Relax. Do Not Resist or React To What's Happening. Let Your Body Speak.

What's the answer to chronic pain? Relax and let the body speak. Why? Because a lot of chronic and persistent pain and health symptoms originate from a stress response in the brain and nervous system. The answer to stress is to relax and settle down. When you relax then just let your body speak. Here I go over the process of what to do and what not to do in order to relax.
Jim Prussack PT works with people who are suffering from chronic pain and other chronic health disorders. His work focuses on the brain and nervous system and how we can use it to heal. You can reach Jim for consultations or learn more about his work at www.thepainpt.com

[@edition_8923]

Relaxing is the easiest thing for most people, but not for someone like me who suffers from GAD and C-PTSD. I'm tense 24/7. My abs are tightened, my butt clenched, my shoulders rised, and my breathing is extremely shallow. Whether I'm sitting, preparing a meal, walking, or even sleeping. This is how I lived most of my life, and now, for the last 2+ years, I have ended up with CFS. I tried supplements, etc, but nothing worked; your videos have been the most helpful thing I have ever stumbled on . Thank you!!

[@vikvegas8593]

Yeah same. I was abused by a partner and suffered all sorts of horrible distress symptoms for years. High blood pressure, poriasis, chronic pain and disassociation. Think my brain and nervous system were damaged. But these videos help. No point stressing about what can't be changed.

[@coya4321]

if you have not then please look into programs like gupta or primal trust institute..it retrains your limpic system..Be well.

[@darrend2035]

People may think he’s repeating the same information but you need to realize he needs to do that . The mind will still aggressively avoid relaxing and I like how he understands that , and keeps slightly changing the delivery of this important messages. Thank you so much for making these videos And I have had the pain shift to a different hip / leg . I was like 😯woah ! Lol

[@thepainpt]

Yes thanks for emphasizing. Not many things in life you can do once and be good at it. Especially when it might be years of conditioning and patterns in the opposite direction. Take care!

[@JanCyrkaComposer]

I was explaining to my Partner yesterday about how Dr Sarno and Nicole Sachs and now you and perhaps especially you had transformed how I now successfully deal with my chronic pain issues. I said “To cut a long story short.. these three are the new Marvel Avengers of Chronic Pain!” I’m sorry to hear that you had a reoccurrence recently. It actually freaked me out a little but then I journaled it and realised that your methods help us deal with our episodes when and if we have them.. not make us forever immune to them! But if you have any ideas on that then I guess we’re all ears here ha ha. Thank you so much for your generosity in sharing your knowledge to the many of us who would have been lost without you.

[@thepainpt]

We are all human last I checked I was too! What’s the saying pain is inevitable suffering is optional. Too much physical and or mental emotional stress can cause symptoms in anyone. It’s a sign to take it easy and learn to relax so the nervous system can clear out inflammation and other stress chemicals like pain etc.

[@escapingbenzoozhopehelphea523]

@@thepainpt I needed to hear that today! I too was mostly better, then a huge series of inescapable stresses hit, and things worsened. It helps to realize even experts in this have recurrences. Thanks for helping us all accept this and relax through the challenges!

[@Blhj1]

@MarSarFishin-ws7qk Interesting that you said "high expectations for OTHERS" as well. I have realized that with myself too! I thought at first I was just getting good at "asserting my boundaries" and choosing what behaviour I would "allow" in my life, but nope: That mindset didn't help me for 5 years! xD Getting RELAXED around what other people are doing (unless it's super unhealthy for you) is key! :)

[@kathleenwharton2139]

Acceptance and Peace is the End Goal. Your meditation in Part 2..is the Most Helpful thing I Have Done. That relaxes me quicker than anything I have Done. I am so grateful.. and your voice and presentation is Perfect.

[@ashleyg.76]

This was really relaxing. I was deep breathing along with the video and relaxing into pain. I have all the classic traits of TMS and a mindbody condition. I am sure nervous system disregulation has played a huge role in my body stuff. What's made this more challenging is I've had a chronic infection that hasn't healed easily bc of this. So, it hasn't been entirely true that I am "safe" by typical standards. But I intuitively know the process is still the same; the circumstance has just added to the challenge of breaking the anxiety patterns etc.

[@massagepublications]

Love this video. Your analogy of a friend coming over who just wants to be heard is brilliant. I will implement this practice. Thank you Jim, I love your emphasis on how our nervous system’s will figure this out if we let it. I truly believe that. You are a TREASURE ❤

[@orianaterravecchia3333]

So validating! I’m constantly clenching without realizing and holding in this stress

[@piggies.254]

This is so so helpful, Jim. It's such an ingrained habit to try and fix and/or manipulate what's actually happening. To stay in the present moment without resisting, reacting and pushing for a result is hard even though it's so simple! After a lifetime of doing those things! But I absolutely believe I can do this with consistent and daily practice. Thank you.

[@juggebugge5053]

Big thanks to you Jim. You are so right. It’s so simple, but yet so hard. I wonder if the muscles has a memory of their own and that’s why it takes some time to rewind them to naturally relax. Keep on doing your videos. It’s really helpful 👍

[@sylwiakrasnodebska8446]

I love this video, I badly needed to hear it. I find it very difficult sometimes to implement it, I live with health anxiety and even though I know most of the pains I am experiencing are just tension pains, I still get wound up quite often by them and think it must be something physically wrong. There is often this thought at the back of my head that if i just stop thinking about the pain and keep checking the symptoms, then I will miss something huge and it will harm me. It's very very draining. I will try to implement this approach as much as it is possible, one step at a time. Thank you ❤

[@christinagreaves7932]

Im the same

[@orianaterravecchia3333]

Me too:( what has helped u the most

[@sarinahay1523]

Omg same!!

[@hopejordan3929]

Thank you again for such needed words. This practice guided me to relaxation which is often difficult for me.

[@lupegerfen6154]

Thank you Jim 🙏🏼

[@BertitoCreativeWorld]

Thank you 🙌

[@robynd970]

thank you jim ..this really helped

[@wr9418]

Thank you so much for your help

[@davedukes4069]

great video,,,,thanks Jim

[@karimsabry9502]

Nice one Jim. Good work.

[@suemobsby7155]

Bless you Jim this has really slowed down the pain

[@Lenneke8422]

Very helpful ty Jim ❤❤❤

[@karolinedegier2787]

So good and helpful! Thank you!

[@raek8940]

Thank you

[@Gosia-zv5fi]

Very helpful Jim ! Thank you very much 👍❤

[@tonyfletcher1718]

Thankyou Jim, Exactly what I needed to here today. So great!

[@joaniemiller4362]

Relax that is sooo good , and doable .

[@privateperson5769]

loved that 🙏 TY

[@christinehart8018]

You are saving my life! Thank you so, so, much!

[@asirbbrisa]

🙏 thank you

[@TMM909]

Good insights thank you

[@aliv83]

Really appreciate what your doing for us all here. Gratitude. 💖

[@dixieland.]

That's exactly what I needed today. I'm grieving the loss of a pet. It's been a week. I really need to move forward and lose these symptoms. This just hit the spot. Thank you very much! If I cry today, it's to be tears of joy for finding Dr. Yonit, who led me to you. 😊

[@ConsciousGrowing]

Cool stuff. I love it simple 👌👍🙏

[@wmurthy]

Thanks for great wisdom and very important technique , Jim. Truly appreciate your sharing the knowledge.

[@christinehart8018]

Jim … you are a life-saver. When I’m settled, I will/must reach out. Ty!

[@helenfoster66]

Thanks so much, your videos really help.

[@helenfoster66]

I have a structural problem, congenital scoliosis, which gives me pain. But I am hopeful that by practising these videos, much of the byproduct, tms, will diminish over time. A work in progress!

[@christinagreaves7932]

This is all explained so clearly and calmly , i really get it , this has come at the right time THANKYOU

[@Blhj1]

Thank you for this video! I totally agree with this :) Your videos definitely help our journeys.

[@murrij]

Thank you as always. Thankfully from your later videos you feel better. 7:51 is so huge. As all the TMS doctors and yourself, Buglio, Sachs, etc. say (me too) the body is just trying to distract us or get our attention with pain. at 7:51 visualizing that the friend that needs to talk is your brain needing to talk then listening with a "bring it on" attitude. Dang!

[@AJ88874]

What about when you’re out and about and can’t really relax in the moment. Somewhere noisy or with people or where u have to be doing something?

[@joannwhite9037]

I just relistened to this video again today as I find it very helpful and am in another flare situation….. however, the commercials were still there interrupting my relaxation state. Thanks for trying. It’s just hard because this is my go to vidro that keeps me calm when I need to remember to relax….

[@lennekevanrossum8422]

Hi Jim thank you for this video very helpful sensations very sparkling today i relax as much as i can. Sensations are benign and fine and cannot harm me. So i am good. Thank you again 😁👌😘😘😘

[@1STBUCKLEY]

Wow sat in the park but my body throwing out nerve pain in my legs back etc. Have emdr therapy later on (PTSD) so I know it's my brain trying to protect me. Hopefully i can get there. Thanks

[@alandry6872]

Thanks Jim, I'm working on it. Please could you let us know - which is the other video which you refer to in this one?

[@cdracos1]

This has its time and place. Like meditation time. When you have to focus on a task and challenge your symptoms or conditioned responses , it's tricky to do this. But great in the right environment.

[@thepainpt]

Accept what comes from a mental place it’s ok. Can be done anywhere anytime with no work. It’s literally a mindset you carry with you throughout rue day

[@cdracos1]

@@thepainpt have you ever heard of basic back pain . Then while using various tms approaches, instead of improving, it gets worse and becomes 24/7 fibro ? .

[@orianaterravecchia3333]

Any good prompts or questions I can ask myself to help?

[@orianaterravecchia3333]

@@thepainpt so the past year I have felt way more dissacociated and as a way to cope I have constantly gaslighted myself and victimize myself like I go thru this tug of war between two extreme emotions (or parts) in my head that just seem to get more and more extreme . These voices r also dependent of each other but I think don’t feel heard in each other’s light and kind of naturally conditioned to be opposing views

[@fifiearthwanderer]

​@@orianaterravecchia3333 IFS might help for this.

[@lesleymcmillan1893]

I am so grateful I found you! I almost started crying. I thought i was going crazy, what is wrong with me. I keep reacting to my somatic symptoms. Just knowing it’s ok. Accept and listen, open receptivity. It’s a wave in the ocean. I will 1) accept 2) listen and just realize it’s stress chemicals and the fix is to relax❤️🙏thank you with all my heart. I’ve just been in aversion and resistance and fix mode. Now I know better. Now I know my body just needs soothing. Relax into what’s uncomfortable. Does this condition have a name?

[@tanyacondo7034]

Mindbody syndrome, TMS, and Perceived danger pain, and psychophysiologic, and noiciplatic and neuro-circuit. Essentially no one can agree on what to call it so everyone makes up a new name.

[@Christinesobsevations]

Thank you for your content… I do want to add a disclaimer here . There is a disease called crps / RSD that causes very extreme intractable unrelenting pain with or without injury it can be spontaneous. This type of pain is absolutely not something a human can breathe through with these pain levels it’s worse than amputation while awake . It is that horrific . On top of that it is very tricky if not impossible to manage which is unbearably traumatic for the sufferer . I hope you see my message and look this up if you weren’t aware of it . For regular pain yes I agree with you … there is absolutely a way to relax the body & mind . At least with a break or sprain or strain or back flare up , etc you know WHY and HOW to manage . With crps , not even the most seasoned drs well versed in this know what to do . The only thing available is ketamine coma and it’s only accessible to people with money and lots of support. With crps it does what it wants . Can’t stop it .

[@dommccaffry3802]

Very difficult with skin conditions that itch, you end up trying not to scratch and just being with it can be unbearable

[@IndialienJones]

I've been struggling with left sided upper back and chest pain for over a year. I've had my heart checked several times and told by a cardiologist that he thinks my heart is ok. Yet, every single time the pain comes on, it feels 100% like I'm having a heart attack. I feel the left side of my chest and back are being squeezed and crushed. The pain travels up my into my left shoulder and left side of neck, even into my left arm sometimes. I make videos for a tabletop game youtube channel and every time I sit at my table and speak for an extended period of time to make a video, the pain comes on and I feel like I'm having a heart attack. It's unbelievably painful and scary. I don't know how to just ignore it and relax because it feels entirely too intense. I don't understand how it's not my heart. I feel like the doctors must be missing something. It's never on the right side, always on the left. I don't know what to do.

[@ChrisKai-ec8ls]

Hello...I've had very similar sensations still months after a healed humerus fracture. Can feel like a heart issue. Suggest you look up inter costal pain, (sp?) muscles that run in between the ribs. Lots of good videos on this....and very commonly people run to emergency thinking they are having a heart issue. Take care friend...all is well...your body can heal.... Peace, Relaxation Peace...

[@IndialienJones]

@@ChrisKai-ec8ls I appreciate the response. I’ve realized that most of the time this pain has flared up after eating. Im starting to think it’s a GI issue; maybe pancreatitis or gastritis. I sure hope that isn’t accurate but it fits the description.

[@joesedlacek7552]

My symptoms begin with lumbar pain and leg pain after walking a few minutes, what would be the strategy for that? How do you relax while walking?

[@supratim17roy]

What about extreme tightness on lower chest, hip flexors and back? How to release them?

[@blackthornsloe8049]

🌻

[@jennaishere]

Hi Jim I’m a bit confused!? In your other video you said to talk to your pain and tell it to stop basically? This your saying to relax and listen? Can you help here I’m so confused what I should do?? 🙏

[@nmash6835]

I'm having difficulty in thinking and solving daily problems I have brain fog from anxiety can I apply the techniques too?

[@AristotelisMakris]

Does this work with fatigue ?

[@timweberHB]

Hi. Relax is a scary thing. I am in so much fight or flight that when you say you have to learn how to relax period. I am not at peace or able to relax. I do all the TMS things to help. The fix, worry, racing mind and checking go on a loop. Stuck. Please help. Thx

[@orianaterravecchia3333]

It makes me feel such uncomfortable feelings and then I feel like I’m positively reinforced cognitively because I reach out to friends and they validate my emotions at the time but I interpret it as me being a reliable narrator :( I don’t know how to not stress I want it to come to me more naturally

[@thepainpt]

Yes feel your emotions acknowledge them express them to let them go. The other half is to try to reframe and look at situations differently so you can stay more relaxed and not be triggered as much emotionally

[@peterwu8471]

How do you listen to your body speak - sounds very challenging - sort of one of those wuwu approaches.

[@bigpolish007]

As a pt, what are your thoughts on trigger points and how/if it relates to tms?

[@thepainpt]

Yes trigger points are usually from the nervous system and brain. They can be helped with hands on work but if they don’t feel better with that than you know it runs deeper. Which means going to what causes the muscle to tense- the brain and nervous system

[@lennekevanrossum8422]

Got very emotional

[@aprilyount7713]

Is there any way you could lively up these videos at all? Energy is so low I have to force myself to hit play. I so appreciate your information and agree w the mid body thing but coke onnnn lil more energy

[@nickvantastiq1848]

hi Jim, i feel pretty tensed up all the time due symptoms (burning skin on my legs, neck....other pplaces sometimes) anxiety....i really need to deliberatly relax, i also just quit smoking for 15 days now, which was a coping thing, but of course its nothing but posion. I really need to breathe slow...instead of hold it....relax into everything that is....right?

[@thepainpt]

Yes just call all the symptoms anxiety tell yourself this is just anxiety first and then relax into it in time it should settle if you keep doing that

[@nickvantastiq1848]

@@thepainpt thank you. It’s very difficult. I have to keep up a face everywhere. All the time I think, bc of the symptoms, “I am not okay”. I didn’t manage to stay off the cigs btw…so, relax into all…let it be. I also take diazepam 4mg a day…head buzzes, ears ring, well and the other stuff. I wish I could implement it all on purpose.

[@larryc506]

Jim, when I try to relax I find myself going back to a state of tense jaw and pelvic muscle numerous times. It’s very difficult to hold that state of relaxation like being on the beach when your symptoms are so very severe! ( pelvic pain and pins needles in calves and feet especially upon waking!) any suggestions appreciated!

[@thepainpt]

Hey Larry I think you need to get to some underlying emotions that’s not letting the body relax most likely some repressed anger I would guess. Tense jaw is a giveaway for anger

[@pedrom8831]

@@thepainpt I have a very similar thing to OP - very severe and distracting symptoms. The things is, trying to 'get to' underlying emotions seems like extra work. I think doing this has made me every more stressed, as I'm always trying to uncover some apparently suppressed rage or fear. What do to here, I wonder?

[@jillewing7812]

Have you had experience working with severe asthma ?

[@jan1cem]

I feel like im pscyhosomatic. I went thru depression and all those negative emotions for a long time and now im suffering in my body. Im tormented every second every day :( i feel like trauma and childhood issues got triggered to surface again. Im just stuck at home the pain is too much. :( How can i relax when the pain makes it hard for me to do so :(

[@thepainpt]

Take it one moment at a time. As long as you know you did not hurt yourself you are not in danger even though it feels that way. Try to soothe yourself calm yourself and let these feelings and symptoms run through you and out. They will eventually if you let them. It can feel painful and hurt but you are not harming yourself to carry on. One step at a time relax into everything you can so it’s not such a struggle. Take care

[@StevenDoyleLuke]

Do you ever talk about being in fear of your own parasympathetic system?

[@thepainpt]

Not sure what you mean by that but that would definitely be anxiety because there’s nothing to fear about that system so see if you can move past that

[@StevenDoyleLuke]

@@thepainpt Thanks for your reply. I think what I meant is I've lost confidence in my body through chronic pain and dizziness. Kind of like if I relax, I'll lose control. I know it is not rational and I'm working on moving past it.

[@lindah953]

Thankyou. I’m finding your videos really useful. I’m passing on advice to my son who gets sudden waves of itching all over his body when he’s stressed. It’s very difficult just to sit with that and not do anything but is that exactly what he should do ?

[@thepainpt]

Yes you don’t want to engage any physical symptom. The other thing to do is to move away from the physical to the psychological and start exploring mental and emotional underlying componentsto the symptoms

[@larryc506]

Jim, would sexual tension over a prospective marriage mate also cause stress in the brain? Thanks

[@thepainpt]

Yes absolutely

[@hew195050]

I listen but the issue is the feeling of dread. How anyone can shut that off with severe and constant pain, tingling and exhaustion is escaping me. I'm frustrated and I feel I'm failing. It's not helpful that you indicate this relief comes right away as long as you relax. I doubt that's true for most people and it can cause us to give up because we think we are impaired somehow.

[@thepainpt]

You are not impaired you are fine! I mean that. It just sounds like you have strong neural pathway patterns and programming that has probably been there for a while. Don’t worry it can take some time just keep going and using the process and techniques!!!

[@hew195050]

@@thepainpt I won’t give up because it’s all I’ve got left. I’ve tried just about everything else besides psychedelics. Drugs suck. I don’ T want them in my body anyway. Doctors are useless. So….onward!

[@joannwhite9037]

The commercials are extremely detrimental to the practice of relaxing. They are jarring and disrupt the flow of trying to relax.

[@thepainpt]

Please let me know if this is happening in another videos. It doesn’t look like I have the commercials turned on.

[@davidfayfield6594]

Seems very eastern philosophy.

[@thepainpt]

Yes you could say so