CRISIS RESPONSE (LEVEL SEVEN)
In Level Seven you repeat the Level Six exercise with the same or a different partner. Doing the same exercise with the same person can be quite different each time.
There is a good way to measure your progress. During and shortly after the exercise you may be physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually exhausted. Your partner may also be fatigued. In less than 24 hours you will be refreshed and renewed. For most people doing this exercise in the late afternoon or early evening is best. No alcohol or caffeine should be consumed that day.
Another way to know you're progressing is if you begin (even for a very short time) to experience any sensation that is completely new to you. For example, you occasionally notice a gold, white or silver glow around your partner in the exercise. It will usually be about 2-4 cm (1-2 in) in width. This is not magic. Depending on your point of view, it is real or not. It is a neurophysiologic phenomenon due to lateral inhibition in the cells of the retina in the back of our eye. In "primitive" species this functions to intensify edge effects and magnify borders. Our nervous system has learned to ignore this signal because it "knows" it's not really there. During some special mental states this editor is turned off and you see the border as a glow or aura. Sometimes it's very subtle and other times it's quite vivid.
You may have experienced a similar phenomenon when face to face with someone you love absolutely or someone who loves you absolutely. Occasionally, if you're open and lucky, their face seems to glow. This experience is referred to by Jean Valjean, Eponine and Fantine near the end of "Les Miserables." As their spirits unite, their song proclaims, "To love another person is to see the face of God!"
Each time you do the exercise it will be more positive and less negative. Don't be concerned, and don't be hard on yourself, when the negative stuff returns. Just let it be. Soon it will be gone. As you continue to practice the exercises, you will notice substantial mental, emotional and spiritual growth.