A Dialogue of Discernment on how others might get going with their own Dialogues. I ask my {Soul Self}….
How might a person start to undertake these ‘dialogues of discernment’, this ‘autotherapeutic journalling’, these ‘SoulSelf conversations’? What should they know? How might they begin?
Who is this person who is wanting to Dialogue with themselves?
Oh, you know. Anyone. A person who is interested in healing, or exploring their own thinking, or downloading their best ideas, or contacting their ‘wise mind’, or increasing their spiritual awareness on their own terms. Someone interested in accessing consciousness in a new, but highly personalised, way. That kind of a person.
What expectations do they have?
Well, they might be expecting mute silence on the one hand, or full-blown channelling on the other. They may have no expectations, or they may be ripe for this work and just needing a small nudge to get going.
And what are your expectations for them?
Discovery! Liberation from seeking advice from others. I used to scan spiritual texts and personal development books for imperative verbs that I could follow: ‘Pray..! Seek..! Ask…! Humble yourself…! Wait patiently…! Surrender…!’ I think these dialogues liberate us from seeking answers outside of ourselves. I think they link us to our own innate wisdom, and therefore grant us a personalised curriculum that suits us right now. For example, I know that over the years, certain themes have been taught to me very gradually. The full lesson in one go would not have helped me learn the theme deeply – and the joy of the gradual revelation of understanding would have been lost to me.
So, I expect gradual discovery with a personalised curriculum for this person.
And certainty that the guidance is trustworthy, becomes it comes from within.
And how would this person like to be assisted to get going?
I guess with some pointers on how to get in the right state? On how to relax into the process? On how to stimulate the questions which will promote a good dialogue. To know how to drop concerns about ‘doing it right’.
So what would be your advice to such a person?
- Choose your preferred writing option – hand-written or typed – being prepared to experiment with both to find out what’s best for you.
- Get comfy and turn distractions off – but also, just as in mediation, know that interruptions/noises are fine and part of keeping us grounded in the world.
- If you want, you can read something you find stimulating or inspiring to get you in the frame of mind for thinking about your themes.
- If you want, you can start the flow of writing by writing down your ‘gratitudes’ from the day before – listing all the things you appreciate about the previous 24 hours.
- Whenever you feel like it, write down a question and then write whatever you think is a good answer.
- Follow up with a comment or another question. And continue.
- When you get to a really juicy question – you can try pausing and doing a (3min+) meditation with that question at the back of your mind. You can then roll with the words arising as you meditate, or simply continue with writing after the mediation knowing that the meditation will have allowed your subconscious mind to do some helpful filtering and processing.
- Look out for a phrase/message that you can take forward with you – a word, a few words, an affirmation, a sentence. It’s right when you feel a sense of interest, intrigue or even inspiration from these words. They don’t have to be radically deep words at all! They will be a bit of fuel to work with over the next day or week or so.
- You can also write down further thoughts, prayers or affirmations to bring in deeper intent towards working with the phrase.
- Finish by writing the phrase down in its entirety. You can also write a reminder of it and leave it in your phone, desk, calendar as prompts just to mull the words over, and let your sub-conscious mind work with them.
Is it a phrase or a word? A message or a suggestion or an affirmation? You don’t have a word yet.
‘Thought for the day’? But it can be for more than a day. `It’s for as long as it bears fruit for you to mull over…
It’s a Message, from our inner guide, our internal wisdom, our higher self, our cosmic mind, our intuition… Whatever the person prefers. It’s a Message, perfectly construed and timed for the person receiving it.
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