View source | |
# 2024-01-04 - Focusing And Getting Clear | |
These are two similar processes that i have found helpful for dealing | |
with complex personal problems. The problems may be complex, but the | |
process is fairly simple. | |
# Focusing | |
## 1. Clear a space | |
How are you? What's between you and feeling fine? Don't answer; let | |
what comes in your body do the answering. Don't go into anything. | |
Greet each concern that comes. Put each side for a while, next to | |
you. Except for that, are you fine? | |
## 2. Felt sense | |
Pick one problem to focus on. Don't go into the problem. What do you | |
sense in your body when you recall the whole of that problem? Sense | |
all of that, the sense of the whole thing, the murky discomfort or | |
the unclear body-sense of it. | |
## 3. Get a handle | |
What is the quality of the felt sense? What one word, phrase, or | |
image comes out of this felt sense? What quality-word would fit | |
better? | |
## 4. Resonate | |
Go back and forth between the word (or image) and the felt sense. If | |
they match, have the sensation of matching several times. If the felt | |
sense changes, follow it with your attention. | |
When you get a perfect match, the words (images) being just right for | |
this feeling, let yourself feel that for a minute. | |
## 5. Ask | |
What is it about the whole problem, that makes me so _____? | |
When stuck, ask questions: | |
* What is the worst of this feeling? | |
* What's really so bad about this? | |
* What does it need? | |
* What should happen? | |
Don't answer; wait for the feeling to stir and give you an answer. | |
What would it feel like if it was all OK? | |
Let the body answer: What is in the way of that? | |
## 6. Receive | |
Welcome what came. Be glad it spoke. It is only one step on this | |
problem, not the last. Now that you know where it is, you can leave | |
it and come back to it later. Protect it from critical voices that | |
interrupt. | |
Does your body want another round of focusing, or is this a good | |
stopping place? | |
Based on Focusing by Eugene Gendling | |
# Getting Clear | |
This is a 4-step exercise to be done when you are feeling | |
uncomfortable, emotionally upset, pressuring yourself to make a | |
decision, or any time you wish to get more deeply in touch with | |
yourself. | |
1. Ask yourself a question which confronts or examines the feelings | |
you are experiencing. | |
* What am i telling myself right now? | |
* What is the truth for me about _____? | |
* What am i feeling right now? | |
2. Answer yourself with the very first words that come into your | |
mind, without censoring anything. | |
3. Acknowledge yourself, each time you answer, by saying "Thank you!" | |
to yourself for sharing these feelings. Then repeat these steps | |
again, and again--until you finally arrive at an answer which | |
sheds the light of clear understanding upon your situation. You'll | |
know when it happens because you will suddenly feel better, | |
clearer, more aware of your feelings and attitudes, and more aware | |
of your options. | |
4. Share your discovery with someone else, within a day or two. Even | |
if you have to call or write somebody, it is important to share | |
your feelings and your insight with someone you are close to. This | |
finalizes the whole process. | |
This exercise is so simple--yet so powerful! It brings to the surface | |
all the feelings which we are experiencing on deep levels that we | |
don't allow ourselves to examine consciously because they're not | |
'nice' feelings. Once they surface, and once we accept them, they | |
lose their power. It is important not to reject these feelings--by | |
rejecting them, we are giving them power to run our lives. | |
Based on Tantra For The West by Marcus Allan | |
tags: health,self-help | |
# Tags | |
health | |
self-help |