In April of 2014, I moved from Wyoming to Colorado. With a toddler. (I feel like that statement is an important addendum to pretty much everything. I used the restroom – with a toddler. I cooked dinner – with a toddler.)

Moving is probably my least favorite thing, ever. EVER.

Moving is not only stressful, but it’s an enormous transition. My husband and I have done it many times in our married life, and so I knew what I was in for, pretty much. (Except for the “with a toddler” part.)

With any major life transition comes an opportunity for my mind to create a mind-body syndrome. (Also known as TMS, or tension myositis syndrome.) In his book, The Mindbody Prescription, Dr. John Sarno lists all the various life stressors that can bring on TMS. Moving is pretty high up on the list, so I was on high alert during the transition. The mind can be pretty cagey, and when things get overwhelming and it doesn’t want to face them, it will start suppressing emotions, engaging in thought patterns that aren’t helpful, and generally creating enough tension in the body to start a pain syndrome.

 Having dealt with and recovered from a variety of forms of TMS in my body in the past (including vulvodynia and interstitial cystitis), I am pretty aware of the whole pattern. However, that doesn’t mean I’m immune to TMS. In fact, Monte Hueftle, a fellow mind-body coach, suggests that those of us with mind-body syndrome will always have it, and that our minds will create symptoms if we don’t stay aware of our emotional inner experience. The syndrome only becomes active when we’re NOT aware of the inner emotional landscape. I could not agree more!

Having mind-body syndrome is not a life sentence. It’s simply a great piece of self-awareness. If you know that you have had TMS before, you know that you can have it again. But that’s not a problem – it’s simply a thing to know about yourself. Then, you can stay aware and stay tuned in to yourself.

During a major transition, my suppression tendencies kick in and I start avoiding my emotions, not connecting to myself, and burying important truths from myself. Knowing this, I paid attention as we began the moving process, staying as aware as I possibly could. All was well until about a month after we’d settled into our new house.

One day, I noticed a twinge in my knee. A few days later, it seemed a bit worse. My mind started to ponder it. Had I twisted it? Had I fallen? I couldn’t remember. Then, it hit me like a ton of bricks. TMS! Post-move syndrome, for sure.

I wasn’t excited, by any means, to have a bit of TMS showing up, but I also felt relief. I am so familiar with good ol’ TMS that I just employed the basic process I always use. I connected with my body each day, felt my emotions, worked with mind-patterns that were causing stress, and re-connected with my inner wisdom.

I’ve spent so much of my life tweaking how I release TMS when it shows up that I’ve created a fairly efficient system. Working with clients has forced me to get really clear, really simple, and really focused with my techniques, which definitely comes in handy when I need to help myself.

I call this process I’ve developed the KIND Process.

I had completely let my daily practice of the KIND Process go during the month after we moved (with a toddler!). As a result, my mind was going into its old stress patterns and pain was showing up. A quick redirect back to my TMS self-care program and the knee pain vanished.

I’m sharing this story because I know many of you worry that your physical pain won’t be relieved by a TMS practice. I’ve tested it out yet again (you’re welcome!) and am here to tell you, it works. The mind creates tension and pain when we’re disconnected from ourselves, and it’s really as simple as a quick reconnection process to heal ourselves.

It’s even smarter to do this connection as your maintenance plan.

Sometimes you might forget or simply get off track, but in the end, it’s ok. You can ALWAYS get back on track again.

If you’d like to learn the efficient process I’ve created after over ten years of self-healing and six years of coaching others around TMS/mind-body syndrome, then hop on over to sign up for the Kindness Community interest list. The community is going to be the home base for everything I create in the near future. It’s where I’ll teach you the KIND Process, other mind-body tools I use for myself and clients, and how self-kindness creates healing on all levels.