UNSTUCK
Fun story: the day Ralph recorded this talk, they had just landed in Puerto Escondido, Mexico. It was 100+ degrees with full humidity and there was no a/c at the Airbnb they showed up at, bad lighting, etc. They thought a million times about re-recording this talk, but the truth is they knew, our practice is about life— and this is life! May the imperfections of the presentation here help you feel a fuller permission to embrace the imperfections we find everywhere.
Radical nonpathology — the notion that, at our core, there is nothing wrong with us. Neuroscience has shown that everything about us is oriented towards safety, good feelings, growth, and belonging. The confusion begins when these basic needs and drives are betrayed and violated.
In understanding that we are not a solid self but rather made of parts, just like a body is made of parts, we can then begin to offer these emotional parts of us the safety, goodness, and belonging that’s been missing within us. When we do this, healing is natural. We organically move towards an actualization of our basic nature: Self-energy, the love we were born with.
Week 1 Meditation:
Please alternate between the Parts Work Meditation and Heart Breathing Meditation from day to day.
IN THIS LESSON
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5-3-1-1 (Practice to do before getting out of bed)
4-8-12 Breathing for Calm
Ninefold Purification -
JOURNAL PROMPT: WEEK 1
On self energy: Stop, close your eyes and contemplate a time in your life when you felt a genuine sense of caring for someone. Perhaps you appreciated someone, were in admiration of them or just plain loved them.
What was it like? What was it like in your body? Notice everything you can about the feeling, both in the space of awareness and in terms of physical sensation (softening, relaxing, tingling, sharp sensation, dull sensation, cool, warm, etc.) and where it was felt in the body.
How might this relate to the concept of self energy? Have you experienced this in your practice?