Following this weekend’s final interactive guided imagery preceptorship, I gained a deeper perspective on how to introduce people to different parts of their psyche, as well as helping to create union between parts that may be in conflict.
For example, we see conflicting parts in people all the time—a person who wants to quit smoking, while another part sabotages the efforts, or a person that wants to stop overeating, yet a part of them keeps going back for more (I’ve personally experienced both of these conflicts at some point in my life).
Ultimately, change is scary, and it is a threat to our sub-personalities or “ego formations” (Bresler & Rossman, 2016). Each sub-personality within the psyche is ultimately on your side, the problem is they can sometimes all seem to have different ways of wanting to help.
Dr. David Bresler (2016) explains that the more we try to live life through only one dominant sub-personality and deny the rest of our parts, we begin to create an even bigger shadow—until ultimately, the parts that we deny become fully unconscious and can lead to physical symptoms within the body. We see things such as anxiety, depression, pain, and physical sickness start to form as the psyche’s way of trying to seek attention.
The goal is not to try to deny the parts of you that are creating conflict, but to explore them further, while trying to figure out what each part needs and wants—as well as things they are trying to offer and express.
These ego-formations, or parts of ourselves, have formed for a reason and are only trying to serve and protect.
I love what @activationvibration explains in her latest YouTube video, “Ego is Your Friend," for it’s not the ego we are trying to kill, it’s the “unbalanced ego.” And even then, we don’t try to push it away. We start to give it attention and try to understand what it needs, so it can better thrive and express its self in a way that is best for the higher good of all your parts and higher heart alignment.
In greater essence it’s not pushing the ego away, it’s befriending it and learning how it can best support your highest journey.
Through imagery work, one can allow images to form for each of their parts and then allow the imagery to be introduced to one another.
My conflict that I chose to work on included the part of me that loves being impulsive, sometimes rebellious, and doing whatever she wants in the moment compared to the side of myself that craves self-care, balance, and routine (note: both ego formations created themselves in my psyche for a reason).
The image that formed for my first part was a cloud that was constantly whisking around, hated being trapped or told what to do, and he told me his name was “Frisky.”
The other part that came forth was “China,” an androgynous (chinawear) Chinese cat with a hand that continuously moved up and down with the rhythm of life.
When my imagery guide helped me stimulate dialogue between the two parts, Frisky seemed to have no idea that China existed, and when asked how they could work together to support the whole, they both just stared at each other—as if they never knew working together was an option.
The ultimate goal is to create union between all of your working parts. Maybe talking to images in your head sounds crazy, however it allows your right imaginative brain to connect with the left logical brain. Ultimately, it gives the right brain a language to communicate, while creating greater union and self-understanding.
In all my experience with imagery and the interesting images that come to the forefront, I have always walked away feeling more connected, self-aware, and flabbergasted at the guidance that is delivered.
If true unity and ascendance lies in the connection of the mind, body, and spirit—why would we ever want to deny any part of ourselves?
With any narcissistic, or “unbalanced ego” action—lies a place of a person that was withheld love and attention. Let’s give back attention to the parts of ourselves that have been neglected. And only then do we see full unity of our heart’s alignment with the *ego and higher self* working together for a higher purpose.
If we didn’t believe in the journey, or the game of transcending the ego into something more powerful than destruction and coming out on the other side more enlightened, then we would have just stayed in a place of bliss.
Your soul wanted to learn, it wanted to grow, and it wanted to become more conscious of itself.
Go inside the resistance, and you will start to uncover answers. You will start to get to know the parts of you that have been fighting to be known.
By giving love to all of you, even your ego, we elevate into higher levels of consciousness.
How can you unite your ego and your heart to create the ultimate *healing conscious* experience?
Love is the ultimate healer, if you have faith in that—that’s all you need.
Kelsey
Reference
Bresler, D., & Rossman, M. (2016). Parts, subpersonalities, and ego states. In Resistance and parts work (11th ed.). Malibu, CA: Academy of Interactive Guided Imagery.