"Women Food and God," written by Geneen Roth

These are a few simple suggestions for people who are willing to make an experiment. You can learn how to be in touch with your true inner spirit through a method I read about in a book called "Food, Women and God," written by Geneen Roth. This inquiry experiment can be done anywhere, and anytime. I prefer to be alone when I make an "inquiry", but you can do it with a teacher or friend if you prefer. When I first read about meditation a couple of years ago, I was skeptical. I have always written as a form of therapy, but that still dealt within the confines of my own mind. I began to outgrow writing as my source for answers. I became hungry for something more. Meditation was a practice that claimed to connect with something deeper. As time wore on, I became more and more impatient to get out of my thoughts and cultivate a higher source for/of wisdom. I believe Geneen Roth has found a medium between problem solving in the mind, and meditation. Her method called Inquiry, takes us beyond the mental, into the physical, to connect with our own unique spirit.
The first step in "inquiry" is to become aware of a question; something you don't know, but want to know. If you are plagued by a problem, but think you know the answer already, and have an idea about what to do, there is no reason for an inquiry. The effectiveness of any inquiry, according to Ms. Roth, "lies in its open endedness, its evocation of true curiosity." The purpose of practicing inquiry is to see for the first time, what you have never questioned. Inquiry allows you a channel of direct contact with that which is bigger than what you are writing about: the infinite unexplored worlds beyond your everyday discursive mind.
Here are the steps:
1) Give yourself a preplanned amount of time in which you won't be disturbed%u2026.at least twenty minutes.
2) Begin to feel your body. Feel your fingertips and toes. Feel the surface you are lying or sitting on%u2026..I prefer lying down flat on the floor. Notice how your clothes feel on your skin. Feel your bones in your arms, your legs, your chest, and your hands inside the encasing of your skin.
3) Ask yourself what you are feeling right now and what part of your body are you feeling it in. Be precise. Is it in your head, in your chest, in your stomach? Do you feel coolness or warmth? Tightness or nausea? Are the sensations shooting, pulsing, or constant.
4) Start with the strongest sensation and ask yourself: Does the sensation have volume, color, texture, or shape? What emotions does this feeling affect in me? Is there anything uncomfortable about this feeling? Is it a familiar feeling? How old do I feel right now%u2026like a child, a teenager, an adult? What happens as I feel it directly? Do not create a story around what you are feeling. It should not be why are you feeling this, but what exactly are you feeling?
Note: At this point in Inquiry, it is common to begin connecting a feeling or sensation in your body with a particular memory or labeling a feeling like lonliness or sadness. You may react by closing down, quitting, or becoming agitated. Remember that a sensation is the simplicity of an experience located in the body, whereas a reaction is located in the mind. Some examples of reactions are: the desire to take a stimulant or a downer, to drink alcohol, to eat compulsively, to do drugs, or to "get back to work." Your mind will tell you stories like "this pain will never go away," and likes to compare how you are currently feeling to how you want to feel%u2026.or even how you think you SHOULD feel. It may compare your past experience to the present. You may begin comparing yourself to someone else. Making up a story about what is going on in your body is simply a distraction and counterproductive. If you notice any of these reactions come back to your body by sensing what is going on PHYICALLY. Inquiry is about allowing your direct and immediate experience to unfold; it is not about an imagined story or illusion you are creating in your mind.
5) Recognize the Voice. The voice is the thoughts in your head. Name it, and disengage from it. It is not your friend. If you feel powerless, small, overwhelmed or collapsed, it is usually a sign that "The Voice" is present. The Voice likes to tell you things like, "you will never change," "you will never be good enough," "you are a failure/unlovable/ a bad person/ unworthy/worthless/fat/ugly, "you deserve to suffer." Any negative feelings such as shame, are habitual reaction to "the voice" whom you thought was you. The Voice has one intent - to stop change/growth. If recognizing its presence does not dispel it, you can say, back off (name it)! A successful disengagement defuses the voice and releases sensations.
6) Whenever you notice that you are engaged in a reaction or are distracted, confused, numb, or out of touch, go back to sensing your physical body.
7) Pay attention to floating thoughts, secret feelings or censored ideas. When these arise, be curious and don't stifle them. Be accepting about what's hidden in them.
8) Most importantly, don't try to direct "inquiry" with your mind. If you have a preference or agenda about the results, the inquiry won't have the space to unfold. Remember, we are trying to reach something beyond your mind and current problem solving techniques.

A Tibetan Buddhist once said, "be like a child, astonished at everything."

Inquiry is a practice. It's not something you "get" every time, the first time, or the tenth time around. There is no formula. You don't do inquiry to "get" something; Inquiry should be used to find out who you are at your core without your conditioned responses from the past or your ideas of what a good person should do or feel. Each time you do it, you will learn more. Each time you learn more, you continue the process of dismantling the repetitive, habitual, stale version of your self.