light therapy

Fight or Flight Light Therapy – Checkup #4

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I had my last checkup with Dr. Tessler who does Fight or Flight Light Therapy. My “circle” has expanded even more.

Positives that I see:

  • I feel calmer. When the storms of life rage around me, I feel a sense of calm.
  • I can better see the whole picture. This means that I can make decisions better, procrastinate less often.
  • I am agitated less often. I still have work in this area, but I have seen improvement.
  • My massage lady said that my shoulders weren’t as tense.

Even though I think I could still improve, I do not need to come back any longer. I do have some homework though. Dr. Tessler wants me to keep my current light and do three 30 minute sessions a week for 3 months. The reason is that I am currently going through a divorce (one of the reasons why I did this therapy – to cope better). The divorce should be over in 2 months. Doing these sessions, should keep me calmer and focused and just solidify all the changes that I have experienced already. After 3 months, I can sit with my light as needed.

To summarize: My main goal when I started the therapy – to help me cope with life better.That has been achieved. My original score on the questionnaire (that measures your stress level) was 153. Now it is 49. Under 50 is normal. Yay!

My initial evaluation

Checkup #1

Checkup #2

Checkup #3

Fight or Flight Therapy – Checkup #3

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I had my 3rd checkup with Dr. Tessler for my Light Therapy. My “circle” is still expanding. I am actually feeling calmer. I had some life things come at me during this last light filter and I was able to keep calm. I’m wondering if it’s just luck or am I really calmer? I wonder if my calmness is situational. Sometimes I don’t feel all that calm with my kids. But still…

I continue to see the “bigger picture”. This means that when something comes at me (like conflict, a negative email, etc) I’m able to look beyond my initial reaction and respond. I don’t just “react”, I “respond” in an appropriate way. I’m able to see people who I might consider an “enemy” in a different light and have some compassion for them. I can see alternatives.

Interesting changes… I’m still waiting to see if these are temporary and what will happen in the long run.

For now, I’m on my 4th filter. This may or may not be my last. It depends on how well I respond to it. I’m still moving at a snail’s pace in terms of progress – moving, but not huge amounts.

My initial evaluation

Checkup #1

Checkup #2

Checkup #4

Fight or Flight Therapy – Checkup #2

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I finished my next round of light sessions with light filter # 2 and went back to Dr. Tessler for a “check-up”. As per the routine, he redid his tests on me. My “circle” did grow a little. For an explanation of the “circle”, see here. I am progressing, but my progress is slow.

Changes I have seen:

  • Something happened that I would normally stew over for days. I was fine 24 hours later.
  • I am not afraid to pull into a parking space between 2 small cars. I used to fear not being able to judge distance and hit the car next to me. I still have issues if I were pulling in between 2 trucks, but at least there has been some progress.
  • When someone invaded my boundary, I was able to see what I needed to do next to set a proper boundary. Normally, an incident would happen and all I can do is feel the emotions surrounding it, but not know what to do next.

Overall, I’m getting to see the big picture, but I am still far from where I’d like to be.

With this new light filter, I will now have to do 40 sessions due to my slow progress. If I can find time for 2 session a day, I can get done faster.

My initial evaluation

Checkup #1

Checkup #3

Checkup #4

Fight of Flight Light Therapy – Checkup #1

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As mentioned before, I am going through Dr Tessler’s Fight or Flight Light Therapy to help treat my PTSD. I did the initial 30 sessions of light therapy with my first light filter and came back to his office for a “check up”.

At the check up, I repeated my initial tests described here. My circle had “widened” outward by about an inch. Not much, but it is progress. This means that I can handle stress a bit more.

Changes that I’ve seen? It’s hard to tell what are “true” changes, not something good that has happened once and won’t be repeated again. Some possible changes are my ability to organize my life better. I was able to organize my child’s birthday party. It was still a challenge, but I was more focused on what had to be done, rather than totally overwhelmed by everything going on. Was this just a good day? I don’t know.

Another possible change I’ve seen is that I’ve been able to visualize a schedule for my homeschool day. Normally, my brain couldn’t wrap itself around what a schedule would look like. I had no idea where to start. This year, I can better visualize it and came up with one easily.

I went home with another light filter – a yellow-green one – and will do 30 more sessions before my next check up.