Post by Orion on Jun 21, 2008 21:45:49 GMT -5
OK guys, here's lesson five. I know I've already messaged it to most of you on PsiWorld, but I'm posting it here for posterity.
And so, after week after grueling week of waiting for this lesson to arrive (lol) … here begins lesson five.
After reading the last four (and a half) lessons, you have mastered all the basics! You can feel and manipulate psi, you can form and program simple constructs, and you can even bind them to physical objects to affect those objects in certain ways. From now on, since you know the minimum you absolutely need to in order to use psi, these lessons will be focusing on specific skills rather than the more general techniques we have been talking about so far. As it happens, this lesson is written on the use of empathy.
According to an article on the archived PsiPog website, empathy is “the ability to know someone else's emotions psychically and at a distance”. It’s a form of psychic perception and the most common natural-born skill among psions; that is to say, it is a skill that many psions are born with. If you are one of those lucky individuals, then this lesson will help you to hone your talent. If not, then here you will take your first steps to mastering the skill.
Empathy is different from many psionic skills in that it is often used subconsciously, without you even knowing that you’re using it. Maybe you’re talking to a close friend or family member or friend who has a lot of stress going on in their life; during the conversation, you may begin to feel stressed, irritated, annoyed, sad, angry, etc. as well. This is empathy at work!
But empathy is obviously not [b[just[/b] a subconscious skill. Even when untrained, many use it unconsciously and spontaneously; but with training and practice, one can use it on cue. Also, the more often you consciously use it, the clearer and more complex your empathic impressions will get.
Alright, enough with all this beating around this bush … let’s get started with our first empathy practice session!
When empathy first begins to work, whether consciously or not, an empathic connection will first form. This is basically a psionic link that flows between you and the person you empathize with. Think of it like a sort of psionic highway: emotions flow through it between you, allowing you to sense theirs and for them to subtly sense yours (although don’t worry, they won’t know they’re sensing your emotions unless they are psionically trained.)
Forming this empathic connection consciously is simplicity itself for someone such as yourself, who already is a master of all the basic psionic skills. You don’t even necessarily have to close your eyes, although this might well help for your first few practice sessions. Just focus your thoughts on the person you want to link with, and visualize a constant stream of psi energy flowing from between your body and theirs. Spend as long as you feel you need to adding more and more energy to this connection, until you feel that it has grown and strengthened enough.
Forming the connection is only half of this, however. Emotions will flow freely between you, but you must be open to receiving them in order for it to work. Be open to everything, to sounds, images, feelings, ideas, thoughts, hunches … whatever may come through the link. You might feel their emotions as if they were your own. You might see/hear it as if you are watching a movie. You might just get a sudden flash of inspiration … it works differently for everybody.
To test out whether what you receive is correct, watch the other person carefully. You don’t need to be a trained body analyst for this; just follow your instincts and look at the other person’s facial expression and body language. Does it seem to correspond with what you seem to be receiving through the link?
If you can’t tell, ask subtle questions and watch their responses. Also, see if you can feel the shift in their feelings through your connection as you ask the questions. This is a good technique for testing what you receive and one that I particularly like to use.
Once you feel that you’re getting relatively good with this, then start practicing when you can’t see and/or hear the target. For example, you can be sitting in your room and try to form an empathic connection with someone across the house, the street, or even across the city from you. Then, the next time you see that person, ask them how they were feeling at the time to see if what you received was correct.
Every time you finish an empathic training session, remember that it is very important to close the connection as well. If not, you will both keep receiving each other’s emotions. This can be a good thing up to a point, but you will not want to keep receiving indefinitely. So as soon as you finish a session, visualize that connection very gently thinning and fading away until it vanishes cleanly and completely. Be sure not to just remove it or close it too quickly, as this can cause emotional pain to both of you, possibly damaging your relationship.
If you’re having trouble feeling anything while doing it, then try practicing this more traditionally. Get into a comfortable chair or bed, do relaxation exercises first, maybe listen to some relaxing music, and ground yourself before each session. Also, make sure that – at least for your first few sessions – you are only trying to empathize with people you feel comfortable with.
This isn’t something that will happen overnight. Even if you are a natural-born empath, you will still experience a lot of AO (analytical overlay), which in this instance is empathic feelings you think you have received, but are really just your subconscious mind generating things it think will fit, not true emotions. It takes a long time to hone your skill … but it is worth it, trust me.
HOMEWORK: Practice empathy … not necessarily every chance you get, but pretty often. Do a few practice sessions each day. Also try using empathy in real-life situations to further hone your talent. And be sure to PM me after you do your first session, to tell me how it went.
Remember, this is not something you will necessarily master in a week or two or even three weeks of training. It is something you will need to keep practicing over and over and over … and over … and over …[/i]
Any questions? You can post them here in this thread, start a new thread at the Help Desk, PM me or any other students...
And so, after week after grueling week of waiting for this lesson to arrive (lol) … here begins lesson five.
After reading the last four (and a half) lessons, you have mastered all the basics! You can feel and manipulate psi, you can form and program simple constructs, and you can even bind them to physical objects to affect those objects in certain ways. From now on, since you know the minimum you absolutely need to in order to use psi, these lessons will be focusing on specific skills rather than the more general techniques we have been talking about so far. As it happens, this lesson is written on the use of empathy.
According to an article on the archived PsiPog website, empathy is “the ability to know someone else's emotions psychically and at a distance”. It’s a form of psychic perception and the most common natural-born skill among psions; that is to say, it is a skill that many psions are born with. If you are one of those lucky individuals, then this lesson will help you to hone your talent. If not, then here you will take your first steps to mastering the skill.
Empathy is different from many psionic skills in that it is often used subconsciously, without you even knowing that you’re using it. Maybe you’re talking to a close friend or family member or friend who has a lot of stress going on in their life; during the conversation, you may begin to feel stressed, irritated, annoyed, sad, angry, etc. as well. This is empathy at work!
But empathy is obviously not [b[just[/b] a subconscious skill. Even when untrained, many use it unconsciously and spontaneously; but with training and practice, one can use it on cue. Also, the more often you consciously use it, the clearer and more complex your empathic impressions will get.
Alright, enough with all this beating around this bush … let’s get started with our first empathy practice session!
When empathy first begins to work, whether consciously or not, an empathic connection will first form. This is basically a psionic link that flows between you and the person you empathize with. Think of it like a sort of psionic highway: emotions flow through it between you, allowing you to sense theirs and for them to subtly sense yours (although don’t worry, they won’t know they’re sensing your emotions unless they are psionically trained.)
Forming this empathic connection consciously is simplicity itself for someone such as yourself, who already is a master of all the basic psionic skills. You don’t even necessarily have to close your eyes, although this might well help for your first few practice sessions. Just focus your thoughts on the person you want to link with, and visualize a constant stream of psi energy flowing from between your body and theirs. Spend as long as you feel you need to adding more and more energy to this connection, until you feel that it has grown and strengthened enough.
Forming the connection is only half of this, however. Emotions will flow freely between you, but you must be open to receiving them in order for it to work. Be open to everything, to sounds, images, feelings, ideas, thoughts, hunches … whatever may come through the link. You might feel their emotions as if they were your own. You might see/hear it as if you are watching a movie. You might just get a sudden flash of inspiration … it works differently for everybody.
To test out whether what you receive is correct, watch the other person carefully. You don’t need to be a trained body analyst for this; just follow your instincts and look at the other person’s facial expression and body language. Does it seem to correspond with what you seem to be receiving through the link?
If you can’t tell, ask subtle questions and watch their responses. Also, see if you can feel the shift in their feelings through your connection as you ask the questions. This is a good technique for testing what you receive and one that I particularly like to use.
Once you feel that you’re getting relatively good with this, then start practicing when you can’t see and/or hear the target. For example, you can be sitting in your room and try to form an empathic connection with someone across the house, the street, or even across the city from you. Then, the next time you see that person, ask them how they were feeling at the time to see if what you received was correct.
Every time you finish an empathic training session, remember that it is very important to close the connection as well. If not, you will both keep receiving each other’s emotions. This can be a good thing up to a point, but you will not want to keep receiving indefinitely. So as soon as you finish a session, visualize that connection very gently thinning and fading away until it vanishes cleanly and completely. Be sure not to just remove it or close it too quickly, as this can cause emotional pain to both of you, possibly damaging your relationship.
If you’re having trouble feeling anything while doing it, then try practicing this more traditionally. Get into a comfortable chair or bed, do relaxation exercises first, maybe listen to some relaxing music, and ground yourself before each session. Also, make sure that – at least for your first few sessions – you are only trying to empathize with people you feel comfortable with.
This isn’t something that will happen overnight. Even if you are a natural-born empath, you will still experience a lot of AO (analytical overlay), which in this instance is empathic feelings you think you have received, but are really just your subconscious mind generating things it think will fit, not true emotions. It takes a long time to hone your skill … but it is worth it, trust me.
HOMEWORK: Practice empathy … not necessarily every chance you get, but pretty often. Do a few practice sessions each day. Also try using empathy in real-life situations to further hone your talent. And be sure to PM me after you do your first session, to tell me how it went.
Remember, this is not something you will necessarily master in a week or two or even three weeks of training. It is something you will need to keep practicing over and over and over … and over … and over …[/i]
Any questions? You can post them here in this thread, start a new thread at the Help Desk, PM me or any other students...