I’ve become fascinated by the mind’s role in overcoming chronic conditions and have been pushing my own edge to understand better how to help clients. One of the techniques I've been working with is to replace language around pain with words that are softer, more tolerable or even funny.

When any of the neuritis symptoms crop up, I start my DNRS script (see the 11/8/21 letter) by exclaiming "Silly Bananas" and then go through the DNRS process. As dopey as it seems, there’s something magical that happens with this phrase. While I still feel the stress of hyperarousal, I can pretty much immediately let it go.

Then I had a serious balance challenge where I came perilously close to falling backward down a flight of stairs. I habitually started to say Silly Bananas, but something inside me rebelled. Feeling real danger made me wonder if it is fair to ask someone in severe amounts of pain to engage in whimsy. When we are pushed to the limit, we don’t feel like we have enough resources or support to mitigate the very real threats to our wellbeing. It might be unreasonable and even discouraging to consider brain retraining, especially if we believe we have the power to get better and can't figure out how to do it. The seeming simplicity of Silly Bananas can appear to trivialize very real suffering.

Herein lies the important, and at least to me, unspoken truth. We can't do it alone. Having a therapist, bodyworker, pastor, friend or family member acknowledge that we are hurting is just as important as the effort we are making to heal. This isn’t a shove-it-under-the-rug situation. The compassionate and courageous attempt to change our minds can only happen if someone is holding our heart at the same time.

If there is no one, and for some of us there isn't, we have to consider what we might be able to tolerate–a support group, a religious or spiritual community, a help line, a yoga class--to feel seen and heard. If none of that appeals, we can still use the Curable app, DNRS, the Gupta Method, or John Sarno’s Method, with the caveat that it might be harder and take longer because sometimes it will feel too overwhelming. It's not the best case scenario, but it can help to be honest about our limitations so that we can still improve.

As for me, I am standing behind Silly Bananas. It is my 3 Stooges approach for transforming “falls” into “prat falls.”