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The best way to learn the Self Therapy "listening" technique is by experiencing it. So I would now like to guide you through an exercise that demonstrates the process. For this exercise, you should be in a comfortable seated position, in an area free from distractions. You should not be driving or operating machinery of any kind.

Read through the description of each step fully before trying it yourself. As you're reading, please keep in mind that what you're reading is a transcript of an original audio recording.

STEP I

Close your eyes now and relax. Direct your awareness toward the inside of your body. I would like you to put your mental awareness first on the inside of your head.. Just mentally observe that space with your minds eye. Now move your awareness to your neck.. Now down into your chest and abdomen area.. Now move your awareness to your left arm.. Then your right arm.. Now down to your left leg.. Then the right leg.. Finally, expand your awareness so that it encompasses your entire body.. Relax in this state for a few moments with inward awareness throughout your body.

STEP II

Now that you have centered concentration within your body, I would like you to notice the sensations in that space. You can start in your head, or any area of your body where a physical sensation is present. Each person's internal sensations will vary, but some examples are: pressure in the head, tightness in the neck, or maybe aching in an arm.

Sensations can range from physical ones like aching within muscles, to emotional ones like the butterfly feeling in a nervous stomach, or the heaviness of depression.. If the sensation you find is of an emotional nature like nervousness, just observe it as the energy. Try to avoid placing verbal labels like "nervousness" or "anger" on energies..This type of identification requires an intellectual evaluation that interferes with your complete attentive listening to the pure energy. The key right now is to find and concentrate on the energies. You can instead describe energies with words like "tingling vibration", "smooth energy", "dense", "throbbing", and so forth.

If you don't feel anything, you are probably trying too hard. Just observe what's there. You don't need to force anything to be created.

If you've been experiencing anxiety recently, then you can probably find THAT sensation as an energy in your body, or maybe throughout your body. Any emotion that you experience has an energy, a physical sensation inside your body, that goes along with it.. It's that physical sensation that we're interested in.

If you find yourself becoming frustrated or rushed, then THAT energy, the one underlying the feeling of frustration or rush, is a good one to "observe".

STEP III

Once you've found a sensation, greet it as if it's an entity within you by saying something like "Hello energy". Choose an energy to concentrate on, and try this greeting now.

In the past, you've probably been in the habit of either ignoring or avoiding the emotional and physical sensations within you.. Use this time now to instead consciously be with those energies.

Focus your concentration on the energy you're spending time with as if you are listening to it, as if it is speaking to you with the sensations that it radiates. Overcome all avoidance, feel genuine interest in wanting to listen to it.. Listen without analysis, without evaluation, and without judgment of the energy. If it helps, think of listening to energies simply as concentrating on and observing them with pure, thought-free, avoidance free, awareness. Try this now..

Just as a good listener would put all their mental attention on the person they are listening to, you should "listen" to the emotional or physical energy with all your accepting awareness -- meaning free of analytical or judgmental thought. Continue doing this for a few more moments.

The ability to stay focused and listening is like a muscle. The more you practice, the stronger your ability will become. If you start to lose focus, say something to the energy like "I am with you energy". If you become distracted with other thoughts, don't try to forcefully push them out, as doing so only gives them the additional power of your attention. Instead, let them be there and just let them float away. They'll lose strength as you concentrate on the energy you're with. Just turn your awareness back to the energy and say something like "Feeling, I am with you now. There is nothing more important right now than being with you. I want to know you."

Continue listening to the energy with this in mind.

STEP IV

For the energy you are currently listening to, try now to describe the physical characteristics of that energy. Reflect your observations TO the energy, as if you are speaking to it. You can do this either out loud or in your mind.

Some examples might be:

• Energy, you are smooth and thick
• Sensation, you are a tingling vibration in my stomach
• Energy, you are aching and solid. Or, you are dense and throbbing
• Feeling, you extend from my stomach into my chest
• Energy, you are shaped like a rod
• Energy, you are like a heavy sheet in front of my face
• Energy, you are pressure in my chest
• Energy, you are like a thick grey cloud in my body
• Energy, you are aching in the top of my head, or behind my eyes
• Energy, you are a floating sensation

These are just some examples.. You will obviously your own unique energies and therefore unique descriptions. Try to come up with as many descriptive words as possible, including shape, density, size, feel, etc. Take a couple minutes to try this now.. Tell the energy your observation of its physical characteristics. Your description does not have to be exact -- there's no need for perfection. Just reflect the first observations that come to your mind. Do this now.

Please continue practicing the above exercise if you would like more time.

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