T: Tips and tricks if you are unsure, distracted or worried {this helps}

[adraw]

Maybe a year ago I wrote 30 pages text about how I see my internal world. I wrote it to stabilize myself internally, becouse I was in a situation, when I didnt have enough trust in myself. This text is not in english, but I will try to give you some tips and tricks which came out of my internal exploration and which might be helpful for you to become more sure, less distracted and less worried about your progress. How the brain works Let me start with the brain itself. If we look at it functionally, it can be divided into two layers. Conscious layer {I} and subconscious layer. Effectivity of your work, your techniques and your attempts is related to how these two layers cooperate. Dont fight when not necessary Internal fights. Quite common... You want to do a technique and brain automatically uses tricks to distract you. You are lying in a bed and thoughts dont stop to attack you. You are getting angry. You force the ideas to leave. But each time, they only increase in intensity. Let me take one situation. You are trying to enter sleep paralysis. One of the technique involves breathing. You may try two approaches: 1. Force your brain into breathing. And you will feel the results. Big measure from your side automatically invokes big countermeasure from your subconscious. And there will be many thoughts coming into your head. You will have to have biiiiig and strong "willpower" to dismiss the thoughts. Which you probably dont have. 2. Start doing it and be an observer. Enjoy the tricks which brain tryes to distract you from what you are currently doing. Just observe and calmly decide to persist. Still feel like a observer. This is something like ignoring what happens. Just give the problems the attention they deserve {not more...actually you decide} and then... let them go. Now the breathing is what deserves attention most, so you just let other things go as unimportant and as if they were no fun. After doing second approach. Your brain will find out, that you are serious about what you are doing. It will not question what you are doing as much {but expect some minor recidive each time} as it questioned at the beginning. And this way you will build a confidence and so called willpower. Prepare yourself before you attempt techniques Conscious and subconscious should be aligned before you make a technique. Effectivity of the technique depends on whether your conscious collaborates with your subconscious or not. Lots of people underevaluate the meaning of preparation. You need to prepare for your exercises aligning your conscious and subconscious. You know. IF your brain wants to think about day concerns, it might get pretty angry if you try to force it to think about lucids and breathing. First of all. It is wise to get comfortable. Second. Give the subconscious a minute {not more} to talk with you about what it wishes to do. {and tell the brain it has time it wishes}. End the chat with subconscious telling that you are happy to know, what it wants. {this is the first part of alignment}. And then you present what you want. You should have no problems with internal agreement now, becouse you have given time for your inner self to tell you what it wanted to say.And now start with whatever you wish. You will not get as much problems as doing techniques unprepared. Thats why are attempts in late night more effective. Conscious and subconscious are already aligned.f you prepare yourself, you will be more successful. All the success depends on switching state of your brain before you try to teach it something. First you have to prepare ground for you education. And only then the education may be effective. You are making attempts, you are learning Each attempt brings you further... Thats for sure. Dont worry if you step aside. The brain is clever enough to let you know. Now you have two ways how to react. 1. Thank your brain becouse it alerted you and move on with attempts 2. Humble your brain becouse it wandered elsewhere Think yourself which action brings what results. But i am pretty sure about what you would choose now. But do you do the same in reality? Dont think so. Just analyse what you write in this forum often. I will show you one of my analysis for a pretty common post. I don't know why, but I have a bit of trouble with focusing on my breathing. I focus on it TOO much and I start to either get distracted or think about how I could focus my breathing which doesn't get me relaxed. Let me just get a brief analysis on what you say. And dont get into fury after you read this . I don't know why.... This is pretty interesting. You are probably confused. Thats pretty normal, when conscious fights with subconscious. I have little trouble with focusing on my breating... Trouble. Thats becouse you are fighting. Forget the fight and think of it as of collaboration with partner which needs time to understand you. You must think of it as of collaboration. Or you will fight senseless fight. I focus on it TOO much... I dont think, you are focusing too much. It is probably becouse you are controlling too much. But the observer stance will help, believe me. I've had this problem too. {and sometimes it reccurs}. I start to either get distracted... Of course. If you use your mental power too much, you will loose mental stamina. And this distracts. Goal is to observe, not to controll. Goal is not to be angry when you get distracted, but to return where you want to be and be happy that brain was clever enough to tell you, that you were not where you wanted. ...or think about how I could focus my breathing... And now you probably know, how you would analyse this one. ...which doesn't get me relaxed. Of course. Relax in a war? Senseless. This was a analysis which was pretty complex. But you may see how your brain shows you, what you think and how confused it often feels. Learning techniques takes time. And now you know why does it take so long. Not becouse the technique itself. Its becouse of the constant war we are part of. Find yourself your way how to be correct to yourself when performing techniques. Be polite, calm and persisting and you will not have to worry about your progress. You will get further in small, but accelerating steps. Plz. Tell me your experiences...

[Drogo]

Thanks! I came here today just to have tips on this issue!