“Seth material” search engine (Jane Roberts)

Some of these mental habits can be cured rather easily, comparatively speaking. When he felt joyful yesterday, the sense of release was translated, as it should be, into physical expression – he sang, for example. This automatically released, exercised and relaxed areas of the chest, shoulders and back. He felt like running, and made a halfway respectable attempt to do so.

Feelings of spontaneity therefore automatically release the body mechanisms when they are allowed expression. When this occurs and he sees himself for example running, to some extent this makes the mental image of a nonrunning self less vivid. The body and mind are so connected that the mind remembers, say, muscular spontaneity as the muscles remember mental spontaneity. And the will, now, can be used to initiate a series of actions that will be spontaneous; and the motions now, the physical motions, in turn set up mental images of spontaneity that become self-generating. Do you follow me?

I suggest therefore at this point, that you encourage Ruburt in spontaneous physical activity as divorced, say, from a discipline exercise. Often, out of habit now, though not always, the muscles are restricted. Let him try as he once suggested, running in the apartment, or outside. The motion is associated with joy and spontaneity. Do you see?

Now the same applies to getting down on the floor, and up from it. He thinks of himself as someone who cannot. Doing so will prove him wrong, and break up still another annoying mental image. At the same time—I do not mean simultaneously—in spare moments, playfully and not seriously, he should see himself performing any number of activities on the floor—from painting as he used to, to talking or reading. These are simply practical but important sideline exercises that will help break down specific detrimental images that he has. Many from the past have been completely destroyed.

It is true, again, that an initial corresponding inner freedom makes the motion possible, and that the motion itself already means that the mental image of new motion is replacing the old one. The physical motion is obviously the materialization of inner willingness, but you must also set up the opportunity for this to happen. Do you follow me here?

Now he has been improving, but now we will work at this from both angles. Earlier we could not have done so. A sense of play must accompany this however. We do not want for example a desperate attempt to run, which is self-defeating. The same applies to what I said about getting up and down from the floor. And these should not be overdone.

The specific exercises I gave are to break up lingering habit patterns, both mental and physical, and to encourage spontaneity. Give us a moment. Underline the following sentence: It is safe for him to let go completely now. (Pause.) There is more here that I am trying to get at. It is not a matter of Ruburt blocking, necessarily. I do want him to initiate some fast, quick physical motion, you see, so that the muscular memory is imprinted in this direction.

He has been tensed for so long that he has been afraid to let go all at once, in his terms. Much of this had to do with his career. The contract from the dream book will work a great beneficial change. (It is in the mail but hasn’t arrived, due to the postal strike.) With his literal mind, he wants to see it in black and white.

I am not going to dictate on the book since it is too late for what I had in mind for the next installment. Do you have questions? One point: I am glad of your good news, but it was not what I had in mind.