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Key Takeaways:

• Visualization reveals tics as exiled parts of self needing acceptance
• Listening to tics with compassion rather than resisting transforms them
• Self-compassion meditation can gradually reduce tic intensity

As someone who has struggled with debilitating motor tics for decades, I've tried just about every conventional treatment out there to no avail. Medications masked the symptoms but brought brutal side effects. Therapy helped me manage my feelings about the tics, but didn't stop them. I felt utterly powerless against the urges overtaking my body hundreds of times a day.

In desperation, I recently started experimenting with guided visualization and meditation specifically focused on connecting with the tics at their source. What I discovered astonished me.

Sitting still and tuning into my breath, I began asking inward questions like: "If this tic had a shape, what would it be?" "What color is it?" "If it had a voice, what would it say?" I let the answers flow...

Key Takeaways:

• Gently lean into urge to tic; find "edge" area where tension accumulates
• Breathe deeply into neck instead of tensing against sensations 
• Befriending discomfort this way eases intensity over time

For over 20 years, I've had an uncontrollable neck tic that has caused me great distress. Out of the blue, my neck starts violently jerking over and over, like I'm uncontrollably headbanging at a rock concert. It's distracting, painful, and isolating. I've tried desperately to stop it or hide it out of embarrassment, but these neck tics have a force of their own. 

Like many with Tourette's syndrome, I used to berate myself for these tics, as if I could willpower them away through frustration alone. But of course that only heightens the tension driving these impulses. I'm now learning the power of cultivating compassionate awareness of the tics rather than judging them. 

One mindfulness exercise that has been profoundly healing is to lean gently into the urge...

 Key Takeaways:

• Voluntarily leaning into blinking urge in an exaggerated way helps
• Then taking slow deep breaths while holding eye tic position  
• Makes me friend not enemy; repeated practice rewires response 

For over a decade, I've had an uncontrollable tic in my left eye that just won't quit. Out of nowhere, my eye starts rapid twitching and fluttering dozens of times a day. As you can imagine, it's distracting, disruptive, and downright maddening at times. I can't tell you how many strange looks I've gotten over the years from people wondering what the heck is wrong with me. 

Like many with motor tics, I often feel frustrated and judged when the tic acts up. It's an involuntary impulse I have no control over in the moment. When the ticging starts, it's like my eye has a mind of its own. I used to berate myself thinking "Why can't I just be normal and make this stop?" But the negative self-talk only makes the urge to tic even stronger. It's a vicious...