Under Pressure

[Forest]

When you put pressure on yourself, it carries the underlying message of, ‘You have to do this or else...’ You may not be saying these words, but that’s how our primitive minds interpret this pressure.

Your primitive brain and your conscious, developed brain, do not think along the same lines. Your conscious, developed brain understands logic and complex situations. It can understand multiple sides of arguments. When you push yourself to recover, it understand that a little pressure today, will lead to being pain free tomorrow. This is a trade off we can understand consciously.

But your primitive brain cannot. It does not fully understand logic, nor can it understand multiple needs. It’s interpretation of pressure, especially self-imposed pressure, is that if we don’t do this, something terrible will happen. Pressure triggers a survival response and leads to a state of hyperarousal and activation. This is why your symptoms get worse, the harder you try to recover. The more pressure you put on yourself, the more you are sending your primitive brain into survival mode.

Instead, learn to to a more patient and soothing approach. Remember, you do not have a physical problem. Your symptoms are benign, so your goal is not to fix your back or reduce your pain level. Your goal is learn to be more attuned with your emotional state and become more accepting of your emotions. Instead of journaling and doing daily activities, find small ways to bring joy and relaxation back into your life. Go for a walk, spend a day at the beach. Do whatever brings pure joy and bliss to your life. That is how you reduce the pressure.

 

[BruceMC]

But your primitive brain cannot. It does not fully understand logic, nor can it understand multiple needs. It’s interpretation of pressure, especially self-imposed pressure, is that if we don’t do this, something terrible will happen.

Oh, you mean the kind of dysfunctional logic that leads the primitive brain to think that "if I don't finish my dissertation and get my Ph.D., then I'll be a totally unworthy person and the whole world will come crashing down around me and fall into complete chaos"? Obviously, to la pensée sauvage, the only answer is self-annihilation! Yes, that kind of primitive black and white, be or not to be thinking is characteristic of the dark passages inhabited by the child-mind.

Time to wake up and take a brisk walk outdoors! But it is important to recognize that there is a part of your mind that still thinks in simplistic categories that developed during childhood and adolescence that aren't necessarily in sync with the way things are now.