Magical Places and Objects in IFS • Deepening Inner Imagination
IFS Practice Group
Next Class: Saturday, March 15
11 am on Zoom for 2 hours
Magical Places to Talk to Self
~ Magical Places and Objects in IFS Series ~
Melissa’s Deeper Intimacy with Your Self courses gave me a quantum leap in my inner work practice.
Before, although I had a daily journaling practice, I was pretty reliant on life coaching for doing deep work.
Now, thanks to the DIY IFS beginner and advanced course, I have the skills to be my own therapist.
My own practice and my relationship with myself are so much deeper, more trusting, and more productive.
The courses epitomize Melissa’s motto, “Work smarter, not harder,” making inner work more fun and more efficient.
Every part of me recommends them with great enthusiasm. They have totally changed my life! —Liv Love
Setting Matters
In this advanced class, we will inquire into imaginary inner settings.
When people first start doing IFS, it’s reasonable to simply spend time working on unblending and developing one’s inner sense of parts.
As we move further into our work, we may begin to develop more elaborate imaginative spaces. To create new worlds within. To borrow worlds from other visionaries.
Like birds weaving nests from whatever tinsel and strands of hair and feathers they find, we too can weave a tapestry of inner containment based on EVERYTHING available to our imagination
• dreams • novels • poems • paintings • food • memories • photographs • objects we own • childhood things and places • movies • Youtube
and anything in between! My parts recently created some lovely broccoli trees; they’re quite plush. I love to lie in a broccoli tree and look up at the blue, blue sky in the middle of the baobab road in Africa, another of my exile’s excellent interior landscapes.
In the same way that people who use psychedelics to explore their inner worlds pay great attention to the set and setting of their trips, we can also pay attention to the inner settings of our encounters with parts.
This makes IFS more fun, more anchored in space, and more real. It also creates containment, which creates safety.
Spaces are like guides: they can offer extra inner energy to support the work.
As parts get to know their own personal spaces, they can learn new things about themselves. Choosing an inner place to live give parts agency and a sense of ownership of their surroundings. It gives them power. It helps them develop their magical skills — their “active imagination” as Jung termed it.
Let’s find out where some of your parts want to live!
The DIY classes are currently running à la carte—you can try one and see how you like it without committing to the entire series.
Each class has a similar structure; the only difference is the technique we focus on. In this way, it functions as BOTH a learning / teaching class and an ongoing experiential practice group. You can take it once to learn the technique, then continue to drop in to future groups to continue practicing.
In the group, we will:
-Go inside to connect with our parts
-Share what feels comfortable
-Do a 20 minute demonstration of an IFS session using that day’s technique
-Share how the demonstration inspired or resonated with us
-Take 10-15 minutes to practice the technique
-Share our inner work in whatever way feels comfortable
-Close out our time with a word or phrase we are taking away from the experience.
Because of the HIGHLY experiential, personal nature of the group, it will not be recorded.
However, before the class, I will send out a video or audio example of a demonstration using the method we are learning, so that you can become familiar with it (if you want) ahead of time
This class is the best fit for:
-Open-hearted people who have a basic ability to work with their parts
-People who want to learn how to work more deeply with their parts / get unblended more easily ON THEIR OWN
-People who want to learn and practice classic IFS externalization techniques — mind mapping, parts sketching, and using finger puppets to personify parts.
We are a very small, intimate group of six who create a supportive, connected community over the sessions of the class.
If you are looking for a place to:
-do deeper work
-with emotionally mature, IFS-savvy folks
-in a safe container
-of mutual support and encouragement
I invite you to consider this group!
If you want to learn more about it, sign up for a free Zoom call with me. I do a Zoom with everyone who takes a class, so you have a sense of safety with me coming in to the class, to find out if it's the right fit, and to have your questions answered!
As with most of my Deeper Intimacy with Yourself (DIY) IFS Practice Groups, the idea behind each class is simple. What’s not simple, is parts feeling open to putting it into practice.
The last class in the series was the Parts Hospital.
The Parts Hospital
The parts hospital is exactly as it sounds—a magical inner place where parts who are hurt can go to get care and recuperate.
• What are potential times that are appropriate to use a parts hospital?
• What are potential places for parts hospitals?
• How can I get the most out of my parts hospital?
• Are there times when the parts hospital is not appropriate?
My parts hospital is the infirmary at Hogwart’s. What’s yours?
A demonstration audio or video teaching is included in your registration for each class
Once you register by sending your class payment,
I’ll send you a short video or audio to deepen your learning (usually 20 minutes or so).
Only 5 people per class
On Zoom for 2 hours
Investment
$165 per class — You can pay-as-you go for $165 per class.
$620 for the four-class series (you always save $10 per class by pre-paying)
Before the class — watch the demonstration video
During the 2 hour class:
Going inside in silence to center
Check-in
Short demo/Open-hearted response to demo
Q & A
Practice
Check-in about practice
Closing