“The tapestry of life is woven with the threads of body, mind and soul. If we alter any one of them, the whole tapestry is bound to be changed.”
We, the human beings are social animals; and the thing that separates us from the other animals of animal kingdom is our mind. Mind is a tool to be used in magnificent ways and make our lives beautiful. We are supposed to use it. But contrary to that, mind is controlling us and running the show.
A PROCESS CALLED TMS
Tension Myositis Syndrome, as the term suggests; stress or tension may trigger some response in the muscles of our body. It is now scientifically proven that our emotions affect our physiology i.e. our emotional state is directly linked to our physical health.
The term “Tension Myositis Syndrome” is intended to be a bridge between the emotional activity in the brain and the physical symptoms in the body. That means, our feelings, attitudes, beliefs and thoughts can positively or negatively affect our biological functioning.
There is no doubt that mind and body are connected; all we need to do is to prove it scientifically, describing how the brain creates the physical symptoms of pain, stiffness and disability and how we can alleviate them. We all have come across the word psychosomatic that means our psychology or emotions affect our Soma or physical body.
According to doctor France Alexander: “The patient is a human being with fears, hopes and despairs as an indivisible whole and not merely the bearer of organs.”
In most of cases, any human being, when having a disease, general physicians only considers physical symptoms and totally ignores the emotional state or feelings. They
treat only physical symptoms that may be due to some structural abnormality but there is also a possibility that these symptoms are showing up due to some repressed emotions such as stress, guilt, anger, anxiety, fear etc. According to latest researches, it is believed that emotional phenomenon could initiate physical disorders such as stomach ulcer, indigestion, lower limb issues and weakness.
Dr. John E. Sarno (who coined the term TMS) studied the effect of emotions on gastrointestinal tract(causing IBS) and on the respiratory system(causing asphyxiating attacks), cardiovascular system(causing hypertension) and lower limbs and joint(causing limb weakness) and muscle system(causing fibromyalgic pains).
He further believed that specific emotional states were responsible for each physical disorder.
He holds the reason for physical dis-eases to human emotions that are not approved by social norms such as anger, rage, fear, guilt, criticism, hatered to name some.
Energy affects Matter
Doctors of conventional medicine resists concept like these because they are thinking at the physical level i.e. at the level of matter and not at the level of energy. According to quantum physics, all matter is energy and our feelings and emotions are also energy. We have always put our focus on the matter (body) and most of the time we have avoided the subtler or energy part of ourselves (feelings and emotions). And we cannot heal fully unless we focus on whole (body and mind).
When feelings and emotions are stuck within us or remain unprocessed for a long time, they start showing as physical symptoms such as fibromyalgia, legs pain, weakness in lower limbs, lower back pain, gastrointestinal issues, respiratory issues, shortness of breath etc.
Hows and Whys of TMS
The researches in mindbody realm are very interesting and magnificent but there is to be more of it. We still have a black box, that mysterious domain, that prompts so many questions that how does the brain do what it does, how do we think, how emotions are created and how the brain decides to produce psychosomatic reaction and choose its location.
These questions cannot be answered through scientific studies or by testing in Laboratories; rather, they must include a metaphysical approach and a totally different way of thinking.
According to doctor Candace Pert, it is said that emotions trigger physical disorder through either The autonomic Nervous System or suppression of immune function. It is not hypothetical, it happens. How emotions affect body..
The Tale of Two minds
As explained by many scientists and doctors, MIND IS AN INVISIBLE IDENTITY and it is said that we have two minds conscious mind and subconscious mind.
Conscious mind is logical and subconscious mind is a rational and emotional. Conscious mind is controlled mind and subconscious mind is hard to tame and wild. Subconscious mind is narcissistic that feels the rage and mostly unconcerned and insensitive, fearful, dependent and having very low self esteem; also, it is savage and immoral.
Conscious mind is the place where we can think in the present moment and take the required action, whereas subconscious mind exists in past i.e. it always takes action according to past experiences (e.g. if a child falls from his bicycle, he may be afraid of riding a bike in his teenage, because the trauma of falling down and having an injury is seeped into his subconscious mind.)
Human psychology is designed in such a way that most of the time we remain on autopilot mode and work through our subconscious mind until we CHOSE to remain in present moment and take action from conscious mind. The purpose of psychogenic symptoms like pain, numbness, weakness etc. is to draw attention away from emotional phenomena (fear, guilt, shame, anger, jealousy etc.) and focus it on the body by creating pain or uneasiness or any disability.
How does the brain induce TMS
Laboratory findings project that it works by mildly restricting the flow of blood to the target tissues, that reduces the flow of oxygen to the particular organ. The result is pain or stiffness or weakness or numbness, tingling of nerves in that area. Since the patient suffering with these symptoms get some relief by massage, hot fomentation, steam bath etc. that increases the blood supply to the particular organ and hence also increases the supply of oxygen to that organ. Many researches have proved that deprivation of oxygen may be the cause of many such ailments.
Treatment for TMS
The sufferers of these physical ailments are under the impression that something is wrong with their bodies, their back or their neck, shoulder, legs or any structural defect. They go for blood test, x-rays, scans but nothing is showed up. Doctors give them clean chit. The sufferer may go into depression, thinking that if nothing is wrong in the body then why this pain or uneasiness is occurring. The only option left with them is to avoid that activity that causes pain or being extremely conscious about that activity and their life become so restricted limited.
The author is a spiritual seeker, an aspiring author is a pranic healer and a follower of yogoda satsang society of India (YSS).
Your life may be literally dominated by the pain syndromes and haunts your waking hours. It may restrict you to play safe all the time. Right knowledge about this process is the first step towards its healing and cures the pain and stiffness and weakness where mild oxygen deprivation in the muscles nerves and tendons involved in each case. Although it can produce so much deep and excruciating pain, it is harmless.
ENDNOTE
TMS or mind body concept is very vast realm to explore. If anybody wants to go deeper and heal from these bodily ailments, he/she must do inner work to bring the dark emotions (cause of these ailments) hidden in the subconscious mind into the light of consciousness. The works of Dr. John E. Sarno has helped thousands of people to heal from common but very annoying conditions such as back pain, fibromyalgia, and weakness in lower limbs, IBS and many more, without medication.
Anuradha Narang
