Empower Your Self to Heal Chronic Illness (Part 2): How to “Feel All Right” NOW!

In the previous article in this series* (Who is the “self” in Self Healing?), I addressed one of the most fundamental and empowering, Self healing principles (for those of us with chronic illness); learning how to reconnect with core-Self beyond the superficial qualities typically used to identify “self”. I also provided three exercises for you to practice to set a strong course on your journey to Self healing (at all levels, including the physical).

This article presents yet another empowering skill for you to add to your Self healing toolbox. This practice will take you beyond your everyday thoughts, beyond self-talk, beyond symptoms, so you can truly explore crucial communications from within! In fact, this practice is one of the more easily learned and most empowering, Self healing skills you can develop!

I will address an abbreviated form of this exercise below (& advanced versions in future articles in this series). For now, allow yourself time to become skilled with this technique: A few sincere attempts will rapidly accelerate your ability to achieve significant results.

Crucial-Communications-With-Core-Self (in 8 Steps):

1.Take time now to close your eyes, breathe slowly, and relax your muscles from head to toes (by whatever means work best for you; counting breaths, imaging nature, tense & relax). Pay particular attention to relaxing your facial muscles (especially the jaw), shoulders, and lower back. This a quiet, restful time to go within.

2.Once fully relaxed, repeat to your Self within: "What's between me and feeling perfectly all right now?"**

3.As you do, take time to notice your inner response: What naturally bubbles up into your awareness? The object here is to determine how you carry this response in your physical being (beyond self-talk, beyond words in your head). You will get a sensation occurring somewhere within, a “felt-sense” (as described by Eugene Gendlin, PhD, University of Chicago and The Focusing Institute). Notice where this response is located within you; your heart? . . .your gut? . . .elsewhere still?

4.Once located, take time to explore your experience in detail (the exact sensations). What do you notice physically? Is it tension, butterflies, an itch, a pain. . .?

5.Now notice “the intuitive feel” of your response. Is there an image, sound, temperature associated within? What is the “emotional tone” of your experience? Is there a symbol or memory? Notice the “wordless feel” of this experience. Just sit with it for a few minutes: Breathe into it and exhale out from it. Witness. . .all you can from within.

6.Determine a “key” word or phrase by which to summarize this whole experience; something to bring back with you (to re-access the results at a later time).

7.Rinse and repeat, by checking-in again for “what else?” may be in the way of “feeling perfectly all right now”.

8.Repeat steps 3 through 7 as many times as you need. When you feel your experience is complete, you may gently come back to full waking awareness, noticing how much better you feel.

In my own practice with this exercise, as well as with my coaching clients, the most intriguing results comes by way of the “answers” within; that intuitive feel that emerges naturally. More often than not, the result has nothing to do with current symptoms imposing on our awareness, nor with the intensity of those symptoms: It is NOT the pain, the fatigue, the irritability!

Instead, most often, we receive answers associated with our habituated focus of attention, self-deprecating self talk, habitual behaviors, attitudes, limiting beliefs, memories, and so on. It's as if we have gained such a numbing familiarity with intense symptoms, that what lies beneath those symptoms truly drives our discontent in the moment! In short, we learn to bear symptoms admirably: It is the Self-beyond-symptoms we must rediscover!

Once comfortable with this exercise, you may re-access these crucial communications throughout your day by way of your word “keys” (Step 6 above). Then, by re-experiencing your crucial-communications-with-core, you can:

1.Remind your Self exactly how to feel better in this moment;

2.Aid relaxation and recovery when symptoms are particularly troubling;

3.Redirect your focus beyond the intensity of symptoms in more and more moments;

4.Learn new, more empowering behavioral responses to long-standing symptoms.

You may also repeat the entire exercise at different times to expand on the ways by which you learn to access “feeling all right”. Each time you do the full exercise, you will gain new perspectives on how you can more easily “feel all right” now.

Please, do practice this exercise once or twice each day to become adept at having crucial communications with core Self. In future articles in this series, we will expand this exercise and utilize it in a number of ways to initiate and accelerate more Self healing experiences.

For now, the important thing for you is to repeatedly go within Self to learn all you can about the unique way you can feel “all right” now! As you proceed in learning (and applying) the Self healing skills presented in this series of articles, you will marvel at how easily you learn to thrive beyond symptoms, to thrive beyond chronic illness now!

My mission is to Coach You Well!

Caringly,

Malcolm

*See: http://www.coachingselfhealing.com/Test/templ/t32/t1link.php?link=4

**Source: http://www.cefocusing.com/wordpress/?p=192

©2009byMFDayton, LPC, CHt