by Peebrain
At the time of writing this article, I've been practicing psionics for four years. Granted, compared to naturals who have 20+ years experience on me, I'm just a toddler, but I'm starting to get a feel for how a "normal" psion would use their skills on a day-to-day basis. The following isn't really a "how-to" article, but rather an overview of how I've changed mentally over the past couple years to incorporate psionics into my life.
I've been asked countless times questions concerning my practice habits. How often I practice, how long are my practice sessions, what I practice, etc. When one first starts practicing psionics, these are important things to define. Here is a new skill that a newbie has to put time and effort into to learn. Whether it's constructs, shields, empathy, whatever - the skill is foreign to the body and has to be practiced regularly to be successful. Lately though, I have been practicing less, but still improving. Maybe that's poor wording - rather, I've had less scheduled practice sessions, but my skills are still increasing. When you finally accept the fact that psionics is just a part of life, you start to integrate it in everything without being aware of it. For example, if someone wants to know if their friend is feeling ok, they might ask how things are. While I still have that option, I also have the option of feeling the emotions of the target empathetically.
The thing is, to a newbie the option is conscious. To a psionic "toddler" as myself, it's more of a subconscious decision. I ask myself "I wonder how they are feeling?", and the information might be delivered to me in the form of an emotion (via empathy), or I might get an impulse to ask them "how are you?". Why is that useful? I find myself asking questions that I couldn't know without some form of ESP. Other times, information is presented to me without even asking the question. My friend walks by and my subconscious tells me, "he's fighting with his girlfriend." Or I wake up in the morning and hear "your father wants you to call him." My body performs psionic activities and learns without me telling it to, and alerts me of the results. This isn't exactly practicing, but explains why I would get better without really doing anything. Unfortunatley, for my body to perform psionics without my direct permission requires me to forfeit control. This doesn't mean I'm out of control, just that I trust my subconscious to act appropriately to gather information. But it does mean that I get unwanted side effects. Headaches are most common. I've gotten used to the constant slight pressure in my "third eye" area. Mood swings can be quite drastic at times. Excessive sleep from overworking. And while sleeping, I also tend to hit very strange states of consciousness, which can cause a lot of confusion. Nothing I can't deal with, but they're more than minor annoyances. While the "cons" get on my nerves every once in a while, the "pros" make it all worth it. I have the freedom to gather information on about anything I want. I have very good control over my body functions.
I can also manipulate my environment to achieve a certain goal. I'm having a hard time coming up with examples because, like I said, a lot of the decisions are made on a subconscious level. Let's say my friend is having a bad day. Why is he upset? Did something happen? Is the depression based off of an external variable? Let's say I want him to do something. What action should I perform to cheer him up and accomplish my goal at the same time? Should I say anything at all? Should I offer advice? Will he feel better tomorrow? When can I expect my goal to be accomplished? Can I get someone else to cheer him up? How? What do I need to do to most effectively accomplish my goal and make him feel better? These are very useful questions to know the answer to. It will dictate exactly how I should act around my friend. What's important is I never told my subconscious how to accomplish my goals. I list my goals to my subconscious and it will find the most efficient way to accomplish them, and report back to me what to do. I never say "empathetically link with my friend, and let me feel how he's doing". The psionic skills are on a lower level. While I still have access to them if I need something specific, my subconscious understands that it can use them as needed.
I don't know - I've been practicing for four years but I still have a little "inner-skeptic" that just finds a lot of this stuff unbelievable. Not in a sense that "you can't do that!" but in a sense that "wow, I would have never thought this would have happened". If you plan on practicing psionics for longer than a year or so, be prepared for permanent changes in your personality and lifestyle.
Labels: Rants