subliminal tapes
I bought a book and tape through Amazon.com called Prepare for
Surgery, Heal Faster. It came with a tape that helped me go through
the process of deeply relaxing and then visualizing the healing and
outcomes I am hoping for. I found it VERY helpful. The relaxing
part really did relax me and after a few practices I got very good at
picking and visualizing things — the tape gives you a chance to
visualize three different things each time you use it — so I
visualized a successful surgery, my body healing and my body slimming
down. Now that I’m past surgery I am still visualizing healing and
slimming but I’ve added visualizing myself doing some of the things I
haven’t been able to do while MO, like playing frisbee with my kids.
It’s very restful, very positive.
In case you’re not sure this stuff ‘works’, I had a serious knee
injury the month I was supposed to have WLS and I switched to
visualizing healing in my knee. On every occasion I laid down unable
to bend my knee at all, but a mere half an hour later I could fully
bend my knee. That was the concrete proof I sometimes need that the
relaxation and visualization actually DO something real. I would
highly recommend using some process of relaxation and visualization
as you approach surgery — it replaces the anxiety and worrying your
mind might be doing otherwise. Laura