..to Looking at Oneself through the Intelligence of the Body

When I quoted the spiritual teacher in the article about the intelligence of the body, I left out a bit in my quote. Geli has asked me to include the complete quote, so here it is.

This is found in Chapter 12 of Brandon Bay’s book, “The Journey: A Road Map to the Soul.”

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from “The Journey: A Road Map to the Soul,” by Brandon Bays, Chapter 12. I am using the Kindle edition, and the book is published by Simon & Schuster Electronic Editions.

I was taking a course with a spiritual teacher when, during a question and answer session, one of the students asked, “What do I do if an intense emotion comes up for me—how do I find the peace in that?”

She answered, “Just don’t move. Let yourself be completely present to the emotion. Welcome it. If a negative emotion arises, don’t run away from it; don’t run off to the refrigerator to eat some food to cover it up; don’t call your friends to disperse its energy by gossiping about it. Just stop and feel it. Just let yourself be present to it. You’ll find if you don’t try to distract yourself from it, or push it away, or, worse still, dump it on someone else; if you stay still, if you are really present to it—in the very core of the feeling you will find peace. So when you feel a powerful emotion, just let it be—DON’T MOVE. Welcome it.”

I thought, “What a radical idea.” Everything in the self-help movement is teaching us to change our thoughts, make them more positive. Or if you don’t change your thoughts, then change your physiology—do anything you can to avoid the pain. Even medical doctors prescribe drugs to dull emotional intensity. “Act as if “—do whatever you can to make sure you don’t allow yourself to really feel what’s coming up. She was saying something totally different—“Don’t move. Be present.” What a novel concept!