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WEEKLY COACHING TIP
#108
PLAY SQUASH
Good Morning, a
question for you: How much are you enjoying yourself RIGHT NOW?
Just quickly take a
moment and feel what you are feeling, notice your body and any thoughts you
are having.
If you feel you want
to be enjoying yourself even more, just notice what is stopping you.
Is there one part of you telling you something and another part feels
something else so you have a conflict?
Quite often in life people
find themselves 'torn' between 'this' and 'that'. This can often
cause them to become 'stuck' and not do either and end up feeling
dissatisfied.
There is a really
simple way out of this it's an NLP exercise called Visual Squash and it can
extremely effective in resolving internal conflicts and generating options.
If you have a current
problem in your life right now that involves different 'parts' of you e.g.
"one part of me wants to look for another job but another part wants to
stay where I am" and you would like to resolve this, then this exercise
may help to 'shift' it.
HOW TO
PLAY VISUAL SQUASH
1. Name
the parts
e.g. 'want to stay
where I am', part and 'want more excitement in my job' part.
2. Sit down
and rest your hands on each knee with the palms uppermost.
3. Look at
one hand (it doesn't matter which) and take the part
of you that you would like to deal with first.
4. This is where
you have to get a bit creative! In the hand you are looking at create
an image of what this part represents.
e.g. it may be
seeing you in a certain way, particular clothes, hair, expression. It could
also be that an image just springs to mind such as a tree or animal. It
could be anything, don't be put off, your sub-conscious has brought this up
and it's right.
5. Change
your focus to the other palm and do the same thing with the
other part (want more excitement in my job) part.
6. Go back to
the first part and look at that image and
just ask yourself these questions:
- What does this part
do for me? e.g. one answer might be, 'it keeps me safe', 'I
don't have hassle', etc.
- What is it's job in
my life?
- What are it's
special qualities?
- What is this part
good for?
- What is this part
trying to do for me?
- How could this part
be useful to someone else?
- What are the good
things I haven't noticed about this part?
The idea is that you
identify its qualities, strengths, resources and the positive intentions of
that part. So you separate the intention from behaviour.
7. When you are clear
about all the positive attributes of one part, repeat for the other
part, looking at the other hand.
Don't forget if
you have more than 2 parts to continue with
this process for all of them.
8 Bring
both your hands together, still palms upright but little fingers
touching.
9. Create a
third and central visual image incorporating all the best qualities of each
part.
(If you find it
easier, close your eyes throughout this process and do it in your mind's
eye).
10. When you
have the image, either mentally or physically use your hands to 'scoop'
the image into your self.
Some people like to
physically bring their hands to their solar plexus or heart area, do what
feels right for you. Close your eyes and just let this integrate into
your body.
Be very gentle with
yourself and allow ample quiet time for integrating this process.
Allow yourself to fully experience whatever body sensations, emotions,
feelings or images come to you. Because this can be a powerful
experience or deceptively unremarkable, you may or may not have clear
insights during the process but you will find that, because this operates
simultaneously on so many levels that it subtly transforms your experience
and expands your range of reactions with no further effort
Until next week Onwards and Upwards and I
hope every part of you has a fantastic week!
2004 Denise Bosque All Rights Reserved
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