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Here is a Practice that I have found very helpful. It is an
important Practice because it gives you the opportunity to
change the meaning that past events have for you. In Seishindo
we believe that we often face continuing difficulties not
because of what has taken place in our lives, but because
of what we believe to be true based on what has taken place.
We incorrectly judge ourselves as being wrong. This Practice
gives you the chance to change your perception of yourself,
and your perceived shortcomings. Give this Practice a try
and let us know what changes for you.
You will most likely want to read through all of the instructions
at least once before actually doing this practice.
1. Sit comfortably with
a notebook or journal by your side. Breathe deeply at least
five or six times, inhaling and exhaling through your nose.
2. Take a moment and think
of a time when you seemed to have learned something that is
detrimental to your overall well being and sense of self confidence.
For instance, you might have spilled your milk as a young
child and had the teacher chastise you for being such "a
clumsy child" and ever since then you seem to have the
tendency to try and prove that your teacher was right.
3. Write down a short description
of your chosen event in your notebook, and also write down
a succinct phrase that encapsulates what you seem to have
learned. For instance; "I am clumsy." Then place the notebook
aside.
4. Become present to yourself
sitting in your chair, and begin to pay attention to your
posture and your overall feeling. Now, give your primary awareness
to the experience of your inhaling and exhaling. Take at least
one full minute to do this.
5. Once you feel attuned
with your breathing, once again recall the event in whatever
way is natural for you.
6. As you sit there in the
presence of both your breathing process and the event you
are working with, begin to imagine at least three new things
that you can now learn from the event you are recalling. Please
remember that you are wanting to learn three new things that
help you to generate and maintain a positive sense of self
worth and well-being. Anything less than this would be less
than "the truth." The idea here is not to gloss over your
shortcomings, but rather to appreciate yourself while at the
same time noticing what could be improved or changed.
So, in the case of the spilled milk, if your teacher had
stressed the importance of keeping onešs full attention on
a challenging task, you might have learned this important
truth, without coming to falsely believe that you are a clumsy
child.
Continue to give your primary attention to your breathing, and allow ideas
to somehow bubble up, rather than actively trying to create new ideas. When
you have come up with at least three new learnings, write down your new, and
self-supportive learnings in your notebook.
7. Place your notebook aside
and go back to paying attention to your posture and your overall
feeling as you sit in your chair. Now, again, give your primary
awareness to the experience of your inhaling and exhaling.
Take at least one full minute to do this.
8. As you breathe, once
again recall the event in whatever way is natural for you.
As you sit there, in the presence of both your breathing process and the
event, begin to slowly and purposefully state your three new learnings to
yourself.
For instance, in the case of the spilled milk.
1. Stay focused on the task at hand. 2.
Breathe, move, and breathe, to stay relaxed. 3.
Do important tasks one at a time.
Make your own statements now.
After making each individual statement of what you have learned, breathe
fully for at least two rounds before stating your next learning. (If your
circumstances allow, speaking your new learnings out loud is usually best.)
9. Repeat each learning
at least three times, either randomly or in a particular order.
If you feel moved to you can also add new learning statements
to the initial three that you wrote down.
10. When you feel done,
write down anything else that pops into your mind, and also
write a brief description of how you feel. Sometimes this
last step can be of surprising importance, because you can
learn something important simply by taking part in this process.
Keep your new learnings in mind and use them as a mantra from time to time.
For instance, if you have tended to feel clumsy, you can repeat your mantras
to yourself just before performing in front of others. Doing this will help
you to embody your learning. No matter what, go through this whole process
again a week or so from now, and see what has changed for you.
If for some reason this practice proves a bit more difficult than you were
planning on, you can try again later. Sometimes when we are in the process
of learning something new, we might find that what we have learned in the
past is somewhat hard to let go of.
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