~ April 2011 ~
In This Issue
MEET YOUR SHADOW SELVES
UPCOMING COURSE
INSIGHT TO ACTION COACHING
WRITING FROM THE SOUL
Quick Links
NEWSLETTER ARCHIVES

"FREEING THE TRAPPED MUSE" INTERVIEW WITH DEBBIE FORD

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MEET YOUR SHADOW SELVES

Perhaps all the dragons of our lives are

princesses who are only waiting to see us

once, beautiful and brave.

Perhaps everything terrible is

in its deepest being

something that needs our love.          

~ Ranier Maria Rilke


 
Our personalities are comprised of many parts, called subpersonalities.  Subpersonalities are psychological configurations, discrete patterns of feeling, thought, and behavior that emerge into  awareness when drawn upon by different life situations.  For example, you may express the decisive, confident part of yourself at work, but feel like a young child when you're visiting your parents.  We have numerous subselves: The Inner Critic, Rebel, Nurturer, Pleaser, Artist, Controller, Frightened Child, and many more.  The poet Fernando Pessoa wrote, "In every corner of my soul there's an altar to a different god."   

We're usually happy to have positive selves such as The Helper or The Entrepreneur, but we often treat our shadow selves as unwelcome visitors.
In an attempt to always be upbeat, loving, and light, we consciously and unconsciously distance ourselves from our "dark side," our challenging attributes and feelings.  If some of our traits and tendencies aren't in accord with who we want to be or think we should be, we relegate them to the dark corners of our psyche.  In so doing, we cut ourselves off from the full range of who we are.  As we become willing to recognize and get to know these disowned parts of ourselves, we start to feel more whole.  No longer fighting and resisting our humanness, we become more authentic and open up to a much wider range of human experience.

 

By acknowledging our shadow selves we can get to the root of what fuels them. For example, it's possible that a hurt and lonely child is at the core of your Inner Perfectionist.  You may have become perfectionistic as a way to gain a sense of control in your life or, perhaps, you discovered when you were young that always getting everything "just right" would engender approval from others.  When we access the source of our subpersonalities, we uncover deep unmet needs and can then start to find healthy ways of addressing them.  You might let that lonely child within you speak up in ways that she never could in the family, or she may need to stomp and yell.  As we unearth and attend to these unmet needs, the subpersonalities lose their tight grip on us.

 

By exploring the wounded parts of ourselves we're allowing for feelings that may have been buried for years. 
Our full emotional nature can then be felt and expressed.  Embracing the whole range of our subpersonalities and opening to what is at their core is a way to honor our humanness.  We are human beings as well as divine beings!  Shadow work helps us to become whole.  

 


TRY THIS EXERCISE:

Shadow Subpersonality Dialogue  

 

1.  Choose a personality trait that you want to explore.

 

2.  Find a comfortable place to sit and gently close your eyes.  Bring your  

     attention to your breathing and follow the breath for two or three minutes,  

     as it comes in and goes out, letting yourself relax as you align with the  

     breath.     

 

3.  Reflect on this trait, and let an image form that represents this part of you.   

     This image could be a man, woman, animal, object, or aspect of nature.   

     Let the image emerge spontaneously.  

 

4.  When the image appears, give it time to reveal itself.     

   

5.  Let the image have a voice, and then you will ask some questions, such as  

     "What is your name?  How do you operate in my life?  Where do you come  

     from?  What do you want?  What do you really need?  What do you need  

     from me?  What can I learn from having you in my life?  What gifts do you  

     bring?"   

 

6.  Then express anything you want to this shadow self. Ask any other  

     questions that are relevant to you.     

 

7.  When you feel complete, take some time to write about what occurred.   

   

8.  You can repeat this exercise as often as you want.  

 

Note: If you find this process becomes 

too intense for you, just stop, take some deep breaths, and become centered again.  You can try the exercise another time.  If it continues to be too challenging, you may want to seek professional help to continue exploring your shadow.

   

 


UPCOMING COURSE

BASIC GUIDED IMAGERY CERTIFICATION COURSE


In this one-day accelerated in-person certification course you will learn innovative imagery techniques and guidelines for the successful use of imagery for your own healing and transformation and/or to expand the scope of your practice and your work with clients.


You will learn:

  • Specific Imagery Techniques for Intuitive Decision-Making
  • How to Access the 'Inner Healer', 'Inner Entrepreneur' and Other Positive Selves Through Psychosynthesis Subpersonality Work
  • How to Apply the Healing and Symbols Process to Financial and Career Issues
  • How to Integrate Imagery Into Daily Life
  • How to Use All of the Senses to Increase the Effectiveness of Imagery

For helping professionals of all kinds: teachers, coaches, somatic practitioners, hypnotherapists, psychotherapists, social workers, nurses and physicians

Saturday, April 30

9:30 am - 6:00 pm
The Center for Hypnotherapy
Oakland, CA
Hypnotherapists and nurses will receive CEUs

$177 before April 17,  $197 after April 17
  


INSIGHT TO ACTION COACHING
  
INSIGHT TO ACTION COACHING phone or in-person coaching can help you:
  • Achieve your personal and professional goals
  • Navigate through periods of transition
  • Develop strengths and seed potentials
  • Find your purpose and passion
  • Overcome blocks and limiting patterns
  • Quiet the voice of the Inner Critic
  • Access inner knowing for decision-making and clarity about your goals and life direction
  • Ignite and sustain your creativity 
  • Create action steps that generate tangible results
I specialize in helping clients overcome blocks of all kinds and translate ideas and visions into concrete action.  Fees for individual sessions are based on a sliding scale.  A coaching package is available, as well.

Contact me if you'd like a FREE CONSULTATION.
[email protected] or (415)721-0766


Purple flowers
WRITING FROM THE SOUL
Writing for Creative Expression and Spiritual Growth  


In these ongoing, drop in groups you will learn processes to free your imagination, develop ease and confidence in writing, cultivate your unique writing voice, and overcome blocks of writing.

San Rafael, CA (Call for address)
Alternate Thursdays
7:30 - 9:30 pm

Oakland, CA (6239 College Ave.)
Last Sunday of each month
6:15 - 8:15 pm

All levels of experience and all types of writing are welcome.


INDIVIDUAL COACHING SESSIONS (phone or in-person) to assist you in any or all stages of the writing process: 
  • Start, develop, and/or complete writing projects
  • Learn how to ignite and sustain motivation
  • Overcome writer's block
  • Discover your natural writing voice
  • Develop confidence and ease in writing
  • Create attainable short and long term goals 
 A FREE CONSULTATION is available. 

Pink Blossom Bar 

For information or to sign up for courses or free consultations, contact me at [email protected] or (415)721-0766. 

Click here
to visit my website if you'd like to learn more about my phone or in-person Insight to Action Coaching, Caregiver Coaching, Writing from the Soul Programs, or The Soul of Caregiving. 

A Free Consultation is available.  You can also sign up for my free monthly newsletter.
 
to sign up for a FREE CONSULTATION with Susanne West