It all started when…

Alchemy itself is not a written practice, it is a deeply embodied one, which gets easier, more automatic and intuitional as we practice it. So please do practice it. However, sometimes it can be beneficial to write things down too, as a form of written meditation. To see the internal and external architecture of a pain body/karmic pattern. This can be free style, an Artist’s Way type ‘morning pages’, where you’ll write at least 3 pages, without slowing down, thinking or editing, or just until your thoughts start to get consistently more positive. Or you are welcome to get out your Byron Katie sheets and write those out. Either way, each sentence will point to a belief and an emotion. Pick the most triggering one and either bring it to your cushion for Alchemy practice or to a One Belief At A Time page below.

Below is a list of both written and Alchemy prompts to get you started, see what feels right to you:

Alchemy:

1. You are feeling triggered and terrible. Eek! Bleh.

2. Pay attention to this moment. The sensations of the lower half of your body, the sounds around you, to your breath. Start to move your awareness from your feet slowly to your belly, keeping track of every bodily part and sensation, as well as your breath. Travel up and down the lower half of your body, several times, until you feel more grounded and spacious. You can imagine that you are breathing in and out through each body part, on your way up and down, in rhythm, if it helps.

   For a few more steps into overwhelm self-care and how to regain space, please read this.

3. Can you follow the line from the thought boat, all the way down to it’s physical sensation counterpart anchored in the body? Feel into the sensation of that triggered emotion in your awareness. What does it feel like? A sinking sensation, a jabbing, a prickle, moving or very tight energy? Get really close, touch it, get familiar with it like you’re stalking a wild creature or a baby alien. Can you discover it afresh and anew?

4. Can we fully allow, respect, accept, welcome, be curious about this triggered energy? If we can’t, feel into what’s resisting/blocking and put your awareness on that instead and repeat from the beginning.

5. Ask it what it really is? or perhaps What does it fundamentally want? Does it not already have it?

6. What is it saying? Whatever it is, agree with it, comfort it…”yes, yes, there, there, quite right to feel that way”, whatever feels right to you.

7. Let it live it’s full life. Picture it and really feel it, perhaps screaming on the side of a big cliff or dancing crazily. Let it get really big, invite it out of it’s contracted form. Ask it if it wants to uncontain itself. And if it would like to root down. A few I love yous and thank yous are also good to stabilize the energy about here.

8. Can we fully allow, respect, accept, welcome, be curious about this triggered energy? If we can’t, feel into what’s resisting/blocking and put your awareness on that instead and repeat from No. 4

9. If we’re finding it hard to be with something and lacking compassion for ourselves, perhaps picture the same feeling being felt by a little child, baby animal or plant even. Be respectful of it’s space, it’s needs and wants. Just simply be with it softly, gently and repeat No. 5 onwards.

Written:

1. What happened to trigger you in this situation?

   Tell us all about it. If it’s an illness, perhaps use the body or painful sensations for this. Click here to use BK’s ‘Judge your neighbour’ form if it helps to explore this situation.

2. So how does this situation make you feel? Angry, sad, scared? Click here for BK’s emotions PDF sheet for help. Here is Byron Katie’s full ‘One Belief At a Time’ sheet if helpful to explore a belief more fully.