Advice on Spiritual Practice (?)
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"Meditation gives you a seat in the theater of awareness. The mind can't focus on two things at once. Dropping the story cuts the fuel line to the emotion. The feelings fade away. Calm returns." - Amy Gross
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By "systematic relaxation" relaxation\ I meant the stuff that's in a hundred different books involving placing attention on each piece of the body from toes to head, alternating left and then right side, and contracting then relaxing each piece, etc. Several variations, but anyone who has read more than 3 occult books has likely run into it
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@Aegis said
"I used not to be so. Somewhere along the way, I guess I started working on repressed anger and silenced self-expression, and so... Hence all the anal-expressive "art" and tangents. I guess? It's been healthy for me. And unhealthy. It's been like... clearing a clogged pipe with pressure. "
One way of looking at this change is that you are learning to focus your energies, and this will naturally involve some swinging over to the pillar of severity. If this is the case then I can relate to your impatience. What I have had to learn, and I am still learning, is that this newly found seriousness is something I can really only expect of myself. At the same time, the pressure is building, and one needs to find or create a situation that is capable of taking and directing this intensity.
The occult is filled with a lot of people who are overly causal about the work, imho. That's fine, I guess it works for them at this moment in their journey. But I know, if I were to make commitments to any of these groups, these less than serious organizations or people I would be reading the riot act to them in no time at all!
I know there is imbalance here, but I am equally certain that the best way to reestablish this balance is through my ability to respect the need in this moment of my life to be a little unbalanced. Tomorrow, when I have acclimated to the drill, and I have found the situation that will take my work and be happy that I am working, then there will be time to do the other, to return to the dinners with good friends and the occasional party where too much weed and booze is consumed because it will be the necessary antidote to the intensity of the work.
It just might be your time to get serious.
Love and Will
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@Jim Eshelman said
"By "systematic relaxation" relaxation\ I meant the stuff that's in a hundred different books involving placing attention on each piece of the body from toes to head, alternating left and then right side, and contracting then relaxing each piece, etc. Several variations, but anyone who has read more than 3 occult books has likely run into it
"I've read occultism worth hundreds or thousands of books, but I only know specifically about going through the whole body in one's mind in the way that people know about Britney Spears, that is, as basic common knowledge. Didn't know you meant that.
Now I go flagellate myself for my stupidity. -
Here are some general instructions - there are numerous small variations and adjunct techniques, but these are the basics:
Lie down on a hard surface. (The hard surface accentuates the fact that you are not fully relaxed.) Take a few deep cleansing breaths, rather in the manner of heavy sighs, and then proceed deliberately to relax the body, muscle by muscle. Start at the feet and work slowly upwards, mentally commanding each muscle to relax in turn, alternating sides of the body for each part (thus: left foot, then right foot; left ankle, then right ankle; etc. - it's important, in each case, to start on the left and then move to the right). This can be done simply by attention, or by clenching and then releasing each muscle set - experimentation will disclose which works better for you.
When you have gone through the whole body in this way, return to the feet and see if any muscles have tensed up again. Continue until there is no discernible residual tensing.
A test of relaxation is that if someone lifts one of your limbs it should fall back limply. If one has no helper, a good physical way to ensure relaxation of the limbs is to lift each one as slowly as possible, and then let it fall back to the resting position under the force of gravity.
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@Jim Eshelman said
"By "systematic relaxation" relaxation\ I meant the stuff that's in a hundred different books involving placing attention on each piece of the body from toes to head, alternating left and then right side, and contracting then relaxing each piece, etc. Several variations, but anyone who has read more than 3 occult books has likely run into it
"I do it daily - its also a part of Vipassana , it goes by 'progressive muscular relaxation' as well, and also i've read descriptions under intros to 'yoga nidra' too; let alone that it does make you achieve deep levels of relaxation - it also makes the whole body (with time) react as - for the lack of better wording - one big brain; intuition develops and what not.
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Great. I misposted, having confused the threads... what i posted in the other thread i meant to say here. I go to the corner now.
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