How to Do the Work: Recognize Your Patterns, Heal from Your Past, and Create Your Self

by Nicole LePera

“ninety-second rule” of emotions:82 as physiological events, they last for only a minute and a half.

This, of course, can happen only if our mind doesn’t get in the way.

Most of us bring them up to our mental world and start spinning stories, ruminating, and engaging in circular thoughts, which brings us back into the feedback loop of emotional addiction.

The challenge for so many of us is to honor the emotions that come up in our body. It is often helpful to witness the stories that play out in our mind: note that they’re happening, be present, and try not to judge.

When a difficult feeling such as anger comes up, he sees it as a physiological response not having any reflection on who he is and is better able to let the sensations pass through his body without acting on them.

What can I learn about myself from what happened? What patterns brought me here?

This is the ultimate goal of the work—from setting boundaries to meeting our inner child to reparenting ourselves—all of this work leads us to a state of honest togetherness.

Only when I am a unified whole will I be able to connect authentically with others in ways that serve both of our spiritual, emotional, and physical needs.

allowing for the unique expression of each individual enabled the needs of the greater community to be met. Each puzzle piece had a function. When we are part of the collective We, the needs of one are the needs of all.

None of us is alone in our struggle. You aren’t just a cog in a wheel. Your internal state shapes those around you, for better or for worse.

The point of this book is to return us to our authentic essence, our pure awareness, the embodiment of who we were before conditioning took hold. We want to reconnect with the collective We and in doing so access the deep well of Self-empowerment within us all.