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 |  Repository for my Zanier Ideas... on writing, and life. |
| Now that you've got the body straightened out, what now? Imagine a racecar driver learning how to run his powerful engine. His trainer has him go into a skid so he'll know what to do. It looks and feels like he's out of control. Then, when all seems lost, he performs the action his teacher suggested and--it works. He has instantly stopped drifting and regained at least a semblance of control--enough to prevent the crash that the stunt would have caused. Like the driver, you've had some basic training. So, let's assume that you've been keeping the body in a state of relative calm by putting your body at ease. Let's further assume that you've gotten good at this body-language self-talk, so that you can keep working while calmed down. All this puts you in a better place, reserves your energy and heals your body so it is ready for whatever you need it to do. The next thing you need to learn is how to do the same for situations with more impact. The way to build this up is by going into a skid deliberately. Take a negative pose--act out a state of alarm, fear, or deep sadness. As you do, begin to think of things that make you sad. Yes, we avoided going into your thoughts because they are hard to control until you have control of your body. However, it should be easy, if you act angry, to remember that thing that still irks you. If you hunch your shoulders and walk like the world is too heavy, you'll have a cakewalk recalling the problems that overwhelm you. As your body does what it did, the body reminds your brain of all the things it was thinking. This triggers the emotion, causing still more vivid memories to come in until you are no longer acting--you are deep in a real experience. The key is to get there and then snap out of it. Once you get to intense anger, then act like you just found out it was an honest mistake. If you start to swim in the overwhelming blue depths to the point where it starts to crush you, then you move to attention--heads up, shoulders back, alert and ready. Because once you call "Cut!" and shift to acting a more pleasant scene, the context of the more pleasant scene will come to mind. Now you will have an easier time thinking pleasant thoughts and feeling pleasant emotions. In intense situations, it may take a bit of time--and by a bit of time, I mean ninety seconds. Keeping your body language under conscious control for ninety seconds is a significant feat of willpower outside of Shaolin or Navy Seal training, and that's why we focus on the body. A caveat. Many times this will burn away the most intense emotions in ninety seconds. Other times, things take much longer. My grief at the loss of a stray cat that befriended me did not just go away, granted. I would never have wanted it to. However, standing tall as I cried and maintaining my dignity was a powerful comfort to me. I did grieve quickly, quicker than ever before, and in a way that honored my feline friend. This is about having wisdom, choice, and dignity. Controlling the emotions does not need to kill them. I can behave like a Vulcan, or Romulan, when the need arises, but that's not the ultimate goal. As I gain control, my emotions are more vivid, vital, and much safer. The pains are cleaner and less frightening. The highs are less addictive and more wonderful. So I beg you, learn to go into and out of emotional states. Develop a love for the poetry of human life and the power to set it aside when the time comes to think, or to rest. |
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