Hi Corboy,
Thanks for you question about the fear exercise. No, I don't mind mentioning as it was a long time ago now.
We were asked to close our eyes and to imagine feeling afraid of the people around us. This moment was held until we could hear people sobbing. I remember feeling nothing but discomfort. We then had to repeat the process but this time to imagine laughing at them.
What we were told by the leader was this was an exercise in conquering fear but I learned from this forum that it actually worked in reverse. It instilled the concept of fear in us at a deep psychology level.
There were other exercises which were also odd and I believe had hidden meaning. One involved the leader at repeated intervals during the weekend drawing two large circles on a white board. I remember thinking that they reminded me of two large eyes looking at us.
And another involved the leader walking around and around us, talking all the time, saying the same phrases over and over, to illustrate how we were on a treadmill of life and we had to get off. This went on forever and became quite tedious to experience.
These second two exercises, I wondered if they were a form of waking hypnosis?? Might they be?
One good thing I've realised from answering this question is that I am no longer triggered by remembering these experiences. Yet when I wrote out notes of my memories about 3 months after participating in the LGAT, I experienced pain in my head as if someone was tightening a band around my forehead. I kid you not. That surprised me so much that for a long time I didn't dare think about any of this again. Yet tonight, nothing. And I'm free of that brainwashing.
Thanks for you question about the fear exercise. No, I don't mind mentioning as it was a long time ago now.
We were asked to close our eyes and to imagine feeling afraid of the people around us. This moment was held until we could hear people sobbing. I remember feeling nothing but discomfort. We then had to repeat the process but this time to imagine laughing at them.
What we were told by the leader was this was an exercise in conquering fear but I learned from this forum that it actually worked in reverse. It instilled the concept of fear in us at a deep psychology level.
There were other exercises which were also odd and I believe had hidden meaning. One involved the leader at repeated intervals during the weekend drawing two large circles on a white board. I remember thinking that they reminded me of two large eyes looking at us.
And another involved the leader walking around and around us, talking all the time, saying the same phrases over and over, to illustrate how we were on a treadmill of life and we had to get off. This went on forever and became quite tedious to experience.
These second two exercises, I wondered if they were a form of waking hypnosis?? Might they be?
One good thing I've realised from answering this question is that I am no longer triggered by remembering these experiences. Yet when I wrote out notes of my memories about 3 months after participating in the LGAT, I experienced pain in my head as if someone was tightening a band around my forehead. I kid you not. That surprised me so much that for a long time I didn't dare think about any of this again. Yet tonight, nothing. And I'm free of that brainwashing.
