Читать книгу Unlocking Your Intuition - Carol Ann Liaros - Страница 13

Since tension and interference by the intellect are the most common barriers to the psychic processes, relaxation and concentration are the most important keys to using your ESP. Intuitive impressions are subtle and sometimes elusive. Too much tension acts as a kind of anesthetic that numbs your sensitivity to higher levels of awareness. This static blocks your sensitive feelings. Relaxation, on the other hand, increases your sensitivity to physical and mental perception of all kinds. In fact, each of your intuition exercises should begin with some type of a relaxation technique, such as the one offered in this chapter.

As you explore your own intuition, it will become clear why relaxing the body and concentrating the mind are so important. But in addition to developing ESP, there are many more good reasons for relaxation and concentration. One is stress reduction. Stress is one of the major causes of physical, mental, and emotional disease. Excessive stress on the body and the nervous system can result in imbalance, often leading to illness, bodily disorders, and even premature death. In the last few decades, society has recognized this problem and has responded with increased emphasis on “wellness” programs, physical exercise, yoga, and meditation.

In addition to quieting the mind and relaxing the body, relaxation techniques have positive effects upon an individual’s physical health and mental/emotional well-being. In many ways, relaxation is similar to the practice of meditation, which has been scientifically proven to be beneficial. Individuals who practice meditation regularly experience a calm and relaxed state of body and mind, renewed vitality, mental alertness, and increased concentration. They feel less stress in their lives and seem to cope better when stressful situations arise. Meditators also report having more restful sleep patterns or require less sleep to begin with.

Psychologists who have studied meditation have found regular meditators to be happier, more relaxed, and often able to demonstrate more openness and empathy in their relationships than individuals who don’t meditate. Meditation has also proven to be effective in curing or improving physical and mental disorders such as ulcers, allergies, asthma, depression, anxiety, arthritis, and even epileptic seizures.

Developing ESP, like practicing meditation, requires more than relaxation. It requires concentration. I define concentration as keen, one-pointed attention. It is the process of focusing the content of your awareness to such a fine point that it is able to break through to an even higher finer level of sensitivity. Like relaxation, concentration involves letting go. It involves releasing all of the thoughts and the worries that preoccupy your mind and instead focusing your attention upon a single object of concentration. As you learn to let go of the tension in your body and mind while focusing your attention on the matter at hand, you will find that intuitive exercises are easier and much more fun than you imagined.

Although this may sound labor-intensive, working with your intuition is actually a lot simpler than the ways in which we normally attempt to accomplish something. In fact, I find it much easier to simply relax and concentrate on what I need to know or gently focusing upon what problem I need to solve (allowing the process of ESP to do the work for me) rather than feeling as though I must “DO” something. I sometimes say, “ESP is for lazy people.” And by lazy, I don’t mean being irresponsible or doing nothing; I mean doing things in an easy, relaxed manner. Many of us have a difficult time with relaxing because we are taught that to be productive, worthwhile individuals we have to struggle and work very hard. I enjoy working, but because I often do things in an easier fashion, I have the time and energy to enjoy myself, no matter what activity I’m involved in.

It is helpful for the intuitive process to include a relaxation and concentration exercise before every ESP exercise. Two exercises, one long and one shorter version, are included here for you to try. The longer exercise can be used at the beginning of any intuitive session and the shorter version can be used before beginning any other techniques you might choose to explore during the session. It is not so important what techniques you use, but it is important that you take time out for some kind of relaxation before attempting any exercise.

The technique I use the most often involves tensing and relaxing the body’s major muscle groups. Tensing and relaxing your muscles helps you to relax and let go while facilitating your concentration by focusing your attention on specific areas of your body. As you relax, you will become much more aware of your body and your physical environment, and you may even begin to notice small physical discomforts that you were not aware of before. For example, you may find that you are sitting in an uncomfortable position or that your nose has started to itch. Your clothing may feel tight or restricting, or you may become aware of the pressure of your watch, ring, or earrings. Perhaps your shoes will feel like they are pinching your feet. The first thing to do is to attend to all of your distractions so that they are no longer there. Change positions or find a more comfortable chair. Remove your jewelry. Slip out of your shoes. Loosen your collar or belt. Take the time you need in order to make yourself feel as comfortable as possible.

As you begin, you may also become aware of all of the little distractions in your environment. Little sounds that you were not really aware of in your normal conscious state may become amplified to the point where they are annoying. When I find this happening to me, I mentally travel around to all the sounds and put them into an imaginary box with a volume control knob on it. When I have collected all of the sounds in the box, I mentally turn down the volume control knob until the sounds no longer bother me. In time, you may discover your own methods of tuning out environmental distractions; whatever works for you is fine. The important thing is to remember not to ignore the distractions but instead to attend to them in some way so that you can go beyond them. If you find your attention wandering during the exercise, simply bring it back very gently to your own breathing or to a single point of focus within yourself.

It doesn’t matter if you sit in a chair, on a pillow, or lie down on the floor to relax, but it may be best to sit in a straight back chair so that you do not fall asleep during the relaxation experience.

There are several ways to conduct this exercise. If you are practicing with a group, have someone read the exercise aloud or pretape the exercise on a recording device. If you are not in a position to record your own CD, you may wish for someone else to read through the exercise for you slowly, or you could read it through yourself beforehand and then do the exercise mentally, one muscle group at a time.

If someone is leading the relaxation exercise, here are a few tips. First, be sure that the person is relaxed. Tension and nervousness can be communicated through one’s voice and behavior. On the other hand, a calm and relaxed manner will be expressed quite naturally to others. Secondly, be sure to present the exercise in a slow, steady, gentle manner, pausing as indicated. Finally, allow plenty of time for the exercise. Those who are new to this may need more time than others. In the beginning, fifteen to twenty minutes may be appropriate in order to become truly relaxed. Later, with experience, you may find that five to seven minutes is quite long enough.

At the close of the exercise, see how long you can recall or maintain this relaxed state of body and mind—an hour, a day, a week, or even longer. Whenever you feel yourself becoming tense or anxious, practice the relaxation experience again and feel its calming positive effects. When you’ve accomplished the relaxation technique, feel free to move onto the first intuitive experience, which is Energy Sensing.

“Inner conflict between left and right Brain processes may reflect out into The world as prejudice.” Carol Ann Liaros

Relaxation and Concentration

(Long version)

This exercise is important because it will encourage you to set aside a total reliance upon the left-brain logical thought processes and through the process of relaxation, facilitate the activities of your own imagination, creativity, and receptivity. In addition, relaxation helps to connect the left and right brains for more balanced functioning.

This is an exercise to help you relax and concentrate. Sit comfortably, with your feet flat on the floor and your hands upon your lap; then close your eyes.

Take a slow, deep, even breath, filling your abdomen to capacity, and hold it to a count of three. One . . . Two . . . Three . . .

Breathe out very slowly through your mouth . . . and tell yourself to relax . . .

Take another slow, deep, even breath, filling the abdomen to capacity, and hold it to a count of three. One . . . Two . . . Three . . .

Very slowly, breathe out through your mouth. Gently telling yourself to relax, knowing that your body follows the commands of your mind . . .

Take another slow, deep, even breath and hold it to a count of three . . . One . . . Two . . . Three . . .

Breathe out through the mouth . . . very gently telling yourself to relax . . .

Now tense up the muscles in your feet by curling your toes and making them as tight and taut as you can. For a moment, hold this tension . . .

Now relax those muscles . . .

And relax them even more . . .

Tense up the muscles in your lower legs, making those muscles as tense and taut as you can . . .

Tense them even more . . . and feel that tension with your body and mind . . .

Now relax . . . and tell those muscles to relax even more. . . .

Tense the muscles in your abdomen and lower back . . . tense them even more . . . and relax . . .

Now tell yourself to relax those muscles even more . . . and feel the relaxation with your body and mind.

Now, tense up the muscles in the upper part of your torso by hunching up both shoulders.

Tense the muscles in the back and chest . . . and feel this tension with your body and your mind.

Now relax those muscles . . . and relax them even more . . .

Tense up the muscles in both arms by clenching your fists. Make hard, tight fists and feel all the muscles in your arms become very tense and taut . . .

And slowly relax . . . relax them just a bit more . . .

Now tense up every muscle in your face that you can, particularly around your eyes . . . Press your tongue against the roof of your mouth and crease your brow . . . make all the muscles in your face and head feel very tense and taut.

Now relax . . . relax the eyes, the tongue, the jaw, the forehead, and relax those muscles even more . . . feel this relaxation with your body and your mind.

Now tense every muscle in your body, beginning with the toes and going up through the legs . . . the abdomen and lower back . . . the chest and shoulders . . . the arms and hands . . . and the face . . .

Now tense up all the muscles in your body even more, and feel this tension in every muscle . . .

Now, very slowly, as though you were moving in slow motion, relax every muscle in your body . . . slowly and gently . . . relax every muscle . . .

Now slowly, let your head fall forward and gently rotate your head and neck in one direction and then the other. Tell yourself to relax . . .

Tell the muscles to let go . . . communicate to every cell in your body to relax even more. Feel the relaxation with your body and your mind. Be aware of the feeling of relaxation throughout your body . . .

Now take your mind, or your imagination, to the top of your head and take your mind on a trip down through your physical body. When you come to a muscle that is not relaxed, tense up that muscle, hold it, making it as tight and tense as you can, and then finally relax that muscle. Do as many muscles as is necessary to release the stress from your body.

Let your mind seek out those tense muscles . . . and relax them . . .

Communicate to every cell, in every muscle of your entire body to relax even more . . .

(Longer pause)

Now, in your imagination, visualize a funnel coming out of the top of your head and reaching into infinity. If you cannot visualize it, feel it. Know it is there. Visualize or feel a cleansing, purifying, healing white light pouring down through the funnel and flowing into the top of your head . . .

In your imagination, visualize this cleansing, purifying healing energy filling your head and flowing down into your neck . . . into your upper body . . . down your arms and into your hands and fingers . . . feel this energy flowing into your abdomen . . . into your legs and down into your feet and toes . . .

In your imagination, visualize or feel this energy cleansing, purifying, and healing your entire body . . . experience yourself so filled with this energy that it is radiating out of every pore in your body . . . the energy is cleansing, purifying, and healing the outside of your body, and your energy field, and aura as well . . .

In your imagination, visualize your aura. Feel the energy of your aura. Know that it is there . . .

Now, in your mind or imagination, expand your aura so that it radiates three feet from your body. You might experience this as you would blow up a balloon. With each breath, the aura gets larger and larger. Experience your energy field expanding.

Expand your aura even more so that it radiates eight feet from your body . . . visualize it, feel it, or simply know that it is there . . .

And with your mind, expand your aura so that it fills the entire room. Experience your aura as completely as you can . . . feel it, visualize it, and know that it is there. . . .

Now, let yourself relax, allowing the aura to return to its normal size . . .

Take a slow, deep, even breath, filling your abdomen to capacity, and breathing out through your mouth . . . tell yourself that when you open your eyes, you will maintain a completely relaxed state of body and mind.

Take another deep breath and open your eyes.

Relaxation and Concentration

(Short version)

Tense up every muscle in your body, beginning with the toes and going up through the legs . . . the abdomen and lower back . . . the chest and shoulders . . . and the face . . .

Now, very slowly, as though you were moving in slow motion, relax every muscle in your body . . . slowly and gently . . . relax every muscle . . .

Now slowly, let your head fall forward and gently rotate your head and neck in one direction and then the other. Tell yourself to relax . . .

Tell the muscles to let go . . . communicate to every cell in your body to relax even more. Experience the relaxation with your body and your mind.

Take a deep breath . . . open your eyes . . . maintaining that very relaxed state of mind and body.