This meditation is intended to be accompanied by the book No Bad Parts,
Healing Trauma and Restoring the Wholeness with the Internal Family Systems Model by Dr.
Richard Schwartz.
As I was reading this book,
Working on myself as well as learning about it to utilize with clients,
I felt the exercises were incredibly powerful,
But would be even more powerful if I was able to listen to the guidance versus reading it and trying to apply it.
So my intention for these exercises and meditation is for you to just be able to put the book down,
Get comfortable,
Follow along,
And explore your parts just as Dr.
Richard Schwartz intended.
The first exercise is getting to know a protector.
Take a second and get comfortable.
Set up like you would if you were going to meditate.
If it helps you to take deep breaths,
Then do that.
Now I invite you to do a scan of your body and your mind,
Noting in particular any thoughts,
Emotions,
Sensations,
Or impulses that stand out.
So far,
It's not unlike mindfulness practice where you're just noticing what's there and separating from it a little bit.
As you do that,
See if one of those emotions,
Thoughts,
Sensations,
Or impulses is calling to you,
Seems to want your attention.
If so,
Then try to focus on it exclusively for a minute and see if you can notice where it seems to be located in your body or around your body.
As you notice it,
Notice how you feel toward it.
By that I mean,
Do you dislike it?
Does it annoy you?
Are you afraid of it?
Do you want to get rid of it?
Do you depend on it?
So we're just noticing that you have a relationship with this thought,
Emotion,
Sensation,
Or impulse.
If you feel anything besides a kind of openness or curiosity toward it,
Then ask the parts of you that might not like it or are afraid of it or have any other extreme feelings about it to just relax inside and give you a little space to get to know it without an attitude.
If you can't get to that curious place,
That's okay.
You could spend the time talking to the parts of you that don't want to relax about their fears,
About letting you actually interact with the target emotion,
That sensation or impulse.
If you need that time to spend time with this part of you,
Go ahead and pause the recording now.
Spend as much time as you need with that protector.
But if you can get into that mindfully curious place relative to the target,
Then it is safe to begin to interact with it.
That might feel a bit odd to you at this point,
But just give it a try.
And by that,
I mean as you focus on this emotion or impulse or thought or sensation and you notice it in this place in your body,
Ask it if there's something it wants you to know and then wait for an answer.
Don't think of the answer,
So any thinking parts can relax too.
Just wait silently with your focus on that place in your body until an answer comes and if nothing comes,
That's okay too.
If you need more time here,
Go ahead and pause the recording and spend as much time as you need in this space,
Staying curious about what this sensation is trying to express to you.
If you get an answer,
Then as a follow-up,
You can ask what it's afraid would happen if it didn't do this inside of you.
What it's afraid would happen if it didn't do what it does.
Again,
You can pause the recording if you need more time at this space.
And if it answers that question,
Then you probably learned something about how it's trying to protect you.
If that's true,
See if it's possible to extend some appreciation to it or at least trying to keep you safe and see how it reacts to your appreciation.
Then ask this part of you what it needs from you in the future.
If you need more time with these parts of you,
Go ahead and pause the recording and spend as much time as you need here with them.
When the time feels right,
Shift your focus back to the outside world and notice more of your surroundings,
But also thank your parts for whatever they allowed you to do and let them know that this isn't their last chance to have a conversation with you because you plan to get to know them even more.
