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Explore a sample system

Walks ยท one sitting, about 9 min

A part that answers in pictures

Start from a part you already know and ask it one question. Let the answer come as a picture, a colour, a shape, a movement or a nonhuman form, and tell it back to check you got it.

10 steps, drawn from 19 books on IFS.

A draft: every passage it quotes is in its book, but its own wording has not yet been checked against them.

Read every step first
  1. A part that answers without words. Some parts answer with a picture, a colour, a shape, a movement, or a form that is not a person: an animal, a stone, weather. This walk starts from a part you already know. You ask it one question, and whatever comes back counts as the answer.
  2. Settle. Sit or lie however suits you, eyes open or closed. If breathing helps today, breathe slowly into your belly a few times, then let it be. If not, skip it.
  3. Pick a part you know. Bring to mind a part you already know a little. Where do you notice it, in your body or around it? It does not have to show up as a picture. Any way you sense it will do.
  4. How do you feel toward it? Before you offer it anything, check how you feel toward it. Your breath may give you a clue: easy, or caught. Answer with what is true rather than what sounds right.
  5. Ask it one question. Ask it, and mean it: what would you like me to know? Then wait without finding words for it. The answer may be an image, a shape, a colour, a movement, a sound, or something that is not a person at all. Any of those is an answer.
  6. What kind of answer was it? Not what it means yet, only what kind it was. You do not have to turn it into a person or into words.
  7. Look at it as it is. Describe it as it is: its size, its colour, how it moves or holds still. If it is a stone, it is a stone. Use whatever senses work for you. Some people are not good at pictures, and sound or touch is just as good.
  8. Did you get it right? Tell it back what you saw, in your own words, and ask whether that is right. A nod, a shift in the picture, a change in the feeling in your body: any of those is a yes.
  9. Thank it. Thank it for showing you.
  10. Before you go. Thank any part that came forward or made room, if that feels true. If you mean to come back, tell them so. When you are ready, come back to the room: feel your feet and look around.
  11. Then both can sit up front. Then the one that reacted can come and sit up front as well. Neither has to leave. You will offer the breath to whichever of them wants it.
  12. Seen, and not today. If a younger part showed itself, let it know you saw it and will not forget it. You are not going to it today. If you want, jot a note so you can find your way back. That may be plenty for one sitting.
  13. Ask the other part for some room. Turn toward the part that has strong feelings about the first one. Ask if it would give you a little room for a few minutes. It does not have to leave. If it worries the first part will take over, let it know you will keep things steady.