Greetings,
I am having difficulty in understanding the sponging action and the water effect that goes along with it.
Do I visualize water going INTO my body part as I move the sponge over the area (I guess squeezing the sponge?), or visualize water coming out and being soaked up into the sponge, or just moving like waves in sync with the movement?
Thanks,
Linda
That's a pretty good question, I've wondered the same thing for quite some time.
I found it better to not think that there was water or energy in the sponge, but that the sponge *itself* was awareness-energy being pulled through my limbs, following their curves and shapes etc.
You'll want to feel the action versus visualize. In the beginning stages you may only be able to feel at the surface of your skin, but with continual practice your body awareness will travel deeper and deeper into your body eventually reaching the point where you will be able to feel the entire segment of the body that you are working on. The sponging action you are describing is just a simple tool to use to help people to feel for and stimulate energy. If it helps for you to actually visualize a sponge squeezing water throughout your limbs, it would be a good start to get the feeling, but you will want to move past visualization as soon as you can. If that is the case you'd want to visualize the sponge moving the water into your limbs going towards whichever direction you are going.
Taking your leg as an example, you will want to focus your awareness and intention on the specific body part and recreate a feeling of flowing water. It may end up feeling like a buzzing sensation, electric current or a soft breeze. For me, I get a feeling of flowing water along with a tingling/buzzing sensation when feeling for energy movement. If you have ever sponged yourself while taking a bath, you can begin by using the sensations felt while you cleaned yourself and recreating that feeling using your awareness and intention alone.
Start at the surface of the skin and don't worry if you cannot go any deeper, over time you will be able to feel all the way into your bones. Let your awareness travel up or down the leg feeling for any and every sensation as you go. If you are new to energy work or have a lot of energy blockages you may not feel anything for a while, but keep at it and as blockages are released your body will open up and be more susceptible to feeling the energy move.
Howdy, I know for me in the beginning I had big problems with the feeling vs. visualization thing. The main problem being that I couldn't with body awareness, even if I highlighted the area. So I used visualization in the beginning and then the feeling came. Now I have to visualize for the first few minutes while I get everything activated and going but after that I can pretty much go off of feel alone. For me the hardest thing to do without being able to feel is by far the sponging method. So for me I still usually hold off on sponging and even bouncing methods until I put in a good 15-20 minutes of stirring and brushing actions. Hope that helps.
Matt
I find it easier to feel the sponge if I imagine that it's a big, thick one that takes up the entire width of wherever it is in my body (although I usually imagine two seperate ones the width of my thighs when I get to my torso, since I've never seen a sponge that big and couldn't possibly imagine what that feels like).
I actually started using the sponging action by trying to feel myself holding a sponge filled with water with my awareness hands. Unfortunately in the beginning, this was a bit to difficult, so I started simply feeling the sponge moving through my body.
Also, thanks for the detailed post Dan36oy!
Wow...this is all very helpful. Actually, I am able to feel the superficial movement of energy following the sponge but I can't visualize the process. Now I realize I was doing something right and am making progress!
Thanks for all your responses.
Dear friends...
I haven't problem (with the sponging action) to report, but, I've observed that you uses the term "visualizing". I advices to you, following RB's teachings, that "visualizing" mental act is the seed of a high rate of failure. RB replaces the concept "visualization" (that's associated to visual imagination) by "tactil imagination". So, you must to remember sensations related with dragging spong absorbed with water onto the skin of your legs, arms, torso, etc.. Then, rehearse act of dragging spong absorbed with water, is more easy to achieve.
I'm sorry if at the time of talk about "visualization" you would want to mean "tactil imaging".
Sincerely,
Natalia Parker
Hi Natalia,
I actually combine the two, as I practiced visualization techniques for a few years before I knew about tactile imaging. While TI works better for me now, I find sometimes that my mind automatically adds visualization to the process. It can cause some problems, but is actually quite easy to work around, and I find the combination of the two works best for me.
Hi Rydel...
About automatics addings of the mind I've observed something similar during pulling of the rope at start of exit. I've observed my arms like faint shadows (like a phantom).
And when I try to clear my mind of such appearances, the effectiveness of pulling action decreases.
I think that's sequel of the visual capabilities of mind eye and its occurrence is some I don't must to avoid. A let's go policy is the most natural and smart.
My Best Wishes...
Sincerely,
Natalia Parker
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