Heal the Hurt, Resolve the Issues and Then Move On In Your Life
My mentor Horace Daukei, the last surviving traditional doctor among the Kiowa tribe, transmitted portions of the healing powers that he worked with to me during my apprenticeship. These healing gifts began to take root within me and develop over time.
All of my core issues were coming to the surface during this time in my life. The transmission of power that I received from Horace accelerated the process of purification. I felt totally consumed by intensity of the feelings and emotions that were surfacing. I didn’t want to eat, go anywhere or do anything. I went into therapy and that helped me gain an intellectual understanding of what I had gone through and why I felt the way I did. But therapy did nothing to stop the pain.
I had an instinctive sense that caused me to dive right down into the middle of all those painful feelings. I began to breathe softly and deeply and that took me further into the depth of the feelings, emotions and sensations. A greater intelligence residing within my body began to take over at some point and my body would begin to breathe itself. It would often feel as if something broke open inside of me and I could the pain coming out of my body in waves.
Parts of me had never really grown or matured because they were still frozen in the past. That prevented me from living in the here and now. Patterns of loss and of having been abused were so deeply wired into me and it felt as I was continually recreating my past. I seemed to attract the same kinds of people and experiences. Feelings of abandonment, loss and unrequited love can be very painful. I just kept breathing into the feelings and emotions that surfaced. I began to receive deep tissue massages, healing sessions and then I went out on vision quests whenever the opportunity presented itself. I used all these tools to reformat myself and build a whole new foundation.
I gradually worked myself out of the painful depression and into a much better space. There were lots of other issues to deal with and challenges to face. I would often find myself getting caught up in the drama and then react to various people and situations. It took a real concerted effort for me to learn to stay present by breathing into the feelings and emotions that surfaced. Breathing into the feelings made it much easier for me to work through difficult emotions and resolve the issues so that I could adapt to the demands of my current situation or let go of what was not working in my life and move on.
Moving into uncharted territory
Many of us have learned to disconnect from our bodies and emotions. We have lived in our heads for so long and are not very conscious of what we are feeling. We often go over the same thoughts in our attempt to think our way out of our problems, but that hasn’t gotten us very far. The range and depth of our awareness will increase as we learn to stay present by breathing into the feelings and sensations that we experience within our body.
Emotions and issues can cause us to feel very uncomfortable at times, and some of us would prefer that they just go away. But that’s never going to happen. What usually happens is the feelings and issues get pushed down inside of ourselves. We internalize all the feelings, emotions and issues that we fail to process. Whatever we fail to digest becomes part of our physical, energetic and emotional make up. Parts of our consciousness freeze up and that prevents us from growing or evolving. We end up attracting more of the things that we do not want into our lives.
Unprocessed emotions and issues can remain trapped within our bodies and minds indefinitely. The residue of all these feelings, emotions and life experiences settle into the organs and tissues. The heavy dense accumulation of this residue deprives the cells and organs of our body of the essential life force that is needed to facilitate consciousness and to function in a healthy way. The toxicity of our undigested emotional residue also causes our bodies break down at a more rapid pace and we age faster.
Feelings and emotions usually go through a progression as we breathe into them. Our feelings may also intensify as the deeper layers of emotion come to the surface. We may experience a whole series of feelings and images. Feelings of frustration could lead to anger. The anger can then change to a sense of resignation that we are not able to do anything to change a situation. That may eventually lead us to a place of acceptance that will allow us to let go and move on with our lives. We may also experience strong feelings that compel us to pursue some alternate course of action. The progression of our feelings will vary continually depending on our present set of circumstances.
We may initially experience a feeling in the middle of our chest and find that it moves further down into our abdomen or some other part of our body as we continue to breathe into it. The intensity of our feelings will gradually dissipate as they lose their emotional charge.
Breathing into the feelings that we experience in response to what’s happening at the present time can also evoke memories and emotions connected to issues and events that took place during earlier parts of our lives. This practice will help us to access the underlying source of our issues and that will help us to understand the themes or patterns that have been playing out in our lives. It’s important for us to allow the feelings to be as they are and continue to follow them as they go through their progression. The healing intelligence residing within our bodies and minds will teach us a great deal if we go into this practice with an openness to explore and learn.
Our thoughts, feelings, emotions and life experiences need to be digested. We can consciously facilitate our own body and mind’s natural digestive process by breathing into our feelings and sensations. It’s important for us to breathe into the feelings that emerge in response to any conflict, issue or stressful situation that we are faced with. This breathing practice stimulates the creative part of our minds and we will often find the answers and solutions that we need. The feelings and issues will begin to sort themselves out. We will gain clarity and feel a greater sense of resolution. We will also find it easier to adapt to the changes taking place in our lives. Our instincts or that deep inner sense of knowing that we experience within our body will grow stronger. This will give us a clearer sense of purpose and direction in life.
Exercise: Digesting Your Feelings Emotions and Life Experiences
I have developed many different versions of the breathing practice over the years, and then I began to teach these practices to everyone I work with. There are four basic steps to the process of digesting your feelings, emotions and life experiences:
- Begin by acknowledging what’s happening in your life.
- Notice what you’re feeling in response to it.
- Notice where these feelings are located within your body?
- Breathe softly and deeply as you center your awareness in the middle of the feelings, emotions or sensations that you experience within your body.
Acknowledge what’s happening in your life
Take a moment to stop and reflect on what is happening in your life. Acknowledge the issues and challenges that you are facing.
Notice what are you feeling in response to it?
You already know very well what you think. In many instances you have rehearsed it hundreds if not thousands of times, but that hasn’t resolved the issue. Let’s go beyond the mental chatter by getting out of your head and going down into your body.
Stop and notice what you actually feel in response to the issues affecting you or what’s happening in your life. Does your body feel tense? Are you feeling sad, angry, fearful, anxious, or upset in response to the issues concerning you or a person or situation that you encounter?
Notice where the feelings are the strongest in your body
Thoughts take place in your head. Feelings and emotions usually emerge somewhere between your neck and lower abdominal region. Where exactly do you experience the feelings and emotions in your body? Are you feeling tense in your neck and shoulders? Does your stomach feel queasy? Are you experiencing heaviness or feelings of sadness and loss in your heart? Do you feel anger further down in your abdomen? Are the feelings concentrated in one specific area or are they generalized throughout your body.
Breathe softly and deeply as you center your awareness in the middle of the feelings.
Allow yourself to fully experience any emotions and sensations that are occurring within your body and then breathe softly and deeply as you focus your awareness within the middle of those feelings or sensations. Allow your breath to become so subtle that you can barely even hear it. Focus your awareness primarily on the feelings as you breathe. Continue to follow the feelings and sensations as they go through their progression.
The mind has a tendency to be overly active, and you will often find yourself drawn into fantasy scenarios or caught up in your thoughts. That’s normal. You will never completely stop the mental chatter, so just acknowledge it and then refocus you attention on your feelings.
Your whole sensory range will expand as you continue to breathe into your feelings and sensations. You will also begin to experience more pleasurable feelings and sensations. It’s also very important for you to breathe into any pleasurable feelings and sensations that you experience. This will increase your capacity to experience pleasure. You will gradually feel more comfortable with your self and become more present in your body. Breathing into feelings and sensations facilitates a continuing process of evolution as the various parts of you grow and mature.
©Copyright 2009 Ben Oofana. All Rights Reserved.
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