Module 3 – Feeding Your Demons – A Deep Guided Practice

FEEDING YOUR DEMONS PRACTICE

This is one of my favorite concepts and practices that I incorporate into my Soul Clearings and Emotional Mastery. Lama Tsultrim Allione is the originator of this profound practice, and she outlines it in her book “Feeding Your Demons.” I highly recommend getting this book, my son and I actually listen to it as an audiobook on the Audible App, often before we go to sleep.

(Disclaimer:  Although I am studying with Lama Tsultrim Allione, and have been doing this kind of work for about two decades, I am not yet a “Certified” Practitioner or master of this method. I just love it and employ some of its concepts and elements).

“What Does it Mean to ‘Feed Your Demons’?

For the purpose of this practice, a ‘demon’ refers to the disruptive aspects of our own psyche, such as anxiety, depression, anger, addiction, or disease. Demons are often relegated to the dark recesses of our minds and fester there as we either repress- or ‘fight’ against them. This adversarial relationship with our demons is the very thing that polarizes our psyche. In our attempts to overcome our ‘shadow’, we become more enmeshed with it and our demons gain strength.

“Our demons are what we fear,” says Lama Tsultrim Allione..

“…[I]n feeding our demons we are not only rendering them harmless; by addressing them instead of running away from them, we are also nurturing the shadow parts of ourselves so that the energy caught in the struggle transforms into a positive protective force.”

The Feeding Your Demons® (FYD) method employs principles of the Tibetan Buddhist practice Chöd, as originally articulated by the eleventh-century female Tibetan teacher, Machig Labdrön. FYD is a five-step process that guides the practitioner to transform their demons into protective allies through a sequence of illuminating questions and visualizations.

This accessible and effective method has helped thousands of people transform and heal negative emotions, fears, illnesses, and self-defeating patterns.”

THE STEPS:

(You can also see this here:

https://www.lionsroar.com/how-to-practice-feeding-your-demons/)

PREP:

 Make sure you are in a safe, quiet place with no interruptions for at least 45 minutes.

Place a chair / sitting pillow in front of you.

Keep your phone / a journal near you; plus water.

Body scan & take 9 deep breaths.

Offer up a prayer, offering this practice for the benefit of yourself and all beings.

STEP 1:

FIND THE DEMON IN YOUR BODY

Decide which demon you want to work with,

Choose something that’s alive & relevant for you now, something that’s draining your energy now.

(It’s never another person or an external circumstance, so focus in on the psycho-emotional state that arises within you in the situation or relationship, rather than the situation or relat. Itself)

Bring to mind a particular incident when it came up strongly, and scan your body.

Ask:

  • Where is the demon held in my body most strongly?
  • What color is it?
  • What shape is it?
  • How big is it?
  • What’s its density?
  • Texture?
  • Temperature?

Bring all focused awareness to it, study every aspect of it.

Amplify and intensify the sensation. 

STEP 2:

PERSONIFY THE DEMON

Allow this sensation, with its color, texture and temperature, to move out of your body and become personified in front of you as a Being with a Face, Eyes, Limbs, and so on.

Notice its – size, color, surface of the body, density, gender, character, emotional state,

The look in its eyes, something about the demon you did not see before.

ASK –

  • What do you want?
  • What do you really need?
  • How will you feel when you get what you really need?

STEP 3: 

BECOME THE DEMON

Switch places, keeping your eyes closed.

Take a moment to settle into the demon’s body.

Feel what it feels like to BE the demon, feel all that it feels.

Notice how your normal self looks like from the demon’s point of view.

Answer these questions, speaking as the demon:

  • What I want is _______________________________________
  • What I really need is __________________________________
  • When I get what I really need, I will feel __________________

STEP 4:

FEED THE DEMON AND MEET THE ALLY

Take a moment and settle back into your own body.

See the Demon opposite you.

Then allow your own body to dissolve into a holy, magical nectar.

That nectar has the quality of the feeling that the demon would have when it gets what it really needs  (the answer to the 3rd question).

Notice the color of the nectar.

Imagine this nectar is moving towards the demon and nurturing it.

Notice how the demon takes it in.

You have an infinite supply of nectar.

Feed the demon to its complete satisfaction and notice how it transforms in the process.

This can take some time.

Notice if there is a being present after the demon is completely satisfied.

If there is a being present, ask it – “Are you the ALLY?”

If it is, you will work with that being.

If it’s not, or if there’s no being present after feeding the demon to complete satisfaction,

         Then INVITE THE ALLY to appear.

When you see the Ally, notice all the details of the Ally —

         size, color, surface of its body, density, gender, its character, its emotional state, the look in its eyes, something about the Ally that you did not see before.

When you really feel connected with the energy of the Ally, ask it these questions –

  • How will you help me?
  • How will you protect me?
  • What pledge do you make to me?
  • How can I access you?

Change places and become the Ally.

Take a moment to settle into the Ally’s body.

Feel what it feels like to BE the Ally, feel all that it feels.

Notice how your normal self looks like from the Ally’s point of view.

When you are ready, answer these questions, speaking as the Ally –

  • I will help you by _____________________________
  • I will protect you by ___________________________
  • I pledge I will _________________________________
  • You can access me by __________________________

Take a moment to settle back into your own body and see the ALLY in front of you.

Look into its eyes and feel its energy pouring into your body.

Now imagine that the Ally dissolves into light.

Notice the color of this light.

Feel it dissolving into you and integrate this luminosity into every cell of your body.

Take note of the feeling of the integrated energy of the Ally in your body.

Now allow YOU, with the integrated energy of the Ally, to also dissolve ~~~

STEP 5:

REST IN AWARENESS

Rest in whatever state is present after the dissolution.

Allow all and everything to be okay exactly as it is.

Allow all and everything to be perfect exactly as it is.

Pause until discursive thoughts begin again, then gradually come back into your body.

As you open your eyes, maintain the feeling of the energy of the Ally in your body.Feeding Your Demons™ is a process created and developed by Lama Tsultrim Allione. © Tara Mandala. For further information and training in Feeding Your Demons, go to taramandala.org.

HW Assignment – Practice “Feeding Your Demons” 

Aloha Loves ~

On this week’s call, I guided us through the powerful process of “Feeding Your Demons.”  

For HW —

1)  Integrate what you experienced on the call; write down any insights, revelations, take aways, etc.  (for example, what will your Ally give you?)

(or if you missed the call, watch the replay).

2). If desired, keep a Demon Journal, keep any insights you gain around this process.

Feel free to make some art around it.  Draw your demon, or sculpt one from clay, or write a song / poem..  Art can be a powerful vehicle for transmuting as well. 

3)  Look over the Module notes and either listen to the Guided Process by me again or guide yourself through the process on your own, so you can become more familiar with it, and can do this on your own whenever you need to neutralize and alchemize a shadow / demon / issue.

Optional:  If you haven’t yet, listen to the audiobook on Audible whenever you feel called. 

Ok, enjoy a blessed week!  

xoxo