Lately I have been losing the battle in my mind over the control of my body.
Granted, there ain’t much going on in terms of get-up-and-go these days with me being a quadriplegic and all but that is not what I’m talking about.
The issue is with my inability to get a handle on the way my legs go stiff and are unable to bend no matter how much coaching and coaxing anybody does to calm my frayed nerves and nerve-endings down.
I try to tell myself to relax and I even attempt to conjure up soothing mental pictures but I don’t get very far before an inescapable and overwhelming feeling of panic sets in and renders me more immobile than before I started the whole charade.
I am completely open to any suggestions you may have to help me get past this wall that I have erected (he he) in my mind. Please tell me the secrets of creative visualization and meditation techniques and anything else that you may have stashed away in your personal toolbox in regards to what you use in order to get yourself into a better headspace.
Bonus points and my eternal, unending gratitude if you actually come over to the house and teach me those techniques in person.
The Adventures of ALS Boy 
Hope to post more info when I have more time, but here’s what comes to mind:
If you love the ocean, try to remember your last beautiful moment in dead man’s float, looking up at a blue sky or closing your eyes against the hot sun and smelling the delicious salt water under you, your body sinking onto the water but floating at the same time, bobbing in the subtle waves…
Next dead man’s float is on the floor, in yoga’s corpse pose. A bit macabre, but imagine that your body is just a cadaver, heavy and interesting to you as you float over it like in one of those crazy dreams….Might be too morbid for you but it worked for me during a moment of table work in an Alexander technique lesson. Made me laugh, too…
Instead of thinking “Relax” you can think about how heavy each part of your body is…heavy and stiff but all that matters is how heavy everything is…
Doe and I are both sorry for the difficulty you’re experiencing, and have a couple of ideas.
The first comes from Doe’s open-heart surgery gig she tried a few years back to fix some faulty plumbing. She became increasingly anxious as the fateful day approached and tried MANY things. The winner she pronounced was Atavin.
My idea is admittedly more pedestrian. I can bake up a killer pan of brownies with special ingredients delivered and enjoyed together. It could be particularly effective along with a good Monty Python video.
Let me know if either of these seem appealing.
Best, Gary
baclofen baclofen baclofen…upped the dosage lately??
Robin, I think the max dosage is 80 mg. (20 mgs./4 times per day), which is what he takes right now. Do you think he should take more than that??
Fehmeen, I’m happy to call the clinic and find out if he can increase it…
Robin
I take up to 100 mg a day. There is also something called a baclofin pump, I assume it puts the med directly into your system. Hope this helps
Hi,
I’d teach you to do self-Reiki healing, but I live really far far away (Croatia)…so I’ll provide some of my Reiki tips that you can use at home. Music: there’s one CD I’ve been using for over 10 years that has great rhythms to get the brain disengaged. The cd is called SPA, by Hennie Bekker. I checked on Apple iTunes and the CD is available for electronic download for only $5. (p.s. I have no interest in promoting this CD and I’m not affiliated with it in any way …I bought it several years ago and it works nicely, that’s it).
Try to spend one hour everyday, perhaps at night, listening to this music with your eyes closed. If you are able, then try to breathe in rhythms of 4, inhale slowly 1-2-3-4, exhale slowly 1-2-3-4 throughout the entire hour. Say the numbers in your head. At the same time, imagine your whole body surrounded by a green pulsing light. It should be like a big cloud of mint-green fog that surrounds you for about 3 feet around your whole body. Green is the colour of healing energy. Hold the image of this cloud in your mind while you also think the breathing numbers and while you listen to the music. Inbetween your breathing numbers tell yourself: heal, and balance. So it goes like this: ( inhale): 1-2-3-4-heal ……(exhale): 1-2-3-4-balance.
After you’ve started counting for about 2 minutes, imagine a huge tree with many many branches spreading as far as the eye can see. Allow yourself to feel tiny under the tree. Then imagine the root system of this tree, spreading in thick knots underground for yards and yards under your feet. As you see those roots in your mind, tell yourself: I am grounded. I am grounded. I am grounded. (3 times). Now mentally raise your arms up to the sky under those towering tree branches and look up past the branches. Tell yourself: I invite the healing energy to come through me and to me. (this allows you to be a channel of energy, and tells the energy where to go). Still looking up towards those branches, mentally say thank you for this healing energy.
Now, continue to hold the image of the healing green energy surrounding your body and let your brain just listen to the music, and mentally imagine extra intensified green healing light bathing one part of your body per song. Your pick. First song could be head, neck,shoulders, second song upper chest and arms and stomach, etc. Just think about those body parts being massaged and healed and cleansed by the green healing energy cloud.
At the end of the CD, you may have drifted off to sleep, and that is ok. If you are still awake, then just end your session by mentally saying: Thank you for this healing energy. I am grounded.
And that’s it. First few times will feel awkward, but after about 3 sessions your brain will go into an automatic pilot mode when it hears the music and you start the imagery.
Another thing I recommend is using scent to distract your brain during these sessions. I suggest something sharp and pleasing. Take a kleenex and put one or two drops of essential oil, and have someone pin the kleenex on your chest or wherever you can get a good whiff during your meditation. I like to use peppermint or spearmint oil because it is extremely refreshing, or cinnamon oil or or rosemary oil or camphor (like Vic’s vaporub). Don’t use incense because it can make you cough. Find a scent that works for you and always use the same stuff. This trains your brain to go into deep meditation mode when it hears the music and smells the scent.
That’s all I got. Oh, and if you’re not already using it, get some extra strength tiger balm from the drug store and have someone rub it into your muscles…it has nothing to do with Reiki or healing…it just feels really really good.
I hope this helps!
When I was struggling with all of the woes of herniated discs in my lower back, I had to go to get several MRIs. Wow, that is a tiny tube tunnel. Without hyperventilating and making a mad dash out….it will sound silly, but I prayed. I prayed and prayed and when I ran out of things, I’s say the tried and true: Hail Mary and the best, Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep… We don’t often feel comfortable to share stuff like this, but, it worked for me. When I get a little lost(in Al’s book, for me, that’s all the time!!) I’ll revert to the Mary Mantra. So, mix things up: a little music, meds and Mary, and keep us posted!
Medical Marijuana?
OUTSIDE FOOD
Hi Jason,
I recall reading a while back about a site that had music specifically selected for having the right tempo as the human heartbeat at rest. It was an article about solving sleep problems, but might be a good trick to helping improve relaxation even when you’re awake.
Hugs to you, Fehmeen and Emma…
– Amy and Rachel
Have you thought about laughing at the situation when it happpens? Making fun of it? From my seizure history, believe me, I understand the panic and the wall in your mind. However, if you can teach yourself to laugh at it, it can take away the power and thus help to eliminate the panic which in turn should allow you to relax naturally. Hope this helps!
When I was in labor with my kids, during contractions, I focused on an object that I loved. I tried to notice every detail about it and tried to notice something that I’d never seen before.
To this day (it’s been 11 years), I can remember with amazing clarity this one patch of carpet. Okay, it wasn’t an object I loved, but it was what was in front of me when a really bad one hit.
Best wishes!