 
Introduction Awareness Healing(sm) is a deep, gentle, energetic-spiritual approach to healing which works effortlessly by offering and inviting a simple shift in awareness. A personal session typically includes two practitioners and one client, with some or all parties attending via telephone. The approach can also be applied to the self, following a session or training. The material in this presentation comes out of our study, our practice, and our quest for deeper understanding and effectiveness of the healing process. Overview Awareness Healing addresses an often deeply hidden mechanism which underlies distortions to the subtle energy body and thus to the physical body and to the overall emotional disposition. We call this mechanism "emotions turning-inward." We will explore what this mechanism affects, what it is made of, why emotions turn inward, and how to resolve the emotion turning-inward. The effortless resolution of the mechanism requires us to address a variety of issues, including the integrity of the emotions turning-inward, communication with these emotions, providing safety for both the client and the emotions, and a shift in awareness within the mechanism. As the emotions turning-inward are resolved, they release their effects on the subtle energy body and on the physical body, which can then return to their original shape and function. What Emotions Turning-Inward Affect In the energy body, emotions turning-inward can affect chakras, meridians, and aura layers as blockages. In the physical body, we find that emotions turning-inward can manifest as chronic tension, chemical error, tissue disrepair, or the failure of metabolic processes. Types of Emotions The types of emotion that are subject to turning-inward can include fear, anger, sadness, grief, pain, and frustration. (Pain and frustration behave like emotions in this mechanism.) Derivations of these can include embarrassment, guilt, resentment, betrayal, and revenge. The first four emotions of this list have a positive signaling function when they are operating in a normal range. When these emotions are too intense, they become overwhelming and lose their signaling capability. Each of these emotions is caused by a perceived compromise of one's integrity, that is, one's wholeness or completeness. In these cases, the self is perceived as separate from the environment, and the environment is perceived as a factor that may (negatively) influence the self. The signaling functions of these emotions are: Anger: One's boundaries are perceived to be crossed. One's boundaries can be the physical body, the "personal space" around the physical body, or even identification with an idea or a group, such as, "Don't insult my flag." The self perceives an integrity violation. Fear: The self perceives the environment to be unsafe. There may be the danger of the loss of one's integrity or of one's life. Sadness: The self perceives a reduction, or loss, of its integrity. Grief: The self perceives a reduction of integrity from being separated from a part of the self. If a close relative or friend dies, that part of our identity which was involved with that person goes away with that person. The types of emotion that are not subject to turning inward can include joy, peace, and love. These emotions do not involve a perceived compromise of one's integrity. Awareness in Duality Emotions that turn inward come into being out of the context of awareness of multiple perspectives of "self" and of "not-self," as a friction or tension between "self" and "not-self." Multiple perspectives of "self" include the several aspects or roles of one's identity and each identity's corresponding sense of personal boundaries, separating "self" from "not-self." "Not-self" consists of perception of the external environment, which includes other people and other beings. The experience of "self" is also affected by the internal environment, which includes the body, ideas, beliefs, and all of the existing emotions turning-inward. "Awareness in duality" is thus defined as multiple perspectives of the identity "self" as separate from multiple perspectives of the external environment, and as separate from parts of the internal environment. Many of the perspectives of "self" and "not-self" may be automatic or subconscious, or affected by other emotions turning-inward. These perspectives might include: "How does this relate to me? How does this affect me?" "Where are my boundaries?"
"What about the other (person or thing)?"
"How do I want to react?"
"How should I react: from this role or from that role?"
"How am I expected to react? How am I allowed to react?"
"What is an appropriate reaction to this particular situation?"
"What is safe?"
"Ow!"
Structure of the Emotion Turning-Inward The tension between the multiple perspectives, the emotion being brought into being, and the turning-inward of the emotion all become encapsulated as the "emotion turning-inward." Each new emotion turning-inward becomes a part of the internal environment, affecting new experiences. The Internal Environment Emotions turning-inward can turn inward on the self, or they can turn inward on other emotions turning-inward, creating several types of this mechanism. Emotions turning-inward on the self can create low self value, such as, "I hate myself;" "I am worthless;" and "I'm not good enough." Emotions turning-inward on existing emotions turning-inward can create complex cascades and entanglements. One experience may connect several separate emotions turning-inward. An experience can add new emotions turning-inward onto previous experiences of the same type. A separate "intent to hide" any occurrence of a certain emotion can emerge from entanglements of emotions turning-inward, as in, "It's not OK (not safe, not allowed) to express or even to feel any anger (or fear, sadness, pain...)." One combination of types of emotion turning-inward is an intense low self value (difficult enough to perceive by itself), which is then buried by a separate "intent to hide," for example because, "It is not safe to express anything negative or to show one's vulnerability." Another combination of types is the "deep longing," which is associated with a great pain for the lack of a desired object. When the object of desire appears, the longing arises. The pain also arises, which becomes overwhelming, which frustrates the ability of the self to receive the object of longing, which creates more held pain. A deep longing can combine with a low self value to "not feel worthy" of accepting acknowledgment or accepting love, even if the pain of the deep longing is quieted. The most general combination of types is the unresolved conflict, with emotions turning-inward from several directions, either in opposition to each other, or (in a "deadlock") each holding back some resource that would resolve the other. Another form of entanglement is holding on to (turning-inward) other people's emotional energy, that is of a similar nature to one's own. For example, we might take on other people's emotions to try to help them or to calm them down. As emotions turning-inward accumulate, and fewer and fewer emotions are safe to express, one's focus might withdraw from the external world almost completely. Turning inward on the scale of the whole person leads to a sense of isolation, separateness, and loneliness, even when standing in a room full of people. Why Turn Inward? Emotions turn inward when the separate self perceives the external environment to be unsafe to express the emotions into, possibly out of fear for how other people might react. The perception of "unsafe" can be strongly influenced by the internal environment, whether or not it really is unsafe in the external environment. In a civilized society, we don't express everything we feel, so that we can get along with each other in close proximity. We might start to express something that might become harmful to another, and then turn it inward, if we didn't want to harm the person. Resolution of Emotions Turning-Inward Addressing the tension of the emotion turning-inward to resolve the mechanism is analogous to addressing the tension of disquiet during meditation. Does one transcend (relax, release) the disquiet, or does one repress (turn inward) the disquiet? In order to effortlessly address the tension of the emotion turning-inward, we will have to adjust our orientation toward the original intent and purpose of the mechanism. For integrity, we will have to suspend any opinion or judgment about the mechanism, in order to find common direction with the mechanism. Only then will we be able to invite the mechanism to find its resolution. The invitation includes creating sufficient safety for the client and for the mechanism, then shifting the awareness within the emotion turning-inward from awareness in duality into awareness in unity. Several paths are available for this shift, which will be described below. The Quest for Higher Integrity The essential direction of matter and of the life force energies of the body is toward a higher integrity, a completion or greater wholeness, everywhere from completing valence levels of the atoms to the growth and internal maintenance of the organism. All developments of Awareness Healing extend from this fundamental premise, this axiom. Awareness Healing identifies and extends the quest for higher integrity in every aspect of the client's experience. Honoring the client's internal healing (self-healing) nature leads to acceptance of the client's current state as a work-in-progress. Honoring and empowering the integrity of the client's free will means assisting change by showing and inviting rather than by coercing or compelling. (This will turn out to be key to reaching alignment with, and therefore resolution of, the deepest emotions turning-inward.) Practitioners of this work do not describe themselves as "healers," because it is clearly the client who is the healer. The approach of showing and inviting has the aspect of "no effort" for the practitioner as well as for the client, even as it reaches the deepest issues. In internal healing, the change takes no effort when it comes from a shift in awareness. Original Intent We ask the client in advance of a session for a list of the client's "presenting issues of the tissues and the temperament;" in other words, what physical and emotional symptoms the client wishes to address in the session. We use these issues as entry points to identify the emotions turning-inward which affect the functioning of the energy body, the physical processes, and the emotional disposition. We start with the presumption that every manifestation and every expression of the client has the original intent of leading toward a higher integrity. Scope of Attention Within the "scope of attention" of an emotion about to be expressed, there is a higher integrity to turning inward if the environment is perceived not to be safe for the expression. However, outside this "scope of attention," the turning inward can cause effects of a lower integrity. This means that the client's presenting issues are almost never a direct consequence of the original intent. Rather, the presenting issues are an unintended consequence, an artifact, a side-effect of the original intent toward higher integrity. Safety and survival in the moment take priority over health, even when the state of health threatens safety and survival over a longer period. Integrity for All Areas Simultaneously The phenomenon of "the increase of integrity within the 'scope of attention' creating a corresponding decrease of integrity outside of the 'scope of attention'" also applies to the release process. When the "scope of attention" is focussed on the most prominent emotion turning-inward issue that is ready to release, the quest for higher integrity applies to that release, even though the release might cause a decrease of integrity somewhere else. For example, an intensely turned-inward emotion might be threatened by a large release somewhere else, which might cause the intense issue to hold on even tighter. Aspects of the psyche that were counting on the structure of the emotions turning-inward cascades for consistency will find the structure pulled out from under them. Even part of the identity can be lost if it was built around the emotions turning-inward that are releasing. The "processing out" of intense emotions turning-inward as they are released from the body can sometimes be wearing, creating a decrease of integrity. We start with the premise that each area perceived within the "scope of attention" has an original intent of leading toward higher integrity, even though an increase in this area's integrity might mean a decrease in another area's integrity. We extend this to say that all local areas that might be examined have the intent of leading toward higher integrity. We then add an additional stipulation to the session: that all areas have an increase in integrity; that there is no increase in one area creating a corresponding decrease in another area; that any increase in integrity for one area applies to all areas. This stipulation is the same "original intent toward higher integrity" as for each area, but as an additional level that calls upon the original intent of each area to be exercised together with all areas, simultaneously, for each step of the way. By only focussing on the immediate area that is releasing at a given time, some areas of the body will have an increase in integrity, and some areas will have a decrease in integrity. The sum total over all areas of the body might be positive or it might be negative. However, if all areas are stipulated to be positive, then the sum total over all areas must also be positive. This requires a comprehensive "scope of attention" from within the client that includes each area of the client. The scope of attention of "increasing integrity at each area simultaneously" is something that the client's body knows about and responds well to, by invitation. Rather than the massive release of the most prominent emotions turning-inward, a huge amount of shifting occurs within the client's body as the contingencies are processed, so that no area experiences a decrease in integrity. The deepest emotions turning-inward seem to respond well to this, as they perceive that their environment really is oriented toward the increase in integrity everywhere. The Un-make-wrong We don't call the presenting issues "problems" because calling something a "problem" often becomes most of the problem. Rather than attacking the emotions turning-inward as "problems" or as something "wrong," we honor them for having done exactly the right thing in their times, in their situations, given the resources and knowledge available to them at the time. We honor the effort they have expended since they turned inward, holding on to the right direction all this time. We define the "un-make-wrong" to be this orientation toward emotions turning-inward. If the practitioner uses effort to remove an emotion turning-inward, the emotion turning-inward will hold on ever more tightly for its own dear life (not necessarily for the dear life of the client). The shift in client and practitioner awareness to the orientation of "un-make-wrong" profoundly changes the dynamic of the session. It is a relationship of unconditionally accepting the emotions turning-inward as and where they are, which enables alignment with their original intent toward higher integrity. Object as Process Anything that can be perceived as an "object" can also be perceived as a "process." An object has mass and solidness. An object has resistance to change, and requires effort to change. A process, on the other hand, has change as its nature. A process is dynamic. A process is in flow, in movement. It is easier to move or to transform something that is already moving. Even the "solid" human body can be perceived as a number of processes working together dynamically, flexibly, toward the pattern of their ideal growth and maintenance, slowly changing the "solid" body. In Awareness Healing, the emotion turning-inward is perceived, not as an object "stuck" in past time, but as the dynamic process of an emotion brought into being, followed by the dynamic process of turning the emotion inward, in present time, in the moment. Communication with the Emotion Turning-Inward For alignment with the emotion turning-inward, we now perceive it as a process, in present time, in movement, with an original intent for higher integrity, with multiple perspectives (awareness in duality), un-made-wrong, with tension. In order to invite the awareness in duality of the emotion turning-inward to shift into awareness in unity, all we need is safety. Creating Safety Safety is a sense of the self that feels separate from the environment, where there is integrity in the environment for the self. There can be practical concerns about safety as well as projections from the memory of experiences regarding what is safe. Once an emotion has been started, and it is not safe to express the emotion to the external environment, the emotion will then be turned inward, to the internal environment. The emotion is turned inward when there is a comparatively higher integrity from turning inward. One will do this for one's security and survival, as a being separate from one's environment. The emotion will tend to stay turned inward until something else happens to change this condition. One way to change this condition is to change the perception of safety. Safety can be created. One of the first things we do in session is to invite the client to surround the client's physical body with a field of safety. This act of intent serves to release fear, to create calm, and to take the first step toward the control of safety. We proceed to describe the nature of "reclaiming internal control." Internal control is defined as a correlation between intention and result. That is, a small intention leads to a small result, and a larger intention leads to a larger result. Being out of the range of internal control means having a disconnection between the degree of intention and the degree of result. The experience of overwhelm from a memory or an emotion turning-inward that is too intense can create the state of being out of the range of internal control. We invite the client's experiences to remain within the range of internal control, the "operating range," in order to be kind and gentle to the self, and not to find themselves outside of this range of internal control. It must be safe to address safety. For many clients, safety itself is an issue. The gradual introduction of safety starts with a sequence such as the atoms, then the molecules, then the individual cells of the body. We invite the client to create a field of safety around each and every atom in the entire physical body. Not all atoms will respond to this at the same time, so we invite the body to process this field around the atoms at the rate that the body can remain within its range of internal control. The process of creating safety around the atoms also serves to bring awareness back into the body. When this step settles, we invite the atoms to create a matching field of safety around themselves, from within. We explain that the creation of safety from within is an idea that is known to the consciousness which created the atoms in the first place. Each level of safety that the client creates from without and from within serves to increase the client's sense of internal control. This cycle of "creating safety from without/from within" is repeated for the molecules, which involve relationships between atoms, and for the cells, which involve large-scale relationships between molecules. At some point during the gradual introduction of safety, when it becomes appropriate, we invite the client to create a field of safety around each emotion turning-inward. Not all emotions turning-inward will respond to this at the same time, so we invite the body to process this field around the emotions turning-inward at the rate at which the body can remain within its operating range of internal control. As that settles, we invite the emotions turning-inward to add the idea of "creating safety from within" to their drive toward higher integrity, as this is an idea that serves their original intent toward higher integrity. As the client gains an awareness of internal control, and awareness of the creation and sensing of safety, the client can feel a difference in safety, and the emotions turning-inward are prepared for a transition. Shifting into Awareness in Unity The mode of awareness in duality consists of multiple perspectives, as described earlier. The mode of awareness in unity is a "simple awareness," where the differing perspectives do not exist, so it is without evaluation, analysis, comparison, or judgment. At this level of awareness, there is only one point of view, that of simple awareness, from all perspectives. As the multiple points of view within the emotion turning-inward all become simple awareness, the process of the emotion is no longer "in being," and the process of the turning-inward is no longer "in being." The encapsulated tension between the multiple perspectives, the emotion, and the turning-inward relaxes. The emotion turning-inward no longer exists. The life force energies that were formed into the emotion and into the turning-inward become neutral energy again. The shift into awareness in unity requires no effort in a field of safety. In safety, the separate perceptions of awareness in duality no longer need to keep their separateness. In a session, the practitioner holds the thought of, "In safety, the invitation for the emotions turning-inward to shift from multiple perspectives of awareness in duality into simple awareness in unity, with an increase in integrity for all areas simultaneously." Table 1: Many Paths There are many more aspects of duality and unity than have been described so far. The following table serves to illustrate some of them. Each aspect provides its own path to shift awareness from duality into unity.
Aspect "Value: Relative; Absolute" In the mode of duality, relative value is characterized by the comparison of two objects. Within this mode, the "self" is perceived as quite distinct from the "not-self" of the environment or other people. The comparison can be between objects that are not-self and not-self (objective reality), between self and not-self (subjective reality), or between self and self (self-referential reality). Comparison of two objects results in a relative valuation of judgment, of "better than/worse than." We navigate our way through life by selecting the higher relative value through comparison. We get into trouble when we compare the self to a not-self (or to all not-selves), and conclude "worse than." By generalizing, "I am worth less (than all not-selves)" becomes the self-referential "I am worthless." The statement "I am not as good (as all not-selves) becomes the self-referential "I'm not good enough." Comparing the self to an ideal results in repeated failure. The types of emotion that are subject to turning-inward all contain a low relative value component that is applied to the separate self.
In the mode of unity, absolute value is characterized by the absence of comparison. Each object, each being has an absolute value that stands on its own merit, without comparison to any other person or thing. In the mode of unity, there is only one type of value, and that is absolute value, value that is derived from the nature of one's being. Just as in mathematics, absolute value is unsigned. There is no relative plus-or-minus comparative value, because there is no comparison. The value of each being or each object in the mode of unity may be described as, "it is what it is, in its absolute, inherent value." The path to shift into awareness in unity using the aspect of "Value" results from perceiving something in its absolute value. The shift in perception converts any "bad" or "low" relative value that might be held, into absolute value, which is no longer turned-inward. Aspect "Time: Linear; Momentary, Eternal" In the mode of duality, time is perceived as relative or linear time, with a past and a future. The present is a fleeting point, which can only be captured in a "snapshot" of memory and examined later. In the mode of unity, time is perceived as momentary time. Time in this mode is also eternity, all of linear time, as well as no time, outside of linear time. In the mode of unity, "in the moment" is the only time there is, even for experiences collected in linear time. A sense of "presence" comes from awareness purely in the moment. The time aspect of "simple awareness" is "awareness in the moment." We consider an emotion turning-inward to be a process that is active in the moment.
The path to shift into awareness in unity using the aspect of "Time" results from "stepping into the moment," releasing the multiple perspectives of past and future for simple awareness in the moment. Aspect "Space: Finite; 'Here Is,' Infinite" In the mode of duality, space is perceived as 3-dimensional, with finite points of "here," "there," and relative distance. Personal boundaries define the size of the physical self. In the mode of unity, space is perceived as infinite, including all of space, as well as no space, outside of 3-dimensional space. Personal boundaries can extend to include a larger portion of 3-dimensional space, or all of relative space. A sense of "presence" comes from awareness purely in the location 'here is.' The space aspect of "simple awareness" is "awareness in the 'here is'."
The path to shift into awareness in unity using the aspect of "Space" results from extending one's personal boundaries to include a larger defined space, or to the "oceanic awareness" that includes all of relative space. (This approach is not advisable if one's personal boundaries are weak to begin with. The larger extension of one's boundaries then becomes implemented as a dropping of one's boundaries, losing a sense of the self rather than gaining a greater sense of the self. If the client thinks it is a good idea to lose a sense of the self, we would check for a well-hidden emotion turning-inward entanglement containing a strong case of low self-value, driving the idea.) Awareness in unity via the aspect of space releases the multiple perspectives of here, there, and distance, and replaces them with simple awareness of the 'here is.' Aspect "Emotions: Negative; Positive" The so-called "negative" emotions such as anger, fear, sadness and grief, are a result of a relative mode (duality) comparison that results in integrity for the self that is "less than" the integrity for the other. So one of these emotions can arise from awareness in duality. Conversely, holding one of these emotions can bring one into awareness in duality.
The so-called "positive" emotions such as joy, peace, and love, can emerge from awareness in unity. They can also emerge from awareness in duality in safety, or from a relative-mode comparison that is favorable to the self. Holding any of these emotions can bring one into awareness in unity. The path to shift into awareness in unity using the aspect of "Emotions" is to feel one of the "positive" emotions, such as joy, peace, or love. Aspect "Identity: Member; Group" A "group" is a collection of "members" which have something in common. Each member of a group has an individual member identity and a common group identity. An example is the member cells making up the overall functioning group of the physical body. An individual person can be part of groups of people defined by gender, age, family, employment, affinity, nation, humanity, life, or the largest context of awareness in unity.
In the mode of duality, it is useful to perceive the identity of each member in its separate, specialized contribution to the group whole. In the mode of unity, it is useful to perceive the common group identity of each member. In the mode of unity, the member's individual identity is not lost; it is merely not perceived in the mode of unity. The person who uses the aspect "Identity" to shift into the mode of unity might give up the ego for a larger group identity. Approaching this mode can generate a "fear of dying" in the ego. In fact, the ego identity is not gone; it is merely not perceived in the mode of unity. Being in the mode of awareness in unity means being in safety, being in integrity, being in strength; so that holding the ego's distinction between individual self and not-self is just not important. One can suppress the ego to switch into the mode of unity, but egolessness is a natural artifact of the state. The ego that is suppressed rather than transcended in order to enter this state will generate relative-value artifacts such as spiritual arrogance (a high self-regard for one's relative development toward the group identity) and spiritual materialism (the accumulation of spiritual experiences; the more of them, the better). The path to shift into awareness in unity using the aspect of "Identity" results from releasing the individual member identity in favor of the common group identity, feeling the larger sense of "being" the group. (This approach is not advisable if one's ego is not strong and secure to begin with.) Singing with a group of people is a joyous and safe way to merge with a group identity. Aspect "Acceptance: Conditional; Unconditional" The nature of acceptance in the mode of unity is "unconditional acceptance," perceiving something just as it is, without judgment, partial unacceptance, or relative valuation. Unconditional acceptance of one's current state is one path to changing the current state. Sometimes there is a reluctance, a fear (from perception in the relative mode (duality)) that by accepting one's current state completely, one would be "stuck" with it just as it is. How would one escape the current state if there was complete acceptance? But with unconditional acceptance of the current state, there is, equivalently, unconditional acceptance of the desired direction as well. By presenting unconditional acceptance, one shifts into awareness in the mode of unity. While in the mode of unity, change comes from the application of choice (free will) in the moment.
Unconditional acceptance from the practitioner means that the practitioner cannot even judge the client's presenting issues as "problems," or the client's reported pain as "suffering." There might be a meaning to the client's current state or to the client's current path that we just cannot know. The practitioner can only assist the client in the direction that the client wants to go, and is ready to go. There is no "forcing" the client to heal. Unconditional acceptance means that there are no bad emotions; there is no bad energy. A blockage in the energy body is not a "bad" thing, and neither is its resultant physical manifestation! There is only low relative value turning-inward. Identifying something as "bad" sets up an opposition and a struggle, which is how the emotions came to turn inward in the first place. The path to shift into awareness in unity using the aspect of "Acceptance" results from the practitioner and the client accepting the client's whole being unconditionally. If the client's whole being can be accepted unconditionally, each component and experience of the client's whole being can also be accepted unconditionally. Then each emotion turning-inward and the experience which brought the emotion into being and into turning-inward can be accepted unconditionally. The awareness becomes a simple awareness of, "it is what it is," neutral, without the charge of a relative valuation. Unconditional acceptance unwinds the "make-wrong," and brings the emotions turning-inward into their integrity, where they can effortlessly find their resolution. Aspect "Love: Conditional; Unconditional" The nature of love in the mode of unity is "unconditional love." Unconditional love has no conditions on its expression nor expectations of its being accepted or returned. Another name for unconditional love might be "detached compassion." It is not something which is given or received. The presentation of unconditional love creates an environment which allows the unconditional love to arise within another. There is a "showing and inviting," then a resonance, which calls forth the unconditional love as an expression of the other's inherent nature. It is conditional love, and not unconditional love, to say, "I'm giving you unconditional love. Why aren't you accepting it? Why aren't you returning it?"
The path to shift into awareness in unity using the aspect of "Love" results from dropping conditions and expectations, and "being" the presence of love, experiencing loving feelings, from within, in the moment. Popularly, "love is all you need" for healing. But love is way too intense for the most strongly turned-inward and buried emotions, or for the "deep longing" for love. In this case, love would send the experience into overwhelm, right out of the operating range of control that creates the safety needed to resolve the emotions turning-inward. When love is too intense to accept, it becomes threatening to the client's emotions turning-inward for a practitioner to present love for a healing. This doesn't mean that the practitioner shouldn't be in the "detached compassion" state of love; the practitioner should be in this state. It just means that an idea that is too strong or that is threatening would reduce the client's integrity, no matter how good the idea ultimately may be. If the acceptance of love is too intense to address, the next less intense step is the acceptance of self-acceptance. If the acceptance of self-acceptance is too intense to address, the next less intense step is the acceptance of safety. If the acceptance of safety is too intense to address, we approach safety gradually, gently, and incrementally, starting with the atoms, and working our way up. After the presence of safety has enabled the resolution of a sufficient portion of the emotions turning-inward, the idea can be introduced of adding a field of acceptance around, for example, the whole physical body, then perhaps around the heart, then perhaps around the remaining emotions turning-inward, and so on as appropriate. If the field of acceptance is desired but is still too intense to accept, it can be presented as a possibility, a direction, a hope for what could be and what has been forgotten. Eventually, fields of love can be presented in the same way, as a direction and a hope. As the client's internal environment becomes calm enough, the fields of love can be accepted, and ultimately, the fields of love can be created from within. Aspect "Exertion: Effortful; Effortless" In the mode of duality, between multiple perspectives, effort is generally applied. In the mode of unity, within simple awareness, no effort is applied. The transition from chronic tension in the tissues into relaxation results from a shift from effort into no effort. Even the decision to release a chronic tension is a transition from the effortful holding in place of the issue creating the tension into an effortless release of the holding. For an emotion turning-inward, there is an effort of emoting and an effort of turning-inward, both of which are gone as the emotion turning-inward finds its resolution.
The practitioner applies intent to the session interaction, which may contain the effort of the practitioner's "will." In the mode of duality, moving or reshaping the client's energy fields applies the effort of will and the effort of application to change the client, possibly imposing the practitioner's will on the client. In the mode of unity, showing and inviting applies no effort of will or effort of application to change the client. The practitioner demonstrates a state on the practitioner's physical body and energy fields, to show that the state is possible, that it is safe on the practitioner, that it has integrity, and to show what the state "looks" like. The client's energy fields are invited to generate that state, to resonate "like tuning forks" with the practitioner's state, so long as the state has integrity for the client's processes. In pursuing the client's highest integrity, we presume that the client's energy fields know what their optimum expression is, and that the energy fields will adopt it given the opportunity. We presume that the state of integrity that the practitioner presents is something that is known, on some level, by the client's physical body and energy body. We do not presume what the client's higher integrity is, specifically. The practitioner's presentation is an offer of a possible state. This state, directly or indirectly, can lead to the client's higher integrity, as determined by the client's physical body, energy body, and conscious awareness. The client further reclaims internal control by exercising choice, on whether and how to implement the offer. The path to shift into awareness in unity using the aspect of "Exertion" results from releasing tension, by shifting from tension into relaxation. It comes from seeking the choice among equivalent methods that requires no effort. By shifting into awareness in unity using the aspect of "Exertion," relaxation may progress from a sense of safety, to a sense of calm, to a deep sense of peace. Aspect "Activity: Doing; Being" In the mode of awareness in duality, comparison and judgment are about doing. Travelling across space and time is about doing. Holding multiple points of view of "self" and "not-self" is about doing. Placing conditions on acceptance or love is about doing. Exerting effort is about doing.
In the mode of awareness in unity, simple awareness of inherent value is about being. Presence in the moment is about being. Settling into the 'here is' is about being. Releasing multiple points of view in favor of an encompassing identity is about being. Unconditional acceptance and unconditional love are about being. Exerting no effort, in peace, is about being. The path to shift into awareness in unity using the aspect of "Activity" is not by doing, but by being: a relaxing, a simple awareness, a presence, from "stepping into the moment." If you want to be happy, "be" happy. As in, "You can't get there from here (by doing)." Just by being, through a shift in awareness. The Umbrella of Awareness The definitions of the relative (duality) and absolute (unity) modes of awareness exclude each other, yet both are modes of the common umbrella "awareness." Each mode is an inherent aspect of our experience, a part of the nature of our being. One mode without the other is incomplete. Ironically, those who believe exclusively in measurable (comparative) "objective reality" state absolutely that the absolute mode of awareness has no value, since it is not measurable (by its own definition of "no comparison"). Those who want to withdraw from the world into the absolute mode of awareness because it is better than the relative mode are using a relative valuation, and must be provided for by a world that does not stay in the absolute mode. The questions might arise, "Why do emotions turn-inward? Doesn't this make the mode of duality a bad thing, that it can generate all of these problems?" Turning-inward is just one permutation of awareness in the mode of duality. Living in a spiritual and material world, it is perfectly natural and normal for emotions to turn inward, and it is perfectly natural and normal for them to disentangle again. It is part of our self-maintenance (internal healing) that we process out of the physical body certain substances that we have ingested, and it is part of our emotional and energetic self-maintenance that we process out of the energy body certain emotional entanglements that we have turned-inward. Ultimately, the seeker of a whole, balanced awareness will bring a presence, a mindfulness, to the activities in the material world. This person will be able to shift easily between awareness in duality and awareness in unity, and will be able to address emotions turning-inward before, or soon after, they appear. Client Growth Why would a person want to become a client, to have a session? We all work on ourselves to the degree possible, to the limits of our self-awareness and perception. It takes an external perspective to see our self-deluding structures differently. In Awareness Healing, usually two practitioners participate in a session with one client, an arrangement that utilizes the unique relationship each practitioner has with the client. The client provides different information to each practitioner, allowing each practitioner to intuitively "read" different things, expanding the collective sensitivity. Each practitioner brings her or his own particular expertise. That plus the synergy between practitioners provides for more than double the effectiveness of a single-practitioner session. From these sessions, clients can develop the habit, the mindset, the attitude of perceiving, accepting, and creating safety, of being in safety. This can be applied by extension to acceptance, then to love. The deep relaxation which becomes available can be applied by extension to calmness, then to a deep sense of peace. The umbrella of awareness can apply to how we pursue our goals. If we compare ourselves (relative mode) to an ideal (absolute mode) as a goal, we will fail some of the time. The failures can become a self-judgment, a "make-wrong," and thus lead to the accumulation of emotions turning-inward. A different orientation to goals and ideals is to presume that the ideal is a most-desired direction. The point is not to compare ourselves to the ideal, but to compare our direction to the ideal, as a continuous method of process control. Continuous adjustments of direction would be expected in order to stay within the operating range of the process. This is how we keep a car on the road, or how we pilot a boat by following a compass. Continuous adjustment keeps us comparing in the relative mode toward an ideal in the absolute mode, without defining adjustment as failure. Another growth application might be to examine one's motivations in life. Are you motivated to move away from something or to move toward something? Both of these directions apply in the comparison mode (duality). Would your quality of life improve if you were more motivated 'toward' than 'away from'? The Awareness Healing approach wouldn't remove the memory of what to avoid, so that you could continue to avoid the less desirable directions. At the same time, this approach would address the emotions turning-inward accumulated while learning what to avoid. Your motivations could then be based on happiness and hopefulness, on what you would like to look forward to and move forward to. Practitioner Growth As we learn a new skill, we start out by using effort. Then we learn how to use little or no effort for the same result. In the process of learning to use no effort, it can be tempting to apply some direct effort, to reach out and give the client just a little push. It requires more patience to show and invite, to wait for the client to decide from the client's own integrity just when it is safe enough to relax or to release something. In our experience, the increase in respect paid to the integrity of the client and the client's issues makes more information available to the practitioners, in a "read-only" mode, where the issues are not in fear of attack. The "reduction" in short-term effectiveness from waiting patiently is more than made up for by the increased depth of the work, and by the increased development of integrity within the client. Practitioners learn how to have "the Client Experience," which is how to accept and to allow in healing. Practitioners then learn how to have "the Meta-Client Experience," which is how to show another, from one's own direct experience, how to have "the Client Experience." Practitioners must additionally develop two kinds of intuition. The first kind is the intuition that emerges from collecting a vast body of knowledge and experience. The type of knowledge relates to the field at hand, that is, physical and energetic anatomy, physiology, biochemistry, emotions, and the functions and interactions of the many complex subsystems in the process we call human life. Just as for a master chess player, patterns begin to emerge from the accumulation of, and active reflection on, the individual items learned, patterns that weren't identified in the original learning. The second kind of intuition is the "psychic sensitivity" kind, which allows the practitioner to ask detailed questions of the client's body, using the accumulated and emergent knowledge from the first kind of intuition. The second kind of intuition is developed by deliberately and regularly stretching one's perceptions, and by comparing perceptions with people who have deeper or different sensitivities and a similar basis of knowledge. The information we receive in this way is a representation of our individual perceptions, and is not to be taken too literally. Additionally, the client's emotions turning-inward may completely hide information, partially disclose it, or deliberately present misleading information. Because of client control of this information, and because of the representative nature of the information, it is useful to correlate the information received with another source, such as physical observation, lab work, or another practitioner. Disclaimer Awareness Healing is not the practice of allopathic (Western) medicine, nor is it the practice of psychology. Awareness Healing is complementary to these, and to other healing modalities. If you have a medical condition, please see a medical professional. © 2002 Gregory Booi, All Rights Reserved.
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