Listening To Your Inner World - Parts Work Internal Family Systems (IFS) Therapy

This practice helps you create a strong connection with all the different “parts” of you so you can feel more integrated, self-aware, and whole.

This practice is inspired by "Parts Work" or Internal Family Systems. If you'd like more time with each part, consider pausing the track when needed.

Consider following me on Insight Timer if you'd like more meditations like this. Thanks for meditating with me!

Transcript

This meditation will help you experience more peace,

Harmony,

And alignment within your psyche and within your soul.

It will help you create a strong connection with all the different parts of you that make you unique.

This helps these parts of you feel heard,

Cared for,

Balanced,

And in harmony with one another.

When you experience inner harmony you embody more resilience,

Peace,

And clarity.

This meditation can serve as the beginning of your journey with parts work,

Also known as internal family systems.

This is a form of personal growth,

Self-understanding,

And even healing that you can do on your own.

It can also augment a pre-existing parts work or IFS practice.

To begin,

I invite you to take a moment to get into a comfortable seated posture.

You may also lay down if that would feel better for you.

Sitting upright if you're sitting without feeling tense or rigid.

See if you can lengthen your spine and balance your shoulders over your hips.

Feel the weight of your body on the surface underneath you.

Feel how you are supported.

Close your eyes if you haven't already and set the intention for balance.

Take a few deep breaths,

Just settling into the center of yourself,

Dropping in.

See if you can connect with the most open-hearted,

Compassionate,

Kind,

And curious center of yourself.

This is your core self,

Your core essence.

Some people call it their highest self.

Whatever you call it,

It's your most pure state and it's something that everyone has.

So see if you can just open your heart and drop into this.

I know it's there.

And as you do this,

If any thoughts or emotions or parts of you interfere,

Just gently ask them to step back and give you some space.

And let them know that if they allow you to do this,

It will help you to help them.

Now with curiosity and some patience,

Gently pose the question to yourself,

Is there anything inside of me that needs to be seen or heard right now?

Or is there any part of me that needs my attention?

And at this point,

You might start to feel something in your body,

Hear some words or see an image materialize in front of you in your mind's eye.

Just see if you can remain open to whatever arises and interact with it from this same place of kindness.

And if a lot of different parts crowd around you so much that you can't really tell what's going on,

Let them know that they will all have their turn one at a time.

So just invite them to step forward one by one.

So turn your kind awareness towards one part of you right now.

Let it know that you see it.

Let it know that you care about it.

And if you'd like,

You can get to know this part of you a little bit better and ask,

What's your job in my system?

How do you help me?

Is there anything I should know about you?

Do you have any messages for me that I need to know?

Is there anything you need from me?

And take in this information as a benevolent leader would.

Someone who cares and who has the best interest of everyone at heart.

And give this part of you love and affection.

And thank it for stepping forward.

Now I'll invite you to turn your awareness to a second part of you.

And if nothing arises,

Pose that same question again.

Is there anything inside of me that needs my attention right now that wants to be seen?

And if nothing arises at first,

That's okay.

Just stay in your space of compassionate presence and continue to pose that question.

And just wait patiently like a fisherman who has cast out a line in the water.

Hopefully something might come forward.

So if a part of you arises,

Just greet it with kindness.

Let it know that you care about it.

Let it see the compassion in you.

And ask it if it has anything that it wants to share with you.

Maybe a message.

Maybe it has a request from you,

Something that it needs,

Either now or in the future.

And receive this with compassion and with care.

Thank this part for making itself known to you and then turn towards a third part of you if one arises.

Just sensing inside of yourself saying,

Is there anything that needs me right now?

Anything I should know?

Anything I should see?

And if a third part comes up,

Open your heart towards it.

And sometimes opening your heart towards a part of you might feel challenging.

But if this part of you feels difficult to love in any way,

Just recognize that it is likely like that because it's just hurting.

So see if you can open up your heart to it anyway.

Let it know that you care.

And if any critical or judgmental parts come up,

You can turn towards them with love and compassion as well and ask them what they need to say.

But if you stay with this third part,

Ask it if it has anything it needs from you.

Anything that it needs to tell you.

Listen to this part's concerns,

Listen to its story and give it love.

Thank it for stepping forward.

And continue this process on your own,

Inviting parts of you and asking for any messages or any needs until this process feels complete.

Give yourself the time and space,

Especially if this is the first time you've ever tried anything like this.

Or it's been a while,

You might have many parts in your system that need your love and your care.

So give yourself the time.

Explore your inner world,

Make friends with it.

It's probably one of the best gifts you can ever give yourself.

And if you need more time,

You can pause this meditation or even rewind it back to the guide and instructions part to part if you need more time.

But if you're ready to move on,

I'll invite you to bring every single part of you together.

The parts that you've seen today,

Perhaps other parts as well.

And whether your parts like each other or not,

Whether they trust you fully or not,

From this kind and compassionate space,

You can become their best leader with time.

As you listen with care and non-judgmental awareness and curiosity inside of yourself,

You will lead a much better life and all of these different parts of you will gain more trust in you as their leader.

They won't feel the need to act out in extremes.

And one way that you can really build trust in your inner system is to take their messages and needs into account as you go back out into your day and into your life.

Parts work can be a daily practice,

Not just a formal practice where you sit down,

But during the day listening inwards,

Staying in that core self energy so that you can listen to yourself as you go through the day.

And your parts might be telling you very important things such as your need for rest,

Play,

Connection,

Stronger boundaries,

Perhaps even medical attention,

Better nutrition,

Or perhaps some deeper healing through therapy.

So really take these messages into account,

Don't ignore them,

These are whispers from your soul.

These parts of you have a lot of wisdom.

So see if you can bring more of this balanced and compassionate leadership into how you live your life so you can listen to wisdom from all facets of yourself and make the best decisions.

When you're ready,

Expand your awareness to your body as a whole.

Feel your weights on the floor underneath you.

Feel the air around you,

The temperature,

The flow of air.

Connect to the sounds that you hear.

Whenever you're ready,

Gently flutter your eyes open and take in the environment with your eyes,

Being in your body fully in your senses,

Coming back into the outer world slowly and with ease.

Reviews

Fantastic, wonderful, best IFS work I’ve done. Probablg ever. Thank you for your Guidance. 🫶

IFS and your prompts are resonating

Amazing IFS meditation. It’s been hard to find one that doesn’t rush you through at warp speed. Very nice pace and tone, loved it!

Great parts mediation! Helped to get in touch with 4 specific parts and hear them out. Will do this again and highly recommend this one to others!

Thank you so much for sharing this session, Emma! I've been working with my parts for almost a year now in therapy, and am a big supporter of IFS. In fact, just yesterday I identified a new part / sub-part (TBD lol). This session allowed me to connect with him and some of the others, which was a great experience. I highly appreciate your guidance and how it enhances my work. You have my deep and sincere gratitude. 😊

Wonderful to have the opportunity to listen to my different parts. Thank you for the guidance

Thank you! This was beautiful.I will be coming back. God Bless you.
🙏🏽👼🏽🙏👼🙏🏻👼🏻💖🕊

Very calming voice and music combination. The parts prompting is great too, I almost fell asleep

Amazing. So so helpful in recognizing my parts and meeting them with compassion,
curiosity and love ❤️

I met three parts this morning, looking forward to working with them and knowing them better. 🙏 for the guidance. Effective and clear.

🙏good guidence

That was really nice and really interesting. I uncovered some significant parts of me in this session. I will certainly be using this again to tune into myself. Namaste

Lovely gentle IFS meditation- I’ve been trying to work with parts for years and this was a lovely way to approach it - thank you 🙏

Marvellous! Thank you!

Very helpful! Thank you🙏

Very helpful.

Helpful instructions on how to invite a part of you to share itself. Lovely soothing voice.

Thank you for the different kind of explanation in this meditation

I have found such profound healing doing IFS work yet it never ceases to amaze how a gentle 16 minute practice like this can bring up such powerful experiences! Your guidance was so beautiful. I made sure to honor my experience by writing and drawing what my parts shared with me. Looks like we have some continued beautiful healing to do. Thank you💕 Namaste 🙏

I loved this. So helpful. I can’t wait to listen to more of your meditations!