Re: Question: Interruptions: long (sorry)

["Alan" <fish_studios@...>]

Dear Pixi,

>> My issue is this: I have been interested in pursuing IIH for a 
while now but my living situation has been so imbalanced that I 
figured I'd put it on hold until things were more stable. A year has 
passed and my life is just as unstable (if not more) but I'm finding 
that trying to implement this practice into my life is extremely 
difficult. I have no privacy where I live and my relationship with 
the person I live with is extremely strained. So how does one 
practice in less than optimal conditions? Do you continue to wait 
until you have the privacy and time to devote or do you attempt to 
do what parts you can and hope that you have completed them 
properly? <<

I had a friend that once told me: "If it's important to you, you 
will make time for it." At the time, it applied to practicing 
guitar :) Now it deals with IIH. If this is truly something that 
you want to do, you *will* make time for it. I myself don't have 
the best conditions to practice under. So I get up *early* in the 
morning, before anyone else. And I also stay up *late* at night, 
just after everyone else has gone to sleep, or at least in bed. I 
try and work it out so that I still get 8 hours of sleep, but 
sometimes that just can't happen. But I still make time for it.

Also, since starting IIH, I've found ways to rearrange the way I do 
things in my life so that I am able to focus more on it, than say 
mundane tasks. I've had to sacrifice some things in order to get to 
where I am, but I wouldn't trade it. You also may want to look into 
changing your current situation if you are able to. After all, you 
always have a choice, but somethings just aren't as pleasing as 
others.

And you don't have to hope that you have done an exercise 
correctly. You will know. And if you are unsure, then you keep at 
it until you are sure :)

>> Also my mental state is rather scattered (if you couldn't already 
tell that from my writing) so I was interested in some of the 
techniques in step 2 to help overcome this just so I can get 
started. Is this a bad idea? I feel like I'm in a catch 22-need the 
support of step 2 but need to complete step 1 before I do step 2. <<

I think that the exercises of Step I are better for helping 
to "calm" the mind than Step II. Step II really does require the 
exercises of Step I in order to do them *properly*. If you haven't 
mastered the Step I mental, then it really is of no use to work on 
Step II as you can't perform them to the fullest unless you have 
succeeded in Step I. The trick for Step I is to do the exercises as 
often as you can. I would do the Control (first exercise) of 
thoughts while waiting for my classes at school to start. Simple 
things like that. Even though it might not be able to stretch for 
10 minutes, every little bit helps :)

>> I'd really appreciate some help with this as I am really becoming
rather depressed that I have what feels like so little control over 
my life right now. <<

I think that by practicing IIH, you will gain a new perspective on 
life, and in general, will see an improvement in you life. I, 
myself, have seen that I react to situations differently than 
before. Also, I think that the Soul Mirror exercise of Step I will 
be a great benefit to you. I used to have the problem of only 
focusing on the negative aspects of my life. But the Soul Mirrors 
made me focus on the postive. And having to think in a postive 
context for most of the work in IIH gave me a positive outlook on 
most of the things that I do in life. Even driving! I don't tend to 
get as agitated by people when I get cut off anymore ;)

I hope this gives you some help and some guidance in making your 
decision. For only you can make it, no one else.

All Will Go Well,
--Alan