Messages

1

THE EMOTIONAL CLEARING PROCESS / Re: Vipassana retreat and Emotional Clearing

« on: January 11, 2023 »

I was recently turned away from a 10-day vipassana retreat owing to my lifelong history of depression.  I had intended to try vipassana as a complement or "in addition to" the EM clearing approach. 

As a 10-day vipassana retreat is not available to me now, I feel the need to invest more into my EM clearing practice.  As vehicles towards improvement on a psychological/spiritual continuum, perhaps vipassana is "good" and EM clearing is better. 

This reminds me of guidance to do physical exercise.  Questions arise, such as will I get more benefit if I do my exercise in the morning?  Another question is what type of physical exercise is best:  should I swim, should I jog, should I ride bike, should I run, etc?  Experts advise that whatever exercise you yourself will do, at whatever time you yourself will do it, is the best exercise.  In other words, yes there are varying degrees of benefit based on what time of day you exercise or what kind of exercise you do.  However, the main thing is that you're doing exercise. 

This analogy helps me make sense of vipassana vs EM clearing.  Now let me extend the analogy further.  I had hoped a vipassana retreat would afford me space for focused dedication, as well as specific teaching.  John's books are great teaching, and sure I could set up a 10-day retreat on my own.  But I had hoped to get things from a vipassana retreat that I don't get from John's books, CDs, or my daily practice.  Said differently, sure I can run and lift weights on my own, but if my means allow it, hiring a personal fitness trainer to instruct me and keep me motivated helps.

It helps me to think of a 10-day vipassana retreat analogous to hiring a personal trainer to help me exercise.  No personal trainer knows everything; they are usually trained in only specific aspects of exercise and may not even be aware of higher quality exercises you may do.  I now think of vipassana retreat leaders, and even S.M. Goenka himself, in this way.  There are different paths to spiritual enlightenment, and while not all paths are equal, perhaps the first and foremost thing is that a person is following a path.

So, this is how I personally make sense of vipassana and EM clearing.  I offer it here in case someone reading this forum finds benefit in it.  I know I find benefit in reading how others who have made their way to this forum are processing EM clearing for themselves.

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THE EMOTIONAL CLEARING PROCESS / Re: Activating the Witness and increasing capacity

« on: January 11, 2023 »

James -

I believe we both share an interest in comprehending EM clearing more fully.  Your description of witnessing, as used in EM clearing, as increasing one's trauma capacity makes sense to me. 

A metaphor that comes to my mind is like afterburners that boost a jet to faster speeds.  John does seem to describe witnessing as something that boosts a person's ability to process adverse subconscious material better.  And, that would be an increase in one's trauma capacity.

But I am a lay person.  Hopefully John will respond.

-Dean

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THE EMOTIONAL CLEARING PROCESS / Synergy between a practice of focusing on breath at nostrils, and EM clearing

« on: January 11, 2023 »

Hello John:

Could you elaborate on the synergies (if such exist) between the practice of focusing on the breath coming in and out of the nostrils, and EM clearing?

Background:

I recently was turned away from a 10-day vipassana retreat because of my history of depression.  Since that option is not available, I am dedicating myself more fully to daily EM clearing sessions.

10-day vipassana retreats treat breath focus, what they call anapana, as a prerequisite to vipassana.  I was advised to practice it daily for 6+ months, then reapply to a 10-day retreat.  My lay person understanding is that anapana cultivates a mental state of non-egoic concentration necessary to detect and stay with the subtle body sensations in vipassana practice. 

This makes sense to me.  Body sensations run through me 24x7, constantly morphing.  One moment it's tension in my nose, the next it's a pinching sensation in my throat.  In EM clearing I often try to "catch" one of those sensations and stay with it.  I see these sensations as a type of echo, revealing emotional energies pent up in my subconscious.  But to follow these echoes to their source in my subconscious requires a special mental state that differs from normal waking consciousness

Your alpha-state induction helps achieve the necessary mental state.  But would I be right that a daily anapana practice would also aid here?  The meditation section in "Deep Clearing" seems to imply this, specifically in the section about samadhi.  I'm not sure I understand what samadhi is, but I think anapana is a technique for getting the mind into samadhi.

Right now my daily practice is 15 min anapana, followed by a 45-minute emotional clearing session.  I have your CDs, and as 45 minutes is the length of each track, it works out well.  I think pairing like this has synergies, and so I intend to keep at this 15+45 min practice and make it as ingrained a habit as I can.  If you agree with my assessment of the synergies, that would encourage me to continue to devote the effort.

Thank you,
Dean

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THE EMOTIONAL CLEARING PROCESS / Re: Use of binaural beats for EM clearing sessions

« on: November 15, 2022 »

Thank you, John.  I appreciate your reply.

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THE EMOTIONAL CLEARING PROCESS / Re: Getting off xanax

« on: November 10, 2022 »

I don't know the right answer but thought I'd share that I am thinking similar things.  Been on antidepressants for over 25 years.  Current regimen is 300mg bupropion, 300 mg venlafaxine, supplemented with L-Methylfolate and fish oil.

Been doing EM clearing sessions 45 minutes a day most days for about 4 weeks.  My initial positive experience make me think maybe this is a pathway by which I could wean off antidepressants for good.  In my case, I will take it slow.  What I mean by that is that I'll likely give the EM clearing practicing at least 6 months before considering stopping medication, and possibly longer. 

Chances are, if I decide to stop, I'll taper very slowly across half a year or longer, and continue to see my psychiatrist once every 3 months during the taper and for at least a year afterward. 

We'll see though.  I believe each person is unique.  Your history with Xanax is not the same as my history with antidepressants.  I would think that if the EM clearing practice is sufficient to get either of us off pyschotropic meds, one of the ways it would do that is by helping us think clearly enough and be in tune enough to our internal intuition such that we can make choices about discontinuing medication with wisdom and confidence.

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THE EMOTIONAL CLEARING PROCESS / Use of binaural beats for EM clearing sessions

« on: November 10, 2022 »

Hello John,

I've read "Deep Clearing," purchased the CDs, and had a 45-minute EM clearing session most days now for about 4 weeks.  I'm now beginning to do EM clearing sessions without the aid of your CDs.  I ask for your opinion about my use of binaural beats.

My phone has an app where a steady binaural beat can be provided.  One can choose the hz.  I pick hz at random anywhere from 4 - 12.  The hz remains constant for my entire session, which includes all the steps of relaxation, awareness, acceptance, direct experience, witnessing.  A nice feature of this app is that I can overlay the tone with relaxing noises like crickets, campfires, ocean waves, or other such things.

The way in which I'm using binaural beats comes from reading on your website there should be variation from one session to another.  I achieve that by varying the hz session to session within a range of 4 - 12 hz, as well as changing the relaxing sounds superimposed upon the tone.

In your book you use "alpha" but if I understand you correctly, you don't mean to restrict to a technical definition of alpha as 8 - 12 hz.  Rather, you're referring to a deeply relaxed state of mind, the kind that emits electrical waves at alpha or lower, such as theta.

Could you kindly confirm if I'm going about this correctly, or educate me if not?  I'm a neophyte in sound use, but I gather you are very experienced.

Thank you so much.  I'm impressed by what I'm learning from you and seeking to build it into my daily practice.  I have given your book "Deep Clearing" a 5-star rating Amazon along with a wordy review.

-Dean

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THE EMOTIONAL CLEARING PROCESS / Re: Vipassana retreat and Emotional Clearing

« on: November 10, 2022 »

I too have considered a Vipassana retreat.  I've read John's book "Deep Clearing," bought his CD's, and have been doing a 45-minute emotional clearing session more days than not for about a month now.  In my case there is a Vipassana retreat center a 5 hour drive away, with a session beginning 3 months from now assuming I can get in (website says it fills up 24 - 48 hrs after registration opened).

My motives are same as yours.  I often feel 45-min a day is not enough, and while Vipassana retreats are a slightly different approach than John's approach, my thinking is that the 10-days of silence would allow me to go that much deeper and hopefully clear that much more "gunk."

My online reading suggests a Vipassana retreat is not for everyone.  Some say it represents an inferior form of Buddhism, some say it has a rigidness that is more harmful than helpful, and some have seen a worsening of mental health during a retreat.  But of course, many have found Vipassana courses extremely valuable, possibly life altering, and experienced greatly enhanced mental and emotional clarity from a retreat.

I wish you the best whether your path leads to a retreat or not.  I am evaluating the possibility right now same as you.