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The Presence Process Questions - Has Anyone Here Done It?

Brian, I guess I might be confused about what "felt resonance" is. I'm only in week 4, but I have been understanding it as pure emotion felt in the body, without labels, stories, resistance, etc. Is this right? I've certainly had much more sadness than I usually would experience in a whole year, and it has no memory attached, nor is it related to my current experiences. I just feel sad and start crying, seemingly out of nowhere. I have been thinking this was was is meant by felt resonance.

Well, I can't say for certain. After reading The Presence Process, I assumed that felt resonance was the energy that makes up my body resonating in certain parts of my anatomy for the purpose of signaling what my spirit (vibrational) is feeling or sensing. So, I suppose I sort of saw it the same way you're describing--"pure emotion" being resonated in the body.

I've read Michael Brown's other book, Alchemy of the Heart, which gives more details on certain things. At the end of that book, Michael says he had a revelation--that the vibrational part of us (I'd call it the child-of-God, or spirit, part of us) is the actual feeling body, and the emotions are secondary to it. Almost like the emotions are just sensing our what our spirit is conveying to them.

My actual experience with what I think is felt resonance is the inner feeling in the body. For instance, I can get angry and feel tension in my head at the temples or back of my head or around my eyes, etc. That's more like the physical results of the felt resonance, but not the actual felt resonance. When I started asking, "How does this make me feel at the felt resonance level," I ended up feeling the anger's resonance. It was coming from the inside of my head, centralized. And the center point of that resonance was on the same horizontal plain as all of those physical symptoms of anger such as the tension in my temples and other muscles in my head. With my chest, I've felt my heart burn, which seems like a felt resonance to me. I used to think it was anger, but I'm actually thinking it's a form of grief. I also jave feel a resonance in my chest area, not quite centralized like the heart or head resonance, but it's still some kind of resonance. Michael talks about felt resonance manifesting as buzzing in the hands, among other descriptions, but I haven't experienced that one yet, I don't think. I was wondering if someone had a comprehensive list of all the different places in the body that felt resonance occurs.
 
As for breathing, I'm a bit confused here too. One of my TMS things is asthma and allergies, which I have had since childhood. A year ago I got one of those respiratory trainers (I use Frolov), which target people who "over breathe," and within about seven months I was totally asthma and allergy free. But I still see the symptoms as TMS, since I think that over breathing is something I do when stressed. So I wasn't certain about TPP instructions since I've spent all this time making sure my exhales are longer than my inhales, and decreasing my number of breaths per minute! But then I just let it go and focus on tension or pain in my body while letting the breathing do as it will. I think my question is: is Michael Brown's breathing pattern (equal inhales and exhales, and no pause) really important itself, or is it just a way of getting one to stay in the present by focusing? Certainly many yoga systems teach a longer exhale, and also that where the pause is in the breathing is where the mind stops.

Well, it sounds like you did what Walt suggested. You just kind of stopped worrying about it and went with the way the Presence Process does it. I did the same thing--I just stopped worrying about it after a few weeks.

I've always seen asthma and allergies as fear-based illnesses, because they effect the lungs and lungs are associated with fear. Hence the breath stopping or accelerating when we get scared. I don't know anything about Frolov, but that's awesome that it helped you get rid of your allergies and asthma. I can see how it'd be worrisome to do something different after that worked. I assume that, unless you did a lot of feeling and emotional work while doing Frolov, that the fear that caused the allergies and asthma is still there, but somehow suppressed. However, I'm guessing a lot of it, or maybe all of it, has come up and been experienced by you during the Presence Process so that now it's been integrated. I remember you mentioning feeling terror. Suppressed terror definitely will cause asthma and allergies. I'm guessing once it's all integrated, you can breathe however you like and you won't get allergies or asthma again.

I have allergies myself. I've had them since I was born, or at least since right after I was born (hard to know for sure). I think I had a lot of fear (emotional signature) passed down to me by my mom and dad. I then built on that fear and reacted to it by stuffing it when I was a baby, because I saw more scary stuff (scary to a baby). Once suppressed, it caused my allergies, I'm guessing. My mom says I was the best baby (quiet, easy to take care of). That means I was suppressing my emotions very early on, because I was scared and trying to stay safe by not making a fuss. I didn't want Dad to spank me is what it was.

Despite all this, I'm really feeling a lot of benefit just from four weeks worth, more relaxation, and periods of feeling really good. Thanks again for bringing it up in the forum.

Same here. I did lots of crying for the first few weeks. It would happen right after my breathing sessions. I think it was fear and grief processing. I think there's still lots more to process, though. So, we'll see what happens the second time through!
 
Tarala,

I checked out that Frolov breather. That's pretty cool! If I ever need to get rid of my allergies and the Presence Process isn't working quickly enough for my taste, I suppose I could try something like that. My doctor is a chiropractor who does primarily biomagnetic kinesiology and homeopathy. He has some series of points on the body that he can stimulate in a certain series and the body drops all allergic responses. It basically gets rid of allergies (possibly asthma, too, but I'm not sure). If a person doesn't deal with the emotional cause, though, I get the feeling it'll come back. I haven't had him do this to me, yet. Nowadays, I tend to want to hold on to whatever illnesses God's given me so I can use them as a gauge to tell how I'm doing emotionally. Plus, I want to heal all of my issues through the emotions so I have experiences to share with others. It's not much of a story if a doctor fixes us. It's a lot better story if we fix ourselves by addressing emotions. :)
 
Tarala, I wouldn't be concerned about how you do the deep breathing. I often don't count the in and out breaths, I just breathe deeply and it relaxes me.
Thanks Walt, I think I've come to this too. Mainly I'm just trying to stay in the present and not let my mind wander a million miles away!
 
Thanks Walt, I think I've come to this too. Mainly I'm just trying to stay in the present and not let my mind wander a million miles away!
lol I'm still not too terribly good at that. My mind wanders a lot. It'll take me some time to get the emotional issues integrated that cause it. I think my next 10-week Presence Process will get to a lot of deep emotions, because I'll have to address my addiction. Once it's not covering those emotions, they'll come on strong. Maybe I'll experience fear or terror like you did.

I did feel grief/loss the past couple of days. It's started to feel really good--really calming now--as it integrates. Maybe part of it integrated or maybe it was just hanging out with me, but either way, I felt a major calm when it was present. Strange.
 
It's a lot better story if we fix ourselves by addressing emotions. :)

I definitely agree. I think all the respiratory trainer did was make me aware that one of my reactions was hyperventilating, and stopping that was a positive thing. It certainly didn't address the underlying problem, as evidenced by the fact that I still have other TMS symptoms, like sciatica and tension. I do admit though, it is really nice to be allergy free. I sing in an a cappella women's choir and sniffling and sneezing really are a pain.
 
Same here. I did lots of crying for the first few weeks. It would happen right after my breathing sessions. I think it was fear and grief processing. I think there's still lots more to process, though. So, we'll see what happens the second time through!
I forgot to mention that while doing the respiratory exercises (not the meditation breathing, lol) I usually watch a DVD since I do it for about half an hour. Four times out of five I cry through part of it. The movies aren't tear jerkers at all. Maybe the combination of the breathing and my mind focused on something just lets out the emotion. Or maybe just the change in breathing. Now that I think of it, it is only since starting TPP that this has been happening. What a weird and wonderful life we live.
 
Bruce, I'm doing some research on the role our emotions play in TMS pain and would like your thoughts
on it, especially regarding the Presence Process. I hope I'm not too vague in asking this.

You can reply here in the Presence Process thread. Thanks.
 
I watched Maleficent today with my wife. I did way more crying than normal. lol The Presence Process has definitely unlocked more of my feeling capacity.
 
Update:

It's interesting to watch the emotions I go through now that my first 10-week Presence Process is done. It's almost like I lost a father, in that I no longer am dependent upon a "method" to fix me, and I'm no longer in a mindset of "I'm actively doing something to heal." Instead, I'm immersed in the reality that everything is not perfect in my life and doing the Presence Process doesn't fix everything. I knew this to be true, but part of my immature heart wanted that to be true. No hope of that, of course, but that's what part of us seeks, I think--complete resolution of issues. In my more mature, adult mind and heart, I knew that was never the goal, and not a possibility. Life is tough and our human idea of no pain and suffering anymore is a bit skewed. I've found, through the process, that I no longer want to get rid of physical or emotional pain. What I want is to be joyful and thankful no matter what emotions I'm experiencing. My health will get better as I do this, of course, and pain will reduce. Life will seem easier, even when it's really tough, because I'm more calm and just flowing with it rather than trying to change it. Things are definitely better now. I'm more calm and peaceful and happy--not perfectly, of course, but definitely better than before. I handle things much better and I feel my emotions more strongly both emotionally and in my body. Only good change here, so I'm happy about that. I'm in a hurry, so I apologize that this isn't a more clean and tidy presentation. lol

I won't be able to report on my ETT session regarding the "spiritual awakening" this week. My appointment got moved up another week.

How's everyone else doing with the Presence Process?
 
I've found, through the process, that I no longer want to get rid of physical or emotional pain. What I want is to be joyful and thankful no matter what emotions I'm experiencing.
Wow, that's amazing. I'm certainly getting better with just being with the emotional pain, but I'm not so sure about the physical. I'm just starting Week 6, and I've had a large reduction in physical pain, which didn't even seem to matter that much to me. Until ... a couple of days ago when I had a big flare up of sciatica. I am not as indifferent to it as I had thought. I am much quicker now, however, at immediately thinking, "what's going on emotionally." I'm finding some success with trying to imagine what feeling the pain is expressing, but at the same time irritation at the pain and frustration at perceived limitation from it raises its ugly head. I have to keep reminding myself to then just focus on that feeling, without the story of the pain. And sometimes I feel sick of the whole thing. I think I need to go have some fun!
 
Tarala,

That's awesome! The pain reducing is very cool. One time, while breathing, I had a pain come up in my shoulder muscle. Immediately, I asked how it made me feel, and the pain went away and was replaced by an emotion. It felt like as the pain subsided quickly, the emotion quickly sprang up, all at the same time. Kind of like pouring a glass of water completely into another glass (one glass would be physical pain, the other emotional, and water is the pain). It felt like that. Bizarre.

I know what you mean about the physical pain. At times, I'm indifferent. But when it really starts to be painful and hinders my being a father, husband, or worker, I end up doing something about it. it has to get pretty bad before I will, though.

Sometimes, I'll ask myself how a pain makes me feel emotionally. It's usually angery or scared or both. Then I imagine myself as a 7 yr old with those emotions. I'll talk, in my head, as the 7 yr old me, expressing my emotions. This brings up the emotions and anchors them in the body. I talk back to that 7 yr old in a very loving way. I let him know that he can feel his emotions as long as he needs to and that I love him no matter what. As the emotions come, the pain will sometimes go away. Just depends. I hold the emotions as long as I can, or maybe I'm letting them "be" as long as they want to be or as long as my awareness of them will last. I used to ask God to heal the 7 yr old's heart, bit that was before the Presence Process. I took care of a few medical conditions that way. But now, I just stick with the emotions of the 7 yr old and trust God and my "Presence" to work it out in time.
 
Update:

I posted last week that during a movie, I felt way more emotions and cried way more than usual. Well, that's also true with music. Music now causes me to feel lots more emotion, and it's more intense. These are pleasant feeling. Music, in the past, evoked emotions out of me, but now it's far more intense. In other words, I am better at feeling now, so I get to experience joy and other pleasant emotions even more intensely and more frequently. Anger and sadness can be more intense, too, but I'm not scared of them anymore, so I can let them be without condition. Cool stuff!
 
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