Pre-Focusing Practice
B. Getting A Felt Sense #1: The "Intuitive Feel" of Each Person
(from Complete Focusing Instructions)
Here you are learning the difference between thinking up an answer in your head and the second Step of Intuitive Focusing: Getting A Felt Sense.
In the first Step, you "Clear A Space" with relaxation or other exercises, setting aside already-known intellectualizations.
In the second Step, Getting A Felt Sense, you wait quietly, for as much as a minute, for a subtle "feel" of the whole thing, an "intuition," to form in the center of your body, and then create words or images that are just right to capture it. You are looking for the "intuitive feel," the Creative Edge, the right-brain information that is more than you can put into words. Gendlin (Focusing, Bantam, 1981, 1984) calls it "the felt sense" of the whole thing.
In this Pre-Focusing Practice exercise, I try to give you guided imagery that will evoke some strong, hard-to-miss bodily "felt senses."
Especially at the beginning, time those "1 minute" pauses for breathing in---and out--- You will be amazed at how long a minute is, how seldom we ever pause for a whole minute!!!
You can lie on the floor or, for most exercises, sit in a chair. If you fall asleep, it's okay! Means you need more rest! But you may also want to practice sitting up to avoid sleeping.
1. The "Intuitive Feel" of Each Person-Allow 10 minutes
(Joan Klagsbrun invented this exercise)
I'm going to invite you to imagine two doors. Behind the first will be someone that you feel good about. Behind the second will be someone who upsets you.
You will notice that you have a different experience of each person in the center of your body, around the chest and heart area. This experience, this "intuitive feel" without words, is the Creative Edge.
Although initially this experience comes as an "intuition," or a "feeling," without words, by paying attention to this "intuitive feel," you can create many new words and images, truly innovative ideas.
---Close your eyes and get comfortable---loosen any clothing that is too tight---
1 minute
---Just follow your breathing for a little while, noticing the breath going in---and out---
1 minute
---Now take a few moments to think about who the two people will be, one that you feel good about, one who upsets you.
1 minute
---And think about the kind of door you'll put each behind, the decorations, color---30 seconds
---Now, imagine yourself walking up to the first door and opening it---Here is the person that you feel good about---10 seconds
---Let yourself notice the "feel" of that person in your body---10 seconds
---Find some words or an image to describe it---30 seconds
---Next, bid that person "Goodbye," close the door, and walk away---10 seconds
---Now, imagine yourself walking up to the other door and opening it---Here is the person who upsets you---10 seconds
---Again, notice the "experience" of that person in the center of your body, the "intuitive feel---10 seconds
---Find some words or an image to describe it---30 seconds
---Next, bid that person "Goodbye," close the door, and walk away---10 seconds
---Now, spend a few moments comparing the two "felt senses," the good feelings and the uncomfortable feelings30 seconds
---These are the "bodily felt senses," the "intuitive feel" you have, of the two people involved. They are more than you could ever put into words, but you can make many words and images from them---30 seconds
--- Spend as long as you wish exploring these two experiences, going back and forth between the two "intuitive feels" and looking for words or images to describe the difference---
3 minutes
---And when you are ready, slowly bring your attention back into the room.
Remember, it can be much easier to learn Intuitive Focusing in the company of a Focused Listener. You can learn all about Focusing Listening, and find resources, at the website for Creative Edge Focusing (TM) And you will find additional Complete Focusing Instructions, for personal growth, creativity, and spirituality, in the Instant "Ahah!"s Mini-Manual, available along with newsletter subscription.
In order to download these free Complete Focusing Instructions, you joined the Creative Edge Focusing support and practice e-group. Please continue contributing and reading for constant support, demonstrations, and problem solving!! Hope to see you there!
If you have not purchased the audio CD in the Self-Help Package, before you begin, you may want to read all of the instructions into the tape recorder so that you can play them back to yourself later. You would need one sixty-minute tape for Pre-Focusing Exercises (and a second 90-minute tape for the three Complete Focusing Instructions at the end). Use a gentle, slowly-paced voice, leaving time as suggested between parts of the instruction (time those 1 minute pauses -- they are way longer than you can imagine!). The quiet time between instructions is an important time for just breathing---and relaxing. 
