Confronting negative memories the Yogic way

     When we decide to finally turn inward, sit down and ask "Who am I? Where did I come from? Where am I going? Why am I the way I am?"... what is the first thing we discover? The subconscious mind, of course.

   Do not be afraid of the subconscious. It is useless to be afraid of the past. If negative memories come up from the subconscious as if they happened yesterday, and you begin reacting emotionally and even physically all over again, say to yourself, "Welcome, memory from the past. My goodness, how you are shaking my emotional body. I remember going through these emotional states years ago, and here we are reliving this film over again. But now I am on the spiritual path to enlightenment. One day I'm going to realize fully that I only "live" in this physical body, I am not this body. I use these emotions, but I won't be used by them. They are my tools."

"So here you are, my memory pattern, trying to make me feel like I did  years ago before I reprogrammed my subconscious and awakened spiritually. "
" Memory from the past, you have tested me well. Thank you."

  Then, immediately write down on a piece of paper everything you can remember about these experiences that have come before your vision, and burn the paper when you have finished. Write down the entire experience that you are reacting to emotionally.

  If in the future the same memory visits you, simply write "Today I release my feelings of " ; pain, anger, fear, or such that are related to the person or event".   Keep the statement clear and simple focused on the negative aspects which will be burned up. Look at is as a subconscious garbage removal system.

This paper-burning serves three purposes.
- First, it is symbolic to the subconscious that you are not going to react anymore to that particular problem. You have, through the act of writing it down, taken it out of the subconscious.
- Second, burning the paper means that no one else will read it, which might cause other problems.
-Third,  through the act of burning subconscious memories, you have released them forever.


 
Welcome the thoughts and accompanying feelings in a hospitable way. Do not fear them or regret them, and certainly do not criticize yourself for having them. Simply remove them from the subconscious by writing them down and burning the paper.
Be patient, over time and daily practice the reaction will subside, but the memory will linger as an education upon which you can formulate decisions for the future, thus avoiding the same problem.

Hari Aum

Brenda Bell
www.brendabell.ca