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From Karl Maven M.D.: For many years I have suffered from tension headaches that leave the back of my skull and neck tender and aching for days, even after the headache itself has passed. Last week, I remembered something you'd suggested in Magic in Practice (to 'let it be' and observe). I found the experience really scarey at first; I was afraid the pain would spiral out of control. But, then, to my astonishment, as I was silently asking and answering the question 'What's it like?', I had a spontaneous mental image of a rock being washed away by the rain, and there was a sudden, strange shift and a click that I'm sure was audible, and the headache literally dissolved. I have never felt pain disappear so quickly, even with the strongest medication. What on earth happened to it? Do I need to re-create the image of the rock next time I want to deal with pain? (I have tried the technique on two of my patients since then, and, although their experience wasn't so marked, they both reported considerable relief). I'm new to the subject-matter, and this book is very exciting to me. Thank you and congratulations. Your spirit of inquiry speeded up the process. Some people (particularly the more 'scientifically' oriented) are reluctant genuinely to test something like this until someone else, preferably a Nobel Laureate, has published a paper in a peer-reviewed journal. Magic in Practice is seeking to encourage practitioners of all specialisations to trust their own senses as well as the findings of others. This process works. It requires that we surrender to the present experience (in other words, temporarily to move out of resistance) which, we suspect, triggers a system-wide ability to auto-regulate. Many people find it extraordinarily difficult to answer the question 'What's it like' non-inferentially. There is often an overriding compulsion to make judgements and transmit stories. Avoid this and discourage your patients from doing the same. You simply want sensory-based information (shape, size, colour, weight, temperature etc). The imagery sometimes occurs, but not always. It is seldom, if ever, the same from one time to another, so simply allow it (and anything else that occurs) to happen in its own way, at its own rate and speed. We should say that not everyone has as dramatic a response as you. Often it is slower, more subtle - even to the extent that they forget doing the exercise until a little later when they notice the symptom has changed or disappeared. But, as with every new skill, the skill is in the practice (ambiguity intended). GT
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