10 Steps to become your own Master – Part 3
por Izabel Telles em STUM WORLDAtualizado em 13/09/2004 09:00:03
Translated by Françoise Killick – [email protected]
Exercising mental images to break repetitive behaviours.
In our first exercise, we saw that our beliefs create our experiences and we discovered that exercises with mental images can be an effective way of reversing these beliefs.
In our second exercise, we noticed that there is an eternal connexion between the physical body, the heart and the emotional brain, that can be evidenced when we are touched in certain areas of our bodies, through a smell or taste, experiencing an emotion or a feeling, remembering a significant part of our life or a dream, listening to a piece of music etc. In therapies, this connexion appears when the facilitator provokes the person to break his resistances and reach his memories. We have also seen that we can learn these reactions by observing ourselves, analysing our behaviours, experiences and actions with love as if we were part of them, looking from "outside" in order to educate our system of beliefs.
In this third exercise, we are going to continue our fight against our system of beliefs, insisting on deprogramming daily habits.
What is it exactly that I mean?
Simply that we have to break the routine of the habits, not practise nor repeat the same model of behaviour.
The key for that is to have it in mind at all moments, day and night, "to be present at the present moment", the one we receive at every minute, the one we feel alive to renovate, create, correct errors and go for a healthy action.
We have to be one and all every minute we live, with no past to blame or compare with, and no future to anticipate. Present and future are times that do not exist. Only present does, and remain in the present is a way we can get rid of anxiety and guilt.
Observe a river: it flows amongst stones, with no hurry, knowing its course is defined in the world geography, with all the stones and branches on its way. And whenever a storm comes, it goes a little bit faster, knowing there is more water to carry.
There is infinite intelligence in the universe and you are part of it. Do not live in the past nor in the future. Make things happen the minute they should happen. There is an English saying, I like very much, which says: "when time comes, we will know what to do".
I suggest you adopt it, and, for such, I would like to offer you an exercise to do for the next seven days as your homework.
I will use an image I have perceived in one of my patient's mind: she was jumping like a frog over many towers with a spade in her hands, fighting invisible enemies. She looked all around her, breathing nervously. Her body was stiff and cold and her heart was beating furiously. She was fighting against past and future, against millions of negative and frightening hypotheses "if I don't...", "if they don't call me...", "if the telephone doesn't ring...", "if they find out...".
I suggested she reversed this picture practising mental images. You can do the same, always in the morning, when you wake up.
Seated, with your eyes closed, your hands on your legs, palms down, breathe slowly, three times and concentrate on the meaning of this very quick exercise.
EXERCISE TO FEEL THE PRESENT
And see, feel and hear yourself jumping from tower to tower to find the answers for your emotions. Feel how uncomfortable this anxiety and doubt are, how tired you become because of this useless and endless effort. The more towers you leave behind, the more you find in front of you. Breathe deeply and look down as if there were a safety staircase waiting for you and go down the stairs quickly until you feel secure. And get out of this place as quickly as you can until you find a place full of splendid white orchids. Make time stop and pay attention to this astonishing moment when present unveils its wisdom.
Then breathe deeply and open your eyes.
