Forums IMPORTANT: PLEASE READ Abundance for Life, Effortless Success Question about the Feeling Exercise

I just started working with AFL. I've gone through the prelude and I'm on the first CD of the main course.

I have a question about the feeling exercise.
When we are instructed to notice the feeling as it is...what are we noticing? Are we noticing body sensation (the way the feeling feels in our body like tense, warm, agitated etc.) or are we noticing that we are feeling sad, angry, happy, scared etc. If we identify the feeling as one of the above, then aren't we labeling the feeling?

Then again when instructed to feel the power in the feeling....same question...what are we focusing on...body sensation or the actual feeling?

Thanks for your help...just feeling a bit confused by the instructions.

Dancer,

I too have had this question. I'm glad you've asked it.

There are many other contradictions I have found in the course that I'd be interested to see if you encounter too as you go further into it.

The idea is to notice the feeling without naming it. Whatever it is whenever you feel it or are doing the feeling exercise.

For the most part when you're doing it with the CDs the idea that comes to mind is "I feel nothing". In reality it means you're trying to label the feeling instead of noticing the buzzing in your, head, your relaxed breathing, the pressure of your body against a surface, the itch on your nose or whatever sensation you are having.

Noticing the feeling of confusion, frustration, awe, happiness, sadness, anger, or simply being without labeling them.

The paradox for me is that to explain it I need to resort to labeling possible feelings

Instead let the mind go there and be aware of what happens in your body when you experience certain feelings.

So when Paul says notice your feeling the trick is not to go "I feel" but to allow the mind to travel to the, probably strongest, sensation that you are aware of in your body or emotions and if your mind says "I feel" know that you are trying to labeled it. Instead let go and feel that 'nothing' be in it let it flow over you and just put your attention on feeling those feeling we quickly jump to label. When you manage to move beyond the words you will find that your body vibrates with energy and by feeling you know when the energy is flowing and when and where you are blocking it.

Alex

Alex,
Thanks for your reply, I just need a little tweaking. So, are you saying to "notice" the sensations in our bodies at any moment that we tune in..when we are having a feeling, emotion or just being? Just to bring awareness to whatever is there without even labeling it as a feeling...kind of like riding awareness?

OK, a related question to this process is when Paul asks through out the sessions, what are you feeling now with some sort of inference that everything is fine in the present moment,(that may be my interpretation that everything is supposed to be fine in the moment not what Paul is implying, but that's the way I hear it) what if it's not or you think it's not. What if you are feeling frustrated, angry, whatever? Then do we just be with that and go with sensation again?

Thanks for your input.

quote:

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Originally posted by danceroflife:
Alex,
Thanks for your reply, I just need a little tweaking. So, are you saying to "notice" the sensations in our bodies at any moment that we tune in..when we are having a feeling, emotion or just being? Just to bring awareness to whatever is there without even labeling it as a feeling...kind of like riding awareness?

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Yes, like riding the awareness. It's one time we don't want a verbal asnwer so much as noticing ourselves 'turn around and check' what is there. Perhaps it's easier for us to grasp when we think of it like this.

Someone with us says wow check that out, what do you see? Before we say anything we observe we look around and see nothing out of the ordinary we observe sky, buildings, plants, people and trees nothing out of the ordinary.

Without labeling it, it's all just there, has been and always will be. But the difference is because someone said wow check that out, what do you see? You'll observe for a while before you offer anything. We naturally want to observe and offer something interesting before we open our mouth. Now for the catch... just as you're about to say something of what you see, your friend says 'no don't say anything' just see what you see.

It becomes like watching a sunset and feeling at one with the world just because it's there.

quote:

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OK, a related question to this process is when Paul asks through out the sessions, what are you feeling now with some sort of inference that everything is fine in the present moment,(that may be my interpretation that everything is supposed to be fine in the moment not what Paul is implying, but that's the way I hear it) what if it's not or you think it's not. What if you are feeling frustrated, angry, whatever? Then do we just be with that and go with sensation again?

Thanks for your input.

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Again go with the feeling, notice it as is... just because it is there notice the feeling. When you're listening to the CDs chances are it is easier to accept that everything is Okay right now. But do the feeling exercise when you're angry or frustrated or any of the negative feelings (our trance label for feeling we don't like or consider bad) and well you're here you're feeling.... I'll let you experience it for yourself.

Do it often enough when you come to feeling anger and when are able to be with the feeling, without labeling it... you can move to the next step and decide how you want to feel and feel that.

Heed the warning... don't rush to change your feeling, notice them for what they are for they are there. For doing so will keep you in the trance. In our maddening rush to change the trance to a better trance we forget we don't have to change the trance.

Alex

I am sorry I am still not getting it. I wa so delighted that someone else posted on here questions about the feeling. How can you notice a feeling without naming it. i.e. Ihae a feeling in my hand the feeling is pain, I feel cold/warm, the moment one owns to a feeling is the very moment that one lables it. I just cannot grasp this at all "let go and feel that 'nothing' be in it let it flow over you and just put your attention on feeling those feeling we quickly jump to label." How do you just be with a feeling without knowing what the feeling is? I do not feel energy in my feelings indeed often the opposite is true, it "feels" ah there is the rub as a great lethargy and not a vibration at all. I found the answer to "danceroflife" very confusing. Wht is meant by "riding the awareness"? I llok forward to your reply.

Lover.

Have you ever seen one of those cartoons, of the character lost in a desert, he sees a sign, crawls up to it and all that sign says is "You Are Here!" and one of a variety of symbols are over his head ? ! * or perhaps the thought 'well duh!'

I think for many that describes their first experiences with the feeling exercise.

It might help to have an explanation of what it is intended to help you do that may make it easier to understand the point of letting go of the labels and just noticing. Most importantly, simply noticing without judgement.

One of the first answers we learned and gave our parents as small children to explain our actions was 'because I feel like it'. It's also an answer our parents probably gave us when they didn't want to go into long explanation why they wanted us to do something. We probably use it ourselves from time to time when we want to circumvent the need to explain simply because of how we feel.

We are feeling being and even the ability to label our emotions, happy, sad, angry, frustrated, etc as well as our ability to label body sensation, hot, cold, itchy, shivering, flushed, puffed etc... how do we do that? What tells us we are any of those things? Our feelings but we never stop to experience them 'as they are'.

When we are doing the feeling exercise all that we are really doing is returning ourselves to the here and now and ultimately back to our true source, without the projections that we usually associate to the label, the sense of what are you going to do about. E.g. Label 'Angry' mental reaction is along the line of what are you going to do about it.. let off steam, break something, get into a fight, get even, put a lid on it.
Label itching, got to do something to stop it...

When you do the feeling exercise you let go of the labels "as best you can" and then just notice the feeling and how your body is responding to that emotional feeling, scan the body notice where it's tense, where it's relaxed, notice also as you get deeper into the feeling you notice vibrations (if you don't yet that's fine your doing the exercise to get to the point of noticing it). Or if it's a physical feeling... notice the emotional response.

It helps if you let go of judgements about the feeling... e.g "as a great lethargy" is not only a label it's a judgement about the feeling in the sense of the feeling I'm now having is not the right one, I should be feeling vibration and yet I'm feeling a stillness like...

So the first step is to let go of judgement about the feeling, whether you're doing it right or not, what you should be experiencing etc, I know the exercise says to feel it free of any thought but I think it might be better understood if you feel the feeling free of any judgements about the feeling. How do we do that?

First,How do we judge, or think (have thoughts) about something in the first place? We mentally compare, analyse right/wrong good/bad same/different should/shouldn't okay/not okay, leave it/ change it... either or thinking.

In order to be free of thoughts about it we have to do the opposite of judging or having thoughts about it and mentally just "shut up" and view the show. That is to be here now with the feeling, perhaps as in yep right now I'm having a feeling and then just notice.

Step 2 is the one that will throw us into a loop because really it's a paradox... "feel love for the feeling"... Love is a label for a feeling. So the how to????

Consider what love is, acceptance of ... just the way it is, gratitude for ... being there as it is , compassion for ...just as it is, aprreciation for ... exactly as it is. Yep I know they are all labels trying to describe the feeling of being okay with something just the way it is.

What does all this do? It returns us to the now moment without projections to past or future but to nows where our true power really lies... right here right now with whatever you are feeling.

Problem with explaining it in words... we judge and if we feel we are not matching that judgement we make try to change something so that we can pretend that we are doing it right.

The fact of the matter is, there is no right or wrong it's a way to help you experience for yourself a personal truth.

All you really need to do is do the feeling exercise often. Then you can know for yourself what many inspirational writers use so many words to explain and yet the experience to experience it for yourself takes but a moment.

If you can just 'be in the experience'. To try and analyse the experience while you are doing it, takes you right out of the experience.' When you are just in the experience and experiencing it without analysis or judgement. Then you will know who is the judge and who is the executioner.

Alex

[This message has been edited by Alex K. Viefhaus (edited June 19, 2004).]

Starting the feeling exercise I also had this issue with what is there if I don’t label the feeling. I found that if I could avoid allowing words in my mind for even a moment that some other sense of the feeling would start to emerge. This seems to correlate with what Paul says in the course about feelings being what thoughts spring from.

Also, looking for any sensation in my body will often point me to a non-verbal (without words in my mind) shard of the feeling that automatically expands to enough to run with in the rest of the exercise.

Our conscious minds often have such an invisible, iron grip on our experience that it takes a little trick to get it out of the way long enough for other processes of mind to catch hold. I first experienced this with an art exercise from Betty Edwards where she instructs to turn an original line drawing upside down while attempting to render it. Upside down, the conscious mind (left brain) can’t call up its catalog of prefab shapes, leaving the right brain to connect perceived form with drawn form. The results are amazing.

I too have been struggling a bit with the feeling exercise when listening to the cds. When I listen to the cd I clear my mind so I can concentrate on the message. When Paul asks "How are you feeling?", or "what are you feeling?" my answer is almost always "Nothing". How does one feel the energy of "Nothing", visualize it, see the edges, density, shape, color, etc. and appreciate the power and vibration if nothing is what one is feeling?

Nice thread. The feelings exercise is one of my favourite things. I find the CDs to progresss a little to fast for me, but once you know the script you can lead yourself and progress at your own pace.

Judging the feelings is what you want to avoid. A label for a feeling comes pre-packaged with a judgement.

What are feelings? Are they emotions or physical senses? If you become aware of your emotions you'll notice they are a combination of physical sensations. So your feelings are both but really only one.

What are feelings? They are messages from the universe. They are just for you. What are emotions? Yes feelings, but they are messages just for you from your mind. Some feelings come from your physical self interacting with the universe, giving you information, giving you feedback, giving you answers, giving you guidance. Some feelings come from your mind working with the information and giving you feelback, giving you answers, giving you guidance.

Some feelings are stronger than others. Feel the energy in them. Some are more localized than others. Some have at different SOMETHING. Try some of the words Paul suggests, some will fit, some won't. Explore the feelings, become aware of the feelings.

Don't label them, don't judge them. They are all valuable feedback, designed especially for you.

Accept the information, accept the feeling, don't judge it. Express gratitude for recieving the gifts of feedback, for the gifts of guidance. Feel acceptance and gratitude for it. Feel love for it.

There are many faces to love, and AlexK refers to a few more above, but ACCEPTANCE and GRATITUDE are the two that I feel are most important for this exercise. Acceptance helps keeps you in the NOW and not in the analysis of the experience. Gratitude helps you (read me) connect to the massive energy that is love.

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That's not a detailed as I have planned on typing, and it's more instructional. However, I hope it helps some people.

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One of the things I've done in the feelings exercise is to mentally scan my body and become aware of the feeling of the place I'm scanning. Then try become aware of the extent of it, the intensity, the depth.... or use Paul's words.

Another things I've done is to become aware of a few feelings about my body then they and become fully aware of a few of them at the same time. Or try and become fully aware of all of the bodies sensations at the same time. Then progress with the exercise.... energy and love.

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It's well worth repeating the idea of experience the feelings and the exercise. Try and understand it after. You have a memory. Trying to analyse it, is strongly linked to trying to directing the experience. Let the conscious mind be the observer and be with the experience.

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I've found that doing this exercise is great for developing awareness of your state, of the messages you are being sent, even when not doing the exercise. You can then use this awareness to listen to your internal messages and consciously chose your action, rather than running on the default program (trance), if that's what you choose.

Good luck with the exercise.

You are perfection.
Iam2