GUIDED PRACTICEs
So, once we have these two first phases of the Nurturer active inside of us -- we’ve released enough and we’ve rested enough -- we’re ready to move into this third phase of Receiving. And I think it’s useful to say from the outset, that this is one of the hardest things for a human being to actually do. In a certain way paradoxically, it’s actually the most simple, but in another way it’s actually the most difficult. For us to just simply receive this sense of wellbeing requires a tremendous amount of openness, a tremendous amount of simplicity. It’s almost too simple for our minds to grasp. And so, when we work with these practices, I’m breaking them into two different parts here. There’s a more active Receiving we can do, but also a more passive one. And in order to bring us into that deeper simplicity of the passive way, we can start with some of the active ones if that feels good for you.
An act of receiving is doing anything that brings the sense of wellbeing towards you, into you. Consciously invoking our will to receive goodness into our body. So let me give you a few examples of how that could work. And as I share the guided practices with you for this part of the course, you’ll see many examples of this too.
The first way is simply through affirmations. Perhaps saying this to yourself internally, or perhaps speaking it out loud. Saying something like, “I allow myself to receive the goodness that’s everywhere.” And visualize that coming in, so invoking that way of being with your words, and allowing the sense of goodness that’s actually everywhere and inherent in a natural state to start to flood your body. To come closer to you. That’s a way we can actively engage with Receiving.
Another active way of Receiving is through touch. Allowing ourselves to be touched by others, through massage, perhaps from a partner, a friend, perhaps from a masseuse. And allowing ourselves to receive that into our bodies. Allowing ourselves to be touched by the other person and to receive this sense of wellbeing. The body produces different chemicals like oxytocin when we’re touched like this, and this helps us to come into that receiving mode. And really let yourself open to that way when you’re in a space like that. Understanding that it’s very useful to look exclusively through that Lens, asking yourself things like, “how deeply can I let myself receive in this moment?” And the truth is, it’s a little scary for us. Because if we truly open to receiving, we lose a part of our identity. We lose a certain amount of ground inside of ourselves. There is a sacrifice to receiving goodness. Some of our old protective mechanisms start to relax and that can feel a little bit uncertain to us. So, know that nothing has gone wrong if you find yourself at a pleasure threshold where you’re unable to receive more wellbeing into your body. That’s very natural. And just letting yourself stay at the edge of that, and gently being willing to go further.
As well as the loving touch we can receive from others, we can also give it to ourselves. It can be a very beautiful practice to just gently caress your body. Perhaps your arm, your hand, in a very loving and soothing way. And just notice what happens to your body when you do that. How deeply are you able to receive your own touch? And coupled with this form of touch it can be very useful to speak to yourself out loud in very kind ways. What are the words you’ve been longing to receive from other people? Perhaps it’s something like, “I love you. I see you. I see how hard you try and you can rest now”. What’s it like to put your hand on your heart and just gently saying those words to yourself? Offering them to yourself, and being willing to receive? Perhaps saying them to yourself over and over in a very gentle, kind voice. And if there’s any part of you that’s skeptical, just letting that part receive too -- letting it soften. And notice what’s that like? Just softening with that. Receiving your words. And really enjoying the feeling of wellbeing that comes from them. And experimenting with different words here, seeing what really touches you. What really lights your fire there?
So, there’s some examples of a more active form of receiving. And they’re a good place to start with these practices. And when we’ve developed this for some time, especially when we’re already in touch with the ground of the Sage -- when we’ve started to discover and spend some time abiding in that Ground of our Being -- we can start to come into this more passive phase of Receiving. The passive phase of Receiving is actually completely natural. And the key to this process is to relax…to rest so deeply almost like we’re opening every pore of our body. Every cell of our body is opening. And because we’re in touch with this Ground of our Being as well, we can open so deeply that there’s something even beyond the physical body that we can rest in. And when we’re able to rest in that sort of space, we can start to truly receive in a passive way. We can start to notice that out of the ground of this being, there’s this natural perfume of goodness. That this basic ground of our being is actually infused with goodness. And we can rest in that space and let that goodness touch us and receive it into our being and our body.
And it’s this passive phase that it’s so important that we start to touch before we move onto the 4th phase of Radiating. That we can start to feel ourselves filling up, being able to receive this wellbeing in a very passive way, that doesn’t require much effort on our behalf. All it requires in this part of Receiving is that we rest and soften. Almost like a newborn baby, so wide open and so ready to receive. And that’s going to challenge us in certain ways as I’ve said, and being aware of that when you notice any challenges to your threshold for receiving, just softening with that. Being gentle with yourself.