Session 5, The Sovereign Mind: Saying Yes to Life Through Presence
The goal is not to replace a negative documentary with a glowing one—Harris is blunt about the pitfalls of “high self-esteem” models and positive affirmations.
I first shared the following story three years ago:
Many decades ago, when I was single, my back suddenly “went out.” I was in such excruciating pain that I feared the slightest movement would inflict permanent injury.
I crawled on the floor and phoned friends. It was after midnight, but they called my doctor at home (as I said, this was a much different era). My physician said, Get him off the floor.
My pain was so severe that even my massage therapist friend was scared to move me. My attention was riveted on the pain and fearful thoughts about what the pain meant.
My friends spent the night; the following morning, they managed to get me off the floor.
Restoring full mobility took over a year of yoga instruction with a physical therapist. The therapist believed, too, that movement had to be reintroduced gradually.
Learning yoga was a boon. I became proficient enough to do proper headstands and handstands, but lingering pain persisted.
A few years later, my back went out again. By then, I had another tool in my healing arsenal: the pioneering work of the late medical heretic Dr. John Sarno.
Despite any evidence of structural issues, even “slipped disks,” Dr. Sarno believed that almost all back pain was psychogenic. Sarno explained how movement would signal the brain that there was nothing wrong with the back. The cure was “knowledge therapy”: read his books, accept the diagnosis, and get on with your life.
For me, it felt natural to protect my back and resist the pain. I assumed I’d have to reduce the pain before I could move. I was wrong. In truth, I had to move to ease the pain.
What I learned to do was lean into the pain until my attention shifted away from it. This is my experience and not medical advice. For more about Dr. Sarno’s work, see these books (here and here) and these articles (here and here).
Why am I sharing this story again during our Russ Harris sessions?