The Best Books on Tension Myositis Syndrome / MindBody Syndrome
The majority of people who recover from TMS read at least one TMS book for guidance and inspiration. There are some publications which have become ‘classics’ in the TMS world, and which I usually recommend to my clients to help them along their journey.
Most books on Tension Myositis Syndrome are written by individuals, including doctors and practitioners, who have dealt with TMS first-hand, and recovered successfully. They will help you understand the mindbody connection and the mechanics of chronic pain more thoroughly, and inspire you with the author’s unique perspective and narrative.
Top 5 TMS / PRT Books
Healing Back Pain - The Mind-Body Connection (Dr. John E. Sarno) - the book famous for curing people from chronic pain after they read it, this certainly ranks in at number one. Although it’s been published many years ago, and doesn’t explain many techniques at length, it does provide the groundwork for understanding and working on TMS, and also includes Sarno’s 12 Daily Reminders for people with TMS.
The Great Pain Deception: Faulty Medical Advice Is Making Us Worse (Ozanich, Steven Ray) - a lengthier read that’s ideal for those looking for insight and inspiration, Ozanich tackles various aspects of TMS which Sarno only mentions in brief. The book takes the form of a narrative, walking through Steve’s traumatic life experiences and his long years of suffering from chronic pain. He describes the intense mental challenge he underwent once he realised that the pain was TMS, and how he finally overcome chronic pain through fully embodying Sarno’s mindbody principles.
You can buy the Great Pain Deception on Amazon*.
The Hidden Psychology of Pain: The Use of Understanding to Heal Chronic Pain (Alexander, Dr. James) - a great educational take on TMS healing, Alexander helps you understand the workings of TMS, such as the distinction between acute pain and chronic pain, and delves deep into the workings of the subconscious mind and how childhood trauma affects our pain levels.
Alexander goes further by elaborating on additional techniques or factors that help with recovery, such as the importance of sleep, and the use of EFT techniques. Buy The Hidden Psychology of Pain on Amazon*.
Unlearn Your Pain: A 28 Day Process to Reprogram Your Brain (Dr. Howard Schubiner) - Schubiner’s book provides a step-by-step process to heal from TMS, by helping readers determine whether or not they are suffering from the condition, then guiding them through various insights and exercises. Unlearn Your Pain is designed in the form of a practical workbook, and has had incredible reviews thanks to its ability to make TMS and neuroscience principles easy to understand and apply.
Think Away Your Pain ( Dr. David Schechter, M.D.) - this book is focused on how to change the neural circuitry of the brain by working with one’s thoughts and beliefs through a systematic method that readers can easily follow. The book is ideal for those looking for the scientific evidence behind TMS and who would like to deepen their understanding of neuroscience so they can apply this knowledge to their own TMS recovery.
The Way Out (Alan Gordon with Alon Ziv) - this book might not make mention of TMS or Dr Sarno’s work on the mindbody connection (which, in my opinion, is a great pity), but its teachings are gold nevertheless. Alan has an incredibly witty and humorous way of dealing with an otherwise ‘pain-ful’ subject.
The Way Out is based on Scientific studies into the nature of chronic pain, highlighting how the brain actually changes in people with pain (and how it can change again once they are pain-free). It has some important lessons on fear, and introduces you to the concept of Pain Reprocessing Therapy - which is a technique for feeling safer with symptoms and lowering the fear levels that are responsible for generating them.
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Tension Myositis Syndrome Recovery Program - helping you get committed
TMS books on their own can be of enormous help in recovery, and one or two may even be enough for someone to experience good progress.
I myself read Dr Sarno’s Healing Back Pain during my recovery period. However, one other crucial thing that I did was follow through a hands-on program that increased my level of commitment. I used to work on a different exercise each day (which included different ways of journalling and self-expression in writing, as well as practicing thought-redirection techniques and meditating).
I attribute my successful recovery to the fact that I worked on an aspect of TMS every single day, to my 100% commitment, and also to my psychologist back then, who, despite never having heard of TMS, quickly understood what I was going through, and taught me different mindfulness meditation techniques.
Path to Pain Free - A 25 Lesson Resource & Membership Program to Overcome MindBody Pain and Pave Your Way to a More Fulfilling Life!
When I became a Coach myself, I knew that I wanted to share the knowledge in the best way possible, and to make it easier for other people to recover from TMS.
In my case, I had to google for different resources online, at the risk of feeling overwhelmed, and I had to keep myself focused and disciplined, as a way of striking a balance between doing too little or too much (yes, you can do ‘too much’ TMS work!).
The Path to Pain Free Members Group
Path to Pain Free is a membership giving you access to Resources designed to teach you all you need to know about TMS pain and what actions to take to overcome it.
Members get access to bi-monthly Live Calls with Miriam & Duncan Clarke.
In 2020, I collaborated with another TMS Coach and MindBody Practitioner, Duncan Clarke, so that both of us could provide our own personal and professional insights into TMS recovery.
That’s how Path to Pain Free was born, first as an ebook, and now in its current form as a supportive Membership Group.
The Membership Group aims to make you aware of all the subconscious thought and behavioural patterns that keep TMS pain alive.
The Resources consist of 25 lessons plus additional resources including meditations, PRT techniques and more.
Each lesson is followed by a specific task that will help you tackle a particular aspect or trigger of TMS.
As you start incorporating your new knowledge and gaining more awareness of unhelpful beliefs and behaviours that you’ve been carrying around, you will start adopting a new identity - that of a person who is free of pain.
Most importantly, you will learn how to deal with pain when it arises, by responding differently, and thus changing your neural circuitry in the process. This, I believe, is one of the most important inner shifts required to heal from TMS.
Find our more about Path to Pain Free Members Group and how to join us here!