Accessing Healing Self-Energy: IFS Meditation

In this talk and guided imagery, Dan explains what Internal Family Systems therapy calls your Self – the deep, rich, powerful set of inner resources such as calm, courage and confidence we all possess, even if we struggle to access them. You will also get a taste of Self-energy, so you can experience this warm, healing resource and learn to access it on your healing journey.

Transcript

Welcome to this guided imagery.

In this practice we'll be exploring what it means to feel self-energy and why this can be so healing for us.

If you've come across internal family systems,

You'll be very familiar with this idea.

But if IFS is new to you,

One of its key ideas is that we all have a self with a capital S.

Of course,

This idea is not unique to IFS.

In Buddhism,

This internal resource is known as Buddha nature.

In schema therapy,

It's your healthy adult.

In compassion focus therapy,

It would be your compassion itself.

In a way,

What name we give it doesn't really matter.

Just know that within you is a rich,

Loving,

Healing resource and this practice will help you experience that a little.

Dr.

Richard Schwartz,

The founder of IFS,

Says that your self is who you are deep down.

Before anything difficult happened to you in your life,

Before you experience trauma or neglect,

Before your little parts were hurt in some way,

You were pure self.

And if you're a parent or have young children in your life,

You'll know exactly what I mean.

That wonderful purity and innocence tiny babies possess.

Utterly mindful and in the moment.

No thoughts,

Worries or preconceptions to cloud their moment-to-moment experience of the vibrancy,

Beauty and richness of life.

Dr.

Schwartz believes that we are born with a self and it stays inside us.

Always there.

Always available.

From the moment we're born until we take our last breath.

In my humble opinion,

I would disagree slightly and say we are born with the potential to have all the wonderful resources that self represents.

Things like calm,

Courage,

Confidence,

Connectedness to all other living beings.

But this potential needs the right kind of nurturing to blossom and grow throughout childhood and for the rest of our lives.

Either way,

It's clear that we have some kind of vital life force within that sustains us as we move through our existence on this planet.

It's also clear that we possess deep,

Powerful and mysterious healing processes in our minds and bodies.

If you don't believe me,

Next time you cut your finger,

Watch over the coming days as the cut miraculously heals.

Did you do that?

Was that healing in any way conscious on your part?

No.

It happened without your input because those internal processes kicked in to heal the cut,

Just as they can heal every cell in your body whenever they need rejuvenating,

Restoring or replacing.

So that gives you some idea of what we mean by self.

A powerful inner resource that's always there in some form if we just learn how to access it.

To give you a taste of self energy,

First close your eyes and then imagine you're standing on top of a hill.

Really be on that hill,

Looking out through your eyes at the scene all around you.

See the green hills and valleys stretching off into the hazy distance.

Look down at your feet and take in the rocks,

Grass and tiny flowers growing where you stand.

Then turn your gaze up to the sky,

Which on this cloudy spring day is completely covered from horizon to horizon in thick gray cloud.

As you look up at the blanket of cloud overhead,

Even though your rational brain knows the Sun is up there behind all that gray,

On some level it's hard to believe,

Right?

It takes some combination of scientific knowledge,

Meaning the Sun is always there in space,

Whether we on Earth can see it or not.

And a more in-your-bones belief,

Just knowing somehow that the Sun is still there and will appear sometime,

Even if you can't see or sense it now.

Keep looking up and as you do,

Suddenly something wonderful happens.

Right at the spot you're focusing on,

The clouds part,

Revealing a glorious chink of blue and the Sun bursting forth in all its glory.

See the sunlight pouring through that break in the clouds,

The Sun's rays lighting up the hills' lower slopes,

Which turn a vibrant,

Almost luminous green.

Watch as those rays reach the top of the hillside where you stand,

Warming your skin and shining brightly in your eyes.

Now imagine closing them and feeling that warm,

Bright light bathing your face.

See the translucent skin of your eyes,

See the translucent skin of your eyelids glowing red where the sunlight hits them.

And now I want you to imagine that this warm,

Life-giving light bathes your whole body.

Feel that energy start to soak through your skin,

Warming your muscles,

Veins and arteries,

Ligaments and tendons,

Organs,

Blood and bones.

Feel that warm,

Healing energy lighting up every cell in your body.

Imagine that this energy can reach all the hurt parts of you,

Every place inside that needs some warmth,

Love,

Healing and care.

Let those sore places be nourished and comforted.

Just stay with that a moment,

Enjoying this healing energy coursing through your entire being.

Then slowly,

Slowly,

The gap in the clouds starts to close,

The rays of sunlight getting weaker and weaker,

Gradually fading away until they're gone.

Then imagine opening your eyes and sitting down on the grass,

Which is still warm.

Take a moment to process what just happened.

What was it like?

Have you ever experienced anything like that or was it a totally novel experience?

Do you feel any different?

Perhaps a little calmer,

More relaxed or at peace?

What do you now know about self-energy that you didn't before?

You may want to spend a few minutes on the ground,

You may want to spend a few minutes journaling after this practice to help you process and answer some of these questions.

But for now,

Let that image start to fade away.

It's fading,

Fading and then it's gone.

Become aware of your body resting in the chair,

Your breath passing in and out of your nose and mouth,

Sensing your feet on the floor,

Sounds reaching your ears from all around and the room in which you're sitting.

Then slowly open your eyes and re-engage with your day,

Taking this newfound knowledge about yourself with you.

Thank you for meditating with me and have a lovely day.

Reviews

I love the analogy of the sun being there even when I can't see it. It felt wonderful to remember what it feels like to have the sun warm my skin, and I could actually feel it during the meditation with my imagination.

I found this to be a beautiful process to connect with Self energy. Thank you!

Lovely imagery that really hones into how self energy can “work” - sometimes it’s hard to access but it’s always there.

Meditation starts with a brief discussion about the concepts of IFS and “Self”. I appreciate the acknowledgement of other modalities and spiritual practices which have similar concepts. Also I agree! It’s not that we are born with Self but we all have the potential with the right nurturing. This meditation is a great way to nurture yourSelf :)

Helpful imagery to enforce the belief that the self is always there. Thank you 🙏

Nice. Clouds come and go in the sky, sometimes blotting out the sun. The sun continues shining, untroubled by the clouds.

Thank you, Dan, for this calming internal journey home. I am grateful that you appeared on this early November morning. May you be blessed ten-fold.
Thank you, again Dan. Now from November 2024. 🙏🏻👼

Thank you for this wonderful meditation. With the combination of background information on IFS followed by a simple yet effective lovely meditation, I will be listening to this one regularly.

I had never experienced this healing sun light before. Thank you

Another wonderful meditation. I was able to feel everything with my senses. Vary comforting. Thank you once again.

That was lovely. 🙏 When I was about 5 or so, I had a sunshine moment that came to mind during this visualization. It was winter and I was bundled up and ready to walk out the door to play. I paused at the door, looking through glass pane at the day outside. It was a brilliant and beautiful that day, and as I stood there, I came to. A strange way to put it, maybe, but I mean that I had a long moment of realizing that the beauty outside reflected something in me that would always be there, and I felt very awake. Your visualization reminded me that I saw something true at that moment and it hasn’t ever receded completely.

The image of the (physical) wound gradually healing on its own was very powerful and thought-provoking. Thank you. ✨