Good use of the Solution Focus NeoZon. That is a very powerful tool too.
Loverofcat1948, I have several comments. I think that the feeling exercise are done too quickly in the AFL course. You sound like you've got the basic structure correct.
Feel - don't label / judge the feeling
Feel more aspects about the feeling.
Feel even more ... the energry
Feel the power in the feeling (This one, is a sometimes for me. Separately power and energy sometimes happens sometimes doesn't)
Feel love for the feeling.
Feel love for the energy.
Feel love for the power.
Feel love for feeling the feeling.
Feel love for feeling love for the feeling.
I sometimes use information for the word energy; not always and not for the whole exercise. Sometimes just as a transition. My logical mind can understand how the feeling is information, but my other than conscious mind can feel the energy. Sometimes this word transition helps to make the mental transition from analyst to observer / experiencer.
Don't do the exercise and say "I am I getting it, yet?". It has the same effect and saying out loud "It's quiet now". You are breaking what you are trying to create.
You have to release your expectations (judgement) of the exercise. Just do it and experience what happens.
As for feeling the shape size and colour, I have a couple of approaches. They are revolve around being aware of your body's state, not your mental state.
The first suggestion is not to feel an emotion, but to feel a physical sensation. The pressure on your butt or legs or feel. Feel the breeze or the stillness of the air. Become aware of the sense of touch on the back of your hand, or the side of your hand, or the palm of your hand. Be aware of your breathing. Pick something that you can say "Yes, I feel that.", then really explore that feeling. Where does it start? Where does it end. How intense is it?
The second in regards to emotions. You know you are in an emotional state because of a physical state. You have learned to label certain types and combinations of physical sensations as specific emotions. You have the labels and your logical mind recognizes them. Now, your being asked to drop the label and just experience the physical aspects.
Your mind and body have a two way form of communications. Your body experiences the world and sends messages to the mind to interpret and analyse. There is a strong connection between sensation and thought. It is so strong that your thoughts will create sensations in your body.
I recommend that you work on the physical sensations. Find one sensation and progress with the Feeling Exercise as far as you can. Experience whatever you experience. Don't label the experience. Your experience is ABSOLUTELY PERFECT for you. It is the experience you need at the moment you are doing the exercise. It may be different from mind. It may be different that what you will experience next year, next week or even in the next second. Don't judge the experience, just do the exercise and be fully in the experience. Don't step out to analyze it, to compare it, to direct it, to judge it.
Now I just said don't direct it. Well, now I'm going to say once you've gone through the exercise on one specific sensation. Find another and do it again. Don't worry if you don't do all the steps of the exercise. You'll get there when it right for you to get there. You'll be surprised when it happens. You won't see it coming. Partly because you're not looking down the road, you're right here right now.
After you've tried the exercise with a few sensations, see if you can be fully aware of two sensations, at the same time. Try being aware of all of them, at the same time.
You might try lying down. Definitely don't listen to the recording while doing it. You know the exercise you can hear Paul's words without a machine. Take your time and take what comes, whatever it is.
The more you do it, the easier it will be to do. The more you do it the more complete / deeper your experience will be. Don't get me wrong, you are always experiencing this. It is always happening. It just that you've learned to let your logical mind run your life and it has greatly reduced your conscious awareness of the experience. It is collecting the information / energy / experiences and labelling them and processing the labels. You can become more aware of the sensation by doing the Feeling Exercise. With some regular use of the exercise you will find that you are always aware of your physical state. You will be hooked into the information that your other-than-conscious mind is generating. That's what those emotions, or mentally generated physical sensations, are. They are information from your other-than-conscious mind.
You can use this information to decide if you want to use this information to do something different from what your conscious mind would normally do. You can use your insights from this awareness, and the information in the AFL course to direct your life in directions you choose. You can choose to break the programming of the conscious mind. You can break the well know, well rehearse sets of actions and reactions. You can choose to recognize and set of beliefs and associated responses and choose to do something different with your new awareness. You can choose to recognize your trances and choose to do something different with your new awareness.
Well I hope there are not too many typos and missing words in that. I also hope this will help you.
You ARE perfection.
Iam2