Day 1 Thinking and Thankful

I've been working on my TMS for about a month and a half, and am practically pain free. It was my SI joint giving me trouble, and I was having to lie down on the floor multiple times a day to pop/relieve it. (I own a cleaning business and still do a lot of cleaning myself in it, so am always doing physical work.) I have not been having to pop or having it hurt for about a month now. I have also been really conscious of my posture/tension level. Remembering to let my shoulder muscles relax and that they should be seated down away from my ears and back has also relieved a lot of constant tension in that shoulder muscle that was always tense. I guess where I'm at now is trying to understand new pains as they arise...is it TMS? Did I do something? For instance, I've been clipping back my bushes with hand trimmers, and my hands are killing me the last couple of days. This is not a new pain with this kind of work. I used to work for a carpenter, and one of the main reasons I quit was that holding the hand tools all day was killing me. So...is this a "trigger" or am I developing arthritis at a young age? (38) That's my struggle now. I'm thoroughly convinced that the TMS applies to some pains, just am not sure how far to take it.

 

Hi tastethesea. It's always hard to make the call of "TMS vs structural pain." Basically structural pain is usually the result of an injury, is acute, and gets better after a short time. If you're even in doubt about a new pain, by all means get it checked out.
But since you've had pain in your hands before, and you were using hand trimmers, I'd give it a could of days to resolve, then treat it as TMS.

 

Thank you!

 

Hi, tastethesea

I agree with Gigi to give the hand pain a few days and see if it goes away. Your hands were not used to long hours of bush trimming so it makes sense that you would feel some pain from that use.

Try not to do anything to give your hands more pain. I also agree that your hand pain could come from TMS, your emotions. Journaling in the SEProgram will give you a good chance to think about what might cause you to be angry, upset, or anxious. Those things can cause us to have physical pain.

Your post began with saying you feel almost pain free, except for the hand symptom. It looks to me like you have already gotten a lot of benefit from the SEProgram. I believe you will get more benefit as you continue in it.

Are you doing any meditation to relax?

Meditation is a time-honored way of relaxing the mind and relieving anxiety, mental stress, headaches, and even physical pain. There are many ways to practice meditation but I have found the most successful to be a technique called the Relaxation Response.

A TMS member who is a psychiatrist says about it: “It is so good, so well established. I taught this approach to stressed out teachers, with success! It is simple, not "spiritual," and readily available. This is important: It is the practice, and becoming a habit that is powerful.”

It is done 20 minutes once or twice a day, before a meal and works best if not practiced within two hours after a meal.

Just sit, close your eyes, don’t listen to any music, try to avoid outside noises. Let your mind think of a word such as "One " which has no real meaning or association. Say the word silently over and over. At the end of the 20 minutes, picture and feel yourself as you were when you felt your best, and in a place where you felt that way.

Follow the technique below and see how fast you calm. It is similar to Transcendental Meditation but unlike that technique which many consider to be a religion or cult, and that costs $1,000 from a trained TM coach. The Relaxation Response is not a religion or cult and costs nothing.

Here is an article about the Relaxation Response and how to practice it:

Herbert Benson, M.D. documented benefits experienced through traditional forms of Christian and Jewish prayer. Benson published his “Relaxation Response” method of stress reduction without the mysticism associated with TM. Short structured rest periods provide health benefits.
Herbert Benson, M.D.
Associate Professor of Medicine
Harvard Medical School
and founder of the
Benson-Henry Institute for Mind Body Medicine
824 Boylston St.
Chestnut Hill, MA 02467-2508
Phone: (617) 991-0102 Toll free: (866) 509-0732
MBMI@CareGroup.Harvard.edu


The following is the technique reprinted with permission from Dr. Herbert Benson's book
The Relaxation Response pages 162-163
1. Sit quietly in a comfortable position.
2. Close your eyes.
3. Deeply relax all your muscles,
beginning at your feet and progressing up to your face.
Keep them relaxed.
4. Breathe through your nose.
Become aware of your breathing.
As you breathe out, say the word, "one"*,
silently to yourself. For example,
breathe in ... out, "one",- in .. out, "one", etc.
Breathe easily and naturally.
5. Continue for 10 to 20 minutes.
You may open your eyes to check the time, but do not use an alarm.
When you finish, sit quietly for several minutes,
at first with your eyes closed and later with your eyes opened.
Do not stand up for a few minutes.
6. Do not worry about whether you are successful
in achieving a deep level of relaxation.
Maintain a passive attitude and permit relaxation to occur at its own pace.
When distracting thoughts occur,
try to ignore them by not dwelling upon them
and return to repeating "one."
With practice, the response should come with little effort.
Practice the technique once or twice daily,
but not within two hours after any meal,
since the digestive processes seem to interfere with
the elicitation of the Relaxation Response.

 

Thanks!