[mercuryrising]

Originally Posted by Maguru

I relate to your example. Is 'getting upset' a physical reaction or an emotional one? I think of the physical action as a reaction to the stimulus. When no action is taken, it has no-where to go. It is suppressed until, as you say, next time.

IMO, this is generally why resistance does not work when it comes to change. A person gets angry, but they don't want to react to the anger, so they suppress (resist) the reaction. The feeling gets stored in the body as tension. And it was the tension that already existed there that caused the original physical reaction.

Unless the tension gets released, the reaction continues to happen no matter what the person wants (wills) to do. This is what yoga and kung fu are all about, really. The separation of mind and body causes tension. Bringing the mind and body back together through breath and movement eliminates the tension.

I think that getting upset is a physical response (fight or flight) that we interpret into emotion and then reason post hoc what the cause of the emotion is. We assume it is tied to something in the recent past or in the present environment. As in the the above example, the person will point to an outside stimulus (a person, situation, etc.) as the cause of the emotion. It is actually tension in the body. There are very few situations in modern times where these physical reactions are necessary...

I think everyone experiences physical sensations connected to emotions that are connected to images and words, but not all are aware of them. I feel fear down the back of my legs.

I think this complex of sensation, emotion, images and words is the ego. And looking at the ego as this process rather than as a thing is a step in the right direction in terms of awareness.

From a metaphorical point of view, your legs are your physical stability on the planet, therefore they are your sense of security in the world. When you fell that your security is threatened, you feel fear in the legs.

What I find really interesting about this stuff is if you change the way you stand (for example), the fear will dissipate. Like if you separate your feet a bit wider than shoulders width apart and slightly bend the knees, you no longer will feel fear.

Another example: I was having an argument with my girlfriend one time and I noticed she had curled up into the fetal position. Even though I wasn't physically hurting her, she had taken a very protective position. This reflected her state of mind. I was standing next to the bed, which also reflected my state of mind; some kind of authority over her. I sat down and I asked her to sit up and face me. After she did that, our argument changed its tone completely. Now we were equals and I was not trying to hurt her.

I think so too. I think the physical sensations become stronger in support of the feelings that were once intuition.

The body is like a filter or lens through which we see the world, isn't it? And if that lens gets dirty or the filter gets clogged up, so does our perception of the world.