Uphill or Downhill?
March 3, 2012
From Jeff Baugher and Becky Schupbach, ShadowWork practitioners, I have learned a fascinating concept that is helpful to be aware of: Uphill and Downhill.
When you are in the"Uphill" part of yourself, you place your trust in external authority, deriving truth, validity, approval and knowledge from outside sources, i.e. parents, religious figures, etc. In uphill, there is a strong external code of right/wrong, black/white, and good/bad, with your own opinion often originating from others. In uphill, someone or something is put on a pedestal, is looked up to and is obeyed, so in many ways, developmentally, uphill is a very 'young' way of going through life.
When you are in the"Downhill" part of yourself, however, you run external input through your gut feelings and inner voice, taking what feels true and leaving the rest because you are the authority over your own life. Because you are so internally-referented and wise and mature enough to call it as you see it, Downhill is an 'adult' way of going through life. It's living the wonderful, paradoxical wisdom that the Buddha expressed: "Believe nothing, no matter who has said it, no matter if I have said it, if it does not agree with your own reason and your own common sense."
I think that, ideally, when we are young, we would learn to be sensitive to and pay attention to our inner feelings and cues (downhill), yet, as we grow we are mentored, parented and guided (uphill) by healthy, loving parents, until we get to maturity and adulthood and can decide what is right and wrong and come to conclusions for ourselves (downhill). In other words, there is a time and a place for being uphill and downhill...and we can gracefully move back and forth between the two as we change, grow and evolve.
Zen Zone is very downhill. We support the uphill and downhill parts of you in very downhill ways: by inviting you to notice what happens in your body...what thoughts are coming to mind...what memories are coming up...as you experience a modality. We are not interested in any particular model so much as moment to moment experience, knowing that this helps gain the cooperation of the unconscious mind and frees up much energy spent in being on guard. We have no dogma or agenda, except to support your life, dreams, goals and beliefs in downhill ways, inviting you to direct experiences of your body wisdom, internal cues and core beliefs.
If it is time for you to have a downhill experience, I invite you to schedule a session in the modality that appeals to you at Zen-Zone.org.
When you are in the"Uphill" part of yourself, you place your trust in external authority, deriving truth, validity, approval and knowledge from outside sources, i.e. parents, religious figures, etc. In uphill, there is a strong external code of right/wrong, black/white, and good/bad, with your own opinion often originating from others. In uphill, someone or something is put on a pedestal, is looked up to and is obeyed, so in many ways, developmentally, uphill is a very 'young' way of going through life.
When you are in the"Downhill" part of yourself, however, you run external input through your gut feelings and inner voice, taking what feels true and leaving the rest because you are the authority over your own life. Because you are so internally-referented and wise and mature enough to call it as you see it, Downhill is an 'adult' way of going through life. It's living the wonderful, paradoxical wisdom that the Buddha expressed: "Believe nothing, no matter who has said it, no matter if I have said it, if it does not agree with your own reason and your own common sense."
I think that, ideally, when we are young, we would learn to be sensitive to and pay attention to our inner feelings and cues (downhill), yet, as we grow we are mentored, parented and guided (uphill) by healthy, loving parents, until we get to maturity and adulthood and can decide what is right and wrong and come to conclusions for ourselves (downhill). In other words, there is a time and a place for being uphill and downhill...and we can gracefully move back and forth between the two as we change, grow and evolve.
Zen Zone is very downhill. We support the uphill and downhill parts of you in very downhill ways: by inviting you to notice what happens in your body...what thoughts are coming to mind...what memories are coming up...as you experience a modality. We are not interested in any particular model so much as moment to moment experience, knowing that this helps gain the cooperation of the unconscious mind and frees up much energy spent in being on guard. We have no dogma or agenda, except to support your life, dreams, goals and beliefs in downhill ways, inviting you to direct experiences of your body wisdom, internal cues and core beliefs.
If it is time for you to have a downhill experience, I invite you to schedule a session in the modality that appeals to you at Zen-Zone.org.
Posted by Daniel Lally. Posted In : inner voice
Daniel Lally is the founder of Zen Zone, and many of the holistic and mindfulness-based modalities taught there, including Sacred Movement™, Partner Movement™, Seasonal Movement™, Aqua Flow™, Aquapressure™, Dance of the Zodiac™ and Psycholo-Chi™.
