What is Focusing?

So why do Focusing? And is there more to it?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We can get stuck in our usual, repetitive thoughts and feelings. We lose touch with ourselves, we feel small in the face of our problems, we forget our resources. We see only a part of the whole picture. We find ways to push away or cover up what we feel because feeling it is too much.

The “pause” of Focusing lets everything start to shift. We’re no longer driven, no longer rushed along. By pausing and getting a felt sense of it all, we are in a new place. True, it’s not a completely known place–it’s a new territory, in many ways. But that’s good.

And is Focusing more than pausing and “felt sensing”? Yes… and no. The rest of Focusing is essentially more of this: staying with what you feel — sensing it — describing it — sensing if that description feels right…

Amazingly, this non-pressured, non-doing kind of contact allows something to happen that wasn’t able to happen if we’re trying to fix ourselves, trying to talk ourselves into something, analyzing, solving, understanding…

That’s because the stuff we’re made of (so to speak) loves to live forward. We’re made of life. We don’t need to do anything TO ourselves in order for living forward to happen. We just need to come into gentle contact with ourselves.

Thanks Ann!

So how can Focusing help you in your day to day life?

• Making Decisions – really getting all the parts of the decision – not just the first two possibilities which seem to oppose each other. I found new and creative ways to resolve what seemed to be either or choices. Even better is that once I have made my decision using Focusing I am more settled with it than I am when I just make an intellectual choice. I can move forward more easily and also feel more free to adapt to changes as I go along. For more on this see my CALMER Decisions process.
• Getting Unstuck – have you ever felt stuck? Hearing too much information or not enough or have you procrastinated to the point of paralysis, or somehow you find yourself in a rut and you just can’t see your way out? Focusing has helped me get in touch with what I really value; sort the wheat from the chaff of my life so to speak. With Focusing I have also explored all the ways I distract myself from what’s really important in my life and how and why I do that. With Focusing I find I can move forward in a way that is sustainable, flexible and creative.
• Bringing your body into balance – have you got places in your body that you suspect have emotional beginnings? Now they are a health issue for you but your health professional says he can’t find the causes. Focusing can help you be with and have an inner conversation with your body releasing what can be released, accepting what needs to be accepted and working together find a way towards healing. Combined with Reiki or movement Focusing gently brings you and your body back into balance and ease.
• Clear, Caring Communication – is there someone in your life you would like to understand better and be understood by. Is the way they see the world so different from yours that you rarely have a conversation where you both feel fully heard and understood. You both want to get each other but something goes awry? Interpersonal Focusing can show you how to understand the inner world of the person you care about, how to listen deeply and how to help the other person hear you in the way you would like to be heard. Clear and caring communication increases mutual empathy, self understanding so you can express yourself honestly while bringing depth and intimacy into your relationship with safety and trust.

Curious? Click here – Transformative Living