Don't overthink it
I haven't been writing here as much recently as I've been extra-focused on my process in the protocol. But during this extended period back on pause I've naturally done a lot of thinking and exploring with the aim of getting back off pause. One result is a small backlog of ideas for posts that haven't seen the light of day. So here's the first of these ideas in the hope that it may provide some food for thought. I'll provide others in subsequent posts, and will of course report on any significant developments along the way...
Having spent most of my adult life as an analytical sort, I naturally brought that to my work in the JH protocol. On the plus side, all that analysis has produced helpful insights with regard to recovery. At times, though, it's been a hindrance as I've overthought or overcomplicated things that derive much of their potency from their very simplicity. (It makes sense that such overthinking would be a common feature of the Parkinson's personality. For a couple of examples see RFP, 2020, p. 328; SOP, 2022, p. 183.) Let me try to break down where detailed analysis has proved helpful and where it can become overthinking.
Notice that the core of the protocol is conceptually quite simple: Talk with your Friend, feel their presence, and thereby come to feel safe. And in my very limited observation those who have had the fastest recoveries have not overcomplicated things. Rather, they've simply launched into the process and, often fairly quickly, commenced recovery. Let that be a proviso concerning this whole post. It's possible the fastest results come without a lot of detailed analysis.
That said, if you're the analytical type (as many who are on pause seem to be) you may find yourself, as I did, doing a lot of thinking about how you might intensify or speed up the process. For me, this has been fruitful in a couple of ways. First, on average, about every couple of days, I seem to develop some new insight I can apply to my practice. Probably only a minority of these insights turn out to truly help the process. But all of them have a certain beneficial effect: They fuel my optimism and thus improve my mood. And that, in turn, improves conditions for turning off pause.
An example of one of these insights comes from a couple days ago. I was focusing on simple connection with my Friend, the “companionable silence” if you will, recognizing it as closely connected with the first of the two core exercises. I was noticing that just staying with that connection was enough to generate really good feelings. I concluded I may have long underestimated the potency of the first core exercise, in and of itself, assuming, perhaps incorrectly, that the second exercise was by far the more powerful of the two. I'm now thinking I might do well to put more energy into enhancing that simple connection. This is one of those insights that may well prove to be of real value in my practice, and may merit its own future post. I'm currently watching to see how it plays out.
But when does thinking and analysis turn into overthinking, hindering progress? A couple of examples:
I've heard others who were beginning with the protocol ask questions like, “How can I feel safe in a world of climate change, war, and political unrest?” For some, such a view can be an obstacle to getting started with the protocol. An answer might be, “Are you safe from immediate threats... right now?” But some folks will come back with something like, “But anything could happen at any time!” So I think the answer that really covers it is, “You're overthinking it.” To keep this brief, I'll let you, reader, ponder that. At the risk of being annoying, I'll say that if you're struggling to find the truth in that answer you're probably overthinking it. :–)
For another example of overthinking, a couple of months ago, in dialogue with my Friend, I found myself grappling with the question of whether it was okay or made sense to feel my Friend holding me while at the same time asking to feel her presence. (I'm referring here to the second core exercise.) “Aren't they two separate and different things?” I wondered. “Does it make any sense that they could go together?” Fairly quickly the answer came from my Friend: “Don't overthink it.” Overthinking it was simply wasting time. Letting go of the question and just doing what I felt, or what my Friend suggested, I was back on track.
So I'm inclined to think an analytical approach, mulling over ideas related to the protocol can, at times, be productive. But note the proviso that just going with it without getting into a lot of analysis may have even better results. And since it's easy to overcomplicate things enough to impede progress, perhaps the general rule should be... when in doubt, consider that you might be overthinking it.