An IFS Parts Mapping Guided Meditation

Here I lead you through an IFS (Internal Family Systems) Parts Mapping Exercise that I modeled from Dick Schwartz's book "No Bad Parts". I hope you find it helpful to check in with me and visualize your parts. I hope that you find it useful!

Transcript

I'm Tim Fortescue, A life coach coming alongside of folks in their personal and spiritual development. And today I'm going to lead you in an IFS parts mapping guided meditation that I model after the one in Dick Schwartz's book, No Bad Parts. As we begin, I invite you to get settled and you'll need to have a piece of paper and something to write with for this meditation. So go ahead and get that if you don't have it and then begin to settle in. Take a couple deep breaths. You can close your eyes or you can just let your gaze rest softly in front of you if you prefer to keep your eyes open. Begin to focus on your inner world. As you look internally, See which parts are present. See if there's a trailhead that you're triggered by. This could be a person, Something you've got coming up, Or something that's already happened. But as you notice that trailhead or trigger, I'm going to invite you to get to know a cluster of parts that have relationships with each other. Focus inside and check in to see if there's a part that you notice the most. A part can surface as an emotion, Thought, Belief, Impulse, Sensation, Or maybe in some other way. As you focus on the part that you notice the most, See if you can find it in or around your body. Maybe it's a sensation like a tingling in the mouth or tightness or pressure in the chest. Maybe it's a color or an image like the part sitting in the forest around a campfire. Now just stay focused on the part until you get enough of a sense that you can get a sense of it so that you can represent it on the page in front of you. It doesn't have to be fancy art. Any kind of image is good. It could even be a scribble. But find a way to represent that part of you on the blank page and stay focused on the part until you know how to represent it and to draw it and know that you can pause this recording at any time and multiple times. Just make sure that you give yourself the space that you need. After you've put that first part on the page, Focus again on that same one. Notice again where you sense it in or around your body and just stay focused on it until you notice some kind of a shift and another trailhead, Another part that emerges. When that happens, Focus on the second one. Find it in or around your body or maybe it's a color or an image and stay with it until you can represent it on the page too. After you've drawn that second one, Go back to it again and stay with it until you notice yet another shift and another trailhead or parts that emerge. And then shift your focus to this new one. Find it in or around your body and stay with it until you know how to represent it on the page. And then once again, We'll go back to the third one. Focus on it where you sense it in or around your body and just stay present so that until still another trailhead or cluster of parts comes forward. Then shift to that one. Find it in or around your body. Stay with it until you can represent it on the page. And again, You can pause this recording as much as you need to to give yourself the space and you can repeat this process until you have a sense that you've mapped out one complete system inside of you. And when you feel that you've done that, You can shift your focus back outside to your surroundings. It's likely that you found one clove of the garlic in this exercise as Dick Schwartz calls it in IFS. You're probably familiar with the onion analogy. You peel off layers and you get to this core when you heal and you're done. But in IFS, We see it more like a garlic bulb. You have all these different cloves, Each of which has a handful of different parts that are related to each other. And maybe they're all stuck in one place in the past. As you work with one clove, You'll feel relief from the burdens it contained, But you may not have touched other cloves that revolved around other past experiences or traumas. So this mapping exercise is designed to bring forth one of your cloves, One subsystem within you. Feel free to continue and map out other cloves on other sheets of paper. But for now, Hold the page that you've been drawing on today a little bit away from you. Extend your arms with your piece of paper all the way out and look at these four or five parts you've represented with a little perspective. How do the parts relate to each other? Do some protect others? Do some fight with each other? Is there some kind of partnership or alliance there? As you start to form some answers, Make a note on your drawing to represent them. Now look at the parts again and explore how you feel toward each of them. When you're done with that, Think about what this system needs from you. Then finally, Take a second to focus inside again and thank all these parts for revealing themselves to you. And let them know again that this isn't the last time you'll be talking to them. Then you can shift your focus back outside again. You can open your eyes if they were closed and take another couple deep cleansing breaths and you can continue about your day. But thanks for joining me to all of your parts and to you for this meditation and exercise today. Take good care of yourself.

Reviews

It was exactly what I needed. I am in therapy right now and we are doing EMDR and parts. Thank you thank you thank you. Have so grateful for you

That was the most beautiful unburdening I've experienced to date. Thankyou. ✨

Oh so very helpful Tim. Thank you. This will transform my work outputs. Thank you. 🙏