Clearing

So, how can we clear out the old gunk so that we can be our authentic selves instead of blindly reacting to everyone and everything?

It's easy to be enlightened if you live alone in a cave on a remote mountaintop.   No one is bothering you.  The trick is to maintain your calm in the midst of the chaos.

First, you have to accept that whatever you encounter was your doing.  It didn't come from "out there," it came from "in here."  You put it front and center to get your attention.  If it wasn't already in you, you would be unable to perceive it.  It just wouldn't resonate.  If it doesn't resonate, you might or might not notice it, but it wouldn't grab your attention.

So, someone or something grabs your attention and it doesn't feel good.  It hurts.  Don't run from it.  Don't hide.  Don't deny or make excuses.  Don't blame.  It just is.  Go toward it.  You can't transform it until you accept it.  You can't get past it until you acknowledge it.  There really is no place to hide anyway.  Wherever you go, there you are.  If you don't deal with it now, it will come up again.  And again.  Believe me.

There are many methods.  Everyone is unique and what works for one person may not work for another.  I have tried many.  I have been to healers, hypnotherapists, counselors and so on.  Some were helpful, some not.  The most helpful thing that I have done is to meditate.  I meditate for 30 minutes every day.  I usually do a guided meditation with words or music.  I have a harp CD that I sometimes use.  Sometimes I use a guided meditation by Abraham, as channeled by Esther Hicks.  Most often I use a guided meditation by Robert Monroe (see books).  I also have a MAP team.  In the back of the book, A Course in Miracles, is a series of daily meditations, one for each day of the year.  These are Christian-based and I had to reword them to my liking, but the message of all religions is the same in the end.  I have done the entire sequence.  It's all about forgiveness.  Forgiving yourself and everyone else.  Holding grudges is deadly.  I have also had success with Acupressure for Emotional Healing.

I hold a specific problem or question in my mind and then I go into my meditative state.  Sometimes the answer comes while I am meditating, sometimes not.  Sometimes it takes many sessions.  Sometimes it comes through some seemingly minor event in my day.  Sometimes in a dream.  Sometimes it has many layers and I can only peel one at a time.  It takes time.  Be patient with yourself.  Sometimes I cry while I am meditating.

Another technique, if the pain or problem is with the body, is to hold the part that is bothersome.  Just put both hands over the area and be with it.  Accept it as it is right now.  Accept yourself as you are right now.  Ask your body what it is trying to tell you.  Then wait for the answer.

I have a few words to add about counseling and "venting."  The only time I have found it really useful to talk to another person about a problem is when I was so tied up in knots about it that I couldn't unravel it.  Then talking about it to an active listener was helpful for me to just get clear on  the actual source of my distress.  Otherwise, talking about a problem just entrenches it, in my experience.  Many people think it's good to "vent."  I disagree.  Venting is just spewing your pain out into the world.  Does it make you feel good?  On the contrary, whenever I have indulged in venting I felt worse.  It's because by venting I am focusing on the problem.  Often I am blaming or trying to make someone else bad and wrong.  This doesn't feel good to me.

If you focus only on what's wrong or what hurts and you are indulging in blame, shame or guilt you are feeding it and giving it power.  Focus on what's right and what works.  What works in your life?  How did you get it to work?  Do that with what doesn't work.  Find things to appreciate, things that please you.

Monitor your thoughts.  Your thoughts follow your beliefs about the world.  What are the contents of your mind?  What are you thinking when your are doing nothing in particular?  Do you like what you see?  Are your thoughts filled with resentment?  Thoughts are real.  Through your thoughts and your imagination, you create the world you perceive.  Perception is reality. 

Sometimes I like to imagine my perfect world.  The perfect society.  What would that look like?

You are never alone.

No one is going to save you.  You must save yourself.  Help is available for the asking, but you must ask.  Then listen for the answer.  It is within you.