The Two Sine-Qua-Non Basics

  Working On Yourself Alone by Arnold Mindell is the first or second of our "Self-&-Civilisation-Sustain-worthy-ing Life-place serious 'recreation' self-learning".

 The other will be the "Method III 'No-Lose' Cooperative Problem Solving" 6 or possibly only 5 steps [see respectively Dr Thomas Gordon's series Leader/Teacher/Parent-&Children Effectiveness Training 6 steps; or print-out the same but in practically-noted 5-steps from this site's or www.lifefresh.co.uk 's "Basics" pages].
-----------  First, we start in with Mindell:- -------------
 "As an introduction, let us consider the following [body-mind] channels and the different...procedures based on them:
1. Body-feeling or proprioception -
2. Visualization: -
3. Hearing:
4. Movement or kinesthesis : -
5. Relationships: -
6. World phenomena :
 
Channel Occupation and Altered States
"Most meditation procedures attract us and affect our behavior through altering our states of awareness.
An altered state occurs when we focus on the sensory perceptions which we do not consciously use.Let me explain altered states and their relationships to channels."
"We use all of the above channels (and more) all of the time.Yet we only use some to identify ourselves.The ones we frequently and consciously use are "occupied" by our awareness.  If we not use them with intent, they are "unoccupied" by our conscious awareness.  Our un-conscious awareness may still use them, but we simply do not pay attention to them. "
"If a channel, such as visualisation, is "occupied" then focusing on it gives you a feeling of familiarity. If a channel is unused or "unoccupied" then focusing on it gives you a weird, dreamlike, or "far-out" feeling."One of the least developed channels in most of us is 'body-feeling' or proprioception.

Proprioception is usually unoccupied by our normal focus. This means that we do not pay attention to our body-temperature, its pressures, and its tensions. Focusing on an unoccupied channel such as proprioception creates an altered state;
it "stops the world", for intentionally feeling the world is more foreign to us than seeing it.
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