Post by Ken on May 9, 2008 16:04:46 GMT -5
It is now over two weeks since I first posted the mental exercise procedure to this site. I see that it has been read eighty two times and the follow up one hundred twelve times. If any of you have tried it and followed the instructions carefully, please post your results to the site. As I have said, although it appears easy, it does present a challenge to persevere. This may be because it is a form of self therapy and in all therapies there is resistance. I am going to provide you now with what I believe to be (although I am not a scientist) the dynamics behind the procedure and the explanation of how it works. Others may have other thoughts, and I invite them to provide their own explanations.
Here it is. Our mind receives information from the environment in multiple forms. The input and output channels, neural pathways, are more numerous or broader for some than for others. There are many reasons for this difference. Environmental factors. Genetic factors. Traumatic or semi-traumatic incidents which may or may not be remembered. But there are subconscious entities within us that, because of the narrowness in certain areas of our neural pathways, are trying unsuccessfully to express themselves or just trying to better understand and process incoming information. These subconscious entities are not to be suppressed. They express themselves through these annoying compulsions of picking, nail biting, hair pulling, etc. The remedy, then, is to broaden the input channels to our cognizance. Essentially this means creating or broadening the neural pathways. In order to do this we must block the accustomed pathways and force the creation of new ones. We accomplish this by talking at the same time we are reading. The talking blocks the normal neural pathways and the reading forces the creation of new pathways. Evidence for this is that while we are performing the exercise, we see words that we know we know, but somehow they do not seem to register their meaning. But by reading them over and over, their meaning becomes clear. And when it does, we have created new or broadened pathways. When this happens, the subconscious entities cease their program of harassment.
As I said, this is my explanation. I have had other explanations. One participant likened her mind to a busy freeway with backed up traffic expressing impatience by tooting horns. The tooting horns were the metaphor for the annoying compulsions. After she performed the mental twenty minutes a day for five days, her compulsion of picking stopped. She said it was as though additional lanes had been constructed on the freeway allowing the free flow of traffic. I like that explanation.
There are other benefits to the mental exercise than the cessation of unwanted compulsions. Some of my participants have reported that they sleep better, are better able to understand their schoolwork, and in general, are more relaxed. It is reasonable that these improved conditions occur.
I read with sadness the frustrations of those bothered with these compulsions. I can sympathize with them fully. I was a finger picker for over thirty years. Nothing I could do seemed to help: New Years resolutions, rubberband snapping, force of will power. All failed for me until I discovered the mental exercise, which I had developed for an entirely different purpose.
And so once again, I ask those who suffer these annoying and sometimes destructive compulsions to try the exercise. Read my input “Mental Exercise” of April 25. And please let me know if you are trying. I do want to know how you feel after each exercise session. I will answer any questions you may have and encourage you to continue. And if the single sentence mantra is ineffective, we can modify the exercise. And I will provide more information about myself if you prefer. kenn100@yahoo.com
Here it is. Our mind receives information from the environment in multiple forms. The input and output channels, neural pathways, are more numerous or broader for some than for others. There are many reasons for this difference. Environmental factors. Genetic factors. Traumatic or semi-traumatic incidents which may or may not be remembered. But there are subconscious entities within us that, because of the narrowness in certain areas of our neural pathways, are trying unsuccessfully to express themselves or just trying to better understand and process incoming information. These subconscious entities are not to be suppressed. They express themselves through these annoying compulsions of picking, nail biting, hair pulling, etc. The remedy, then, is to broaden the input channels to our cognizance. Essentially this means creating or broadening the neural pathways. In order to do this we must block the accustomed pathways and force the creation of new ones. We accomplish this by talking at the same time we are reading. The talking blocks the normal neural pathways and the reading forces the creation of new pathways. Evidence for this is that while we are performing the exercise, we see words that we know we know, but somehow they do not seem to register their meaning. But by reading them over and over, their meaning becomes clear. And when it does, we have created new or broadened pathways. When this happens, the subconscious entities cease their program of harassment.
As I said, this is my explanation. I have had other explanations. One participant likened her mind to a busy freeway with backed up traffic expressing impatience by tooting horns. The tooting horns were the metaphor for the annoying compulsions. After she performed the mental twenty minutes a day for five days, her compulsion of picking stopped. She said it was as though additional lanes had been constructed on the freeway allowing the free flow of traffic. I like that explanation.
There are other benefits to the mental exercise than the cessation of unwanted compulsions. Some of my participants have reported that they sleep better, are better able to understand their schoolwork, and in general, are more relaxed. It is reasonable that these improved conditions occur.
I read with sadness the frustrations of those bothered with these compulsions. I can sympathize with them fully. I was a finger picker for over thirty years. Nothing I could do seemed to help: New Years resolutions, rubberband snapping, force of will power. All failed for me until I discovered the mental exercise, which I had developed for an entirely different purpose.
And so once again, I ask those who suffer these annoying and sometimes destructive compulsions to try the exercise. Read my input “Mental Exercise” of April 25. And please let me know if you are trying. I do want to know how you feel after each exercise session. I will answer any questions you may have and encourage you to continue. And if the single sentence mantra is ineffective, we can modify the exercise. And I will provide more information about myself if you prefer. kenn100@yahoo.com