(Written in February 2007)
\nIn a Somatic Experiencing session I complained to Dave about the amount of time I spend in the collapsed (despairing, terrified) place versus the time spent feeling 3-dimensional and real and confident, he said the collapsed place is the \u201cdefault\u201d position, one I have learned through years of experience, it\u2019s familiar and easy to fall into.\u00a0 The other place is not so solid or easy to get to, but I am beginning to spend more and more time there compared with ten years ago.\u00a0 He gave me the image of a slide going down \u2014 no effort \u2014 and a ladder climbing up \u2014 requires effort.<\/p>\n
I told Karen about the time Eleanor said she couldn\u2019t have a gas stove in the apartment I was building for her and I collapsed.\u00a0 Karen asked me to see the collapse in slow motion.\u00a0 I described it as being like those figures on a base, limbs strung together with string, and when you push up on the bottom the whole figure collapses like a house of cards.\u00a0 When it\u2019s all collapsed, what does it need?\u00a0 This was hard, because the collapsed place is also the baby\u2019s place, I can\u2019t do it from inside, there is no inside. Exploring it more, I see that the baby is terrified because her survival is at stake, she\u2019s got to DO something, so it\u2019s not OK to be collapsed.\u00a0 But what is needed by the collapsed one is to really get it that it\u2019s OK to be collapsed, that it\u2019s not the end of the world.\u00a0 What works best is if some form of validation comes from outside.\u00a0 Kayla has done this for me, and Lynelle, and most recently, Ellen.\u00a0 Sometimes Guidance works, often past guidance works.\u00a0 Also, reminding myself of the non-traumatized world view: the Universe is benevolent, life is meaningful, and the self is worthy.\u00a0 I need a series of affirmations.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s OK to be collapsed.
\nIt\u2019s OK to not know.
\nIt\u2019s OK to do nothing.
\nSpirit has a plan, just as I am I am part of it.
\nThe Universe is benevolent, Life is meaningful, the self is worthy.
\nI have worthwhile work to do, that\u2019s what I was meant to do, that helps the\u00a0 world I love.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
(Written in February 2007) In a Somatic Experiencing session I complained to Dave about the amount of time I spend in the collapsed (despairing, terrified) place versus the time spent feeling 3-dimensional and real and confident, he said the collapsed … Continue reading