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       # 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?
       
 (DIR) 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.
       
 (DIR) Based on Tantra For The West by Marcus Allan
       
       tags:   health,self-help
       
       # Tags
       
 (DIR) health
 (DIR) self-help