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Experiencing a Session
Learning to Resolve Displaced Experiences
First chose something to work on. In the beginning do not pick the most complex and difficult problem you have. Instead choose one of these: A memory of some situation that occurred in the past that still bothers you when you think about it, or some simple problem situation that keeps happening over and over again in your life. If you choose a recurring situation, pick one memory of one example of that situation. Now, in either case you will have chosen one single memory of something that is disturbing to you.
Next, bring that memory to mind for a moment – just let yourself actually remember being in the situation. (If it is terribly uncomfortable to think about, don’t worry, just let yourself remember it for a moment or two.)
Now, gently bring your attention back here to your present experience and to your body now. Notice how you feel now. Notice any particular uncomfortable feeling and/or sensation that you have after remembering the problem situation.
Here comes the crucial approach and then the actual work of resolution:
Consider the possibility that the uncomfortable feeling you are noticing could be an experience that someone else (in another time and place) is having. Consider that this uncomfortable feeling that you have is like a hint of the much greater distress that someone else is actually in (in that other time and place.)
With that in mind, open to receiving the discomfort more fully. [It is crucial here that you do not confuse this with feeling your own feelings more deeply or completely. Approaching it as your own will not bring the results I predict.] An image that I find helpful here is one of a hurt child coming to their mother or father for comfort. Imagine the mother or father opening their arms and letting the child come in close and then feeling, in a kind, caring, empathic way, the hurt that the child is feeling. This method is actually exactly the same as that except that you will most likely not know who or where or when the “child” is. Let yourself open up to the distress, as if it were the cry of someone who is suffering (which it is). The rest of the process will take care of itself. Once you turn toward the distress, knowing it is likely not your own, and open to it you will find that it comes more strongly into you without any effort on your part. Do not be concerned with the idea of feeling someone’s pain. The person in the actual suffering situation is truly suffering, you will only be feeling as- if you are suffering, and you will only feel it for a few moments. You will find that the feeling grows a bit, perhaps peaks or blooms, and then fades. You are done. The time of opening and feeling is usually not more than 15-20 seconds. Just let it happen.
If you think again of the memory that you began with, I predict that you will not feel disturbed by it in that particular way now or ever again. If the situation was disturbing in a number of different ways, you will still feel the other distresses and the process can be repeated. If you were working with a recurring situation you may find that it does not occur again, or that if it does you will not be distressed by it in that same way and will have more ability to creatively respond to whatever is going on. Just as with a disturbing memory, you can repeat the process to resolve other disturbing aspects to the situation.
I would greatly appreciate it, if you do attempt this, if you would write me at Feedback@sharedfield.com with any questions and with your experience. I hope to improve these instructions and will be grateful for your help.
One Note: Some instances of severe distress involve the displacement of more than a suffering situation. This can be more like a link to the whole suffering other person. This can be resolved in essentially the same way but it does require a bit more preparation and the actual receptive process takes just a bit longer, perhaps 30-40 seconds, and usually involves very intense feelings of distress (which are still simple and safe since one is only feeling as-if one is suffering, and only briefly). For those of you familiar with homeopathic concepts this is akin to constitutional treatment, as contrasted with acute treatment.