Mobility of Consciousness
The ability to consciously move around within our own consciousness
is emerging for me as one of the key skills for thriving in this
amazing Shift in Consciousness that's said to be going on all around us these days.
As I see it, being able to move at will to a suitable layer of
consciousness, and then manipulate our energies from that vantage
point, this must be the premiere talent, skill and most useful ability
to acquire in this changing world.
The reason I am studying hypnosis is that this is the only modality
I am aware of that directly addresses this issue - learning how to
deliberately change our level of awareness or the layer within
consciousness we are operating from.
The advantage of doing this is simply that we have different
perceptions, different strengths and weaknesses, at different layers of
consciousness. It is very helpful to be able to move to the appropriate
level for the task at hand.
We are learning, in my wonderful course on hypnosis presented by The Harvard Institute of Hypnosis, all about ‘pacing' and ‘leading'.
Pacing = Accepting and affirming whatever is happening
without opposition - becoming congruent with whatever is happening in
and around our whole self at that moment.
Leading = Expressing energy with the intention of influencing what we want to happen. [Making choices in line with our preferences.]
Pacing is affirming for ourselves, and our clients, how we are
perceiving normal physical experiences, like our bum in the seat, our
breathing, and etc. This surface layer of acknowledging what is
happening, is all about focusing on what the client perceives sensually.
Leading, on the other hand, is all about suggesting to the client,
and ourselves, that we might very well soon be experiencing this other
thing - something that is not yet happening outwardly. Leading is a
suggestion to ourselves then, to move towards whatever our desired
outcome might be in the situation.
Not surprisingly, this begins to require actual exertion of energy
on the part of ourselves, or our client. Giving up a familiar line of
expression and switching to something new requires real work within
consciousness.
Actual noticing and commitment to self, as well as repeatedly making
unfamiliar choices in the face of what we don't want all around us. [not for the faint of heart]
Learning about pacing and leading in my hypnosis class happens to
coincide with a discussion with Kris over the course of a couple of
weeks. We talked about how the conscious part of the mind is directing
the energies of the vaster parts of ourselves.
‘Action' is the junction point between the conscious 10% of us and
the neo-conscious 90% of us - the part of ourselves that actually
creates the responses in the world to our actions. [The neo-conscious creates the whole of our reality, not just responses to our actions]
‘Action in the now' is that glorious and terrifying place where we
‘just do it', and throw ourselves into that swirling dynamo of nowness
we find ourselves swimming in eternally. [‘on the fly' is the only way we ever make choices and decisions, because that's all we've got!]
- - - - -
Pacing Our Reality = acknowledging and accepting everything that is
happening without judgement - willingly becoming congruent with the
whole of ourselves as expressed.
Leading Our Reality = acting with the intent of creating what we really
want, by consciously pointing our energies in a specific direction that
fulfills our values.
- - - - -
The advantage of mobility of consciousness is that we have different
powers at different layers and if we can move around at will, we can
position ourselves optimally for whatever we want to do in that
particular moment. [mobility invariably turns out to be helpful,
especially so in challenging circumstances]
At the focal layer - the conscious 10% of our awareness - we are
supremely, triumphantly focused in this physical reality and
consequently very good at evaluating experiences and assessing their
meaning.
Very good at making automatic choices and taking familiar actions. [All very crisp as we delineate and articulate our present perceptions.]
At the essence layer though - the other 90% - we are very mobile and
suggestive, and not so focused on the details of outer physical
reality. We are much more in tune with the symbolic and metaphorical
aspects of our experiences in the heroic dimension.
In this realm we find ourselves vastly empowered in regards to
self-esteem and imaginative invention, and also very open to novel
configurations of ideas that might produce the kinds of experiences we
are drawn to. [All very flexible and accommodating of multi-layered intent.]