Who knew that something as obscure as Rub & Yawn had a code of best practices?

It is best if you have read and followed these three posts (in sequence) first. These tips build on what is covered there and won't make a whole lot of sense by themselves.

Tip #1: Any Rub & Yawn is better than no Rub & Yawn.

Can be done very sloppily

Rub & Yawn does not have to be done in a formal session.

For example, you’re watching TV. You happen to yawn. You notice that you just got reminded of a failed relationship. Now you get pro-active. You rub your hands together firmly with attention still on the relationship. You yawn some more. You keep rubbing and yawning, looking at different aspects of the relationship. It’s more interesting than the repeat on TV. After ten minutes, your kid comes in and wants to play. You feel somewhat better anyway, and start playing with your kid instead.

Maybe you decide to finish off the topic later. Maybe you forget about it. Either way, next time you get reminded of that failed relationship it shouldn’t feel so bad.

Tip #2: Rub & Yawn has three parts — rubbing, visualizing, yawning. Do all three.

Rubbing

"Rubbing" includes stretching*. You should rub fairly vigorously, and fairly continuously, not just a few times. Rub or stretch in whatever way feels right to you.

Visualizing

Visualizing has many possibilities, but they each include pro-actively manipulating parts of your unpleasant mental images, not just being at the effect of them.

Verbalization

Verbalization regarding the part of your topic you are visualizing is often useful, maybe writing down notes or a journal or even just talking to the wall. Talking to friends is sometimes helpful, but usually they are not trained counsellors and will often interrupt or tell their own experiences instead of simply listening attentively and showing that they understand.

Yawning

"Yawning" includes sighing, cathartic crying, belching, maybe squirming around, etc. In other words, visible bodily discharge.

*Stretching seems to be more of a discharge mechanism than an energy-intake stimulator, but the distinction is probably not that important. Just remember to stretch too.

Tip #3: Go with the flow on what you are visualizing.

Parallel the mind — work with the topic that your attention is naturally being drawn to. Don’t address something merely because it is the next on the list or someone said you should. If it is pressed up against your nose as the thing to address, do it!

Topic will change as it discharges

Some aspect of the overall topic will appear as most important. Address that exact aspect with Rub & Yawn. It should be intense. As you discharge it, it will become less important and some other aspect will appear as most important. Address both aspects if you can, but soon the old one will be hard to concentrate on. So address the new aspect fully. And so on until the session is obviously over, often within 20 minutes.

Your mind is your mind — not a movie

When running an event/incident or series of events/incidents, first address whichever aspect of it is demanding your attention. This may be the earliest moment of the event. Or it may be something in the middle or the end. Again, go with the flow, not some arbitrary sequence. The emotional charge associated with the event is stacked up in a particular order in your mind. This is not necessarily from beginning to end like a regular movie.

Tip #4: Go with what’s hot and dump what’s not.

Find a hot topic that will discharge right now. Start visualizing and rubbing and yawning. Intensely. Continue the three parts of Rub & Yawn on that topic until it won’t discharge any more right now. You should feel calm and expansive. That’s all for now. It might take 10-25 minutes if you have been working hard on a really hot topic.

Check it out and see

Maybe another time there is nothing obviously hot to address. You decide to have a go at Topic X. You don’t know if it will work or not. So try it out. Do a proper visualization, maybe using the 6-Direction technique, while rubbing vigorously. Usually a minute is long enough to see if any yawn/discharge will occur.

If it's hot, stick with it

If it’s hot and it discharges, go with it. Continue doing Rub & Yawn right now on that topic. If there is no yawn or discharge after a minute, and no obvious signs that there is about to be one, drop it immediately. Go with what’s hot and dump what’s not.

Keep going with a session that is producing a good discharge, good yawns. The yawns will taper off after 10 minutes, 20 minutes, and then you will not be able to squeeze out any more. Great! Done deal. It’s not hot any more, so don’t try and run it any more.

Tip #5: Choose the best Rub & Yawn tool for the job.

A quick spur-of-the-moment Yawn Machine spot while stuck in traffic or waiting in the supermarket line?
Telling a friend to try out a Yawnguy YouTube video?
Getting a formal session with the automated counsellor at PaulsRobot (entry-level) or PaulsRobot3 (comprehensive)?
Doing a formal session using the eBook version of Trio (same three procedures as the PaulsRobot site), available from PaulsRabbit?

These applications, like the Yawn and Grow Rich Course, are all useful in different circumstances.

PaulsRobot3 currently has about 30 different modules available, again all useful in different situations. The modules include Core, Morph, Pono, RAWRogers, Rog, Rizzo, Slate, Antago, BasicR3X, ColorBreathing, Dipoles, ExpARCSW, ExpGrade0, False Data Stripping, HeavyDuty, IntExtStay, List1, Mega, NotTooShabbyPower, Prez (Presence Processes), Psycho (Tabletop Psychodrama), Ruds/L1C/Prepcheck, Ush (Unpleasant Sensation Handling), Ush2, Win, Win2, LovedOne, RAW4 (Reach & Withdraw 4), SpotAnAngel and others. Each of these modules may have 100 or more different pages. Every module has audio for each new in-session direction.

There is a huge toolbox available for your use.

Tip #6: Suddenly falling asleep? Stand up! Touch stuff! Hard! Right now!

We’re talking about mentally shutting down, suddenly feeling sort of spaced-out, groggy. This happens in life too, not just in session. It’s when your attention suddenly goes out of your control and you get all foggy and if you don’t do something about it immediately you’re likely to fall asleep on the spot. It’s not harmful unless you’re driving a car or something, but it wastes your time. This is different from simply feeling tired because it’s been a long day and it’s time for bed.

The shutting-down phenomenon is what can make solo sessions (without a separate person in the room with you running the session) very hard to do. Touching stuff forcefully right now is the solution to this difficulty.

You know that being slapped around the face or having a bucket of cold water thrown over you would wake you up, but that is not too real. A very workable solution is to stand up if you can, and urgently contact things around you like the chair or table or floor. Stamp your feet. Hit your hands together. Squeeze the chair. Bang your hand on the table. Make loud noises. This sort of thing. But do it urgently!

Do this for a short while, maybe a minute, and you will stop shutting down, and get back to normal.

Temporary solution only, but it IS a solution

Now, this booby trap, whatever it was that caused the shutting down to occur is still there and might trigger a shutting down later. If you know the area, you can have a go at it with proper three-part Rub & Yawn procedure. And if appropriate you definitely should discharge it as you know it is very hot, very charged!

But do recognize that this booby trap is very hot, and sometimes it will start to flatten you and you will have to take this action very fast to stay on top of it while doing regular Rub & Yawn on a topic. That's why the "Stand up!" is in there — it is very hard (but not impossible) to fall asleep when you are standing up.

Tip #7: Don't confuse Rub & Yawn with other procedures.

Rub & Yawn has its own tried and tested techniques. It seems to work on a wide variety of people and case types, provided they follow the instructions. :)

Deciding it couldn’t possibly work (without trying it) because it doesn’t agree with some theory is short-sighted. It was developed empirically (by Yawnguy in 2004-6) by observing some natural phenomena and trying out different things. It wasn’t developed to accord with pre-existing theory.

It is new. It is a 21st century development.

Tip #8: Make Rub & Yawn a part of your regular life.

It is very useful. It is for both emergency use and long-term use, for you and your family and friends. Show others how to use it. Email or tweet or text the links to them. Don’t just use it once and then forget about it.

Here is a useful program to follow:

First, just get your feet wet on anything.
When you have built up a bit of confidence, deal with any really hot topic, anything that is really bugging you and taking up a lot of your attention.
If you haven't already done so, maybe experiment with a few of the session options, like The Yawn Machine, a YouTube video or two, the eBook version of Trio, PaulsRobot, or the simpler modules at PaulsRobot3.
After a good run of sessions, when you are fairly comfortable with the general procedure, have a go at cleaning up your entire life at a relatively light level. This might take on average about 15-25 hours, spread over some weeks or months probably. After doing it, you should be able to mentally scan over any period of your life and not get snagged by any bad memories. It doesn’t mean everything is perfect, just that you have discharged the worst emotional charge associated with the main uncomfortable areas of your entire life. You can read the details at The Yawn Machine, that eBook, PaulsRobot, or any of the modules at PaulsRobot3 that ask you to find a topic to address (Core, Morph etc).
There are lots of other possibilities, but that is enough for starting off.

All of this is free of charge.

Don’t simply have one session and forget about it.

Text adapted from my Rub & Yawn site

Questions?

Feel free to ask questions in the comments, and I'll do my best to answer them for you.

Free sessions

To get free online fully-personalized stress-release sessions 24/7, see the links below.

Disclaimer

I am not a licensed practitioner in your area, and no longer give personal sessions. My works, designed for normal people and not clinical cases or the dysfunctional, treat you as a spiritual being and not mere flesh and blood. Use my free websites and videos at your own risk.

Index of my main Steemit blog posts

Table gives post number, title/link, brief notes about content.

Links to some of my stress-release sites

Yawnguy YouTube videos: Entry level. Since 2007, I deliver sessions directly to you by video on your custom topics. Start with Rub & Yawn 1/3.

YawnMachine.com: Entry level. Mobile-friendly. Text-based Rub & Yawn sessions.

PaulsRobot.com: Entry level (more or less). Mobile-friendly. More options to address your own topics. Sessions use three different Rub & Yawn techniques (Reach & Withdraw, 6-Direction, Rogerian). Includes theory and explanations.

RubAndYawn.com: Entry-level. Mobile friendly. Theory/explanations only, no session delivery.

PaulsRobot3.com: Advanced level. Desktop site. Delivers sessions on your custom topics. 3375 session pages in 31 onsite modules, using over 16 different techniques, none of them simply “talking about it”. Includes all relevant theory.

PaulsRobot2.com: Advanced level. Mobile-friendly. Experimental. PaulsRobot functionality but through icons instead of words. Includes automated session record. Video intro.

Yawnguy.com: Entry level. Desktop site. Links to my other sites. Over 100 testimonials. Includes roll-your-own audio session templates.

Facebook: My FB account, not used much.

Twitter: I have @yawnguy, @paulsrobot, @rubandyawn accounts, now coming out of hibernation since 2009.

The 8 Tips of Rub & Yawn