I’m standing at my desk on a Wed afternoon. I have checked Words with Friends for the 20th time already today. There are no unanswered emails or text messages. I have no more patients to see today. I have agreed to take a friend to Meditation tonight. She recently had shoulder surgery and cannot drive.
I am not going to have shoulder surgery. I am not going to have shoulder surgery. I am not going to have shoulder surgery.
I will heal this ache myself.
I have read three of Dr. John Sarno’s books on healing. I have subscribed to Curablehealth.com which is all about recognizing that many of our ailments and pains originate in our own mind. This site has many believeable professionals with stories about how our unconscious mind will generate symptoms and conditions. The treatment is learning, reading, listening to information that demonstrates how we generate the conditions in our mind. Dr. Sarno says the pain is “unconscious rage” that accumulates in our “rage reservoir” with upsets, frustrations, angers and resentments. It is not necessary to deal with the upsets. It is enough to change the narrative about how our pain from pulled muscles, strains, backs, repetitive stress, fasciitis, tendonitis and so forth are not caused by any physical swelling or derangement. The pain is caused by our own autonomic or unconscious nervous system diverting our attention from really uncomfortable emotions. If this is true, and I believe it is, then this information will drastically change how I practice my skills as a Chiropractor.
Oh my.
And my shoulder still hurts. Minimally now, down to a 2 of a 10 scale. This is after 4 months from the diagnosis of MRI visualized biceps tendon fraying. However, the shoulder pain is not consistent and does tend to “come and go”. And with the drama in my life of upsets over finance, romance and family I can tell when the uncomfortable situations develop by how bad my shoulder feels.
I still exercise a lot. And I am much more conscious of my feelings. I write and talk a lot to anyone who will listen about my “woe’s” in life. I spend a lot of time being uplifting to my patients. Like all of us, I am skilled at “putting up a good front”. Even my answering machine message is as uplifting as I can get. So my “woes” are only for those closest to me. And I use some therapists.
One of my favorite people says “When we share the bad stuff, it gets cut in half. When we share the good stuff, it becomes doubled”.
Sometimes I tell the check-out person at the grocery store about my “woes”. They always ask how I am doing and occasionally I really tell them. Cheap therapy. They are great listeners. They don’t try to fix me or change the subject or even judge me. I don’t know how they feel but I feel great after I do that.
What happens in my office is that people get touched. This professional, knowledgeable touch creates a rapport and trust that often allows people to get honest about their “woes” associated with the sore neck, back, foot or shoulder. The best I can do is to mirror the feelings or relate them to something I often feel and the pain disappears for both of us for a time. And I pay some professional attention to moving the body part. I believe this is what Physician Heal Thyself refers to. In addition to paying attention to the painful area I also pay attention to the emotions both obvious and not so obvious. Most of us put up a good front especially when we don’t feel well. When we as Doctors can relate at a complete feeling level then we both feel better.
When avoiding pain is no longer an issue then we can get into the benefits of Postural Corrections to be balanced in gravity in how we walk, sit, stand or run. This is Hellerwork at it’s best. Gravity is always a major force whether we think about or not. And Hellerwork always feels wonderful.
Keep looking up, like the video on my web site demonstrates and you will feel better no matter what is going on right now. See, my shoulder now is barely a 1 on the 10 scale.
Things are looking up today.
Dr Jim Dohn Hellerwork, DC
www.thingsarelookinguptoday.com
