The Presence Process - Share Experiences & Ask Questions

Sounds cool! So is writing your passion? Or at least one of them? Any particular things you like to write about? I can certainly vouch for the fact that you are an excellent writer just by your posts here!!! I always look forward to reading them!!!
Let us know if and when you publish something so we can get to Amazon and support you in your endeavors!!

 

I like to write spec fiction like young adult urban fantasy or adult urban fantasy (urban fantasy just means it's set in modern times, but there's usually some type of supernatural element, whether it be magic or superpowers or just slight superhuman abilities or the like). I've considered writing books about spiritual things and healing, but I'm not so sure I want to be tied to that. While I'm well studied in theology, religion, spirituality and such, that's something that gets tricky with people. And everyone who's writing in those fields is writing in such a way as to say, "My view is correct and I know it for sure." And people generally want that, too, because they're usually reading for answers to make them feel less shameful or anxious. Knowing answers makes a person feel more secure emotionally (but it actually just represses the shame and anxiety, usually). So if I were to write that type of thing, I'd constantly be saying, "There's this possibility, this possibility, and this possibility, and there's really no way we know can know which is accurate. I tend to think this one makes the most sense from what I know, but that's just me, and I could be wrong." Few people want to hear that. They want the writer to be authoritative and sound like he's got all of the answers so they can attach to him like a father-figure and take up his beliefs (at least, that's how a LOT of readers are and they don't know it). So my writing would likely piss off most people since I wouldn't give them answers in the typical fashion. lol And the people that disagreed with the things I presented would be ticked off too and start claiming I believe what's in my books even though I'm stating in the books that these are just possibilities and that I can't know which, if any, are accurate. Then Christians and who knows who else would slander me (and this is all assuming I actually became known--lol). And what if I find new information and all the old stuff I write is obsolete and inaccurate. I can't take back what I wrote. I can only write again and disavow the old stuff. lol I'm not so sure I want all of that possible drama in my life or my family's life.

And besides, in the East they say, "He who says, does not know. He who knows, does not say."

In other words, when someone really knows the truth, they'll keep their mouth shut about it, because they'll realize that a person must experience it for their self, so there's no reason to tell anyone. It can't be properly conveyed. Better to just enjoy life and let people do their thing. So if I ever reach that point, I'll be like, "Oh great, I wrote a bunch of meaningless books. Oh well..." LOL

But if I write fiction and put some interesting deep meanings in them that people might consider exploring, now that's fun. And no one kicks up too much of a fuss on that stuff. And it's a lot of fun to write, too. The other is kind of boring. Interesting, but boring. And I feel like I'm arrogant or prideful if I write spiritual or self-help stuff. lol So who knows...

I'm writing about a guy right now who has multiple personality disorder and his main three personalities have slight superhuman powers. He works with the police, but he's also killing off some pretty horrible people at the same time, or at least getting them killed. It's dark and a little comical. It's a TV show I'm writing into a book. Should be interesting, I think.

 

That sounds very much like a plot that would keep the attention of its audience, as well as have room for many subplots. I'm sure you'd be able to get 10'seasons out of it!!! LOL.
I think your point of view of what people would expect from something of a more "spiritual" or self help nature is right on. There'd be way more drama involved in the perception of that than I'd ever be willing to endure!!!
Best of luck with that!

 

Dear All,

I am a newbie here. I have started the The Presence Process book and have finished part 1 to it. Currently mulling whether to start with Introductory route or start the experience path. I want to start with the experience path. I have five weeks of alone time, then a 3 week visit to my home country for the birth of my second child and then back to Dubai where I live. Not sure whether starting the experience right away will be challenging considering the situation.

I have had past experience with TMS. During a particularly difficult time just before my marriage, I had a pain in my tail bone which totally affected my confidence. Luckily I stumbled into Dr. Sarno's book which quickly resolved that issue which never returned. However, I have been stupid in not realising that it manifested in other ways through other afflictions that troubled me ever since including acidity, chronic fatigue and sleep apnea. I associated them with my physical inactivity and weight gain. Recently I have experienced tinnitus (8 weeks) and constant tension headache (2 weeks) which now i am fully convinced is due to TMS. For safety sake, I even did a brain scan and the neurologist found no issues. I fully expect these afflictions to go away shortly as they are just my brain playing tricks.

Thank You Brian for starting this new thread. I am looking forward to start my own journey to integrate pending emotional issues.

Sath

 

Hi Sathn57 and welcome. I'm not sure if I'm understanding you correctly but if you're planning on starting TPP you'll need 10 consecutive weeks in order to experience the process fully. Be sure you read the book thoroughly and follow MB's explanations which are very well laid out. It's really an extroidinary gift and I've found it to be a path to living a much more functional life. Good luck to you and feel free to share your thoughts here if you'd like to. Take care.

 

Dear Hardwired,

Thank you for your message. Apologies for the delayed response.

Yes, I do feel that the presence process is something that I need at this moment. I realize that the only way is through. I started the presence process recently and today is my fourth day. Yes, I understand that it is 10 consecutive weeks. Will share my thoughts during the process here. Sath

 

Hi everyone, first I apologize for the faults in my post, I am from Austria/Europe , so English is not my mother language...

I startet TPP five days ago. Now my footpain is worse and my gastrtits flared up, which didn't so for half a year.
But I think that is a normal reaction.

All I notice since the beginning of TPP is that I remember frequently situations from my 20th and 30th, but nearly all of them are pleasant. I "expected" to remember things from my choldhood, so now I am a little confused. Do these feelings come up when you have more practice?

Do I understand correctly: when unpleasant feelings will come up, I stay with them and continue breathing?

The sentence I memorize during the 10 weeks stays always the same: "I-am-here-now-in-this"?

Maybe all my questions have already been answered in this forum or in the book, but I didn' t read all the posts and due to the morphine I must take my memory is not the best. So I would be happy to get some answers!

Renate

 

I noticed that the "unpleasant feelings" did not necessarily come up while I was doing the TPP breathing exercises, at least not at first. I too notice my imagination scanning pleasant memories. However, after a while, those "unpleasant feelings" began to emerge during my daily waking consciousness and later manifested during subsequent PP breathing sessions. By your own admission, you've only been at it 5 days. Wait a while, keep working at it, and after a while you'll begin to confront emotional material repressed in your unconscious. I don't think it's until week 4 or 5 in the reading lessons that Michael Brown begins to give you some clues about how unpleasant emotional baggage from childhood comes to the surface and how to deal with it. Keep on, keeping on.

 

Thank you BruceMc, your answer is really helpful!

What I experience now is a terrible flare-up of my (TMS-) pain. Maybe that' s also part of TPP?

 

Well, yes, if Michael Brown is right and uncomfortable mental states and physical states are the expressions of unintegrated emotions left over from childhood. I notice in Chapter 5 that MB says that you have to abide with those feelings and accept them. I'm sure Brian has more detailed information about unintegrated emotions and their relation to TMS symptoms.

 

Now I am finishing the 2nd week of TPP. I have much more pain than before, foot pain (old) headache and pelvic pain (both new) and my refrigerator, my dishwasher and my computer don' t work anymore. That's all due to TPP???

 

Renate, I believe this is a good sign. TPP brings things up to the surface. Let me find my PP list and copy and paste it for you to see.

 

Renata, here is my list of the Benefits of the PP. Pay attention to #16 & #19 as this seems to pertain to what you are experiencing.

1. Our intent is not to feel better but to get better at feeling
2. acceptance is the doorway to transformation
3. consciously connected breathing produces an increased sense of well-being and helps you respond instead of react.
4. The presence process is an invitation to step into a pathway that liberates us from the prison of unconscious mental distraction or drama.
5. It activate a away of being that empowers us to respond to life instead of reacting to it. It leads us into an awareness of what we share rather than focusing on the things that cause us to experience separation.
6. The presence process is a journey into ourselves, And equips us to integrate the suppressed fear, anger, and grief that seeps into our daily experience.
7. Living in time, running from yesterday, and frantically chasing tomorrow without rest and stopping to feel peaceful, is what the presence process addresses and Soothes.
8. Entering present moment awareness, you will notice a steady decrease in mental analysis.
9. The presence process specializes in assisting us in gently accessing suppressed emotions.
10. The breathing practice fosters daily accumulation of present moment awareness through integration of the energetic patterns that keep us trapped in a time-based mentality.
11. There is no way to breathe in the past or in the future, we can only breathe in the present. By becoming aware of our breathing, we remain anchored in the moment and not the past or future.
12. And presence process shows us how to prevent drama and instructs us how to integrate blocked emotions.
13. Chronic illness and disease are outer manifestations of an un-integrated charge within the emotional body.
And when charged emotions are sufficiently integrated, there is no longer a foundation for affliction.
14. The more we integrate our charged emotional condition, the less severe our afflictions are.
15. We must feel emotions we have long suppressed.
16. The turbulence we experience with the presence process is beneficial. The way out is through, and we must go inward.
17. We must willingly ride our inner Dragon.
18. OUR DAILY BREATHING PRACTICE IS THE SEED OF A PLANT THAT BEARS THE FRUIT WE SEEK.
PRESENT MOMENT AWARENESS.
19. When we are struggling physically, mentally, and emotionally through this process, it's because we are being impacted by it in a beneficial manner.

 

Grateful 17 thank you very much for your post and the PP list.!
I wish you all a joyous and blessed Christmas!

 

Thanks a tone Grateful17,
Is this summary included in the PP?

Merry Christmas everyone!

 

Sienna,
Yes !!!
I took this all straight from the book. It is not listed this way but being the TMS'er that I am, I underlined things as I went through, then went back and made this list from things that I found helpful.

 

Great Job!

 

Thank you kindly Grateful, that's a useful list.

 

Hi Grateful 17,
Thanks for this fine list, which could be applied to much of the work I do, although I don't use the "Presence Process" per se. It is useful for me to have a nice summary of "gently going toward what we avoid, while staying in the here and now, brings us into more balance." And part of what we tend to avoid is the Present!
Andy B.

 

I love this forum with all the nice people here and the great support one gets there!!