The practice: relax as much tension in your body as you can.
By relaxing, you automatically enter the present moment.
As you move your attention around your body, finding areas to release tension, you build more presence.
Which allows your body, your fascia, to resonate, like a tuning fork, with the present moment.
All you have to do is relax and resonate.
Love all the parts. Even the painful ones. Especially the painful ones.
The tired ones. The scared ones. The worried ones. The hurt ones. The angry ones. The shameful ones. The guilty ones. The sad ones. The disappointed ones. The ones that think they aren't good enough. The ones that don't want to get into trouble anymore.
The ones who just want a break.
Love all your parts.
Doing inner work is hard.
Especially with parts of us burdened with intense, negative emotions.
I learned about a framework for working with these parts. It's called RAIN. (Shoutout @know for sharing this with me)
R: Recognize
A: Accept without an agenda
I: Compassionately investigate
N: Nurture
Whenever a part arises:
We recognize what type of part it is
We accept it
We become curious about it
And then we do whatever we need to do to nurture this part back into health
The other day I ordered a small pizza for lunch.
Afterwards, I went for a walk and felt a craving to eat the leftovers.
I stopped, recognized that this was a part, allowed it to exist, and started to investigate.
I asked it where it was coming from and it told me that wasting food wasn't good.
I asked that part where it learned that, and the part zips me over to a younger version of myself.
Shamed by my parents for not finishing my lentil soup.
I look at that young boy, crying on the dining table, and I bring myself into that image with him.
I pull up a chair, put my hand on his head, and tell him that it will be alright and that he isn't alone.
I eat with him, and we finish. I tell him that I am there for him and that he doesn't need to worry again.
I tell him that if food goes to waste in the future, I will deal with it. He doesn't need to.
A shift occurs.
That craving turns into an intention to go home and throw the pizza out. And that is exactly what happens.
I throw it out.
Feeling no desire to eat it, when a few moments ago, it was all I wanted.
"All statements are equally true" - Jim Leonard
How? Context.
When looking at the sun with green-tinted sunglasses, the statement: "The sun is green" is very true.
In that context, the sun is green. But it's also true that the sun is blue, red, pink, and all the other colours. What matters is the context, or what sunglasses you have on.
Our minds work like sunglasses, but it's not one pair. Imagine a "pocket dimension" that stores sunglasses. An infinite hallway storing all types of sunglasses.
When you put on a pair of glasses, you adopt certain assumptions about the world that come with them.
Some of these glasses are helpful, but many are not.
And they determine our lives.
But the awesome thing about being human is that we can choose which sunglasses to wear.
How?
1. Words are magic. Use words to create a statement that represents the new context you want to live in
ex: "It's okay for me to do things without others permission."
2. Mentally repeat that statement to yourself, then listen for parts of you that object to it. Note down their fears.
ex: "No! It's not okay, it's too hard, you need other people's help"
3. For each fear, construct a new statement that addresses that part's fears
ex: "It's completely safe for me to do things with others permission"
4. Then prove to the objecting part how this new statement is true -- feel the part, accept it, or reject it.
ex: "Remember when we closed that deal without anyone telling us to? Doesn't that support this new context?"
5. If you feel resonance with the statement, move on to the next objection
ex: "It's okay for me to do things without others permission"
6. Repeat 2-5 until the original statement becomes true for your system.
This works because all statements are true. You can find contexts for them.
You are always happy.
You are always sad.
Both are true in different contexts.
Here is how this change process works:
Your mind is a 'pocket dimension' that already holds contexts. When you introduce a new context, the entire system of contexts changes.
Conflicts in assumptions and beliefs arise. But, by addressing each one, you can install new software.
All statements are true, you have complete control over your mind.
All that it wants and needs is proof.
All spiritual practice leads you to this basic routine:
1) Ask the body, "What now?"
2) Recieve an answer
3) Act on that answer
The mind is there to help us work with the body. It's not the source of knowing. It's the facilitator.
It's the tour guide to the greatest wonder in the world: your body.
Your body processes reality. It stores every good, bad, nasty, joyful thing you have ever experienced.
And it knows what to do right now.
It knows what you must do to live the life you're meant to live. The problem is that we seldom listen to it. But it's always ready to work with us once we're ready to listen.
So ask it. Listen.
Then, do what it offers you.
Try it as an experiment. See how your mind protests. But follow through. Always follow through.
Consider the body's directives like divine commandments given to you as blessings to guide you through this life.
Treat them as holy. Because they are. And so are you.