I wish to receive the shape I am in

Our ears function as audio recorders that are always on, even while we are asleep. An additional zillion bits of audio bytes (data) per day are being continually streamed into our memory data base. Tactile, gustatory and olfactory data also add their data bits, as and when they are perceived by the brain. These gazillion bits of data that are being recorded also have to be easily retrievable. The only way our brain can do it is by storing them intelligently--to use an analogy, in files of various sizes. It devotes more space to important data, and this is saved in bigger files. These files that are important (charged with emotions) may be required at short notice (1/10,000th of a second) for survival. Assume that the most important memories are saved in folders according to the emotions experienced: fear, helplessness, hurt, anger, frustration, pain, and so on. The folders have two principal sections. You slowly find your way in the dark. You begin to make your way down the hallway. Notice how your body feels as you fumble through the darkness trying to get to the back of the house. You call again to your friend, but you're interrupted by a chorus of familiar voices yelling, Surprise! What are you feeling in your body now, in this moment, as you realize it's a surprise birthday party meant for you? This exercise is intended to acquaint you with a variety of sensations that occur in different situations such as frustration, expectancy, relief, conflict, and surprise. If you noticed different feeling states and were able to move smoothly from the pleasant to the unpleasant and back again, you now have an idea of what it feels like to pendulate. The twists and turns of the visualization above brought many surprises. Surprise, or novelty, activates the nervous system. In the case of a good surprise, something gets stored in the body that makes you feel better about your sense of self. Crowds and Loud Noises

The empathetic individual is usually uncomfortable in large crowds, negative energy, or places where it is extremely loud, this is super common among them, which is one of the reasons why they will frequently run away from or avoid social situations. They do not care too much for social situations as I stated earlier, it is because they can feel and become assaulted by the energy of others. If they find themselves in an environment where the energy is really heavy, they will jet out of there so fast; If you happen to be with them when they say they are leaving, I suggest you get ready as well, because they are not going to wait, they will just leave. Usually, these are the ones who have not come into their power yet, so they are not mindful of the fact that they can block those negative energies. They have to realize that they do not have to take on those energies and can block them. This is something that can be learned and mastered over some time while you are working on strengthening your abilities. Most of them require a lot of alone time, in the beginning, during the confusion, before they realize who and what they are. Once they come into their power, they realize that they must interact with others, they will still need their alone time but will notice that they do not need as much as they used to. This is because they are in the same environment they were in when they were using. This person may be a close friend or family member, but you are setting yourself up for failure if you continue to spend time with them. You will re-offend because many of your experiences with each other revolve around drugs or alcohol. Particularly in the beginning, when you have not yet built up your resolve, your resistance may not be sufficient to keep you from reoffending. It does not have to be this extreme of a situation for this to apply. Imagine that you were taking a medication that dictated that you could not eat sugar for the day. When you are at the store, this would not be the time to buy your favorite cake. Having it sitting in the pantry would be too much temptation. You would be creating a no-win scenario. You might be able to be around your triggers sometime in the future without it having an adverse effect on you, but that can only happen when you have the fortitude for it. Interrupting it is more important than my feelings, ego, or self-image.

Her message is pretty clear. Should white people give up trying to be less racist? Will white people ever be exempt from the forces of racism? The big takeaway here, as it relates to racism and bias, is that discomfort is key to our growth, and desirable. Giving up--avoidance--is a way to resolve the discomfort and get back into a familiar zone. It doesn't lead to growth, and therefore it's undesirable. Discomfort is key to our growth, and desirable. Repeat after me: Discomfort is key to our growth, and desirable. If you're a human being, this statement undoubtedly sparks some anxiety in you, and your voices of power, reason, and avoidance are jumping over each other right now with suggestions for how to respond to it. I should have called her. I should have asked to visit with her. I could have saved her, I thought. Before accepting death, we unwillingly discover guilt. You know, because we didn't do enough. We didn't say enough. We didn't feel enough. But the truth is, I couldn't save Karyn Washington anymore than I could have saved my mom. And that was the beginning of my depression. It comes and goes and goes and comes. The first reinforcing loop (R1) is complete and in action.

What happens next is even more discouraging. The fear of being blamed reduces creative thinking. People who are afraid won't take risks. Innovation and risk go hand in hand. If there is no innovation, effective problem-solving is, again, lacking--thus, errors will happen (R2). Blame as a systems archetype. Blaming creates an archetypical cycle, namely shifting the burden. As we saw, people tend to find easy, quick fixes instead of digging deeper into problems. This creates a vicious cycle of repeated quick fixes and the core problem resurfaces over and over again. However, as Khandro Rinpoche, who is both a great woman and Buddhist teacher, tells us: we can either accept genuine teaching at the moment that we understand it and act upon it immediately or wait until a crack or an upheaval in our lives makes us reconsider it. I welcome and embrace all who decide to change now - either you inherently understood the article, or you have had a disaster in your life and needed guidance. All of you are welcome, whatever religion, believers, non-believers, women, men, children, elders, all races, all skin tones, all castes. It's never too early and never too late to make a change for the better! Make that step, or if you need further clarification or help, reach out to me:Let me start off by saying, you've been lied to. Life is so much easier and simpler than you've been told. This writing is a collage of philosophical teachings and lessons that I have adopted through the years. I have tried and tested these teachings on myself, and they have worked for me every time without fail. Several of these teachings might seem foreign to some of you and downright crazy to others, but believe me, they work and will always work. I have always been an inquisitive type of person, seeking knowledge wherever I could. Memories with strong emotional content are stored as audio-video files.

The episode of Mikhail's betrayal and other painful experiences can be recalled in three dimensions, in motion, and in colour. The files that do not have strong emotional content are stored in other folders. These memories are saved in smaller zipped files only as still pictures. They can be recalled as two-dimensional, black-and-white static pictures. These pictures are also graded by their importance. The least important ones are saved in very small sizes. Top priority is given to emotional files that are tagged `high risk'. These files contain `threat' patterns that necessitate immediate responses. In Olivia's case, `betrayal', `rejection', `snake', `gun', `murder', `palpitations' and `Mikhail' would be some of the files that were tagged `high risk'. On the other hand, in the case of a horrifying surprise, distressing sensations can become stuck, resulting in a diminished sense of self and feelings of helplessness. When you're in touch with sensations, you can begin to move with fluidity out of one state and into another. Remember, anything that feels bad is never the final step. It is this movement from fixity to flow, as Peter Levine reminds us in his lectures and articles, that frees us from the grip of trauma. Ideally, you were able to feel this fluidity within yourself during the exercise. If you did, you are well on your way to learning the skills to help a child fluidly glide through sensations. If, in any way, you felt stuck or frozen on an unpleasant sensation, emotion, or image while practicing, take the time now to look around, get up, move, and take notice of an object, movement, thought, person, pet, or natural feature that makes you feel comfortable. Then return to the place in your body where you were stuck and be curious to sense what happens next. This seemingly harmless exercise may feel threatening to children with complex developmental trauma, those on the autism spectrum, and any child that has difficulty with transitions for any reason. The nervous systems of these students may be tuned to expect danger around every corner. It will take practice and time to get out of the habit of running away from everything and everyone.