From: miettinen@iki.fi   
      
   Kaycee :   
   >> Start easy, do not rush into things. Do not use force, let   
   >> things happen as they happen, do it gently. This way your   
   >> efforts won't be blocked by natural defence mechanisms (which,   
   >> by the way, are something you do not want to mess with).   
   >   
   > Could you tell us more about these natural defence mechanisms?   
   > Ie what are they, how do they function, and why are they there?   
      
   I think it's best to start from the why part: They protect you.   
      
   Some might disagree with what I'm saying, but I haven't made all   
   these things up on my own. There are some theories claiming that   
   your brain is not just a big lump of interconnected neurons   
   specializing on some specific task but it is a complex apparatus   
   that even has some preprogrammed functions and a much higher   
   level of specialization and abstraction. In brain, there are   
   interacting, more or less independent "submodules", each having   
   their own responsibilities.   
      
   I've done research about them on my own for some time, and I've   
   found it to be quite rewarding. From this point of view, every   
   feeling and sense has its purpose, for example fear is kind of   
   you best friend: it's there to keep you alive.   
      
   It prevents you from getting hit by car, falling from height etc.   
   Think about life without any fear... You'd have to be constantly   
   thinking about consequences to keep you away from dangers. Fear   
   does it for you automatically.   
      
   Many of these defence mechanism manifest themselves via fear. You   
   bet you are going to stop doing something that scares the s***   
   out of you.   
      
   Some work by preventing you from adopting new information or   
   points of view. If you are familiar with cognitive dissonance,   
   you know that it keeps you rejecting ideas and thoughts that   
   conflict with your world-view: things don't make sense, and you   
   are not risked changing your thoughts or concepts to something   
   that is potentially harmful.   
      
   When in a deep trance state, you can do things that are   
   potentially harmful to you if you are not listening to yourself.   
   The harder you try and the less you listen, the more crucial it   
   is to get the message through. Those who don't listen have to be   
   yelled at... If you don't pay attention to your feelings and what   
   they try to tell you, you are going to end up feeling quite   
   uncomfortable, to say the least. Or your efforts are simply   
   blocked by these mechanisms, and you will soon get frustrated   
   because you won't progress anywhere.   
      
   I hope I could elaborate more on these thoughts, but English   
   isn't my native tongue, and it's already very hard to verbalize   
   these thoughts because getting "there" isn't very easy, and my   
   thoughts are based mostly on my own experiences (and my   
   experiences are inspired by the aforementioned theories).   
      
   It's like recollecting a dream you saw last night, for a good   
   reason... :)   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)