The secret of un-straining

Update: I think I have observed something important about this: I'd been wondering why the pains or troubles usually seemed to return later, and why this drill could be so difficult. "Habit" of thought does not explain such a powerful block.

But Fear does. It is my perception that one retreats into contraction and pain when one is running from fear. Another 'solution' is to go unconscious, on one level or another. And in my case, it seems that the pain was something I created myself in order to *not* go unconscious from Fear, in order to keep functioning. (I sort of compressed my mind/energies so the "gears" ground together.) Fear is the problem underlying pain, much more basic. 

The fear goes very deep, because really it's the fear of God or Source or The Light, and it's there because we have the false idea that we have separated from it. All human fears are based on this single fear. One could say that the whole trip of lifetimes since the beginning is slowly handling this fear, letting the holy spirit or higher self break it down bit by bit. So it's not something which is handled in a week. 

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This can be used both for physical troubles and emotional ones, even some that seem to have obvious "causes".

What Roger Linden talks about in the video below, a few minutes in, has been of tremendous assistance to me after he trained me in a phone session a few weeks ago. I have already become more relaxed and happy, and productive.

You relax and unwind, and you experience what you are experiencing (pain, fear, whatever), without backing off from it, but also without reaching out to it. There will usually be some tension or pain in the body to go with it. And you let your mind become softer, and monitor your breathing. It will be restrained if you have tension. So you just let yourself become softer and gentler more and more, while you experience what you're experiencing, letting go of resistance. Letting it be as it is.

[Partial transcript below]

It is trickier than it sounds, but it gets easier, the effect is cumulative it seems to me. It is worthwhile to stick to it for a while! It is amazing to me that for me at least, I *very* quickly fell back into holding my breath all the time, and it takes quite some discipline to continue being aware of breathing, and to continue to just do it, despite pain or other discomforts.

Don't focus on anything, rather you should de-focus.

Relax. Breathe. Let go.

Maybe the free breathing is enough. Just keep breathing is the essence.

Some may find it helpful, though, to see the mind's energy field as it stretches way out as a big web or tangle of tree-roots, and to let it untangle and become looser, bigger, and freer.

Becoming bigger and softer as a being. (Overlooking for the moment that what you really are is not physical, not even energy.)

The theory is that pain, suffering and blocks stem from contraction and tension. Some very intense pains have sometimes been released by this technique.

This may not undo the ego directly, but I find it's much easier to focus on your advanced forgiveness if you're not tangled up in pain or fear! :-)
Part of advanced forgiveness is unflinchingly watching and seeing the ego exactly as it is, and that is a fearful thing. Learning to dissipate that fear makes the process easier.

Partial transcript of the video:

Interviewer: "It takes a lot of energy or will to change the juggernaut of a thought pattern …"

Roger Linden: That can be [the way it is] … or you could just release your breathing. Because the juggernaut of thinking patterns is sustained by contraction in the body … and one of the most obvious effects of that is a restriction in your breathing. So if the breathing is released, just in an ordinary way, the intensity of thought patterns will ease …

It is impossible to have that juggernaut going unless there is some restriction in the breathing.

So learning about something like that … learning how to let the breath be easy … to let the mental focus soften … the mental focus is simply contraction … With a little practice—and the practice is essentially stopping the strain, which is effortless, life becomes easier and more comfortable. It’s hard work to suffer.

… The breath is not the only key, but it is one of the keys, and it is the most obvious, and the easiest to communicate immediately. Essentially, it is about the breath … but the breath and strain around the eyes and the tightening in the body and the solar plexus and the back of the head and neck—all of that comes from the assumption that “there is somebody inside, doing something.” So when one senses there’s a ‘me’ in ‘here’ (head), there is a little contraction that reinforces that. And that I’m doing something, I’m focusing attention here or there, and there’s contraction.

When people learn that this can soften or ease, then it is harder to suffer. There is a pull to get back into contraction, because it’s such a habit … but there is also a desire for the well being.