"From The Bottom Up"  

                                                                                            
  Dr. Kathy McGuire, Director                                                Week One

 

 

Here you are learning the difference between thinking up an answer in your head and Intuitive Focusing:  waiting for a subtle "feel" of the whole thing, an "intuition,"  to form in the center of your body, and then creating 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. Eugene Gendlin, creator of the self-help process called Focusing (Bantam, 1981, 1984) calls it "the felt sense" of the whole thing.

 

 

 

     2.  From the Bottom Up -Allow 5-10 minutes

 

   Here's another method for finding the "intuitive feel" of the inside of your body, especially the space around the chest/heart area where you will experience the Creative Edge, the intuitive information that is more than words (Eugene Gendlin invented this):

 

---Close your eyes and get comfortable---loosen any clothing that is too tight---

1 minute

---Follow your breathing for a few moments, just noticing the breath, going in---and out-

1 minute

---Now, turn your attention to your right big toe---Can you feel your toe?---10 seconds

 

---Now, turn your attention to your knee---and feel your knee from the inside---10 sec

 

---Now, pay attention to your body where it touches the chair or floor---Feel everywhere that your body makes contact with the supporting surface---30 seconds

 

---Now, the inside of your chest, where your heart, lungs, diaphragm are --- this is where the felt sense, the "intuitive feel" comes--feel in there, inside---10 seconds

 

---Ask yourself, in there, "How am I today?" and wait and see what comes---If you wait for at least a minute, a "felt sense" will arise, a subtle "intuitive feel" of yourself, that is not in words---

1 minute

---Just be with the "intuitive feel" for a moment, feeling it and trying to find a short, feeling or "quality"  word (like "scared," "sad," "tense," "silly," "joyful" "red," "jumpy," "elastic") that captures the quality of the "intuitive feel"---Or you might find an image that is just right---or perhaps your body wants to move into a certain posture or gesture.

1 minute

---You can use this quality word or image or posture as a "handle" to hold on to an "intuitive feel" so that you can come back to it later for a Complete Focusing Turn ---

10 sec

---When you are ready, come slowly 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 and teachers, at the website for Creative Edge Focusing

 

You will also find this Getting a Felt Sense exercise in the Complete Focusing Instructions download at Creative Edge Focusing, p.9 : B. Getting A Felt Sense #2: "From The Bottom Up". You get it by joining our e-support group for further support in practicing Listening and Focusing.

 

If you order our Self-Help Package, you can listen on audio CD Intuitive Focusing: Disk One , Track 9, "From The Bottom Up," with Dr, McGuire's peaceful voice to keep you company -- and help you stay on track!!

 

And many of these exercises are in the Spanish version of the manual, Focusing En Comunidad. Order from our Store Self-Help Manuals, CDs, DVD.

 

Kathy McGuire, Director

Located by Beaver Lake in Rogers, AR, our goal is to support people in the practice of listening/focusing skills, throughout the world, and for personal growth, interpersonal conflict resolution, and creative individual and group problem solving.

Disclaimer: The instructions in Creative Edge Newsletters are offered purely as self-help skills. In providing them, Dr. McGuire is not engaged in rendering psychological, financial, legal, or other professional services. If expert assistance or counseling is needed, the services of a competent professional should be sought.