The one that keeps coming back
Name something that keeps happening, recall two or three recent times lightly, notice which part shows up each time, and note it for later.
6 steps, drawn from 6 books on IFS.
Checked: each step was read against the book passages it rests on, and stays inside them.
Read every step first
- What keeps coming back. Name something that keeps happening in your life: a reaction, a kind of argument, a feeling that turns up in some version again and again. A few words is enough.
- A few times. Bring to mind a few of the times it has turned up. Only the headlines: where you were, what set it off. There is no need to replay them, and nothing from long ago.
- Who showed up. In each one, notice which part stepped in: the one that tensed, snapped, went quiet or took over. Was it the same part each time? Where did you feel it: jaw, chest, hands, voice?
- Note it for later. Often that is what IFS calls a trailhead: a sign of a part that is here. For now, just note it. Nothing needs solving today, and you can come back to this part when you have time alone.
- How loud is it now? The same scale you used at the start. A drop is worth noticing, and no change is fine too: you looked at the pattern instead of only living it.
- Back to the room. If it feels true, thank the part that keeps showing up for whatever it allowed you to notice. Tell it you will come back to it, only if you mean to. Then notice the room: your feet, what you can see.