Did you ever answer the questions in the 'sense of self' pointer?
You are absolutely correct, except that external validation doesn't seem to help much, or for long. I need to learn to trust my own experience. I'm taking steps towards that, but it's not coming easily. What do you suggest?
No, so external validation is only there for you to doubt yourself, to perhaps see that you're not doing it right?
Maybe an unnecessary question, but how does one even approach the 2nd fetter?
Can you share a few of the doubt thoughts? What is the doubt about?
It may seem obvious, but what does it look like, to rely on one's own experience?
One way of putting it is to rely on the body instead of mind, knowledge, and thinking.
Here's an exercise you can experiment with:
Body Exercise - Inner GPS
Your body naturally navigates life, and gives you data on what it resonates with and what it doesn’t.
For example, have you ever had a ‘gut feeling’ that you shouldn’t do something, and you did it anyway?
Or maybe you felt like doing something that made no logical sense, but it led to exactly what you needed at that time in your life?
It may not make sense logically, but the body knows more than we are aware of.
These yes/no signals often come as expansion/contraction, light/heavy, open/closed, but they may be different for you.
They can happen spontaneously or need time to become clear (a sign that you need time is that you think you need to be faster).
What I’d like you to do for next day is this:
1. Tell your mind that you will conduct an experiment for 24 hours, and that things will return to normal after that if appropriate (this is to get some space and focus on the body)
2. As often as you can, pay attention to what your body feels drawn to do. If it isn’t convenient to do this for all decisions, then do it for small ones, or whenever you can.
(If you have a hard time connecting to your body, just do your best. Look at this as an experiment and play with it.)
3. Pay attention to how your inner GPS communicates with you. Where is it in your body? What does it feel like? Is it instant or does it require time? (focus on direct experience)
4. Also notice how thoughts about self affect the body. What do you find?
If you experience thoughts such as:
- “This doesn’t work”
- “Why are you doing this?”
- “This is silly”
- “This is unsafe”
Tell your mind that you’re just doing it for 24 hours to see what it’s like.
What happened? Report back what you discover.
Let me know if you have any questions :)
