Northwood
Well known member
Hi, All,
First post. What I wonder about most, beyond resolving twenty years of pain, is what exactly is a "Beloved Grand Eagle"? I get this image of a cross between a Native American elder and a Shriner -- along with the impression that such a title goes with anybody who's learned a lot about how to work through a life of chronic pain. My hats off to all BGE's. In January of this years (2020) I learned about Mind-Body Syndrome through my PT. I'd never heard of it before. Since then I've read Sarno's book (when I first encountered it, I'd dismissed all those usual promises much as Alan Gordon had, as described in his Pain Recovery Program). I'm also working through Schubiner's book, Unlearn Your Pain, which I bought on the strength of his calming presence on a YouTube video. Currently, I keep cycling through Alan's program, a kind of "brain-washing" approach in the most positive sense of that term. I picture myself bathing my little brain, as if I were that brain character in the charming cartoons scattered among that program. Over the weeks, I've been reading posts, learning my around this labyrinthine site, and I finally feel ready to pitch in. I appreciate what people have to share. I see my own circumstances in every phase of this difficult journey, from depression and despair to new insights, promising outcomes, and hope. I love this theory of the Mind-Body connection, how healing the body heals the whole self. What a two-fer! Even if the pain doesn't go away all of "meta-pain" will, for sure, all of the pain-about-pain," and so I'm going to hurt less. What a bargain! I just copied and pasted ACE1's 29 pointers and am finding them helpful (which Collie, a GBE, recommends in the thread "Just Beginning Your Healing Journey." I've also found Dan Buglio, who has a very positive and thoughtful YouTube site (Pain Free You) with lots of uplifting 20 minute talks made in his wooded backyard. He provides free access to some helpful assessments. So these are my resources in the very early stages of moving into this.
I'm 61. I've dealt with intermittent low-back pain for most of my adult life, as well as some frustrating nerve pain in the ball of my right foot. Going out for a simple walk can be like carrying a bit of electric fence in my shoe. I have yet to learn how to un-obsess from all of this, change my "mindset" as Buglio puts it. To turn from all of the "structural" solutions -- and I've tried so, so many of them, and spent so much. The un-obsessing is what I have to learn. This and dealing with the intense fear of back pain. Fear and obsession. I'm still very much in the Matrix (Alan's metaphor, a great one), and it's cool to see that I have some viable options to explore. I suppose this program is something like the Blue Pill.
Anyway, SHT (in the title of my thread) means Superior Hiking Trail. This is a 300 mile backpacking trail that goes from south of Duluth, Minnesota and up along Minnesota's Saw Tooth Ridge to the Canadian Border. I intend to hike it. I'll commit to that here--foot pain and back pain, anxiety--the full "Catastrophe" (Kabat-Zinn). The trail, of course, is a metaphor for figuring all of this out. So already I'm hiking. Glad to be here. Gratitude for what everybody else has already put down. It really helps. Keep going.
First post. What I wonder about most, beyond resolving twenty years of pain, is what exactly is a "Beloved Grand Eagle"? I get this image of a cross between a Native American elder and a Shriner -- along with the impression that such a title goes with anybody who's learned a lot about how to work through a life of chronic pain. My hats off to all BGE's. In January of this years (2020) I learned about Mind-Body Syndrome through my PT. I'd never heard of it before. Since then I've read Sarno's book (when I first encountered it, I'd dismissed all those usual promises much as Alan Gordon had, as described in his Pain Recovery Program). I'm also working through Schubiner's book, Unlearn Your Pain, which I bought on the strength of his calming presence on a YouTube video. Currently, I keep cycling through Alan's program, a kind of "brain-washing" approach in the most positive sense of that term. I picture myself bathing my little brain, as if I were that brain character in the charming cartoons scattered among that program. Over the weeks, I've been reading posts, learning my around this labyrinthine site, and I finally feel ready to pitch in. I appreciate what people have to share. I see my own circumstances in every phase of this difficult journey, from depression and despair to new insights, promising outcomes, and hope. I love this theory of the Mind-Body connection, how healing the body heals the whole self. What a two-fer! Even if the pain doesn't go away all of "meta-pain" will, for sure, all of the pain-about-pain," and so I'm going to hurt less. What a bargain! I just copied and pasted ACE1's 29 pointers and am finding them helpful (which Collie, a GBE, recommends in the thread "Just Beginning Your Healing Journey." I've also found Dan Buglio, who has a very positive and thoughtful YouTube site (Pain Free You) with lots of uplifting 20 minute talks made in his wooded backyard. He provides free access to some helpful assessments. So these are my resources in the very early stages of moving into this.
I'm 61. I've dealt with intermittent low-back pain for most of my adult life, as well as some frustrating nerve pain in the ball of my right foot. Going out for a simple walk can be like carrying a bit of electric fence in my shoe. I have yet to learn how to un-obsess from all of this, change my "mindset" as Buglio puts it. To turn from all of the "structural" solutions -- and I've tried so, so many of them, and spent so much. The un-obsessing is what I have to learn. This and dealing with the intense fear of back pain. Fear and obsession. I'm still very much in the Matrix (Alan's metaphor, a great one), and it's cool to see that I have some viable options to explore. I suppose this program is something like the Blue Pill.
Anyway, SHT (in the title of my thread) means Superior Hiking Trail. This is a 300 mile backpacking trail that goes from south of Duluth, Minnesota and up along Minnesota's Saw Tooth Ridge to the Canadian Border. I intend to hike it. I'll commit to that here--foot pain and back pain, anxiety--the full "Catastrophe" (Kabat-Zinn). The trail, of course, is a metaphor for figuring all of this out. So already I'm hiking. Glad to be here. Gratitude for what everybody else has already put down. It really helps. Keep going.
I have seen you on a lot of pages responding to newbies and helping out. Kudos 
