What progess are you making?

About a dozen people have contacted me since I posted about SD as a mind-body syndrome on the NSDA support bulletin board and then started this blog. So I was wondering what kind of progress anyone is making? It might be helpful to all of us to share.

And by way of reinforcement, last week, the NY Times had a front page article on the back pain epidemic in the U.S. that begins 'Americans are spending more money than ever to treat spine problems, but their backs are not getting any better' ... 'and that many popular treatments may be ineffective or overused.'

This is exactly as Dr. Sarno describes it in his books. As long as the medical community (and patients) continues to 'compartmentalize' the mind and body in their thinking and treatments, no one is getting better. So let this be a sign of encouragement that at least there is acknowlegement that something is not working here. For those of us who have/had SD, this is kind of like getting to the point where we acknowledge that no matter what we do, our voice is not getting better. Now it's time to break out of 'status quo' thinking and consider the possibility that the mind and body interact as one. When this happens, all sorts of new possibilities for healing will occur!

A new consciousness, a new earth

For those of you saturated with Dr. Sarno and ready to move to another level, I recommend picking up Oprah Winfrey's book club selection, Eckhart Tolle's, 'A New Earth, Awakening to Your Life's Purpose'. This book is not about healing pain per se, but rather about healing your life. Like Sarno, he makes reference to the 'Ego' but Eckhart's concept is that the essence of who we are is not defined by the 'Ego'. Our essence is our 'consciousness'...the observer to who can see the Ego within us at work, as it desparately trys to reinforce and sustain itself at the expense of ourselves and others.

This is some heavy thinking and consciousness 'shifting', so you might also want to sign up for the 10 week online class conducted by Oprah and Eckhart starting March 10. Just go to her website and sign up...then read the book in advance. I am going to be there!

From my perspective, here is what Eckhart's ideas has to do with SD...once again, it is about what we focus on (the constant internal dialogue) and how this impacts our emotions and our bodies. There was a time when I identified myself as a person with SD. This 'SD identity' defined who I was, how I interacted with people, decisions I made, etc. Every time my internal dialoge reinforced this SD identity, it reverberated throughout my body and 'like a ripple of water' throughout the universe. This self perpetuating story about who I am is generated by the Ego. But I am not my Ego. I am my consciousness and am aware of the Ego and what is going on.

OK...after re-reading this post I think it best to leave it for now and simply encourage you to read his book. He does a much better job explaining his concepts than I can. But I will post any insights I gain as I continue reading and attend the online class.