As we travel along our healing path, there are various ways in which we can make the journey a little easier - I have discovered certain concepts or Keys which have helped me unlock the mysteries of my inner universe and the world around me. These Keys continue to be powerful ways for me to see truth in my life, particularly when I am stuck or having difficulty seeing how I create my own unhappiness.
The six essential Keys to self discovery of which I am aware include: Just Feel; Acceptance; Take Responsibility; Life is a Mirror; You Create Your Own Reality; Relaxing The Body.
I have found the best way to work with these Keys is one at a time, over a period of time. Test each one out individually and see how it "fits" within your life. Try it on for size to really get the feel of it. The length of time required to reach a level of personal comfort with each Key may vary from one individual to another, but in general, plan to take a minimum of one month to fully implement each concept. Give yourself ample opportunity to get a good sense of just how each one works. Once you decide to try an individual Key on for size, it is important to keep working with it throughout any given day, maintaining it fully within your awareness - your perception of its usefulness to you as an individual will assist you in permanently integrating it into your everyday life. Consistency and commitment are two important components of all paths to self discovery.
First Essential Key: Just Feel
The first essential Key, and probably the most important one, is "Just Feel". In other words, simply feel what you feel inside your body, or body sensations. This is not an intellectual process but rather an entirely tactile one. The cells of the body retain imprints or memories of events and experiences, past and present. By allowing yourself to truly feel the body's sensations, you begin the process of accessing those cellular memories in an effort to learn more about the whole self. This can be done by tuning into the body - feeling it and its most immediate sensations - in order to fully experience the emotion(s) associated with its sensations. In accessing the body's sensations, you begin to tap into your physical memory bank, slowly bringing aspects of the self from the darkness of the unconscious into the light of the more fully conscious awareness of your being. Once able to raise the memory of an experience up into the conscious mind, we may then develop a greater awareness of the root of our emotional reactions. Strictly speaking, this process takes place outside the intellectual mind. Once we engage our intellectual mind in "making sense" of what is happening, we begin to shut down the process of cellular memory access. If you "think " you feel such and such, then you are engaged in an intellectual process. By simply giving yourself permission to fully express the feelings you experience, you allow yourself to release whatever emotion(s) is at hand. This is the point at which you can begin to resolve a particular issue.
One of the greatest gifts of being human is feeling, yet most of our lives
we are taught to ignore our feelings, or that somehow it is wrong to feel
certain things. Our society places a great deal of judgment on which emotions
are permissible and which are not. The social value of suppressing particular
emotions, such as grief or sadness, has given rise to expressions such
as "grin and bear it" or "tough it out", while the
full expression of them may cause a person to be labeled "weak"
or a "sissy". The suppression of other types of emotions, such
as anger or frustration, may give rise to inappropriate behaviours - hitting
or punching - which themselves carry social penalties. However, the emotions
are an intrinsic part of the human condition. Feelings help us to become
fully integrated beings and to develop a sense of understanding of ourselves
and our environment. Allowing the body to express emotion in an appropriate
manner releases the built-up energy around that feeling. In this way,
the body may let go of the stored memory, both physical and emotional,
and we may come to a full sense of resolution of an issue.
Tapping into our bodily sensations, it is vital that we not judge what we feel. It is important to come from a place of non-judgment in order to see and accept what it is we are feeling, and in this way come to have a deeper acceptance for who we are. In other words, "Just Feel" means making it okay to feel whatever we feel, regardless of how others react to it. As we have been so thoroughly programmed to process all of our experiences through thought, and therefore to judge them, it is often difficult to allow ourselves to simply feel, without judgment. In this case, it is important to become aware of the judgment and to consciously move into a place of acceptance.
When we experience certain physical sensations, such as pain or some other discomfort, it is particularly important to simply allow the sensation to be there. Do not try to move away from it or turn it off in some way. Rather, look at it and allow yourself to fully feel it. Often, physical discomfort is an emotional response to something we do not really want to face - the emotional manifested in the physical. Suppression of emotion develops into physical pain, which acts as a cap stone, or cork, holding us separate from our pool of emotional issues. Becoming better aware of how this discomfort makes you feel emotionally [angry, sad, scared], holds the key to deciphering the very situation which may be triggering this specific physical "response".
For example: you may find yourself in a situation which scares you at some unconscious level; suddenly your lower back will start to tighten up and become stiff and sore. This is the physical response to our denial of the emotion called fear. This is how the body communicates to us that something needs to be addressed.
In the case of this kind of fearfulness, the more you go into the sensation in your lower back, and look at what situation may be triggering it, the more you will come to understand the emotional side of it. Becoming more consciously aware of what is going on inside empowers you to make choices to manage your external situation, in turn enabling you to begin to overcome your fear. Your body holds the key to unlocking your unconscious - the more you go into your body's sensations, the better you can access your unconscious. By bringing the unconscious more fully into the conscious, you will be better able to identify and understand the very things in your life with which you create your unhappiness.
Moving into a place of feeling the body and allowing the feelings to exist without judgment is the first step on the road to self awareness and self discovery. Before you can make a change in your life, you must first know how and what you feel. So open yourself up and allow yourself to feel who you are and what you are. Using this Key will surely enhance any process of true self discovery.
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