Loosening Tension In Tummy Area

[jonjones]

Hey Guys,

I´ve come a long way due the Weekes method.

However the only symptom that I have left is tummy tension. It get´s so bad some days that it is quite overwhelming. I try to loosen the area and I get relied.

It feels unnatural for me to try and loosen it as I have been tensing it for years, been suffering since I was 11, and I´m now 30.

Anyone have similar probs?

Best,

Jon

[Oosh]

Lie on a ball so it digs into your stomach muscles and kneeds those knotted muscles out. Should be some physio pics on the net. I've got some in a new book I got called "Becoming a Supple Leopard" (hehe at the title. Good book though)

[Ange1]

I'm exactly the same at the moment. I've been doing some short guided mindful meditation on YouTube lately. My favorites are by mindfulpeace . My stomach feels so weird being relaxed afterwards that I often end up getting anxious and tensing it up again! But it's a gradual process and I know it's helping. I also find putting my hands one on top of the other over my tummy button then pushing my belly into them by breathing slowly imagining a warmth with each breath can release a little tension. This is especially useful when I wake up with tension. X

[jonjones]

Hi Ange and Oosh,

Thanks for your suggestions!

Jon

[carterjonas]

Instead of focussing on it and trying to get rid of it - can you just get on with your day and leave it be? It could be that your fear of it, by trying to get rid of it, is causing more tension and this particular symptom in you.

[jonjones]

Hi Carter,

you´re right! This is what Dr Weekes say to do. I do find it hard to leave it be though.

However I have just listened to Dr Weekes´ CD, ¨Freedom From Nervous Suffering¨ and she talks about loosening and accepting. To take a deep b reath and letting the belly go limp.

For the last few days I´ve been repeating to myself loosen and accept, and I am starting to notice a difference. I just woke up this morning and felt so much more relaxed!

How are you?

Best,

Jon

[MyNameIsTerry]

Hi Jon,

Its good to see you back (in a positive way!)

How about focussing on tensing it as an exercise and practicing your acceptance methods? So, rather than allowing it to just happen so you can practice acceptance, take control and truly think about how it feels to tesne & untense whilst be accepting?

Progressive Muscle Relaxation (PMR) and body scanning tends to work towards that and its partly understanding what it really feels like (as opposed to the low level tension we tend to think is really a muscle contraction) and to accept that it is ok to do it. I'm thinking you could probably spin those exercises around and incorporate them into what you already do as you clearly have a deep understanding of it.

[NoPoet]

I've heard relaxation mp3s that agree with Terry's approach. Rather than simply experiencing it until you get used to it (which can actually work), you could focus on tensing and untensing your stomach muscles and noticing the difference between being tense and being relaxed. What's good about this is you go from one extreme to the other, and deliberately tensing up is often more uncomfortable than how you'd feel when you're anxious, so it is a good way of normalising how you usually feel and making it seem less threatening.

[jonjones]

Hi Terry, and NoPoet,

You´ve actually reminded me, Dr Weekes mentions this in ¨Self Help For Your Nerves¨.

She says to try and make the symptoms worse. And that you´ll find that you can´t. And it´s a way of proving to yourself that it is fear and apprehension that makes the symptoms worse!

Cheers,

Jon

[MyNameIsTerry]

Hi Jon,

Sounds good.

They do it therapies such as CBT too. I can remember seeing a breathing based one that tells you how to cause hyperventilation so that you can then learn it can't harm you, but its a controlled exercise (most likely a Behavioural Experiment or Interoceptive Exposure).

Something I have found with anxiety is that if you learn to tolerate something beyond the level of something that bothers you, that old fear tends to disappear, so if you feel you are stable enough to try this (which it sounds like you are, and you are well adept at employing the tense/release methods if there were increased anxiety) then it seems worth a try.

As you know, the reaction is what intensifies it. They talk about it in Mindfulness in terms of primary & secondary pain and how you can reduce the secondary so that you don't experience more pain than you should. Its even more possible with symptoms as they either shouldn't be there or are there not due to anxiety (e.g. you do some hard exercise and you bound to be sore) but you can still control your reaction to them. I think you mentioned Weekes has her own description of primary & secondary, or someone did recently anyway.

[jonjones]

Hi Terry,

Thanks! I agree. When we feel tension, the symptoms etc we want to ignore them. What I have been doing, especially more so recently, is going ¨into¨ the symptoms as much as I can.

I do this by letting myself fall into them, by letting go as much as I can. As mentioned before I sag, go loose, let my shoulders, arms and tummy drop, and let the tension underlying be there!

I have to say I´m starting to feel the most relaxed that I have been for years. I had a date also yesterday wth a woman that I like a lot. The more I like someone the more nervous I get, but I said to myself, loosen and let go, sag, and I went into the tension as much as I could. And we had a great time, even gonna see her again on Wednesday! :)

Loosening and letitng go, and using stillness is what is doing the trick for me!

Best,

Jon