Classroom of the Heart, Part 3: A Mystery Extracurricular Activity at Age 8

After practicing "storing energy in the fingertips to see auras," for around 15 minutes, or 30 minutes, we moved on to the practice involving what I'll refer to as the 'Heart.'

Firstly, each of us decided on a theme.

"Think of one thing about yourself that you dislike. It could be something about your body, like an injury or an illness," the teacher said.

The adults had various things they didn't like about themselves, but being too young, I couldn't think of anything, so I picked "callus on my finger."

The teacher asked us to sit comfortably on the cushion, and I vaguely remember we did some breathing exercises. We closed our eyes and were guided by the teacher's voice to an elevator.

"Slowly walk through the darkness. You'll see the elevator door in front of you."

"Walk up to the elevator door."

"What color is the door? Take a look."

"There are buttons next to the door. Try pressing one."

The teacher guiding us like that, and we boarded the elevator and descended to the ground floor. Looking back now, it seems like hypnosis.

I don't remember at all what floor we pretended we were on. I think it was the 10th floor? Then slowly, 9, 8, 7... descending. My memories of that part are quite vague. But I do remember the teacher saying things like, "We're going down deeper and deeper."

Perhaps being an innocent child made it difficult for distracting thoughts to intrude, or maybe it was easier to concentrate, but I could see the elevator very vividly. And the feeling of descending to the ground floor in the elevator was... how should I put it? It was floaty and pleasant.

We reached the ground floor in the elevator and opened the door. There were two drawings displayed there, the teacher said.

On the right, there was a drawing of our disliked aspect. On the left, a drawing of ourselves after that disliked aspect was gone.

In my case, On the right, there was a drawing of a hand with a callus on my finger. On the left, a hand without the callus.

I remember the teacher suggesting that it might be a good idea to include not just the hand with the callus but also a sad face of myself. While drawing the left side, they said, "Draw not just the hand without the callus but also your happy face when it's gone."

There was a bucket full of ink and a large brush there, the teacher said.

With the brush, we drew a big 'X' on the right drawing. With the brush, we drew a big circle on the left drawing.

Then, we got back into the elevator, went up to the first floor, the second floor... and then opened our eyes.

This was the extent of the activities during the first session.

（10.31.2016）