20th March, 24
Internal Family Systems (IFS) is a psychotherapeutic approach that sees the mind as composed of multiple sub-personalities or parts, each with its own perspective and role, including Managers, Exiles, and Firefighters, overseen by a core Self characterised by compassion and clarity. The therapy focuses on healing by fostering the Self's leadership, aiming to integrate and harmonise these parts for psychological well-being.
Just a casual sharing that might inspire some to play around with what I tried…
I’ve always done shadow work and insight work separately, but today in my formal sit, I tried integrating vipassana, metta and IFS more fluidly. It is really powerful!
Before the sit, I had already spent some time exploring and getting to know my parts and I think this is crucial (for me at least) before integrating it into formal sits. I started off with mindfulness of the breath to calm the mind, then I did Metta BUT I directed it towards the different parts the hold trauma.
After that, I did vipassana (opened eye) and recalled the 2 Anatta stanzas into the six sense gates and progressed to notice emptiness and illusive quality of time and location.
In this space of clarity of insight, I allowed the parts that hold traumas to surface and let them voice their purpose (they all only want to protect us, but have learnt their mode of operating through trauma). IFS proposes that the parts are stuck at a different age and views us as that age, hence their belief in operating in that same old way which might be more harmful than beneficial in this renewed situation. Some parts feel primordial to me (eg unworthiness), it feels age 0 and had been passed down from so many generations that I cannot fathom. But building a solid relationship and allowing space for them also lets us notice that our life would’ve been a lot more harder and painful without them.
The rest of the sit, I challenged these parts’ beliefs (yet holding energies of compassion, Metta and understanding) and why they need to use such methods to protect me right now. In the same space of insight and clarity, it is evident that what these trauma bodies fear is no longer here. For example, the generational unworthy part (the exile) surfaced. Insight of non-self, impermanence and suffering brought into the emotions that surface. Allowing for the emotions to be, then continued to let that part notice the beauty of “this”. I prompted “I understand that you had made me feel worthy by seeking worthiness through various means, but is THIS not worthy of existence, just as it is? It’s beautiful”
Then the openness allowed for different parts to notice the illusive yet sincerity of the nature of reality. Then I directed Metta towards these parts… As TNH said (and I’m para-phrasing) “True love is not merely the intention for others to be happy, nor is it a conviction in knowing what’s best for others. We must understand, True love is to understand deeply what causes the other person suffering” Applying these attitudes to those parts proved to be extremely powerful.
Sometimes, we can have insights/realisations. However, integrating the wisdom of the insight into “the unconscious” is important and the process of getting to know “the parts” better and understanding them, is important as it allows us to liberate the karma of these parts that are unconscious and perhaps. Passed down from thousands or perhaps millions of years, it is truly liberating to converse with these parts that are buried so deep that without prompting them directly might not surface (through traditional vipassana).
Vipassana is extremely powerful and is more than enough to illicit insights, but it is integrating Metta and shadow work into the practice of vipassana that allows for a thorough and deeply penetrating liberation.