Solving a life problem is difficult because no matter how objective we think we are, we get entangled in our subjective interpretations.
So, where can we find objective information about ourself?
Our body.
Beyond all our “theories” about who we are is an objective reality we can tap into by processing our body experiences.
The great success of modern medicine has made us conceive of our physical being in a one dimensional way—purely as a biochemical machine.
But the body is more than this: It’s the metabolic expression of our entire conscious and unconscious psychological process.
Our aches and pains, health and illness, physical joy and energy (or lack thereof), are communications from our deepest self.
In addition, our process flows through our body in ways we don’t consciously perceive until we work on it.
Try this:
1. Choose a problem to work on.
2. Describe how it feels.
3. Make a picture in your mind of the feeling.
For example, your depression might look like a heavy boulder you drag around or a dark cloud.
Your anxiety might look like a hurricane or a chaotic energy field.
Your headache might look like an object being squeezed or someone using a jackhammer.
4. Translate the picture into body movement by acting out the image.
5. Ask yourself how this feeling and state of mind provide a solution to your problem.
For example, one of my clients felt suffocated by her controlling husband, and visualized a snake squeezing her to death.
She acted out the constricting snake by strangling a pillow, and said she felt powerful doing it.
“What would you do if you were free to express this feeling of power?” I asked.
“Divorce him!”—which she eventually did.
A depressed client suffered chronic stabbing stomach pains which he visualized as a knife.
He acted out the knife by making abrupt, cutting motions with his arms.
I asked him how he could use this sharp energy in his life, and he realized he needed to “cut through” his hopelessness and take action.
Doing so healed both his depression and his belly aches.
Don’t just try to figure yourself out; tap into your body process!
