Hey guys,

I just wanted to throw something out here for the group that really, really, really helped me in my journey through this. More than any other single thing.

Every night in bed, the last thing I would do before mercifully passing out (if it was in the cards for that night) was close my eyes, breathe deeply, and pick a specific scene in my life BEFORE RSD when I was in full health.

I would recreate this scene in my mind with as much detail as I could muster up, and LIVE IT all over again.

Example: A morning walk through the woods in the fall.

I would place myself in the middle of the woods by my childhood home. As vividly as possible, I would:

Feel the wind I am creating on my face and hands as I pick my way around trees and logs and rocks. Hear the sound of my footsteps crackling through the leaves on the ground. Watch my bare feet step one in front of the other. Feel where they meet and leave the earth on each and every step. I look up and see the sunlight trickling through the canopy of bright red and orange and gold leaves above me, feel it warm my face and smile, and look back down to see it make beautiful criss-crossing light patterns and shadows on the ground. I listen to the birds singing back and forth to one another. I feel the temperature, the density of the morning hanging in the air, and breathe in that crispy smoky smell of autumn into my nostrils. I walk to a small stream and step into it toes first with bare feet, and lean down to bring a double cupful of the crystal clear refreshing water to my lips for a drink. Feel the rivulets of cold water run down my cheeks and neck. See the droplets hit the water and break up my shimmering pooled reflection with tiny waves meshing into the current moving downstream.

And so on and so forth

I would recreate the entire scene using every one of my senses as much as I possibly could. I found that a focus on my affected limb being whole and healthy and functional within the scene brought even more positive effects.


If you want to try this --- Whatever scene/memory you choose is obviously personal to you, but I would recommend that you pick one that's got MOVEMENT in it. Specifically motion that involves your affected limb(s).

Don't worry if you find that your memory of the scene you've chosen is filled with gaps (mine was). I would fill in any gaps in the scene with my own imagination. It didn't matter - my mind made it real. Same thing goes if you have full body spread, or other non-RSD ailments, and/or the pain is so great that past memories are too hazy to access. Even if you don't have any memories of full health - create your own personal scene of beautiful, full health from scratch.

It was very difficult at first, with pain always trying to pull me right back out of the moment I was creating. At first I couple barely focus, so I chose much more abbreviated scenes (like doing the triple jump in high school - fifteen steps plus a hop, skip, and a jump - had to have a strong right leg to do THAT!)

There was still that sense of despair in the background that my REALITY sucked, but I gradually got better and better and better at it.

I just did 5-10 minutes every night at first. You might prefer less, or more. The key is repetition - like everything else. Frequency.

Anyways, just putting this out there in the loving hope that this helps someone break on through to the other side.