New website and new online game opportunity

Greetings and hope your summer has been cooler than mine!

I have been working on a new idea for sharing information about parts, so I've been "offline" from the group for a while. How are people doing? I'm building a website called holistic-stress-management-coach.com - only 1 page now, more coming soon. It will try to translate parts work into stress management language- or something like that. We shall see!

Checkin-
Summer is sometimes difficult for me as a teacher (believe it or not). I am excited at the beginning , with many plans of what I want to accomplish, but always a fear at the back of my mind (another part) that knows it won't all get done! Then in the middle or end of summer I get rather depressed- it's all over, and stress is coming back bigtime.

This year I've done work on myself over the summer that I hope will make the school year better. I've learned how to spot stress when I experience it, how to identify which parts are upset more quickly and help them feel better in the short- and long-term. I've gotten back to a morning system- writing about parts/feelings, saying parts principles each day, and meditating each day. I think these are a good combination.

Online Parts Board Game Offered!

I am thinking of offering a parts game online experience. I invented a board game about different parts that is intended to help people get to know parts they don't know very well, while also hearing about and supporting others and their parts. And doing it all in a fun way. Kay Gardner, my level 1 teacher, played it and said it was "brilliant". I have found a way to play it online and am wondering if anyone would be interested in helping me "beta test" it- see what you think, what suggestions you might have to improve both the game and the online delivery system.

I would do it in my online "office" in Elluminate- I would send people a link, and you would see a game board and "cards" when you follow it. TO play you would be able to "hop" your piece around the board and draw cards to answer questions. If there were sound problems I would also supply a phone number for people (sometimes sound can be a problem depending on your internet connection). If a number of people wanted to try we could even make different virtual "rooms" and divide the group.

Working with Parts helps relationships too!

This week I went on a school 2-day Spring Celebration field trip with my school. At the end of day 1 I found that I somehow reverted to a "self" I rarely inhabit- very outgoing (for me), talkative, trying to be useful and helpful whenever possible. By evening I realized I was exhausted and very much needed some down time. I also realized I felt lonely in a crowd, like I didn't belong there.

I tried to figure out what that was coming from, as it's a familiar feeling from my past. What I realized was that I had totally neglected all but my extravert/helpful part all day long, and so all the other parts were upset and needy. I took some time by myself (in the bathroom, as I had 2 students rooming in my room!) to write and do a mini meditation. That helped a lot. I began to feel more connected- not only to myself, but to the people around me. I didn't need to talk nonstop to connect with them, I mainly needed to connect with myself first!

The second day we went to an amusement park, and since I felt more whole I was able to sense what I needed. I suggested going on the ferris wheel (my favorite ride) and I ended up in a whole crowd of others who wanted that also. I was even the "brave one" on that ride- it was my native element (I like being above and looking down) while others were more used to roller coasters but didn't like hanging above it all for periods of time. I felt very proud :)

Then I saw there was an IMax movie about waves, and asked a student if she wanted to see it. We both loved the scenery and learning about surfing.

I'm so happy that connecting with myself has such a wonderful byproduct. It was my most enjoyable Spring Celebration ever!

Parts are us

This blog will be about working with inner parts of onesself. Many different authors and psychologists have talked about different parts. From Carl Jung, who wrote about his personality 1 and personality 2, to Walt Disney, whose cartoon about the 2 sides of Donald Duck is hilarious, this phenomenon is becoming more and more mainstream.

I have studied psychosynthesis (originated by Roberto Assagioli), Inner Family Healing (in "How to Love Yourself When You Don't Know How" by Jacqui Bishop and Mary Grunte), and personas (with the Hendricks Institute). I am currently enrolled in a Level II practitioners class with Center for Self Leadership, studying Inner Family Systems as defined by Dr. Richard Schwartz.

It seems obvious to me that we all have different "sides" of us that can be triggered by events in our lives. I have also learned ways to help some of these parts heal, and grow, and even blossom.

I am currently working on a book about parts, and I welcome contacts with folks who have made progress in their own lives by working with their inner parts. Let me know what has happened for you. You could reply to this blog or e-mail
partsbook1@gmail.com for more info about how to be involved in this project.

My next week's entry will be about a cool tool for inner exploring called IFS Insight. This is a computer program I have tried out and I love it!

Best wishes until then.

Karen