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Explore a sample system

A hand where it lives

For a part you can feel in your body: find the place, rest a hand there and listen through it, then let go gently. About three minutes.

7 steps, drawn from 4 books on IFS.

Checked: each step was read against the book passages it rests on, and stays inside them.

Read every step first
  1. Where is it? Bring to mind a part that is around today: a feeling, a worry, a tightness. See where it shows up in your body. Chest, belly, throat, shoulders? Notice where your hand seems to want to go.
  2. Rest a hand there. If touch feels okay to this part, rest a hand on that place, just to be with it. If touch does not feel right to it, let the hand wait: skip it and simply notice the place.
  3. Listen through your hand. Listen through your hand. What is under it: warmth, tightness, a pulse, stillness? You might try a lighter touch, then a firmer one, or slower, or still. See which one this place seems to like.
  4. Breathe with it. Breathe slowly with your hand where it is. Let the hand say hello to the part, if that feels true. If slow breathing does not help, skip it and simply keep your hand there.
  5. Let go gently. When it feels like enough, lift your hand slowly. See if you can stay in touch with the place as the hand comes away, the way you keep listening after someone stops talking. Thank it, only if that is true for you.
  6. How loud is it now? The same scale you used at the start. Lower is worth noticing. The same is fine too: it does not mean you did it wrong.
  7. Back to the room. Notice the room again: what you can see, the seat under you. Let the part know this is not its last chance with you, and that you can come back another day to know it more.