Learn Focusing

8/9/2019 Learn Focusing

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Learn Focusing

More about Focusing

Focusing Proficiency

Focusing Fact Sheet

Focusing, by Eugene Gendlin

Introduction to UK edition of Focusing

Three Key Aspects of Focusing

Six Steps

Introductory Focusing Evenings

Nine-Month Focusing Program

Phone Sessions

Workshops

ooks! "ideo! and #udio

$ecommended books

Find a Focusing-%riented Psychotherapist

&o' to ecome a (rainer

ib)iographies

Primary bibliography of Eugene T Gendlincompiled by Frans !epestele

"ibliograf#a psicoterapia e$periencial %ES&

compiled by 'arlos Alemany

International "ibliography on E$periential

Psychotherapy and Focusing( )*+-. %ES&compiled by 'arlos Alemany
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'lient-'entered/E$periential Psychotherapy

"ibliographycompiled by Germain 0ietaer

Focusing Pro*iciency

Focusing is a s1ill that re2uires de3elopment o3er time, and ac2uires some of its

shape and color according to the life and goals of the practitioner In the course of

the *-month program,participants can e$pect to gain a fluency 4ith the practice,allo4ing them to apply Focusing and its principles to an e3er-broadening array of

conte$ts "elo4 is a general description of Focusing stages of proficiency The nine

month program is not a certification program 'lic1 hereto find out about ho4 tobecome a 'ertified Focusing Professional

S(#+E , Pro*iciencies

Focuser can sense the body, be 4ith it, from inside

Focuser can get a 5felt sense,5 a physical sensation that contains meaning and

pertains to a particular situation, for e$ample, an issue 4ith one6s 4or1, a creati3epro7ect or a relationship

Focuser can recogni8e ho4 a felt sense differs from feelings and emotions

Focuser can recogni8e 4hen 4ords or images ha3e come directly from the felt

sense

Focuser is able to notice 4hat 4ould feel right to say from the felt sense of aparticular situation

Focuser 1no4s 4hen a decision regarding the situation 5sits right5 and 4hen it does

not

Focuser can name or describe the cru$ of a situation in a 4ay that 5fits5 the feltsense

Focuser is able to recogni8e a distinct bodily 1no4ing e3en 4hen she/he has no

4ords yet to describe it

S(#+E Pro*iciencies

Focuser is able to access a felt sense easily and comfortably

Focuser can stay 4ith and return to a felt sense, so that it is a stable referent e3en asit may open and shift
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Focuser recogni8es and is comfortable 4ith the e$perience of not 4anting to attend

to a particular situation or bodily 1no4ing

Focuser 1no4s ho4 to stay near something difficult, neither lea3ing it nor goingfurther into it

Focuser is able to find a 5right distance5 from difficult or comple$ issues

Focuser is able to ha3e self-empathy, friendly attitudes to4ard oneself and the

bodily 1no4ledge that arises, e3en 4hen it in3ol3es suffering or seemingly5negati3e5 things

Focuser can easily get a felt sense of 4hat is in the 4ay 4hen friendly attitudes

seem impossible

Focuser is able to identify the se3eral 5situations5 being carried by her/his body 7ust

no4, and to 5place5 them one at a time, gently, at some distance from the bodyEach placing brings a release of tension in the body

Focuser is able to connect intellectual understanding 4ith bodily 1no4ing, and to

carry on a dialogue bet4een the t4o

S(#+E . Pro*iciencies

Focuser is able to attend to a felt sense and allo4 many aspects of it to emerge

Focuser often finds 4hole ne4 fields or 5subte$ts5 emerging from a felt sense

Focuser can let the subte$ts inform a resulting decision on an issue

Focuser can choose to 4ait for subte$t changes before ta1ing action on a particular

situation

Focuser recogni8es ne4 possibilities 4ithin a situation, 4hich 4ere not apparentfrom the original 5gi3en facts5 9e4 facts can be formulated

Focuser can disco3er ne4 2uestions arising from the felt sense of a situation,

leading to a ne4 gathering of information

Focuser is able to ma1e better decisions based on greater bodily 1no4ledge

Focuser finds an e$panded bodily-sensed realm in 4hich one can mo3e bet4eendifferent 5places,5 clusters, and attitudes

Focuser can choose to li3e from the intricacy 4hich is no4 al4ays accessible


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Focuser e$periences a sense of reliable safety inside

Fact Sheet

What is Focusing/

Focusing is a mode of in4ard bodi)yattention that most people don6t 1no4 aboutyet It is more than being in touch 4ith your feelings and different from body 4or1

Focusing occurs e$actly at the interface of body-mind It consists of specific steps

for getting a body sense of ho4 you are in a particular life situation The body

senseis unclear and 3ague at first, but if you pay attention it 4ill open up into4ords or images and you e$perience a *e)t shi*tin your body

In the process of Focusing, one e$periences a physical change in the 4ay that the

issue is being li3ed in the body :e learn to li3e in a deeper place than 7ust thoughts

or feelings The 4hole issue loo1s different and ne4 solutions arise

What #re the ene*its o* Focusing/

Focusing helps to change 4here our li3es are stuc1 The *e)t shi*tthat occurs during

Focusing is good for the body, and is correlated 4ith better immune functioning

;ore than ) research studies ha3e sho4n that Focusing is teachable and effecti3ein many settings Focusing decreases depression and an$iety and impro3es the

relation to the body

Who 0an Learn Focusing/ What is # Focusing Partnership/

Focusing can be taught to anyone< ;ost people learn best in Focusing Partnerships

First, one is guided through the process Second, some didactic understanding ofthe process is gi3en "ecause Focusing is not a set of ideas, but an e$periential

process, it is best discussed after e$periencing it (hird, people practice 4ith each

other, using listening s1ills Focusing guiding instructions and Focusingpartnerships 'lic1 herefor more information, or to register and then find a partner

&o' 0an I Learn More #bout Focusing/

The Focusing Institute has an international net4or1 of certified Focusing teachers4ho are trained in intensi3e t4o-year e$periential programs 'lic1 hereto locate a

Focusing teacher or partner near you

The Focusing Institute recommends the follo4ing boo1s in our "oo1store(

Focusing, "antam "oo1s, )*=) %a3ailable in ). languages&

Focusing Oriented Psychotherapy, Guilford Press, )**+
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The Power of Focusing, 9e4 >arbinger Publications, )**+

Excerpts *rom the introduction by Mari)yn Ferguson1

Focusing, the techni2ue described in the pages of this boo1, is uni2uely suited to

our turbulent times 4hen so many old forms are crumbling and old roles are3anishing ;ost of us are ha3ing to in3ent, disco3er and create the ne$t steps of our

li3es 4ithout a light, a map, or a rele3ant tradition :e are trying to 1eep apace of

rapidly changing technology, trying to understand oursel3es and our relationships,see1ing ne4 4ays to be 4ell, loo1ing for meaning in our 4or1 and a ne4 center of

gra3ity 4ithin oursel3es Focusing is a 1ey to personal momentum and unfolding,

a dynamic process that can guide us through the tric1y ma8e4ays of a ne4 4orld

0i1e any po4erful, ne4 idea, focusing is not readily described in old terms Itmo3es us into unfamiliar territory, the realm of creati3e potential that 4e ha3e

usually considered the pro3ince of artists and in3entors

?ur brains and bodies 1no4 far more than is normally a3ailable to us :e are

conscious of only a fragment of 4hat 4e deeply 1no4 The comple$ body-mindcan pro3ide ne4 steps ?ur deepest bodily 1no4ledge can be 4elcomed and then

li3ed further Focusing, 4hose steps are described 4ith care and clarity, taps and

articulates ne4 subliminal 1no4ing It befriends and listens to 5the body5, a term@that is used comprehensi3ely to mean the total brain-mind en3ironment as 4e

sense it

Focusing is at once richly comple$ and surprisingly simple It is mental and

1inesthetic, mysterious in its capacity to summon buried 4isdom, holistic in its

respect for the 5felt sense5 of a problem An effecti3e method in itself, it is also3aluable in con7unction 4ith a 3ariety of psychotherapies, 4ith biofeedbac1, 4ith

meditation, to unbloc1 the creati3e process and define problems

In short, focusing 4or1s for any form of 5stuc1ness5

Focusing gre4 out of the obser3ation by Gendlin and his co-4or1ers that manypeople 4ere not being helped by traditional therapy Those greatly impro3ed 4ere

distincti3e in their ability to tap an internal process ignored by most clients @>e

determined to understand this process so it could be taught and used by anyone

Focusing mo3es in4ard, dra4ing on information from the deeper, 4iser self %5thebody5& If the right steps come, usually 4ithin half a minute or so, the felt shift or

bodily release occurs The felt shift is essentially identical to the freeing insight

of the creati3e process The spontaneously creati3e person had learned to payattention to at first 3ague impressions that open into ne4 meaning Focusing

impro3es scores on many measures of creati3ity most approaches to teaching

creati3ity focus on the negati3e( ho4 to let go of old beliefs "ut there are fe4strategies for approaching the ne4 Focusing is such a method It helps to ma1e the
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implicit e$plicit It dra4s fu88y, pre3erbal 1no4ledge into definition and

e$pression

Focusing can foster ma7or shifts :ith these more profound changes a body shiftsometimes occurs 4ithout the usual accompanying 4ords, phrases or images 5A

4hole constellation is changing The ideas are so ne4 4e don6t yet ha3e a 4ay total1 about them5

Usually, he said, 4e react in accustomed 4ays, 5repac1ing our e$periences in thesame old concepts, 4hen 4hat 4e need is to let something 4ider in5 If the focuser

stays 4ith the bodily sense of the shifting constellation, e3entually ne4 language

and ne4 metaphors, appropriate to the fresh understanding, 4ill emerge

Focusingis no con3entional repac1aging of self-help 4isdom It is at once a manualand a philosophy It tal1s about the body6s 4isdom, the steps of the focusing

techni2ue, ho4 to disco3er the richness in others by learning to listen It loo1s at the

potential for a ne4 1ind of relationship and a ne4 1ind of society, transcendingoutmoded roles and patterns 5A ne4 society is forming one in 4hich the

indi3iduals are much more de3eloped and a4are than has been true throughout

history A society of pattern-ma1ers is coming5

This boo1 is about that society and about ho4 4e can ease its emergence by helpingoursel3es and each other

(hree 2ey #spects o* Focusing

by #nn Weiser 0orne))

This article is excerpted from the audiotape calledIntroduction to Focusing, byAnn Weiser Cornell, available for $7!" #$" postage %& ' Canada, $("postage all other) from Focusing *esources, +" Alcatra Avenue, -.,/er0eley CA !(7."17.2hone3 "4.1+"(1(54! Fax3 "4.1+"(145"+ 6mail3 acornell8aolcom

There are three 1ey 2ualities or aspects 4hich set Focusing apart from any othermethod of inner a4areness and personal gro4th The first is something called the

5felt sense5 The second is a special 2uality of engaged accepting inner attention

And the third is a radical philosophy of 4hat facilitates change 0etBs ta1e these oneby one

The Focusing process in3ol3es coming into the body, and finding there a special

1ind of body sensation called a 5felt sense5 Eugene Gendlin 4as the first person to

name and point to a felt sense, e3en though human beings ha3e been ha3ing feltsenses as long as theyB3e been human A felt sense, to put it simply, is a body

sensation that has meaning CouB3e certainly been a4are of a felt sense at some time

in your life, and possibly you feel them often
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Imagine being on the phone 4ith someone you lo3e 4ho is far a4ay, and you really

miss that person, and you 7ust found out in this phone call that youBre not going tobe seeing them soon Cou get off the phone, and you feel a hea3iness in your chest,

perhaps around the heart area ?r letBs say youBre sitting in a room full of people and

each person is going to ta1e a turn to spea1, and as the turn comes closer and closer

to you, you feel a tightness in your stomach, li1e a spring 4inding tighter andtighter ?r letBs say youBre ta1ing a 4al1 on a beautiful fresh morning, 7ust after a

rain, and you come o3er a hill, and there in the air in front of you is a perfect

rainbo4, both sides touching the ground, and as you stand there and ga8e at it youfeel your chest 4elling up 4ith an e$pansi3e, flo4ing, 4arm feeling These are all

felt senses

If youBre operating purely 4ith emotions, then fear is fear ItBs 7ust fear, no more "ut

if youBre operating on the felt sense le3el, you can sense that this fear, the one youBrefeeling right no4, is different from the fear you felt yesterday ;aybe yesterdayBs

fear 4as li1e a cold roc1 in the stomach, and todayBs fear is li1e a pulling bac1,

4ithdra4ing As you stay 4ith todayBs fear, you start to sense something li1e a shycreature pulled bac1 into a ca3e Cou get the feeling that if you sit 4ith it long

enough, you might e3en find out the real reason that it is so scared A felt sense is

often subtle and as you pay attention to it you disco3er that it is intricate It hasmore to it :e ha3e a 3ocabulary of emotions that 4e feel o3er and o3er again, but

e3ery felt sense is different Cou can ho4e3er start 4ith an emotion, and then feel

the felt sense of it, as you are feeling it in your body right no4

Felt sensing is not something that other methods teach There is no one else, outsideof Focusing, 4ho is tal1ing about this dimension of e$perience 4hich is not

emotion and not thought, 4hich is subtle yet concretely felt, absolutely physically

real Felt sensing is one of the things that ma1es it Focusing

The second 1ey aspect of Focusing is a special quality of engaged accepting innerattention

In the Focusing process, after you are a4are of the felt sense, you then bring to it a

special 2uality of attention ?ne 4ay I li1e to say this is, you sit down to get to

know it better I li1e to call this 2uality 5interested curiosity5 "y bringing thisinterested curiosity into a relationship 4ith the felt sense, you are open to sensing

that 4hich is there but not yet in 4ords This process of sensing ta1es time-it is not

instant So ideally there is a 4illingness to ta1e that time, to 4ait, at the edge of not-yet-1no4ing 4hat this is, patient, accepting, curious, and open Slo4ly, you sense

more This can be a bit li1e coming into a dar1ened room and sitting, and as your

eyes get used the the lo4er light, you sense more there than you had before Cou

could also ha3e come into that room and then rushed a4ay again, not caring tosense anything there It is the caring to, the interest, the 4anting to get to 1no4 it,

that brings the further 1no4ing

There is not a trying to change anything There is no doing something to anythingIn this sense, this process is 3ery accepting :e accept that this felt sense is here,


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7ust as it is, right no4 :e are interested in how it is :e 4ant to 1no4 it, 7ust as it

is

Cet there is something more than 7ust accepting In this interested curious innerattention, there is also a confident e$pectation that this felt sense 4ill change in its

o4n 4ay, that it 4ill do something that Gene Gendlin calls 5ma1ing steps5 :hat is5ma1ing steps5D

The inner 4orld is ne3er static :hen you bring a4areness to it, it unfolds, mo3es,becomes its ne$t step

A 4oman is Focusing, letBs say, on a hea3y feeling in her chest 4hich she feels is

connected 4ith a relationship 4ith a friend The Focuser recently left her 7ob, and

she has 7ust disco3ered that the friend is applying for the position She has beentelling herself that this is not important, but the feeling of something 4rong has

persisted 9o4 she sits do4n to Focus

She brings a4areness into the throat-chest-stomach area of her body and she soondisco3ers this hea3y feeling 4hich has been around all 4ee1 She says hello to it

She describes it freshly( 5hea3y also tight especially in the stomach and chest5

Then she sits 4ith it to get to 1no4 it better She is interested and curious 9otice

ho4 this interested and curious is the opposite of the telling herself that this is notimportant 4hich she had been doing before She 4aits, 4ith this engaged accepting

attention

She can feel that this part of her is angry 5>o4 could sheD >o4 could she do thatD5

it says about her friend ?rdinarily she 4ould be tempted to tell herself that beingangry is inappropriate, but this is Focusing, so she 7ust says to this place, 5I hear

you,5 and 1eeps 4aiting Interested and curious for the 5more5 that is there

In a minute she begins to sense that this part of her is also sad 5Sad5 surprises hershe didnBt e$pect sad She as1s, 5?h, 4hat gets you sadD5 In response, she senses

that it is something about being in3alidated She 4aits, there is more ?h, something

about not being belie3ed< :hen she gets that, something about not being belie3ed, a

rush of memories comes, all the times she told her friend ho4 difficult her boss is to4or1 for 5ItBs as if she didnBt belie3e me


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Focusing brings insight and relief, but thatBs not all it brings It also brings ne4

beha3ior In the case of this 4oman, 4e can easily imagine that her 4ay of being4ith her friend 4ill no4 be more open, more appropriately trusting It may also be

that other areas of her life 4ere bound up 4ith this 5not being belie3ed5 feeling, and

they too 4ill shift after this process This ne4 beha3ior happens naturally, easily,

4ithout ha3ing to be done by 4ill po4er or effort And this brings us to the thirdspecial 2uality of Focusing

The third 1ey 2uality or aspect 4hich sets Focusing apart from any other method of

inner a4areness and personal gro4th isa radical philosophy of what facilitates

change

>o4 do 4e changeD >o4 do 4e not changeD If you are li1e many of the people

4ho are dra4n to Focusing, you probably feelstuck or blocked in one or more areas

of your life There issomething about you, or your circumstances, or your feelingsand reactions to things, that you 4ould li1e to change That is 3ery natural "ut let

us no4 contrast t4o 4ays of approaching this 4ish to change

?ne 4ay assumes that to ha3e something change, you must ma1e it change Cou

must do something to it :e can call this the !oing/Fi$ing 4ay

The other 4ay, 4hich 4e can call the "eing/Allo4ing 4ay, assumes that change andflo4 is the natural course of things, and 4hen something seems not to change, 4hat

it needs is attention and a4areness, 4ith an attitude of allo4ing it to be as it is, yet

open to its ne$t steps

?ur e3eryday li3es are deeply permeated 4ith the !oing/Fi$ing assumption :henyou tell a friend about a problem, ho4 often is their response to gi3e you ad3ice on

fi$ing the problemD ;any of our modern therapy methods carry this assumption as

4ell 'ogniti3e therapy, for e$ample, as1s you to change your self-tal1>ypnotherapy often brings in ne4 images and beliefs to replace the old So the

"eing/Allo4ing philosophy, embodied in Focusing, is a radical philosophy It turns

around our usual e$pectations and 4ays of 3ie4ing the 4orld ItBs as if I 4ere to sayto you that this chair you are sitting on 4ould li1e to become an elephant, and if you

4ill 7ust gi3e it interested attention it 4ill begin to transform :hat a 4ild idea< Cet

that is ho4 4ild it sounds, to some deeply ingrained part of oursel3es, 4hen 4e are

told that a fear that 4e ha3e might transform into something 4hich is not at all fear,if it is gi3en interested attention

:hen people 4ho are in3ol3ed in Focusing tal1 about the 54isdom of the body5

this is 4hat they mean( that the felt sense 51no4s5 4hat it needs to become ne$t, assurely as a baby 1no4s it needs 4armth and comfort and food As surely as a radish

seed 1no4s it 4ill gro4 into a radish :e ne3er ha3e to tell the felt sense 4hat to

become 4e ne3er ha3e to ma1e it change :e 7ust need to pro3ide the conditions

4hich allo4 it to change, li1e a good gardener pro3iding light and soil and 4ater,but not telling the radish to become a cucumber


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#n Introduction to Focusing1 Six Steps

@These Si$ Steps are also a3ailable in 9ederlands, !eutsch, Espaol, !ans1,

>ebre4 %P!F&,Italiano, Portugues, Suomi andapanese

Introduction

;ost people find it easier to learn focusing through indi3idual instruction than

through simply reading about it The actual process of focusing, e$perienced from

the inside, is fluid and open, allo4ing great room for indi3idual differences and4ays of 4or1ing Cet to introduce the concepts and fla3or of the techni2ue, some

structure can be useful :e offer one approach here( si$ steps Although these steps

may pro3ide a 4indo4 into focusing, it is important to remember that they are notT>E si$ steps Focusing has no rigid, fi$ed agenda for the inner 4orld many

focusing sessions bear little resemblance to the mechanical process that 4e definehere Still, e3ery Focusing Trainer is deeply familiar 4ith these si$ steps, and usesthem as needed throughout a focusing session And many people ha3e had success

getting in touch 4ith the heart of the process 7ust by follo4ing these simple

instructions

There are other 4ays of describing the focusing process Indeed, e3ery FocusingTrainer has his or her o4n 4ay of approaching it 'lic1 hereto see short forms of

steps that other Focusing Teachers ha3e de3eloped

So, 4ith the ca3eat that 4hat follo4s is a simple scaffolding for you to use as long

as itBs useful and then to mo3e beyond, 4e offer to you si$ steps, a taste of theprocess

What *o))o's is a )ight)y edited excerpt *rom (he Focusing Manua)! chapter

*our o* Focusing

The inner act of focusing can be bro1en do4n into si$ main sub-acts or mo3ementsAs you gain more practice, you 4on6t need to thin1 of these as si$ separate parts of

the process To thin1 of them as separate mo3ements ma1es the process seem more

mechanical than it is H or 4ill be, for you, later I ha3e subdi3ided the process in this4ay because I63e learned from years of e$perimenting that this is one of the

effecti3e 4ays to teach focusing to people 4ho ha3e ne3er tried it before

Thin1 of this as only the basics As you progress and learn more about focusing you

4ill add to these basic instructions, clarify them, approach them from other anglesE3entually H perhaps not the first time you go through it H you 4ill ha3e the

e$perience of something shifting inside
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So here are the focusing instructions in brief form, manual style If you 4ant to try

them out, do so easily, gently If you find difficulty in one step or another, donBtpush too hard, 7ust mo3e on to the ne$t one Cou can al4ays come bac1

0)earing a space

:hat I 4ill as1 you to do 4ill be silent, 7ust to yourself Ta1e a moment 7ust to rela$

All right H no4, inside you, I 4ould li1e you to pay attention in4ardly, in your

body, perhaps in your stomach or chest 9o4 see 4hat comes there4hen you as1,5>o4 is my life goingD :hat is the main thing for me right no4D5 Sense 4ithin

your body 0et the ans4ers come slo4ly from this sensing :hen some concern

comes, !? 9?T G? I9SI!E IT Stand bac1, say 5Ces, that6s there I can feel that,there5 0et there be a little space bet4een you and that Then as1 4hat else you feel

:ait again, and sense Usually there are se3eral things

Fe)t Sense

From among 4hat came, select one personal problem to focus on !? 9?T G?I9SI!E IT Stand bac1 from it ?f course, there are many parts to that one thing

you are thin1ing about H too many to thin1 of each one alone "ut you can feelall of

these things together Pay attention there 4here you usually feel things, and in there

you can get a sense of 4hat all of the problem feels li1e 0et yourself feel theunclear sense of all of that.

&and)e

:hat is the 2uality of this unclear felt senseD 0et a 4ord, a phrase, or an image

come up from the felt sense itself It might be a 2uality-4ord, li1e tight, sticky,scary, stuck, heavy, jumpyor a phrase, or an image Stay 4ith the 2uality of the felt

sense till something fits it 7ust right

$esonating

Go bac1 and forth bet4een the felt sense and the 4ord %phrase, or image& 'hec1

ho4 they resonate 4ith each other See if there is a little bodily signal that lets you1no4 there is a fit To do it, you ha3e to ha3e the felt sense there again, as 4ell as

the 4ord 0et the felt sense change, if it does, and also the 4ord or picture, until

they feel 7ust right in capturing the 2uality of the felt sense

#sking

9o4 as1( 4hat is it, about this 4hole problem, that ma1es this 2uality %4hich you

ha3e 7ust named or pictured&D ;a1e sure the 2uality is sensed again, freshly, 3i3idly

%not 7ust remembered from before& :hen it is here again, tap it, touch it, be 4ith it,as1ing, 5:hat ma1es the 4hole problem so D5 ?r you as1, 5:hat is in this

senseD5


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If you get a 2uic1 ans4er 4ithout a shift in the felt sense, 7ust let that 1ind of

ans4er go by Jeturn your attention to your body and freshly find the felt senseagain Then as1 it again

"e 4ith the felt sense till something comes along 4ith a shift, a slight 5gi3e5 or

release

$eceiving

Jecei3e 4hate3er comes 4ith a shift in a friendly 4ay Stay 4ith it a 4hile, e3en ifit is only a slight release :hate3er comes, this is only one shift there 4ill be

others Cou 4ill probably continue after a little 4hile, but stay here for a fe4

moments

IF !UJI9G T>ESE I9STJU'TI?9S S?;E:>EJE C?U >AE SPE9T A0ITT0E :>I0E SE9SI9G A9! T?U'>I9G A9 U9'0EAJ >?0ISTI' "?!C

SE9SE ?F T>IS PJ?"0E;, T>E9 C?U >AE F?'USE! It doesnBt matter4hether the body-shift came or not It comes on its o4n :e donBt control that

Instructions *or Not Fo))o'ing Instructions

IsnBt it 4rong to publish instructions for in4ard personal processD

?ne danger 4ith a set of instructions is that people might use them to close off other

4ays Anything human in3ol3es more than one method Please notice, 4e donBt say

that this method is all you need or might find 3aluable >ad 4e said that, 4e hopeyou 4ould ha3e thought us stupid

Anything you learn here can go 4ell 4ith anything else that you may find helpful If

there seems to be a contradiction, go easy 0et your o4n steps find the 4ay to

reconcile the contradiction

There are other reasons one might not li1e specifics, such as these steps

Instructions may seem to diminish mystery and openness, although that is not so

Also, 4ritten instructions cannot a3oid misunderstandings 9o formula fits e3ery

person Any4ay, one must find oneBs o4n path

These problems occur 4ith all types of 1no4ledge about humans

dopt a !split"level! approach to all instructions# ?n the one hand follo4 the

instructions e$actly, so that you can disco3er the e$periences to 4hich they point

?n the other hand be sensiti3e to yourself and your o4n body Assume that only

sound e$pansi3e e$periences are 4orth ha3ing The moment doing it feels wrong in


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your body, stop following the instruction, and back up slightly. $tay there with your

attention until you can sense e%actly what is going wrong.

These are 3ery e$act instructions for ho4 not to follo4 instructionsuman nature is not fi$ed

and not 1no4able in some single system That is fortunate 9o 1no4ledge can pushyou out of the dri3erBs seat of your life Especially not our 1no4ledge here, 4hich is

to be about findingyour own process'

Therefore this 1no4ledge, here, must arrange for itself to be superseded by you, as

you sense for 4hat feels sound, inside you Instructions for not follo4inginstructions are the essence of focusing H oneBs o4n in4ardly opening steps

If you stop and sense 4hatBs 4rong at any point, and if you 4ait there until that

opens and re3eals itself, you can ma1e good use of all sorts of methods and

instructions Cou do any method better than its authors can arrange

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