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art
1903 Posts |
 Posted - 05/23/2013 : 06:54:51
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Faith (the opposite of doubt) can’t really be forced. I know in my own case...when I have a new and different pain, or a severe return of an old one. I can’t force myself to be convinced that it’s TMS. That solid confidence that something’s TMS comes when it comes. Sometimes it comes almost immediately. Other times it takes considerably longer. I think it’s TMS, I’m pretty sure it’s TMS, I’m almost positive it’s TMS. But that little sliver of doubt can linger.
I very much want to have faith of course, because I know that’s the cure. But I can only encourage faith by looking at the evidence over and over again and thinking about it in the context of what I know about TMS and what I know about myself.. A corny analogy would be planting a flower. You prepare the soil, you put the seed in, you water it. You make it possible for the flower to grow by doing all the right and necessary things, but you can’t force it to grow. Ultimately.It’s up to the flower.
But what I am able to do instead of trying to force a strong faith is ignore the symptom. When you think about it, that comes to just about the same thing. The bottom line isn’t faith, it’s the lack of fear and worry that’s a direct consequence of faith. This isn’t exactly the same thing as pretending the pain's not there, it’s just refusing to attach importance to it. If you do this consistently enough, worry and fear will automatically (and quickly) reduce, pain will reduce, and aha! here comes the faith...
For those having difficulty believing your symptoms are TMS, ignoring those symptoms to the extent possible is a very effective substitute.Is it easy? No of course not. But unlike trying to force faith, this *can* be done by force of will in my experience. It’s a crucial difference in my opinion, and in the end comes to the same thing... |
Edited by - art on 05/24/2013 05:05:29 |
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balto
839 Posts |
Posted - 05/23/2013 : 07:50:41
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Who said you can't force plant to grow faster? http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/may/17/exploding-watermelons-chinese-farming 
Always love your writing Art, it always make more sense to me than reading my own writings.
Practice is very important to me to over come my fear of symptoms. In the past I just keep telling myself to tough it out. Unless the symptoms call for an emergency respond (like heart attack) I would just endure the pain, tell myself I'm going to choose to stop FEAR, choose to believe that there is nothing wrong with my body, and scan my life for sign of stress that I can work on getting rid of.
Taking chances is difficult but once I make that choice, I always ended up in a much better state of mind and body.
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No, I don't know everything. I'm just here to share my experience. |
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art
1903 Posts |
Posted - 05/23/2013 : 08:12:43
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Thanks Balto. Always enjoy your insights.
Of course, things get more difficult as pain level increases, but it’s been my experience that TMS pain automatically lessens to the extent we detach from it. Sarno fans can point to the distraction theory...that is the pain lessens because it’s no longer functioning effectively as a distraction. Stress model people can talk about that.
Of course we’re all different. And even for the individual, each TMS episode can be very different. The key in my opinion is diligence.
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Edited by - art on 05/23/2013 08:25:05 |
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plum
United Kingdom
641 Posts |
Posted - 05/23/2013 : 16:30:16
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Ok. I'm attempting to recall my lost words because I find this post so valuable.
Fear is a terrible cage.
Yet here you are, sweet art, describing a pathway to release. A path of perceptual stepping stones;
I think it's TMS, I'm pretty sure it's TMS, I'm almost positive it's TMS.
I'm sure we all know this well. It feels so real and I doubt the possibilities of freedom.
I am reminded of an emotional/mental tool an old teacher called 'neckering'. Clearly it is based on the visual illusion familiar to all, the necker cube, where the image oscillates back and forth. Neckering was simply a perceptual to and fro, from fear to faith, with a flip of the mind. It could be a parlour game or a life-changing realisation.
I heed your words. |
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plum
United Kingdom
641 Posts |
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dgreen97
122 Posts |
Posted - 05/25/2013 : 21:21:40
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thanks art great post. i hope this thread starts up a lot of conversation on dealing with the fear and doubt associated with mindbody pain. thats really it that you can't just ignore pain. i like many of you i know have had people tell you "oh just ignore the pain and it it will go away" well you can't just "ignore" pain and you're not supposed to. obviously its trying to tell you something so listen.
ive seen this multiple times now and its talked about not just in TMS circles but on anxietycentre.com and other great anxiety sources. Attaching fear to the pain, symptom, whatever you have, is going to perpetuate it. alan gordon calls this outcome independence. it doesn't matter if you have the pain or not what does matter is that you dont care. once you remove that fear of the pain you aren't acitvating the stress response in your body anymore and that fear-pain-fear cycle is going to stop. sounds easy in text but put into practice and im the living example of how hard it is. i've been trying to do this for a long time now and its a struggle but gotta keep pushing forward. |
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faith (that it's TMS) and faith substitutes
