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A simple e-book for simple minds that rejoices in the simplicity of the Tao. The Little Gem of Emotions clearly, wittily and uniquely invites you into five very easy practices based on the Taoist philosophy of; The Five Elements to Transform Negative Emotions. Matt Valentine is an experienced healer who uses these practices in his daily life, both for himself and his patients. The Little Gem promises nothing - yet delivers fun, healing, guidance, poetry and quirkiness that somehow, almost magically, carries with it grounded wisdom and trust. Welcome to the Tao.

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The Little Gem of Emotions

The Little Gem of Emotions © Matt Valentine 2009. 1 The Little Gem of Emotions © Matt Valentine 2009. http://stores.lulu.com/mattvalentine Matt Valentine Healing Interventions www.therapymanchester.com The Little Gem of Emotions first published as an e-book internationally in 2009 by Matt Valentine. This edition published digitally as an e-book 2009. Copyright © 2008,2009 by Matt Valentine The author has asserted his moral rights. Cover Design and Photography: © 2009 Matt Valentine Diagrams and Photography: © 2009 Matt Valentine Purchasing this e-book gives you the legal right to download one copy and print one copy for your own use only. This e-book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out, stored in a retrieval system or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior consent in any physical or digital form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including being imposed on the subsequent purchaser. 2 The Little Gem of Emotions © Matt Valentine 2009. Contents Introduction The Little Gem of Emotions The Tao Disclaimer Anger All You Need (Diagram of Organs) Cycle of Practices and Organs Anger/Resentment/Jealousy Fear/Adrenalin Rush/Doubt Nervous Excitement/Anxiety Obsession/Fixation/Undigested Grief/Sadness/Irrational Fear Now Rip it up and Start Again! (Conclusion) Appendix About The Author Page 5 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Pages 13-14 Pages 16-17 Pages 19-20 Pages 21-22 Pages 24-25 Page 28 Page 30 Page 34 The following is a sample – for the full e-book please see the details on the last page. 3 The Little Gem of Emotions © Matt Valentine 2009. Introduction Hi and Welcome! If you like random - you will love this book and the apparent chaos that rambles about the pages like a mad buffalo that has lost its way to the watering hole. Scholars, scientists and academics may struggle with frustrated ‘what the hell is he on about?’ but if you manage to just drop any left-brain questioning and surrender into not-knowing then you’re gonna have great fun! Hell I don’t know half what goes on in this world, let alone amongst these pages so let’s just get on with it hey? And I would be very interested to hear how you got on after you’ve read, re-read and experienced the practices. Do them as and when they crop up in this book and maybe get a friend to read them to you. Oh...and enjoy the ‘random’ prose too! Matt Valentine x 4 The Little Gem of Emotions © Matt Valentine 2009. Cathartically fleeing from my ruptured lungs Painfully sorrowful The truth lingers a moment too far. I am lost and found Come with me? Into the vortex of paradoxical chaos-order. Throughout crazy-wisdom and maybe, just maybe We will arrive together. Somewhere-Nowhere. 5 The Little Gem of Emotions © Matt Valentine 2009. The Little Gem of Emotions Essential Practices to Transform Negative Emotions in the Tao. Okay dear friend, let’s get straight to it. The first and foremost thing I do when I feel like crap is; I feel it; because you can’t truly transform the way you are feeling by distracting yourself with anything and that includes the practices that you will learn in this book. Honour your emotions just as they are first they are a part of you and you deserve to be honoured. Don’t know how to do this? No problem, it may sound obvious on one level but our lives are very often set-up to do just the opposite so it’s no surprise that you may be out of practice! An easy way to identify just how to experience and express emotion, any emotion, is to watch a child do it. Kids can be your greatest teacher here and if you get the chance just sit aside and watch them do it. You will notice that when a child is sad, it is written all over their face, when they are angry they simply let it explode by having a tantrum, throwing things, screaming and punching their bed clothes etc. Then what happens afterwards? Nothing. That’s right, the world doesn’t stop turning on its trusty axis, they don’t (I hope) get scolded for having feelings and all is well on the calmer shore that follows the stormy outburst. DO IT! Go on, now; have a tantrum! Throw the book down and lose the plot. You know you want to…. 6 The Little Gem of Emotions © Matt Valentine 2009. The Tao I love simplicity and so The Tao (pronounced ’Dow’) is right up my street. Tao (loosely) means Way and of course when we refer to The Tao we are referring to The Way. (Specifically: The Pathless Way as it is often referred to). The Tao is an ancient Chinese philosophy that has many mirrored perspectives in Zen Buddhism and Tibetan Buddhism and although they are different disciplines, for me there is an overlap. This book is based upon The Five Elements; which is a Taoist (pronounced: ‘Dow – ist’) practice used to transform negative emotions. Taoism is indeed a very old belief system; it requires respect. I am only a simple healer working with patients using the practices that I have been taught by my teacher, who no doubt was taught by her teacher and so on. So if I attempt to throw us both into an analysis of Taoism here we are both likely to get very lost! Less is more. This is a very simple way to understand both the practices you are about to embark on and The Tao as a discipline or way of life. The starting point is always, always - now. So drop any questions you may have as I invite you to throw yourself into the unknown and sit in what is for a while. For only when we accept what is without trying to change it, can we truly begin to transform our emotions and then our lives. Maybe. 7 The Little Gem of Emotions © Matt Valentine 2009. Disclaimer Although this Little Gem is gently brushed with splashings of humour, light heartedness and some apparently random stuff (and it is very important to have fun whilst working!), it is vital for you to remember and be aware of the power of these practices and of your emotions. The process of transforming negative emotions always requires you to experience them and thus I recommend that you do not do this alone. Doing the practices alone is fine but you will also need to ensure that you have access to a trained practitioner who can support you through your development. There are some handy resources listed in the appendix to help you get started in finding a practitioner. Neither I nor the publisher can be held responsible for any physical, mental, emotional or spiritual adverse effects experienced as a result or inferred as a result of anything contained in this book or the practices. This book is also not a replacement for qualified medical, psychological, emotional or spiritual intervention. If you have a previous or existing medical problem you are advised to seek qualified advice before continuing. Please also make use of the related CD which will also available at Lulu.com in the near future. 8 The Little Gem of Emotions © Matt Valentine 2009. Anger ARGH!!! Yes anger can be an all-consuming emotion that seems to have a will all of its own - destruction of the self. And yes when we become overwhelmed by this resenting, bitter, jealous and angry energy it can do a lot of our thinking for us - get it out!! Refer back to the need to have a tantrum and demonstrate your feelings by: •Slapping palms down on a cushion •Stamping your feet with ‘heavy legs’ to shift the anger down •Punch cushions, pillows, rolled up duvet •Scream your head off - and I mean SCREAM! Okay okay, men can holler if it feels more butch! And if you are worried about the neighbours hearing you, grab a cushion or pillow and take a deep breath then plunge your face into it so it can gratefully receive your outburst. It muffles the sound and gives you more confidence to let it all out. Ah now that’s better isn’t it? So now that you have done something dynamic and physical to break that chain of stuck and trapped emotion we can begin with the more sedate, yet magically profound practices. Please excuse the repetition that follows but this is designed to help you to programme your brain and energy system to do them automatically as and when you need to. It is also great if you have a friend reading the practices to you as they won’t need to keep referring back. 9 The Little Gem of Emotions © Matt Valentine 2009. All You Need You just need to be aware of your organs for these practices and with the help of Salim, my friend in Kashmir – here they are! Just a casual awareness is enough. You will also see an example of the order in which to do them on the next page – as you can see it’s a cycle and thus you can start in any place you want. 10 Taoist Practice to Transform Negative Emotions: Anger/Resentment/Jealousy. Before you begin the practice itself, assume the usual meditation posture: 1.Sit on an upright chair (dining chair is good) with your feet firmly on the floor, spine straight, head upright, jaw relaxed and your hands should be placed palms-down on top of your legs. 2.Imagine a gold cord supporting you from the top of your head; this ensures that you maintain an upright posture, without it being too tense. Imagine growing roots down through the soles of your feet, deep into the ground. This ensures you remain centred and not too aware of the cord on the top of the head. 3.The tip of your tongue should be lightly touching the top palette, just behind the front teeth. The Five Elements Practice for Anger/Resentment/Jealousy: 1. Take your mind and attention into your liver and gall bladder. 2. Imagine a dark green colour. 3. Breathe this into the liver and gall bladder, filling them with dark green. 4. On the out-breath, guide this down the body and imagine you are breathing it out and down, via those roots. Reminder - Dark green into liver and gall bladder – down and out. As you become more familiar with the practice you will notice that you feel sensations in your body. These will include: tingling, cold rushes, heat, tightness and sometimes a ‘floaty’ feeling. You will also notice feeling emotional at times. It is normal for the colour to change on the out-breath and also to feel tearful. Remember that as you breathe out, you are letting go of anger, resentment and jealousy. The dark green that you breathe in contains Human Kindness, Togetherness and Smiles. Don’t worry too much about the actual emotions to begin with, just keep it simple with the colour you are using – DARK GREEN. Emphasis on the grounding techniques is important and will help to keep you centred and assist you in not avoiding what is. The Meaning of Loneliness? Is loneliness such a bad thing? As I sit here wondering about this empty feeling of isolation, I think and recount all the times I have stared at the four walls, slipped into a trance-like state ‘watching’ TV and become absorbed into the pain inside me, experiencing a hollow fist in my chest. But is this really what it appears? It looks like it’s hopeless, isolated and desolate. Yet I notice now that, after a solid month of seeing no-one, switching the TV off, not answering the phone and not reading, I can truly feel – everything. And that includes a sense of hope, optimism, excitement and I now know my dreams. Really, really know them. What led to this? I surrendered into the world of non-distraction. I didn’t call everyone I know. I didn’t go for a drive just because I could. I didn’t rush to join new groups or take up scuba diving. I just sat. Yes that’s it, sat on my own. God it was hell. But now, I feel fresh, yes a little sad, somewhat empty but in the emptiness I can feel such expansive newness – is this the new me? The real me? I don’t know, but what I do know is I can now go back into the world and show it my vulnerability, my sadness, my hopes, dreams and yes – my loneliness. Sometimes we have to sink into our isolation on this planet in order to interact with it. Watch out world – real person walking!! ‘Jump - and the net will appear.’ (Zen Saying) Taoist Practice to Transform Negative Emotions: Fear/Adrenalin Rush/Doubt. Before you begin the practice itself, assume the usual meditation posture: 1.Sit on an upright chair (dining chair is good) with your feet firmly on the floor, spine straight, head upright, jaw relaxed and your hands should be placed palms-down on top of your legs. 2.Imagine a gold cord supporting you from the top of your head; this ensures that you maintain an upright posture, without it being too tense. Imagine growing roots down through the soles of your feet, deep into the ground. This ensures you remain centred and not too aware of the cord on the top of the head. 3.The tip of your tongue should be lightly touching the top palette, just behind the front teeth. The Five Elements Practice for Fear/Adrenalin Rush/Doubt: 1.Take your mind and attention into your kidneys and bladder. 2.Imagine a dark blue or black colour. 3.Breathe this into the kidneys and bladder, filling them with dark blue or black. 4.On the out-breath, guide this down the body and imagine you are breathing it out and down, via those roots. Reminder - Dark Blue/Black into the kidneys and bladder – down and out. As you become more familiar with the practice you will notice that you feel sensations in your body. These will include: tingling, cold rushes, heat, tightness and sometimes a ‘floaty’ feeling. You will also notice feeling emotional at times. It is normal for the colour to change on the out-breath and also to feel tearful. Remember that as you breathe out, you are letting go of fear, adrenalin rushes and doubt. The blue/black that you breathe in contains Confidence, Esteem and Wisdom. Don’t worry too much about the actual emotions to begin with; just keep it simple with the colour you are using – DARK BLUE or BLACK. Emphasis on the grounding techniques is important and will help to keep you centred and assist you in not avoiding what is. About the Author Matt Valentine is a natural healer with professional training in psychotherapy, counselling, bodywork and healing interventions. He lives and works in Great Britain and India. Matt is also an artist, writer and poet and travels extensively. He has a passionate interest in developing countries and thus book royalties help him to manifest not only his own dreams but hopefully the dreams and needs of the many beings he meets on his way. May this book bring benefit to all beings everywhere. May all beings everywhere be happy. May all beings everywhere be free from suffering and the causes of suffering. OM MANI PADME HUNG Long Live His Holiness the Dalai Lama This e-book sample is in draft-quality. If you would like the full 34 page e-book in high resolution PDF, please download here: http://stores.lulu.com/mattvalentine THANK YOU. 

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