Tools to Help Genies Understand Themselves
Voice Dialogue Techniques
Gini is in Lumera’s classroom and starts today’s lessons by saying, “Humans have many aspects which are not always in harmony. Each piece may have a distinct tone, opinion, reaction, body sensations, and age. These are older and younger versions of yourself.”
“Often the part of a polarity that causes mischief is an old piece, something drilled into you when you were a child. You might not even have agreed with it then, but it still has magnetism and a hold on you. The older and deeper the belief, the less conscious it tends to be. Here are some ways to talk to these pieces of self which may tell you why you are stuck and how to move forward,” Gini relays.
Genie Lesson # 43
Talk to Your Stuck Side -Use the Gestalt Method
This Simplified Gestalt method is based on the original work of Fritz Perls.
This technique may seem intimidating initially, especially if you have not previously interviewed pieces of yourself. It involves working with your imagination. But, hang in there and give it a try.
To start the gestalt method, pretend to sit the polarized piece that is voicing the outmoded viewpoint, in a chair. Visualize the mischief-making part is sitting in front of you. Get in touch with the old belief. Speak to it, as you would anyone you respect and love who needs to be talked to. Treat it is a distinct being as you interview it. Let it speak.
How old is this piece of you that has this old belief?
What is the belief?
Listen to its language, tone and type of reasoning for clues.
What is its attitude?
What does it think?
Why does it think this way?
Why does it continue with the attitude or behaviour you are finding troubling?
If your new piece of self is also causing some mischief internally, you may then choose to place it, as if it were a distinct being in another chair. Ask similar questions. Also, find out when it came into being and why it now wants you to make a change.
You can get the two pieces talking or make a decision and thank the less functional portion for holding such a robust and loyal stance.
When you tell your older piece to change, let it know that you value what it has done. But, tell it that you are changing, and it would be helpful to you if it could be part of the solution. Tell it your new belief and position.
Shift its “job position” so it is no longer a hindrance. Inform it clearly and respectfully what you need it to do, to support your new belief. Ask the old view if it will join you in creating the new more congruent reality, which is your newer, healthier viewpoint.
Be sure the old belief is clear on the new rules, as after all, it has spent a lot of years energetically defending a different perspective.
Journal your interviews and any resulting insights. Watch your dreams for signals of being stuck or making progress.
Also, keep your eyes open for any old behaviours or attitudes consistent with the old piece resurfacing and causing issues. Stubborn pieces of old thought often need to be talked to and observed.
For an example of a polarity being interviewed, go to Magical Secret Passage D.
Two More Ways to Talk To Your Internal Self
Gini says, “Now that you have tried talking to polarized pieces of yourself, using a simplified gestalt method, check out the next two systems. They both use voice-dialogue but expand this idea, by introducing new ways to visualize your internal voices.”
Genie Lesson # 44
Recognize Your Family of Voices
Richard Schwartz, the author of Internal Family Systems, believes people have a whole family of voices or beings inside of them. He says a piece he calls the SELF is an inner organizer, which is responsible for being an adult and putting life into motion. But other parts of you can and do take control.
Schwartz says the key to shifting your inner identity from self-criticism to self-compassion is to convince the ‘inner critic,’ or ‘inner drill sergeant’ to listen to the Self, your adult piece.
He mentions that in internal battles If you fight with a piece of self, it tends to fight back harder. Listening to your various pieces, especially with a therapist, helps them transform.
Identify and interview pieces of your inner family to find out more about your beliefs and viewpoints.
Go to Magical Secret Passage E at the end of the book for a more detailed description of your internal family of voices.
Self-dialogue is a fascinating way to increase self-awareness and harmonize polarized pieces of self. Bill Plotkin, the author of the Wild Mind, talks about a voice dialogue system which uses Shamanic methods and ideas.
Genie Lesson # 45
Talk to Your Inner Shaman
Bill uses more Indigenous-friendly language in his system. He presents personality in a four-directions, model.
The West Side, Soul, (Water) is the Muse/Beloved.
The West is intuitive, deep, sometimes pessimistic, dark and soulful. Bill talks about how the west makes a change by falling in love, be it with an idea or person. It finds out what they are at the core. The West holds shadow, creativity, The Inner Muse, depression, The Underworld and death.
The North Side, Ego (Earth), is the Nurturing Generative Adult. The North contains your responsible side. When your North aspect is clear it makes good decisions and is a worthy leader.
In the north also resides a loyal soldier piece, which stays stuck on defending old parts of you, somewhat blindly. He discusses how to listen to this loyal soldier part, thank it and reassign it a new job position when change is desired. The loyal soldier defends, but causes a lot of problems, when it does not clearly understand its orders. It protects what you wanted at one time and needs to be readjusted carefully and consciously when you make changes in your life. The Loyal Soldier is a lot like the Inner Critic.
In the East resides your Innocent Sage. It is Spirit, and (Air). The east has a naturally sunny disposition. It sees clearly and is hard to fool. The East also holds a trickster piece, which is easily addicted, enjoys escaping from the mundane and is full of surprises. It can be fun, but rather shallow if you do not add depth from your western piece.
Finally, in the South lives your Instinctual Side, (Fire). It is here you find your Wild Indigenous One, who loves nature, adventure and freedom. It is your sensuous, embodied and very emotive side. It is like a perpetual adolescent, full of wonder and sometimes shirking of responsibility. “Most urban dwellers do not attend to this piece enough,” Bill writes. The South also contains your wounded children.
In Bill Plotkin’s system, you are naturally dominant in one of the directions but need to pay attention to all of them. When one aspect is out of balance, you become less happy or functional. It is optimal to check in frequently with your various elements.
Bill uses voice dialogue techniques, similar to the family system and the gestalt technique to talk to the four directions and the pieces within each direction. Much of Plotkin’s work involves being present in nature where he reintroduces the Wild into people.
There are many effective ways to get to know your inner selves. The three models above will help you better recognize, hear and understand your polarities and split points of view, tools to amplify self-awareness.