Lighten up"...Elizabeth Bohorquez, RN, C.Ht
We all have dark sides, but how we manage them makes all the difference in how we get to perceive & then live our lives. Our experiences equal the amount of light we choose to shine our way, as well as what we choose to share with the world at large. Keep in mind that we are walking billboards, advertising our behaviors & emotional marinade.
DIRECTION - IT'S TIME FOR INNER SCHOOLING
Staying focused on emotional states & what's underneath them is easier said than done.....unless you have been schooled in the practice of Heightened Awareness. This includes emotional & thought management, as well as the physical sensations or body communications. Just about everything is tied up in this nutshell. Here's the catch....learn these skills, or your emotions & thoughts will not only rule you, but your body as well & this can be a huge gamble.
As strange as it sounds, we only have a vague idea of what we look like on the outside. Many of us can't bear looking at self-photographs & work hard to keep cameras away. Even if we like the way we look, what we get to see is only a momentary image caught by the lens, now seen through our own perception & inner judging program. For certain, we do remain a mystery, both outside & inside.
A very large percentage of what resides inside of us, physical or emotional, tends to remain mysterious for most of our lives, mainly because we're not attentive to the clues sent up by the body departments. Sometimes we awaken if the body part screams lloud enough, but even then, little is done about the underlying cause. We may turn to medication to obliterate the symptom, or to another substance to mask the truths. If the family & personal history pulls towards addiction, these symptoms then become the hooks & an unhealthy pattern of behavior is actually etched into the subconscious mind.
KNOWLEDGE HOOK - WORKING WITH MOMENTS
The practice of Interactive Awareness helps us to work where the action is, right in the middle of the moment. When working with the skill of isolating moments it is important to have a working image tool, representative of an actual moment. In my practice, students & readers/listeners of my books & CD's work with dry lentils, keeping a jar of them on their desk. Some have two jars. One symbolizes moments that are left in life & the other representing those that were missed due to inattentiveness.
Of course wse cannot catch all moments, but we certainly want to catch key moments.
I came to notice that when I am involved in my disorderly eating patterns, my body fills with tension. I'm a runner & on those days my injuries feel even worse. Perhaps the most frightening thing to me is the feeling of underlying anxiety that doesn't seem to be connected to anything that is going on in my life. This is called GAD, or generalized anxiety disorder. My concentration & focus are off & my emotions are in roller-coaster mode.
INTO THE BODY
We begin our quest for Heightened Awareness in the body & begin to work with a tool called mental biofeedback or body scanning. This mind-tool holds a big advantage because in any moment in time, the person practicing mental biofeedback can release & change a body sensation, an emotion or a thought. There are also other advantages. As one learns to observe the momentary body sensations over a period of time, the body sensation patterns become clear. One can observe how they are attached to particular emotional states, or perhaps to tiriggers such as situations or relationships.
Another advantage is the feeling of self-confidence in being able to change an unpleasant or frightening sensation, ritht in the moment, whether it be peaking or just beginning to build. This includes behavioral or emotional patterns as well.
CONTAINMENTS & RELEASE
Containments are invaluable because they allow us to work in big areas of our lives without feeling overwhelmed. Body sensations can be overwhelming, especially if they are not contained or released. In addition, if a sensation is not released, the mindbody connection will produce even more. This is because the mindbody senses this as a "goal." The only way for us to tell the mindbody that we don't want something is to practice the skill of "release."
MIND EXERCISE
Take a moment to relax deeply. Locate your mind screen on the back of your eyelids. Now draw or think a circle around your head. Notice that the cells move apart from each other. When we are tense, the cells tighten up, literally hugging each other. The circle is the image that instructs them to part, floating away from each other. Make some inner circles around your eyes, TMJ joints & chin, once more noticing the cells floating apart.
Now place a circle around the front of your neck & then the back. Pay attention to the cells floating. Travel down & encircle your right shoulder.....cells floating.....left shoulder....cells floating. You get the idea. Place a large bag around your right & left arms, inviting the cells to float. Circle around your chest & next the lower abdomen, following the same process. As you do this, you might notice some body parts calling out. They do this by reporting a sensation. Simply notice & place a circled around it. That's all. Now, place a large bag around your left leg & then the right. You know the drill.
When you have finished, mind-draw a golden egg shape around all of you, so you are actually contained inside of it. This is your private place on the face of the earth & from this position you can now program your mind screen for observing thoughts & emotions.
It's very important to release your body frequently. Once you skill-build, it can actually be accomplished in 1/200th of a second, just by having a flash image of your process. Then, you are ready for high level, mind screen performance.
Each moment carries a series of body sensations, emotions & thoughts. As you work to catch these in the practice of deep relaxation, noticing & release, you will then be able to edit or change them, right then & there. As you catch & open, the subconscious mind is also ready for new programming.
