The Mind/Body Prescription

I am in my early 30's and my acupuncturist was puzzled as to why I was struggling with sciatica and nerve pain in my arms. She encouraged me to begin taking omega-3 and tumeric supplements, change my diet, take stretch breaks at work, etc. She finally had me get blood work done because she was so concerned that I had some potential health issue that I was unaware of. Well, the blood work proved that I was quite healthy and balanced. So, needless to say, she was still confused as to why I was continuing to have pain day in and day out. I finally found this book by accident on Amazon and found that it really works. I read it in about two days and just started journaling when I was angry since he discusses how our pain is linked to repressed anger that our subconscious wants to release. So, I just continued to do it...in the morning before going to work, during work when no one was around for a few minutes, when I got home after work, etc. I just became very aware of my thinking when I was in pain and I started to also not give my pain as much attention as I previously did since it was "a harmless condition" for the most part. Over time, along with doing some other things, I found that my pain started to diminish. I then started to notice that the minute I got really stressed, or my boss was acting like a total jerk, etc. I would all of a sudden be in a ton of pain. I then realized that Dr. Sarno had a point - it really is connected to what is going on in our lives and what we can and cannot control. I can't say that the pain 100% gone, but I can say that it has diminished greatly (perhaps by 90%) and gives me hope that I can actually heal myself if I put my mind to it. I am pain free almost daily which is so incredibly nice. Along with reading his book, I also did the following: - gave up gluten - gave up dairy (except for 1/8 cup of yogurt in daily veggie/fruit smoothie) - started to limit refined sugar (I am not perfect on this one, but working on it!) - started and continued to take omega 3, ginger root and tumeric supplements - used (and still use almost daily!) the Rumber Roller to help loosen my IT band so it doesn't pull on my hip - took Rhus Tox and Arnica homeopathic pellets - started taking glucosamine with chondroitin daily - became conscious of my computer set up and my computer use - started getting into EFT (emotional freedom technique) from youtube videos Thanks Dr. Sarno!

If you suffer lower back pain read this book before all the rest!

amazing way ahead of its time

I bought this book on the strength of the reviews and also comments on other books where people said this one is better. I've had some ongoing aches and pains for years now. I've managed to get rid of the lower back pain I was having and some constant neck muscle stiffness. However, in the last few years I've been getting wrist and forearm pains, mainly on my right side. Another nerve pain has been at the top of my hip when I do a slow Tai Chi kick at the top of the movement. After reading the reviews I knew I was going to buy a book about the pain coming from psychosomatic influences from my unconscious mind. Lets face it, its a big leap to believe its not physical but a psychological issue. But having done Tai Chi for many years I do believe the power of the mind is tremendous. The idea in a nutshell is the unconscious mind is shielding us from inner rage. Its in so deep we might not know its even there. The rage can develop from other emotions like guild, frustration all sorts of things. Also its not always obvious. Like being a parent or a partner where you are expected to now be fully responsible for someone else. Sarno tells us about the different parts of the mind: the child, adult and parent. The unconscious mind is the child who wants things their own way. Its all about me. With an idea like this one needs to present your case. Sarno goes to show that some discs that look out of place don't actually contain the nerves to cause the pain we are experiencing. In some cases pain can shift from one leg to the next. There is plenty of case history and facts in this book around this area to highlight the possibility that own brain is distracting us with pain in the body. The distraction is to prevent us looking at the rage. Apparently, the unconscious mind totally hates rage and does its best to hide it from us. I like to think of this process as a highly intelligent computer that is still a child but is a genius. It knows internally we've a slightly protruding disc in the back so it creates some pain locally. This might sound far-fetched until you hear about xrays done to several peoples back who's discs are fussed, out of alignment and yet the owner doesn't have a single back problem! People come to Sarno who've had operations on their back and still suffer pain. Once they understand that its a covering technique by the unconscious mind, eventually their pain completely clears up with no physio or anything. This brings me to the most important part of the process. Without the acceptance that the brain is doing this, its impossible to work. The brain has fooled you, you've bought into it and you're screwed. However, if you're desperate, or open-minded or both, this makes a lot of sense. As I've only really just finished the book I can't speak of miracle cures. However, I intend to try my best to re-educate myself about my pains. The key is to accept its not physical but a covering. The unconscious mind has the ability to control blood flow to the body. So a reduction in blood flow causes the pain and weakness. About 20 years ago I was in a Kung Fu/Tai Chi competition. I was practicing this complicated move with a long spear that involved this scissor jump over it. For the fist time in my life my lower back completely pulled so I was crippled. However, I decided to carry on and skip that movement, do all the Tai Chi forms, which included a complicated spinning kick. So I remembered this whole incident yesterday and it got me thinking that the pressure of the competition caused my brain to give me a back problem so I didn't have to do any complicated manoeuvres. One final thing. Reprogramming your mind like this takes a lot of weeks. You have to commit to the idea its your mind causing the pain. If you are in doubt then its not going to work. One technique suggested by a reader is to re-read the book over and over. I thought this was a good idea. Most books about changing habits say it takes at least 30 days to ingrain a new habit.

Too Freudian