I remember a day when I felt unsettled by contradictory statements from supposedly trustable sources about an issue (I guess it was the turmoil in the Middle East). "I don't know what is real", I thought while lying on bed before sleeping. Then, I hugged my wife and I felt relieved because I knew that her love and warmth were very real. It may seem a little childish but I guess we keep a children inside us until we die.
It's not childish at all---or only to the degree that children embody an instinctive wisdom that we adults lose track of sometimes. Thanks for sharing your way to ground yourself back in reality.
I really like your article, but I can't understand your idea of "tracing your thoughts and beliefs back to their source—the feelings, sensations, postures, and images that underlie them and give them life". If you can develop this idea, I would be very helpful.
It's a little tricky to describe the process in words, but let me try. As a simple example, it means when you have a thought or find yourself stuck in a loop of thoughts, you direct your attention into your body and sense what's happening there. There may be certain emotions, energies, qualities or movements inside you that you notice, or ways that you are holding your body (ie. postural patterns). When you do this, you are connecting your thoughts (mind) back to the source of your energy (body/life force), so that everything can start to flow more freely. Sometimes you will go back and forth between all these parts of your self and 'weave' them together in a new way. Other times the bodily sensations or patterns will change or dissolve, and therefore your thoughts will also shift. Other times your mental perspective will broaden spontaneously, or you'll make different associations through imagination, memory etc. Because the body is not separate from the mind, when we do this we become more integrated and whole, and less likely to dissociate, detach or get stuck on a mental level that doesn't correspond to reality.
I hope that clarifies a bit. If you're interested in this topic, I'd recommend looking into the work of Eugene Gendlin, his method called Focusing is a way to train this process consciously.
This speaks to me deeply. I appreciate your explanation of top down and bottom up processing. It shines a new light on what I usually refer to as presence or being mindful. It's helpful to think in terms of the importance of direct experience informing us which I usually refer to as intuition. This different way of speaking about it as you do in the post, helped to me to see decision-making in a fresh way. Thank you!
Thank you Victoria! It's great to hear how you found this resonant with what you're already experiencing and expressing in your life and work. And I absolutely agree with your framing of both presence and intuition. Sometimes the simple words work best. And other times a little technicality helps too :)
Ooooft. I resonate with this on so so many levels. Especially in meeting people and later finding out that it’s not what it seems. Definitely have driven me mad before realising that through all of that direct experience and noticing, the real medicine I received beyond truth, is the invitation to cultivate self-trust. I can trust my perceptions and ways of sensing.
Your writing is so beautiful! I thoroughly enjoyed this piece. Such a flow 🌸 that cafe looks cosy 🥹
I remember a day when I felt unsettled by contradictory statements from supposedly trustable sources about an issue (I guess it was the turmoil in the Middle East). "I don't know what is real", I thought while lying on bed before sleeping. Then, I hugged my wife and I felt relieved because I knew that her love and warmth were very real. It may seem a little childish but I guess we keep a children inside us until we die.
It's not childish at all---or only to the degree that children embody an instinctive wisdom that we adults lose track of sometimes. Thanks for sharing your way to ground yourself back in reality.
I really like your article, but I can't understand your idea of "tracing your thoughts and beliefs back to their source—the feelings, sensations, postures, and images that underlie them and give them life". If you can develop this idea, I would be very helpful.
It's a little tricky to describe the process in words, but let me try. As a simple example, it means when you have a thought or find yourself stuck in a loop of thoughts, you direct your attention into your body and sense what's happening there. There may be certain emotions, energies, qualities or movements inside you that you notice, or ways that you are holding your body (ie. postural patterns). When you do this, you are connecting your thoughts (mind) back to the source of your energy (body/life force), so that everything can start to flow more freely. Sometimes you will go back and forth between all these parts of your self and 'weave' them together in a new way. Other times the bodily sensations or patterns will change or dissolve, and therefore your thoughts will also shift. Other times your mental perspective will broaden spontaneously, or you'll make different associations through imagination, memory etc. Because the body is not separate from the mind, when we do this we become more integrated and whole, and less likely to dissociate, detach or get stuck on a mental level that doesn't correspond to reality.
I hope that clarifies a bit. If you're interested in this topic, I'd recommend looking into the work of Eugene Gendlin, his method called Focusing is a way to train this process consciously.
Thanks, Vaishali. I will try to put these ideas into practice.
This speaks to me deeply. I appreciate your explanation of top down and bottom up processing. It shines a new light on what I usually refer to as presence or being mindful. It's helpful to think in terms of the importance of direct experience informing us which I usually refer to as intuition. This different way of speaking about it as you do in the post, helped to me to see decision-making in a fresh way. Thank you!
Thank you Victoria! It's great to hear how you found this resonant with what you're already experiencing and expressing in your life and work. And I absolutely agree with your framing of both presence and intuition. Sometimes the simple words work best. And other times a little technicality helps too :)
Ooooft. I resonate with this on so so many levels. Especially in meeting people and later finding out that it’s not what it seems. Definitely have driven me mad before realising that through all of that direct experience and noticing, the real medicine I received beyond truth, is the invitation to cultivate self-trust. I can trust my perceptions and ways of sensing.
Your writing is so beautiful! I thoroughly enjoyed this piece. Such a flow 🌸 that cafe looks cosy 🥹
Thank you! I love your pointing towards trust as medicine. Such a potent reminder 💜