Introduction To Guides Meditation (Internal Family Systems)

An introduction to the concept of "Guides." Including how to access, listen to, and work with Guides per the Guide Meditation. Accessing a Guide or Guides is a way of resourcing used in Internal Family Systems Therapy (IFS). This is to be listened to once prior to doing the Guides Meditation.

Transcript

Introduction to the guides. So there's generally four types of guides. The first is an ancestral guide. And this might be a guide that's kind of known to you throughout lifetimes, Whether it's your current family of origin system, Throughout generations, A guide that's been there for your family or one from previous lifetimes. And these are guides that maybe are somehow related to you, Although they're not necessarily dead people, They're not ghosts. Ghosts are something else altogether. Ghosts are more like spirits that are kind of trapped still in this world and can't really leave because of unfinished business. Guides are a whole separate thing. Guides are spirits that live in a different realm. They're not of this human realm. They're in a different realm and they have a whole different perspective on our life and what's happening for us. So they might be ancestral in that maybe they were connected with you in a different realm or from your family system somehow. But like I said, They're not ghosts. They're not from this current lifetime and they're not in the human realm. They're in a different realm. The second kind of guide are guides that aren't related to you, But they're assigned to help you. They're assigned to you. Second kind of guide is a guide that's not related to you, But they're actually assigned to you. They've been given you as their assignment. And the third type of guide is one that is actively here to help. So they actually might include category one or two, Which would be ancestral guides or guides assigned that they're here to help. They're here to hold your scared parts, To support you, To answer requests for help or questions, To help you in any way. And the fourth type of guide are guides that are just presences of energy and they're not necessarily here to help. They just create presence. So they don't actively intervene. And again, They might be part of category one or two, Ancestral or assigned guides. So you have these helpers and these not really helping at all, But just creating presence types of guides. And you don't have to know all this. I just figured I'd let you know these categories. And people sometimes ask about spirit animals or spirit guides. And of course they could be in both the first and the second category of related to you and not an assigned. And you might not see directly visuals of your guides. You might just get a vibration or an energy sense. So I wouldn't worry too much about what you get or you don't get. It's just mainly establishing a connection with your guides, Almost like you would establish a relationship with a friend or an elder or a mentor. The guides are polite, They're respectful, And they're not going to intervene unless you make a request. So they wait for your requests. On rare instances, Maybe where you're about to be hit by a truck or do something that might kill you, They could intervene in these 911 type situations. But generally when it comes to everyday life stuff, They generally speaking don't intervene unless you actually give them permission to do so. And you give them permission to share what they think and feel. Otherwise they just kind of wait politely until you start to make connection and you show an interest in them. And like any mentor or elder, You know, If you don't go up to them and ask, If you don't make a request for their wisdom, That they're not gonna give it to you. They don't need to. And they sort of want you to take the initiative to show that you want it. So an important part of your meditation with the guide should be asking. And when you do ask the guides and request from the guides, You do always want to be in some kind of wise self energy, Which in the internal family systems, That's the eight Cs of wise self, Are compassion, Creativity, Courage, Confidence, Connectedness, Calmness, Clarity, And curiosity. And if you pull any of these forward to connect with the guides, That will be enough openness for them to feel ready to make that connection with you. And a couple more things, Guides are generally unlike parts and internal family systems. They're not found inside the body. When you're talking to a part or locating a part, You generally find it in the body and you initially connect with it in the body. But for the most part, There are rare occasions and exceptions to this, But guides are outside the body, Partly because they're not in this human realm and they really see things from a whole separate vantage point. The other thing is guides don't generally have an age and that's sort of how you know it's a guide as well. You might check, You might think it's a part, And then when you ask about its age, It'll say that it's timeless or that it's always been here and that's often a cue that it's probably a guide. Might say it's ancient. And guides are not an unusual thing. Famous spiritual teachers often would talk to guides and Hindu tradition and the Buddha had guides that he spoke to, Or devas from the heaven realms that came and talked to unseen beings that only he could see. And when he was trying to decide whether to teach meditation to humans after his enlightenment, The devas came to him and guided him and said, Yes, Please do, It's not hopeless. So he did consult with guides often and other spiritual teachers have as well.