Somatic Descent: How to Unlock the Deepest Wisdom of the Body by Reginald Ray

Author:Reginald Ray [Ray, Reginald]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781611805666
Google: KVX4DwAAQBAJ
Publisher: Shambhala Publications, Incorporated
Published: 2020-11-15T23:40:53.184520+00:00

Moving Closer: Zone 2

So, now to Zone 2: It sometimes happens that we may begin to ascertain some kind of felt sense of Zone 1 but find ourselves more or less stuck within it. Nothing really seems to be moving or coming up beyond the amorphous. As always, it is most important to wait. Give the practice a chance; give the Soma time. But then, there is also a technique, again developed by Eugene Gendlin, by which we can encourage movement and facilitate a transition into the more definite, tangible, Zone 2 experience. The technique is to feel into the unnamed felt-sense experience of Zone 1 and then begin a dialogue with the Soma about what word might best express that felt sense. Gendlin’s technique is found extensively within the Mahamudra tradition as one of the primary techniques for clarifying meditative experience. At the same time, I like Gendlin’s instructions because they are more detailed and specific and, maybe surprisingly, more explicitly tantric.

Importantly, to say one more time, we are not talking here about finding an appropriate label, category, or concept from our vast conceptual memory bank of previous experience for the felt sense we are experiencing. This would involve withdrawing from the somatic experience and exiting into the linear, logical, linguistic world of left-brain abstraction. Rather we are talking about using language more in the way the right brain is able to use it, to embody, incarnate, connect, resonate, and entrain with the corporeal experience. Please reflect on this for a moment: we are using language in the way of the right brain, to embody, incarnate, connect, resonate, and entrain with the corporeal experience.

So begin trying out words (images, sounds, and gestures are also possible expressions) that have somatic resonance and density. What we are trying to do is to find words that best express or evoke or vibrate with the nameless “something” that we are feeling in Zone 1. So we try something and then check with the Soma to see its response. Likely we’ll get, “No, it’s not quite that.” So then, based on our sense of “not quite it,” we could try another word, image, or sound. Often, an image is best able to embody the amorphous felt sense in a way that we can now more consciously feel. At this point, we may begin to see that the image, sound, or word is acting like a mediator between the primordial felt sense of Zone 1 and our conscious mind. It doesn’t “capture” the felt sense of Zone 1, but it resonates with it and is something we can hold in our conscious experience. This is going to be extremely important.

Gradually, then, through a dialogue with our Soma, going back and forth, we are able to approach more and more closely to an image or a word that feels imbued with, resonant with, the somatic experience. Sometimes, in the process of dialoging back and forth, the Soma will give us just the expression we seek; something will just pop up and feel right.

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