Beyond the Pain

Everytime I go to the library I wander past my favourite sections: Mysteries, Careers, and Self Help, to see what calls me.

The other day I happened to spy a new, well new to me, book by Julia Cameron. It’s called, "Walking in This World: The Practical Art of Creativity."

While floating in a hot bath to relieve the pain I started to read. Within a few words I KNEW I had to own this book!

It’s a 12-week program to get you creating: whether that’s writing, painting, sculpting, acting, whatever.

Here’s a few quotes, that inspired me, from the first chapter, "Discovering a Sense of Origin":

• Begin where you are, with who you are
• Writing really doesn’t care where you do it. The same is true for drawing.
• Instead of thinking of conquering an art form, think instead of kissing it hello, wooing it, exploring it in small enticing steps.

Does that grab you? It did me.

Grab a copy here:

A colleague recently recommended on her favourite books on dealing with pain, Dr. John Sarno’s Mindbody Prescription.

I’ve only read the 1st chapter and already my worldview has shifted. It was like Sarno had been sitting in and watching my pain therapy session for the last year.

Sarno’s approach is based on Freudian, yes! Freud, psychology. Sarno’s research suggests that much of the pain caused by repression of unconcious emotions. It seems that when we’ve been traumatized — and the more severe the trauma the greater the repression — we stifle the emotions that result. Anger, fear, shame, all those ‘negative’ emotions.

Sarno suggests we need to find ways to let the emotions out.

Therapy can do that. But, traditional Freudian psychotherapy takes way too long. In recent years though, such easy to use techniques such as EMDR, TAT, and EFT brought rapid relief to pain sufferers.

TAT and EFT can easily be learned and self used.  EMDR not so much so.

But, what else can you do?

Express yourself! Any way you want. Get it out.

I use writing. I write in my journal every day. I post in one of my Blogs almost every day. I participate in several online Lists.

What’s your form of expression?

Use it or you’ll regret it.