58. Practising Recapitulation

Of the four emoenergetic disciplines, recapitulation is generally the one that is most appealing to the practitioner. This is due, in large part, to the rapid changes and transitions that can be experienced when practicing it – from a state of emotional discomfort to one of well-being or unconcern – but also because it can be easily integrated into the midst of daily activities, especially when using the mantra technique of emoenergetic recapitulation. Although we will give priority to recapitulation with the mantra, we will see two additional techniques that have some advantages when practiced at certain times.

You can recapitulate in a casual way, simply in order to work on something that is happening right now or in this period of your life. However, it is ideal to also undertake systematic recapitulation, working with the notebook and dedicating time to the practice. When I first began to recapitulate, back in 1999, the discovery that there was a way to free myself from the baggage that had accumulated throughout my life was so important for me that most days I would recapitulate for three or four hours. I maintained this pace for the first few years, until I felt that a good part of the weight had been lifted. Today, I recapitulate at any time, usually for a few seconds or a few minutes at a time, though, together, they must add up to about an hour a day. Some days, I do the more formal practice, either combining it with introspection or practising it on its own, and on these occasions I can spend more than an hour at a time. As you can see, recapitulation is quite flexible in terms of time and the depth or superficiality with which it can be practised.

Recapitulating with the yawning breath.

For decades, scientific studies have been carried out in an attempt to resolve the question: What is the purpose of yawning? To date, no conclusive results have been obtained. Although it has sometimes been said that it is useless, some studies have focused on how peculiar it is that yawning is contagious in social contexts, which has led to speculation that it must be connected to some kind of ancient mechanism of the brain that is related to empathy. Research using functional magnetic resonance techniques has shown that yawning activates different areas of the brain related to autobiographical memory, empathy, social skills, and self-awareness. In Emoenergetica, we work with the hypothesis that physiological yawning is a special type of breathing whereby the brain automatically tries to re-tune, update and unblock itself with respect to a specific situation, generally a stressful one, which is activated at the moment that this reflex occurs. Fatigue, changes of pace or activity or dangerous situations can trigger yawning. The thing is that this type of automatic yawn has a mediocre and superficial effectiveness since, at most, it is useful in that given moment. It is a little like when you stretch by reflex: this is good for the body, but the effect is nothing like that of systematically doing yoga. Similarly, practicing the yawning breath to recapitulate has a profound effect, compared to how superficial it is when you yawn spontaneously or without the proper intent of recapitulation.

The psycho-emotional brain functions as a system of interrelated multichannels in which contents that are highlighted are directed towards the conscious mind. As a result, whether things come to mind automatically or whether we decide to think of something in particular, the brain passes at least part of the information stored in the memory to the conscious mind, sometimes together with its emotional intensity. This fact is taken advantage of by the practitioner by means of choosing specific recapitulation topics and voluntarily activating the "channels" with the contents and intensities on which we want to work, simply by thinking about them. By yawning while focusing or thinking about something, the brain readjusts and unblocks the channels that are "switched on" at that moment. This is made possible by the voluntary focusing of attention in combination with the yawning breath. You can also work on contents that are simply present in your head, independently of, or even against, your will. These recurrent contents have a great amount of energy and collect even more when they appear in our head again and again; recapitulation will help to devitalise them and, thus, they will lose importance.

It is essential to learn to perform the yawning breath slowly and gently, with the mouth closed or semi-closed, thus avoiding tensing or damaging the jaw. Yawning produces a distinctive sensation, as if the air were scraping against the soft palate as it expands and rises. This is the way to distinguish between a normal deep breath and a yawning breath. Deep breaths do not have the desired effect within the context of recapitulation, so it is important to learn how to perform the yawning breath correctly.

From the shamanic perspective (perceiving humans as spheres of luminous energy of awareness), when we inhale we recover and recycle, both our subtle and psychic energy that is trapped and wasted in memory and in the subtlesoma, as well as that which has been externalized through the social spider's web and temporarily lost in other people's subtlesomas, while, at the same time, we reabsorb and disconnect our own subtle strings from those of others. Therefore, by recirculating and reintegrating previously wasted energy into our systems, it once again becomes part of our resources in the form of vital energy and consciousness. On the other hand, as we exhale, we rid ourselves of endogenous subtle and psychic energy that is no longer usable or is harmful, while we expel any foreign energy or cords arising from our interactions with others.

Although the yawning breath can be used to recapitulate at any level, as it elicits an immediate and physiological response in the brain, it is most suitable to use in moments of great intensity or emotional turmoil.

The procedure is very simple:

1. Close your eyes and think of the object of recapitulation. This can be a phrase, a sensation, a memory, a problem, a person, and so on.
2. While continuing to focus your attention on this object, make a series of about four to seven yawns; slowly and softly, with your mouth closed or half-closed, as if you were in no hurry. It is important that the yawns are performed without losing focus on the object of recapitulation.
3. Next, open your eyes.
4. If you are working with an unpleasant feeling, check to see if you still feel bad after the first sequence of yawning. Although it is not essential, it is very useful to give a magnitude to the feeling of discomfort with a number from 0 to 10 before starting. Keep in mind that 0 would reflect a feeling of total indifference and 10 would be so unbearable that you would be dying or losing consciousness completely as a consequence of not being able to cope with the sensation.
5. If you continue to have bad feelings after the first round, reassess the intensity of the discomfort at this point with a number. Close your eyes again. While keeping your focus on the sensation, perform another sequence of four to seven yawns. Open your eyes.
6. You can repeat the process four or five times until, when you think of what you were recapitulating, the only thing you feel is indifference or you have reached 0. Sometimes the unpleasant feeling may still be there, even after several rounds of yawning. In this case, simply give your body time to find a way to rebalance itself, switch to a different activity, take a walk, and recapitulate the unpleasant feeling at another time.

Recapitulating with the technique of the fingers.

This approach is based on the subtle channels that extend from the fingers to the brain and many of the organs and viscera. Traditional Chinese medicine refers to these channels and calls them "meridians". The fact is that, in addition to the meridians, the nerve endings of the fingers obviously connect directly with the brain, or rather, those of the left hand with the right side of the brain and those of the right hand with the left side of the brain. Some time ago I discovered that stimulating the fingers of the hands, alternating between the left and right sides, had very interesting effects which can be used as a secondary recapitulation technique.

These are the steps to recapitulate with the technique of the fingers:

1. It is best to sit comfortably and rest your arms on your thighs. Do not cross your legs.
2. Choose the topic or object of recapitulation, close your eyes and begin thinking about it. The attention on the object of recapitulation should be directed as is described in the chapter on introspection, focusing our attention either passively (simply by observing thoughts) or actively (with questions, answers and changes of perspective).
3. From the moment that you begin to focus on the topic or object of recapitulation, gently hold your left thumb with your right hand. As you continue to focus, change fingers and hands every minute or so. In this way, the second finger that you hold is the thumb of your right hand. After another minute, switch to the index finger of the left hand, then to the right, continuing with the middle finger of the left hand, then the same finger of the right hand, the ring finger of the left hand, the same finger of the right hand, the little finger of the left hand and then finish the sequence with the little finger of the right hand. Thus, each sequence will take about ten minutes.
4. Open your eyes after each completed cycle with your fingers.
5. If you feel that you need to do another sequence with the same subject of recapitulation, simply close your eyes again, focus on the subject and perform the sequence, beginning again with the left thumb and ending with the little finger of the right hand.
6. You can use yawning breaths at any point in the sequence if you feel you need to.
7. After finishing one topic, either move on to another or end the recapitulation session.

Recapitulating with the emoenergetic recapitulation mantra.

This is the key technique within emoenergetic recapitulation. For almost two decades, I have been researching, developing and perfecting a very special type of tools which I have termed subtle power devices. Due to my former occupation as a programmer and software developer, I have been able to take advantage of many of the principles that I learned and used at that time in the world of information technology and channel them into the implementation of subtle machines that can be programmed and updated, to be used as assistants in different areas, such as energy healing, meditation and recapitulation. The mantra of emoenergetic recapitulation is one of those devices. Until now, I had only granted permission to my clients and students to use both the mantra of meditation and the mantra of recapitulation. However, the possibility of opening up some of its basic functions to the general public has been on my mind for some time. The time has arrived to do so. If you would like to use the mantras in their basic version on your own, you need to go to my website, in the section “activating the basic key” and then follow the instructions outlined there. This is not necessary if you are already doing regular sessions of Bioenergetic Resonance with me, since, in this case, I activate and renew the premium versions of the mantras in each session.

The mantra of recapitulation is like an application that you can use and activate precisely by mentally reciting the following mantra:

VINTEIAKIR YBYB.

(bɪntɛɪɒˈkiːr ˈɪbɪb)

The process is also extremely simple and fundamentally similar to those outlined above:

1. Close your eyes and think of the object of recapitulation. Remember that this can be a phrase, a feeling, a memory, something that worries you, a person, and so on.
2. While maintaining your concentration on what you want to recapitulate, recite the mantra of recapitulation in your mind for about a minute.
3. Open your eyes.
4. When you are working with an unpleasant sensation, check to see if you still have negative sensations after the first one-minute recapitulation with the mantra. As you already know, it is quite useful to quantify the intensity of the negative sensation with a number from 0 to 10 before starting. Remember that 0 is a feeling of complete indifference and 10 would be absolutely unbearable.
5. If you still have negative sensations after the first recitation, reassess the intensity of the discomfort at that moment with a number. Then, close your eyes again. While maintaining focus on the sensation, redo another one-minute recitation with the mantra. Keep in mind that the primary attention should be on the sensations or on the object of recapitulation and not on the mantra, the recitation of this should occur in the background. When you finish this round, open your eyes.
6. You can redo the recitation four or five times, until, when thinking about the topic or object that you were recapitulating, the only thing you feel is indifference or you have reached 0. You can also use the yawning breath after the recitation if you feel you need to do so. If you have not reached the state of neutrality after four or five rounds, then change activity and come back to recapitulate it later. The mantra of recapitulation is programmed to work on the object of recapitulation for several hours after recapitulation, so sometimes it is necessary to allow time for your subtlesoma to readjust.
7. Never recapitulate while driving or performing dangerous activities.
8. The mantra works even if your eyes are open, but ideally you should close them in order to achieve a better focus.
9. Remember that the mantra must be recited in your mind, that is, you do not have to vocalize it.
10. When working with phrases, you can mentally say the phrase and then the mantra, repeating both of these for one minute.
11. When working with lists or recapitulation-introspection notebooks, you can read each item on the list, close your eyes and mentally recite the mantra once, then open your eyes to continue with the next item on the list and so on.
12. In subsequent chapters I will present a large number of concepts and definitions of negative and positive psycho-emotional patterns, which will be of great use to you because they will serve, in themselves, as recapitulation material that you may include in your own lists.
13. It is possible to recapitulate with the mantra while simultaneously doing both passive and active introspection.
14. One should never meditate and recapitulate at the same time, just as one should never mix meditation with introspection.
15. It is possible to perform a type of recapitulation called free recapitulation. This consists of thinking about your life, with your eyes closed, and letting one thought or memory lead you to another. In the meantime, simply recite the mantra of emoenergetic recapitulation. You can do this for a few minutes or for hours at a time.

Our life is a fleeting spark in the infinite cosmos. By eliminating what is superfluous and unnecessary, the true brightness can be revealed, the hidden radiance of the self that we carry within will be shown. This glow may not be greater than a million stars, but it is your own brilliance, and if you do not hurry, you could miss it altogether.

Activate the basic key to be able to use the recapitulation mantra.

Practising Recapitulation by Chema Sanz is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.