Deep Parts Wisdom Circle (2023)
A series of IFS Informed Workshops with Mindfulness, Self Compassion, Visualisation, Embodied Movement, Creative Expression & Journalling
Please register and ask for more information here: saraphillipsnsw@gmail.com
What parts are getting in the way of you feeling harmony within yourself and in your life?
What parts are stopping you from having an enlivened response to the world ?
Is it fear, grief, anger, confusion, or numbness /powerlessness/hopelessness that is keeping you stuck?
If you are like me, on any given day, in any given moment, it might be a particular part that is trying to ‘drive’ your life or you might feel an internal tug-o-war as several parts are pushing and pulling you in different directions keeping you stuck and causing distress in your nervous system (draining your energy).
Would you like to grow in your ability to welcome all of your parts (NOTICE them, get to KNOW them and find out what they NEED) to access more Wise Self Energy and then naturally feel more hopeful, more energised, more compassionate, curious, connected, creative and courageous as you respond to life with calm, confidence and clarity?
I have found personally and with people I guide that Internal Family Systems (IFS) is a great way to cultivate and expand in mindfulness, self-compassion, compassion for others, courage, curiousity and creativity.
When we work from the core of the self, our whole being is empowered.”
Richard Schwartz, Founder of IFS
Wise Self Energy is always here, always present, (like the blue sky is always present behind the clouds). Yet we all have so many protective, vulnerable, wounded parts that adopted different coping strategies when we were younger to keep us safe and now these parts often run our lives from a place of protection and not from Self or Wholeness.
When we work with and heal our inner eco-system (getting to know our own parts and cultivating more Self-energy) we are more able to engage with the world and the outer ecosystem in which we live. Internal Family Systems can lead to personal and collective healing/harmony, healing of the inner and outer ecosystem…(be that family, community or earth). Read more about this in Deep Ecology
when you experience Self, you naturally feel more connected to humanity in general and also to something larger and more encompassing, the earth, the universe, the big Self. And you will also discover other qualities rising up in you like joy, equanimity, forgiveness, perspective, and playfulness”.
Richard Schwartz in No Bad Parts
Deep Part Wisdom Immersion Format:
These Deep Part Wisdom workshops are IFS-informed and are created to support you to NOTICE your parts, get to KNOW them, and find out what they NEED in order for you to access more Self energy, more integration, more Wholeness. We will do this using mindfulness, embodied movement, wise-nature archetypes from Wild Mind by Bill Plotkin), visualisation and creative expression as well as the healing power of sharing in a sacred safe circle of like-minded souls. If you are familiar with Deep Ecology and the Work that Reconnects then this is a deep 6 week exploration of the Truth Mandala from an IFS lens,
Aims of the Deep Part Wisdom Immersion:
In these IFS-Informed Workshops we will be supported to discover more about, befriend and heal our:
- Manager Parts (often trying to please, perform, perfect, be socially acceptable)
- Firefighter Parts (often more extreme in their roles and trying to escape, numb, react, or distract in other ways, from painful emotions)
- Exiled Emotions (those emotions we were not allowed to express as young children, whatever we are keeping in the shadows, e.g. grief, rage, shame, guilt or even sometimes joy or play)
And as we befriend these parts and heal them we can access more of our
- Centred Wise Self Energy: (courageous, curious, compassionate, calm, connected, centred, grounded, present, playful)
Questions we will explore in these workshops:
- When do our parts get triggered and try to run our lives as if they were the CEO’s of our internal systems, rather than letting our Wise Self be in charge?
- What if we could gently encourage our parts to hold lightly their negative beliefs and extreme roles of perfectionism, people pleasing, fear of judgement, self doubt, need for certainty, fear of scarcity and desire to numb?
- What if we could reparent our parts who feel grief, fear, anger, shame, confusion so they feel heard, seen and understood and can re-channel their energy to acting in harmony with our Self and our values
- What if we could find a way to live more in Wholeness, more Self-Energy Aligned, more integrated?
Immersion Content:
- Introduction / Week 1: Explore and experience Self and some Protective and Vulnerable Parts. We will focus on increasing awareness of and access to the qualities of Wholeness/Self-Energy using Wild Mind archetypes. (This is also a stand alone workshop if you are interested in exploring the introduction only).
- Week 2: Explore and experience the healthy archetypes of the South, the Nurturing and Generative Adult and the Manager (Loyal Soldier) parts that try to please, perform and perfect, try to keep control and keep you socially acceptable while they keep emotions at bay.
- Week 3: Explore and experience the healthy archetypes of the East, the Innocent Sage, the Trickster/Fool, and the Firefighter (escapist parts), who try to avoid / numb / distract or react so that you don’t have to feel any emotions and you can ‘deaden’ your response to the world and people around you.
- Week 4: Explore and experience the healthy archetypes of the North, the Wild One, and the Exiled parts (wounded child), the emotions such as fear, rage, sadness, shame and guilt that we learnt from a young age to bury, hide, ignore. Befriending these wounded parts with difficult emotions often means that we can ‘ENLIVEN’ our response to the world (See Deep Ecology)
- Week 5: Explore and experience the healthy archetypes of the West, the Wanderer, Dreamer, Magician and the Exiled parts, (shadow parts) that we are not consciously aware of but that when triggered affect our lives in ‘shadowy’ ways (e.g. envy at someone else living their dream can come out as judgment and criticism or self-sabotage when a shadow part doesn’t think we deserve to or are worthy enough of participating in the world fully).
- Week 6: Explore and experience how you might use these IFS-informed practices to engage the healthy Wild Mind archetypes in leading with Self-Energy/Soul/Wholeness to guide your wounded/protective parts in knowing the next right step forward in a current issue occurring in your life.
In a sacred and safe space we will experience:
Some of the following practices to befriend our parts and bring some relief and healing to our parts as they feel seen. heard, understood and supported by Self Energy:
- Mindfulness & Visualisation
- Embodied Movement / Somatic Awareness
- Creative Expression, Intuitive Drawing and Journalling
- Community & Connection
- Deep Heartfelt Sacred Sharing in Circle/Council
- Laughter and Joy
Sara creates a space…to remember that you belong as your unique self, perfectly imperfect. … living a life in connection with soul and heart.”
Louise K.
The magic of doing this healing work in a safe and sacred circle is to witness other people’s parts (deeply comforting to know we are not alone in this journey!) and to have our own imperfect, vulnerable and/or protective parts and our Core Self heard, seen, valued and understood.
Deep Part Wisdom Immersion Details:
Introduction to Deep Parts Wisdom: 2 hour introduction (week 1 of the 6 week course)
Where & When:
In Person: Thursday 26th October 6:30-8:30pm-Deep Heart Wisdom Studio, Level 1/21 Short St, Port Macquarie
Online: Tuesday 24th October 6:00pm-8:00pm In the comfort of your own home, on Zoom.
Cost: $40 (with $5 donation paid to Australian Bush Heritage
Numbers Limited: Small group of 8 participants, book early
Please register and ask for more information here: saraphillipsnsw@gmail.com
What is needed: A journal with pen and crayons/pastels for writing and drawing, if in person comfy clothes and a drink bottle, if online a private, comfortable space for the workshop where you can move freely and comfortably as well as meditate/visualise without interruption.
Deep Parts Wisdom 6 Week Immersion: (an IFS-informed 6 weeks workshop series, 2 hours per week, includes the 2 hour introduction workshop in week 1 above)
Where & When:
In Person: Thursdays start 26th October 6:00pm to 8:00pm, (6 weeks) Deep Heart Wisdom Studio, Level 1/21 Short St, Port Macquarie
Online: Tuesdays start 24th October 6:00pm-8:00pm In the comfort of your own home, on Zoom.
Cost: $240 ($30 donation paid to Australian Bush Heritage
Numbers Limited: Small group of 8 participants, book early
Please register and ask for more information here: saraphillipsnsw@gmail.com
What is needed: A journal with pen and crayons/pastels for writing and drawing, if in person comfy clothes and a drink bottle, if online a private, comfortable space for the workshop where you can move freely and comfortably as well as meditate/visualise without interruption.
Recommended Reading: No Bad Parts by Richard Schwartz and Wild Mind by Bill Plotkin. If you are unsure if this group is for you please email Sara to ask/discuss.
Prerequisites: This group is really for everyone – it will be useful if you know a little about IFS, or have experienced mindfulness but not essential. Doing an IFS group such as this one, might bring up some strong emotions and it is recommended that you have support from an individual therapist if you need.
Hope you can join me in these workshops, I’d love to see you there! Email saraphillipsnsw@gmail.com
More Testimonials here
More on IFS here:
I personally have experienced how powerful IFS is in individual counselling and in a group setting through visualisation, embodied movement, creative expression and in sharing with others. I see often in my counselling practice, huge shifts in healing within a client’s awareness of self and others and their ability to grow mindfulness, self-compassion and then being able to access more Self Energy and move forward with their lives, in line with their values.
A recent personal example of healing in IFS for me was that I was feeling a lot of fear facing all the NEW challenges in my life this year; new empty nest, new renovations, new office, new offerings for work… In an IFS session with my therapist I could see my fearful part was reluctant to cross the creek to the NEW side, and it was incredibly powerful to visualise, draw and embody my Self and other parts supporting this fearful part to cross the creek in her own time, in her own way. Suddenly it was possible to start taking steps towards the NEW because all my parts and Self were in harmony.
It is time to take another look at ourselves – to re-enliven our sense of what it is to be human, to breathe new life into ancient intuitions of who we are, and to learn again to celebrate, as we once did, our instinctive affinity with the Earth community in which we are rooted.”
Bill Plotkin Wild Mind
I have found Internal Family Systems (IFS) to be the healing modality/philosophy that incorporates all I believe and know to be useful in our growing and healing journey as human beings living on Earth today. IFS supports us to understand how to create more Self-energy (e.g. more centredness, harmony, integration through the Self qualities of the 8 Cs: compassion, connection, curiousity, calm, clarity, creativity, courage and confidence and the 5Ps: presence, playfulness, perspective, patience and persistence).
IFS also explains how we might feel calm and centred and then something happens and suddenly we are caught up in a wave of thoughts, feelings, beliefs, sensations and behaviours that indicate a part or parts of us has taken over our system and we are no longer centred (read more about IFS here).
Hope you can join me in these workshops, I’d love to see you there! Email saraphillipsnsw@gmail.com
Take a moment and tune in to what your parts say to this invitation? If you are like me, you may have excited parts, scared parts, parts that say we have no time and parts sitting on the fence! What does your Core Self say when you get really quiet and listen in? My Self is excited and my parts are keen to be seen and heard.
…the four facets of Self, or the four dimensions of our human wholeness-wait within us, but we might not even know they exist until we discover how to access them, cultivate their powers, and integrate them into our everyday lives”
Bill Plotkin in Wild Mind