The parent-child model is my cornerstone of healthy emotional processing. I’d like to add that a child often doesn’t need much more than your attention. This is one analogy of why meditation works: you just sit down for a while and you just listen.
The monks in my local monastery often quip about “sitting in a cave for 30 years”, which is their suggested treatment for someone who is particularly deluded. This implies a model of emotional processing which I cannot stress enough: you can only get in the way. Take all distractions away from someone and they will asymptotically move towards healing. When they temporarily don’t, it’s only because they’re trying to do something, thereby moving away from just listening. They’ll get better if they give up.
Another supporting quote from my local Roshi: “we try to make this place as boring as possible”. When you get bored, the only interesting stuff left to do is to move your attention inward. As long as there is no external stimulus, you cannot keep your thoughts going forever. By sheer ennui you’ll finally start listening to those kids, which is all you need to do.
The parent-child model is my cornerstone of healthy emotional processing. I’d like to add that a child often doesn’t need much more than your attention. This is one analogy of why meditation works: you just sit down for a while and you just listen.
The monks in my local monastery often quip about “sitting in a cave for 30 years”, which is their suggested treatment for someone who is particularly deluded. This implies a model of emotional processing which I cannot stress enough: you can only get in the way. Take all distractions away from someone and they will asymptotically move towards healing. When they temporarily don’t, it’s only because they’re trying to do something, thereby moving away from just listening. They’ll get better if they give up.
Another supporting quote from my local Roshi: “we try to make this place as boring as possible”. When you get bored, the only interesting stuff left to do is to move your attention inward. As long as there is no external stimulus, you cannot keep your thoughts going forever. By sheer ennui you’ll finally start listening to those kids, which is all you need to do.