Start by building up three discrete states.

Heart

Physically concentrate attention on heart, become aware of any heat there, of the rhythm of the beating. Breathe 'from' the heart (i.e. allow the feeling of breath to start from the heart and return there, either leaving and entering the body, or moving around the body, being careful to do it in a direction that feels good for you). Elicit states of loving and being loved of, empathy and affinity, in whatever way feels most effective. You might like to use the "Looking at yourself through the eyes of someone who loves you" exercise. Crank up the power of the emotions until the waves of energy can be felt throughout the whole of the body. Melt into the state completely. Anchor this by again fixing your physical attention on the heart.

Throat

Physically concentrate on the throat, become aware of the air passing through, leaving the attention there. Elicit states of communicating powerfully, and listening, of having power over the inner dialogue. Again get the richness of the experience to the best possible, really crank up the volume... or the silence. A-choir a sound that harmonises and anchor this to the state.

Head

Physically concentrate on the midpoint of the eye brows, inside about an inch or two or the very centre of the head, if that seems better, leaving the attention there. Elicit states of understanding, comprehending, the 'Aha!' response, intuition and sudden illumination. Come up with a simple symbol that is connected to this state (allow it to come), and anchor it at its peak.

Test each state by its anchor, and break state inbetween - you need three discrete powerful states.

Blend

To blend the states, flex the spine a little and stretch. You may like to move the head in progressively slower movements, until you don't know if you're moving or not. Next, take a deep breath and ... relax. Start by imagining your breath as entering from below into the base of the spine and going into a little semicircle and out through the base of the spine again. As soon as you've finished breathing in, start to breathe out. When you're comfortable with that bring the flow through the base of the spine and up a little more. Keep bringing it higher until it you're going through the heart. Now, as you bring it up concentrate your attention on the heart. Next move it higher until it goes through the heart and into the throat. Making your throat sound as you breathe out, down through the heart and back through the base of the spine. Finally, bring the breath all the way to the head, see your simple symbol, and back down. Choose your direction: back first, then round the front of the body, or vice versa; one generally feels definitely right, and one definitely wrong. Keep it circulating for as long as you like, and anchor it in whatever you like. Move the breath down in the same way you moved it up. Test the anchor.

Alternatives

This may be a bit heady for some, in which case feel free to making this a little more grounding.

Once you've done the exercise, mail me some of your experiences, in state. In fact, you may find it useful to experiment with communicating in this state alone for a short while.

Last updated: 26 September 1997