I’ve known for a while that when I was little, one of the reason’s I had such a drive to excel academically was to get love and attention. What I didn’t realize was that this belief—learning being a critical way to get love—was still running the show!

The spiral of silence is that we stay silent with our opinions that we sense are in the minority. As a result, we stay silent on many things: what our opinions and emotions are, especially about contentious issues like climate change.

A lot of the time, we are Focusing with something holistically, being with the whole of it. But sometimes, what comes forward are particular “parts” of ourselves. In a way patterns or habitual ways of reacting or thinking in given situations. There are many ways to work with these parts, and this blog will dive into ways that Focusing and other tools can be used to help.

The inclusion of heart energy or self-compassion during the receiving step adds a new element to the focusing attitude. In order to maximize its benefits, it is helpful to activate this energy at the beginning of a focusing session, so we have it online when we get to the felt sense of an issue.

Three points that gave me clarity on Gendlin Focusing book. Some thoughts to better understand what is a handle, how we get felt shifts, and the importance of the focusing attitude.

How can we shift our habits? One way is to tap into the possibility of another way with Focusing. We then need to practice the new habit, until it becomes praxis (at least most of the time).

In this blog, I cover the parts and qualities of our selves we can map with the felt sense body cards. I’ve found this work to be the best use of the cards. However, they are also quite useful for recording what comes in any Focusing session.

A really powerful and personal way to find calm is to visit a memory of a time we have felt this way in real life. For many, this is a time in nature. This blog explores ways to achieve calm, and what to do if finding calm is elusive.