Bruxism

Any more suggestions on the brux? Last night was not a good night.

It's been suggested to me at this point to STOP TRYING TO FIX IT.

Any opinions on that?

That depends.. if you are getting anxious or frustrated trying to fix it then that might well actually feed it! However, if you continue with curiosity and acceptance etc then maybe its OK..

Basically, any incompletely acted upon emotions during the day will feed into what you do during sleep. So if you spend time in the day ruminating on the problem without a course of action then you can guess the rest.. if you stop trying to fix it then will you stop ruminating on it too? Can you promise yourself that?

If you stop trying to fix it then will you stop ruminating on it too? Can you promise yourself that?

Of course I could promise myself that...

Look at what the wiki says about Rumination here. Funny, in this context!

Phil

Bruxsutawney Phil,

Let me know if there is anything I can do to help you.

Tony

LOL I did NOT see my shadow this morning...and you can wonder what that means now...

so the grind has morphed into a ground...but I'm no HOG!

Phil

I'm resurrecting this thread...for a very sad reason...



yup, you guessed it. And last night was a particularly bad night. I woke up quite sore.

I'm at my wits end with this. I would really like to stop doing this.

I'm going back and reading some of the things that have been posted on this thread, and I'm going to reflect on some other strategies.

Help!

Phil (who is feeling quite sad and discouraged about this at the moment)

Comment by Dr. Richard Bandler on 3 September 2008:
Habits are strong neurological states to change. You must build stronger desires and decisions as we disassemble the old neurolgical habit.

Nina, your quote from Bandler makes more sense than anything else right now.

So today, in my spare moments (in between teaching children about the joy of music!), I am going to reflect on stronger desires and decisions to do something different in the place of bruxing.

Perhaps it is just as simple as giving myself something else to do. You know, Erickson used to have clients tape something (like a sponge ball) to their hand at night, and gave them the suggestion to squeeze their hand instead of bruxing. I think I might try that tonight!

phil

Look at what the wiki says about Rumination here. Funny, in this context!

Yes I see.. The metaphor is ironically perfect! Chewing things over and over eh?.. Well if you could identify any beliefs driving the cud you are chewing then you might have something you could work with.. When there are worries it is worth stepping back and looking at what related ideas you feel certain about.. in other words, what would you have to believe for the worries to make absolute sense?

John, I'm not quite sure I understand what you are saying...

John, I'm not quite sure I understand what you are saying...

I don't really want to get into a technical discussion about how beliefs operate and affect thinking and behavior etc as that might go round in circles for ages. I am really busy at the moment and is why I haven't been posting anything but silly one liners lately.

Lets just say I had a physical habit that did not respond to the many NLP and hypnosis techniques I tried over many years. I took a very different approach recently and only dealt with the beliefs and emotions that preceded the behavior. These turned out to be quite strange and unexpected. The behavior then just spontaneously disappeared on its own. I probably would have called this secondary gain a while ago but I no longer believe in secondary gain being a useful model these days. The difficulty however is in identifying the beliefs and hence the emotions they give rise to that then get side-stepped via the behavior. That can be tricky unfortunately because we are rarely aware of what we are actually believing in any given circumstance. We are only usually aware of the noise that is their side effect so we miss the important stuff completely!

Maybe it would be easier to get to something useful to do over a skype call? I can keep switching the questions or clarify them quickly that way. Not sure about the time differences in terms of organizing a convenient time though. I am in the same time zone as London. My skype id is bongo_john_uk.

Hi Phil,

Have you tried EFT How do I join the email forum tapping!

I find that it's fantastic to release trapped negative emotions. Maybe you could tap the grind away.

Start off by tapping 'even though I have this brux, I totally and completely accept myself' . Do various rounds and I'm sure that you will feel great!

There are various videos on You Tube which explain the basic tapping!

Take my word for it, it works, it's amazingly powerful because it puts you in the driving seat!

Try it for Monday blues aswell, once you know how to tap, it's like having a magic wand with you 24/7.

All the best,

Violeta

Phil,
My good friend. I'm so sorry to hear about this. Call me tonight, if you want and we'll talk about it.

Everyone, thank you so much for your kindness and encouragement.

John, I'd be happy to talk on Skype when I get home from work (in about 2.5 hours). My Skype is pcadamsohio.

Violeta, I have used EFT in the past for a variety of things, and have found it beneficial in dealing with anxious feelings, as it calms me down immediately! I have tried it with the bruxism in the past, and can never seem to get it down below a "2," no matter how many rounds I tap. I definitely feel a shift when I practice it, but not enough to eliminate the problem. Stephen Redmond and I have talked together a lot about EFT, and I have used resources on Tapping.com - Free EFT Videos - Emotional Freedom Technique

Tony, I may call you tonight, but probably I'm going to want to spend a LOT of time before bed in a relaxed state!

I am also going to try taping a sponge ball to my hand, and give myself the suggestion before sleep that I can squeeze the ball whenever I feel the need to CLENCH something!

I wish to say thank you again for your support, as I am feeling quite discouraged about this right now, especially after all the time and money that I have spent working on eliminating this problem.

Thank you again,

Phil

This morning's report--no bruxing last night!

And what did I do, you might wonder?

Well, some of you may remember back in the summer when I was working on insomnia, how the thing that began to turn it around for me was

1) getting really fed up
2) tackling it with a barrage of strategies

I figured that now was the time to use this approach again.

Here are the things I did:

1) Applied some magick from the crow hypnotizer (I can't reveal the secret, otherwise the spell might not work)

2) Ran the Compulsion Blast Pattern, taught to me by Jay Budzynski last night (made me feel batty after about an hour of it)

3) Followed a pattern similar to EFT from Isabelle

4) Taped a stress ball to my left hand last night, and told myself to wake up and squeeze it every time I wished to brux (I did, three times last night that I remember)

5) Listened to an MP3 that Jay had given me a while back, just to put some icing on the cake!

All reports are that I did not brux at all last night (my other half confirms this).

I am going to continue to run the Compulsion Blast, and wear the stress ball for a few nights, and see how things go.

This morning I did several rounds of EFT around it just to see how I would feel. For the first time, I got it down to a ZERO!

Thank you again to everyone for rallying around me in helping me solve this problem. It appears that it is well on its way to disappearing.

Be well, and at peace,

Phil

Hi Phil,

WoW, great stuff!

So happy for you,

Ciao Violeta

Yes, Violeta, it IS great stuff.

Thank you for your sunny words of encouragement!

I think it was Bandler who said in his most recent book, something to the effect of "people change when they get fed up with their problems." And that is exactly what happened. Up until yesterday, I didn't realize that I had control over this issue, either, and saw it as something separate from me that in a way "posessed me."

The key was finding ways to communicate effectively with my unconscious. Strangely enough, I think perhaps the most effective part was the one I came up with, based on a task given by Erickson to one of his patients--taping the stress ball to my hand. It is a playful thing to do, and substitutes a harmful pattern with a harmless pattern. Good solution to the problem, and eventually, my mind will get tired of being awakened three or four times a night (I still feel quite rested, by the way, as I got back to sleep quickly!), and just give up on trying to brux altogether!

Be well, and at peace,

Phil

Phil,
I think I speak for many of us here when I say congratulations.

Thank you, Tony.

I am not out and out cheering, but I am quite optimistic, based on what happened last night.

Phil

You will get there, I have no doubt about it.

Hi Phil, trust yourself and your 0, you are there!!!

You are free... if you fall occasionally you will get back up again, no big deal just like when you were learning to walk, your unconcious knows what to do now, so your dreams will look after you!

Ciao Violeta

Violeta,

Funny, that is exactly what Rubin told me. And he quoted Forrest Gump:

"It happens."

And you get up, wipe yourself, wash your hands and go on...

And that is ok!

Phil