Christian IFS Meditation For Spiritualizing/Self-like Part

Spiritualizing and Self-like parts can be some of the hardest working and most dedicated parts in our inner worlds. These parts work hard to follow God, do the right thing, and care for others. They possess many of the qualities of the core Self, but often feel burdened, worn out, or stressed in their role. This meditation offers guidance to connect with and get to know a spiritualizing or Self-like part using the Internal Family Systems (IFS) model integrated with Christian spirituality. Guided by gentleness, compassion, and love, opportunity will be offered to connect with this part, allowing it opportunity to experience being understood more deeply.

Transcript

As we begin this meditation today, I invite you to take some deep breaths. Take a moment to settle in the space that you are in, Stretch, Find yourself in a comfortable seated position, Or if you prefer to be in a different position, That is fine too. And as you continue to take deep breaths, See if you can allow your breath to help you land in the present moment, Inviting the outside world to fade away a bit, And letting your parts know that you are here to explore them a little bit more, Getting to know a part of you on a deeper level. The focus of this meditation is to get to know more deeply a self-like or spiritualizing part of you. Often, These parts present as some of the parts we may feel the most proud of. These hardworking parts can do good things, Serve others, Fix problems, Care for those around us, Seek justice, And act in ways that are often perceived as godly. This part of you may not want to be called a self-like or spiritualizing part, So let your part know that I am simply using this title as a reference for this exercise, But if the part prefers to be referred to by a different title, You can use that and translate the words I use as I offer guidance today. In order to connect to this part of you, It may be helpful to recall a memory of a recent event where you felt or experienced the presence of this part of you. Maybe imagine replaying the situation in your mind where this part was active. Maybe imagine the scene replaying on an imaginary movie screen in front of you. Can you notice the presence of this part now? To help identify it, It may be helpful to notice that, Oftentimes, Spiritualizing or self-like parts will possess qualities very similar to qualities of our core self, The image of God in us, Yet carry an agenda or goal to change or control or fix rather than love and guide. This can often show up very subtly inside us. Curiosity can become an intellectual analysis. Compassion can become a codependent controlling or taking on the feelings of others. Calmness can become checking out or numbing. Clarity can sound like, I already know all the answers. Connectedness can become enmeshment. Courage can be separate from the leadership of God. Confidence can lose humility. Creativity can become a desperate search for solutions. Sometimes, Self-like and spiritualizer parts will present more like inner critics, Telling us what to do, What we should do, How we should be. These parts may have opinions about how a good Christian should feel or how a good person should act. This part may say things like, God wouldn't want you to act or feel like that. Other times, Self-like and spiritualizer parts present more like inner encouragers, But in their encouragement, They can cause us to avoid our pain, Such as telling an anxious part, You don't have anything to worry about. It's okay. We can trust God. Or telling a sad part, To have joy in the Lord. As you hear some of what I am describing, Notice and choose a part of you that sounds like one of the things I am describing. There is no shame here. This is just a part that is trying to help and is feeling a lot of responsibility to make things better and to help you be the best you can be. We really want to honor and appreciate this part and do not want to invite in judgment in any way. So as you choose a part, I invite you to notice how it shows up in your body. Do you notice areas of tension or increased energy or urgency? As you notice how this part shows up, I invite you to focus on it. Gently asking it to step out in front of you so that you can focus on it and so that it can focus on you. As you notice this part, Take some time to observe it. What is it doing? What is it saying? How is it behaving? What does it seem to be feeling? Does an image come to mind of this part? What does it look like? Spend a few moments observing this part, Asking any critical or judgmental parts of you to step back and trying to connect with an inner sense of curiosity and openness. If you notice resistance to being open and curious, You are simply noticing other parts of you with concerns. Gently ask them what their concerns are and see if they will allow you to be curious just for a few minutes. As you approach this part with curiosity, Ask the part to look at you and see if it's willing to talk with you for a few minutes. And now, Asking this part to focus on you, Ask the part what its job in your life is and what is it afraid would happen if it didn't do its job. And as you listen for a response, If you can offer it authentically, Extend appreciation to this part for all that it is doing and trying to do on your behalf. Ask it where it learned to try to help in this way. What is it trying to accomplish? Can this part tell you more about how it came to be responsible for helping or managing the parts of you or maybe others that it is trying to help? And what is it like for this part to hold this responsibility? Does it enjoy this? And where did it learn its job? Was it influenced by others? What are beliefs that this part holds? What emotions does this part experience? Is there something this part is afraid of? Is there anything this part is longing for? And how is this part responding towards you right now? Is it feeling more understood and connected? And now ask the part who it thinks you are. Can you ask it if it trusts you to be a resource to the parts it is trying to help and manage? And if not, Can it share with you more about its hesitancy to trust? And now can you ask this part how it views God? Does it know God relationally? How does it describe God? How does it feel towards God? Does it trust God? Often, Parts that have a lot of knowledge of the Bible and Biblical truth can be confused about aspects of who God is. See if this part is open to inviting God to be near right now. And if so, As a form of prayer, Invite God to come near this part in whatever way feels right to this part. This could be an inner connection to God's spirit. It could be a connection to God the Father. Or Jesus. Or maybe God shows in some other way. The intention here is simply to create openness and space to let this part hear from and experience God. There is nothing any part of you needs to do now to make this happen. Take a few moments in solitude to let God show up for this part. And as this unfolds, If you notice anything about God that is inconsistent with the true God, Probably that simply indicates another part is trying to speak for God. So if that is the case, Ask that part to step back as you prayerfully ask God to be present to this part right now. And how is this part responding to God now? Ask the part what it would be like if it let you and God lead and helping and guiding your life in larger ways. Are there any concerns this part has? Is there anything this part wants to let go of? Are there any gifts from God that this part wants to receive? Thank this part now for working so hard on your behalf. And then take a moment to see if this part needs anything else right now from you. What would be helpful for it moving forward? Thank it for letting you get to know it more and for making itself known to you. That takes courage. And then as you continue to breathe deeply, Gradually begin to shift and transition your focus back to the outside world.

Reviews

This spiritualizer part is by far my most dominant part. He’s going to take some work. I will be returning to this meditation again and again.