very important for me - is following both ACE1's tip (his success story can be found here [URL='http://tmshelp.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=7664']http://tmshelp.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=7664 (TMSHelp Forum - Recovery story with keys to recovery at the end)[/URL]) and Monte Heuftle's advice to regularly (throughout the day) 'check in' with myself and ask: 'how am I being, right now?'...And 9 times out of 10 I find that I am tensed up and/or thinking unhelpful thoughts...I then stop those unhelpful thoughts from escalating by mentally labelling them as 'thinking' and then I say and repeat affirmations to myself that are the complete opposite of how tensed up I am, e.g. 'I am peaceful, calm, relaxed, patient and confident'. I'm seeing it starting to work but, as you already recognise, it's liable to be a long process to see consistent, positive results.
 
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Thanks for the links to the brain images, and also reminding me about the ACE1 tip (which I still haven't checked but I will).
Regarding checking in with yourself and noticing the tenseness and unhelpful thoughts... Same here.

Bloodmoon, I've been thinking about how to possibly turn negative emotions into positive ones of equal intensity! If we can recognize a negative thought as it occurs, there HAS to be a way to convert it into a positive! It would be like the mental version of aikido (re-directing the opponents attack and using it to your own advantage).

It would be like a double bonus for our brains. Negative emotions make me tense and worryfull (not a word). So we could just tamp down those negative emotions - OR convert them into equally powerful positive ones. Is there such a way to do this? Perhaps it could involve magnets, like Rosebud was saying above, or maybe there would be an easier way. Could this be part of The System? Perhaps this strategy already exists. I'd like to employ it, but I'm not sure exactly how to go about doing that.
 
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The 'name it to tame it' technique has apparently been shown to counteract negative thoughts (after they have started happening); there is supposed to be some research (that I haven't tracked down) that shows that the brain releases a squirt of soothing neurotransmitters when the technique is used. It's explained somewhat in this article https://mrsmindfulness.com/the-four-keys-to-overcoming-negative-thinkingfor-good/ under the heading 'Getting unstuck: the 'name it to tame it technique' (and in the Youtube video that the article gives a link to).

I like people like you who endeavour to think 'out of the box'. I enjoy researching stuff on the Internet and will ponder this some more and read your postings with interest but, to be honest, sadly, I think it's beyond my capabilities to figure out if it's possible - and if so how - to develop a 'mental version of aikido' (or such like) technique.
 
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Mental aikido. The System. I have developed a two part system by which we can set our minds free.
They must be undertaken simultaneously, overlayed. Initial duration is only three days at which point a break becomes necessary due to the intensity. During the initial three day phase, system compliance needs to be 100 percent.
1) Conduct yourself as if watching yourself from above or on screen. You must detatch from your own brain and allow YOURSELF to control the action. This component of the system is the reprogramming phase.
2) Respond to emotions, thoughts, and worries. During these three days there can be no procrastination. Literally none. Whatever you think 'the person' should do, have them do it. Remember, YOU will be in full control for once.
3) This third step is optional but I think it has value. It is NOT optional actually. Get everything completely organized and clean. This way you can start fresh.
4) When you emerge, note the differences. At this point you can remove the red bracelet.
 
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