In our last 2 posts we delved into the Mind Body Protection (MBP) strategy that occurs when there are overwhelmingly painful thoughts, feelings and emotions. Today we will be exploring some other avenues that we use to escape, and ways to re-connect.
Vacating is a general term used to describe an addictive process and its consequences......
"Vacating the present moment is one way of avoiding the assistance that the universe provides you. When you flee from the experience of your emotions your emotions do not stop. Vacating is a way of keeping yourself from all that will bring meaning, purpose, and fulfillment into your life."
Many of these vacating strategies go together like toxic twins. Last month we focused on Anger and its role in MBP. Gary and Linda further state how they are related: "Anger is a flight from feelings like workaholism that is why they go together."
Workaholism or to be more inclusive Activity Addiction is in my opinion a pandemic in our society. This type of vacating makes us unaware of what is really going on inside. Gary and Linda the co authors of The Heart of the Soul share "The strangers are the emotions you bury under superficial activities." They then share a lovely bit of sage-ness that when we are in vacating mode we cannot meet these requirements: "Emotional awareness requires your attention."
And there are soooo many opportunities to vacate, so let us count the ways.....
"An idol worshiper ignores her inner signals and acts as she thinks she should act. Those signals are her emotions."
"The desire to please other people is a potent way to distract yourself from what you're feeling."
"Perfectionism is an attempt to impact an imaginary world in order to avoid the world where you live."
"Impenetrable optimism is not the same as the optimism that is born when an individual becomes aware of the compassion and wisdom of the universe. An impenetrable optimist uses optimism to shield herself from painful emotions."
"Boredom is your fuller life calling to you and your fear of hearing the call. Your soul is interested in how you use your energy, what you create, and whether you move into the highest potential."
To each their own.....
"Workaholics and perfectionists pour their energy into external circumstances. Bored people pour their energy into avoiding them."
We could not complete this blog without entering into one of the most pervasive vacating experiences: depression.....
"The experience of depression without the perspective that allows it to be utilized as an instrument of spiritual growth is the same as drifting on an ocean of pain in a vessel that is seaworthy, and not taking the time to learn how to sail it. Depression, for example is a surface emotional phenomenon, even though it is a very painful experience. It is a complex combination of numerous lines of force intersecting in the experience of being depressed. Depression is a consequence of not feeling an emotion not an emotion in itself. There may be feelings ( body sensations) accompanying this state and often there is an absence an emptiness or dullness." Drifting on an ocean of pain is a interesting metaphor as I often experience that our societies take on depression is like that of a mass of plastic floating in the ocean that no one really knows what to do about it. Often when I am speaking to folks I hear a sense of helplessness. However when we start to dig a little deeper we touch in on other aspects. I ask people how disappointed they are and how many meaningful activities they are currently experiencing in their lives. Often, they rate a very high level of disappointment and rate meaningfulness as very low. I often "smell" unacknowledged and unprocessed grief as I listen to these folks. No wonder we are so easily distracted and caught up in vacating ourselves due to what is broiling underneath.
So when we are distracted that we cannot not even stop to feel, this practice is vital......
"* Developing sonar when you feel angry, stop what you are doing, what you are saying, and what you are thinking and focus your attention on what you are feeling." Developing a feeling sonar is not just for anger detection." I agree as we can use this practice or any disturbance within our bodies. A practice of presence is life changing and is essential with any MBP ( Mind- Body Protection ) strategy. We could say that we need to replace our MBP with a MBSS- Mind-Body Sonar System.
How does this relate to Bodintuit practices.....
In my journey I have had many episodes of darkness and bleakness which were labelled as depression. I appreciate the word absence in an earlier paragraph because when we separate the word ab from sence, we have a better understanding. So the etymology of ab-sense means "away from" our capacity "to "sence". This lack of sensing or feeling within myself would last for weeks and sometimes months. I thought that this experience was happening to me and therefore had no choice. Since I was unable to feel or emote deeply, the much needed connections to my reactions to life situations were not apparent. This lack of insight blocked recovery of my depressive episodes and left me believing I was at the mercy of them.
Gratefully I do not suffer from depression today and this does not mean that I do not experience emotions and feelings . To the contrary I now allow myself to feel often and deeply and most importantly bring a loving attitude toward it. This practice is mindfulness and kindness entwined together.... aka (kindfulness). There is actually a book called Kindfulness by Ajahn Brahm and we may explore this beautiful wisdom in another blog.
I will close with an aspiration and a quote. May we all be given the freedom and courage to fully awaken to the importance of trusting our inner landscape.
True Strength is a Heart full of trust...Mooji
Comments