THE BODY
pág. 1 THE BODY
Communicate with the body
INDIVIDUAL OR GROUP
The focus process is based on the research of Eugene Gendlin, who recognized
that we all experience nascent, but significant, bodily sensations for which the
term coined, felt sensation. Gendlin postulated that when these sensations were
brought to consciousness and cared for in a certain way, a personal meaning
would emerge. He later developed a flexible protocol to facilitate this process for
which he coined the term body focus.
We are all familiar with emotions, but a felt sense is not an emotion. It is a new
human capacity. The feeling that something is there, but it is difficult to express it
exactly in words. The felt sense is holistic in nature and contains much more than
we can easily think or emotionally know about our situation. As the therapist and
client spend time with the felt sense, new and clearer meanings emerge.
The felt sense, by itself, brings the exact word, image, memory, understanding,
new idea, or action step needed to solve the problem. The physical body, in
response, will experience some relaxation or release of tension by registering the
"relevance" of what comes from the felt sense. This relief from tension is what
tells us that we have made contact with this deeper level of consciousness and
that we are on the right track. It is a body-oriented process of self-awareness and
emotional healing, in which people learn to become aware of the subtle level of
knowledge that speaks through the body (Cornell, 2012).
Although the felt sensation can occur in any area of the body, it is most often
experienced in the central part (abdomen, stomach, chest) or higher in the throat.
Unlike emotions, felt sensation is best described as the sensation of the
combination of sensations and emotions (eg, if the emotion is “fear”, the felt
sensation would contain some combination of sensations of “nerves, tension,
agitation, closing of the throat, cannot speak ... "or" feeling panic ... cannot move
"). The felt sense has an immediate here-and-now quality, transitory, often vague
and not easily described.
According to Ann Weiser Cornell, Ph. D. of the Focusing Institute, the following
are the key stages of body focus.
• "I am feeling it in my body."
• "What does my conscience want now?", Or "How am I feeling about this issue?"
• "I am saluting what is here."
• "I am finding the best way to describe it."
• "I am checking my body."
• "It's okay to just be in this right now."
• "I am sitting with it, with a curiosity of interest."
• "I am feeling how it feels from your perspective."
pág. 2 THE BODY
•"I am asking…".
• "I let my body know that I hear it."
• "I am telling you that I will return."
• "I am thanking my body and the parts that have been with me."
FOCUSING INSTRUCTIONS: SHORT FORM FROM EUGENE
GENDLIN, PH. D.
1. Clear a space
How are you?
What is between you and feeling good?
(Do not respond; let what comes to your body respond. Do not get
into anything. Say hello to every concern that appears. Put each one
aside for a while, next to you). Except for that, are you okay?
2. Felt feeling
Choose a problem as your focus. Do not examine the problem. What
do you feel in the body when you feel the whole of that problem?
Feel all of that, get a feel for the whole thing, the cloudy discomfort or
the confused feeling of the body.
3. Find the trick
What is the quality of the felt sense? What word, phrase or image
comes out of this felt sense? Which quality word would fit better?
4. It resonates
Come and go between the word (or image) and the felt sense. If they
match, feel like doing it multiple times. If the felt sense changes, follow
it carefully. When you get a perfect match, the words (pictures) are
perfect for this feeling, allow yourself to feel them for a minute.
5. Question
What is it about the problem that makes me so ___________? When
I stagnate, ask yourself:
What is the worst of this feeling? What is wrong with this? What is
needed? What should happen Don't answer, wait for the feeling to
wake up and give yourself an answer. How would you feel if
everything were okay?
pág. 3 THE BODY
Let the body respond.
What stands in the way?
6. Receive
Say hello to what comes. Be glad he talks. It is only one step in this
problem, not the last. Now that you know where it is, you can leave it
and come back to it later. Protect it from critical voices that interrupt.
Does the body want another round of body focus or is this a good
stopping place?
Source: Eugene Gendlin, Ph.D. (2012) Focusing Institute. In Carrying
Life Forward through Thought. Consulted on 11/20/12 at
http://www.focusing.org.
Body Scan: Awareness of the Feeling of the Self
INDIVIDUAL OR GROUP
EXERCISES
Use the diagram on the next page. First, you will scan your body,
notice your feelings on the lines next to the image.
Start in a comfortable position: sitting or lying down. Now take a deep
breath as you focus into your body interior. Start the first segment:
focus your attention and awareness on only that part of the body.
(Although, most people start at the top of your head, feel free to start
where you want. If you choose to skip any section just keep that in
mind.) After a few breaths in that part, consider what is / was present,
whatever it is ... and yet it may have changed. Then, using the
following diagram, take a moment to write about your conscience on
the lines next to the diagram.
pág. 4 THE BODY
SENSATIONS
_____________________________________
_____________________________________
_____________________________________
_____________________________________
_____________________________________
_____________________________________
_____________________________________
_____________________________________
_____________________________________
_____________________________________
___________________________________
* The moment any exercise feels bad on your body, stop following
instructions and back off a bit. Stay there with attention until you can
feel exactly what is going wrong.
-Gendlin
pág. 5 THE BODY
Arousing emotion - Awareness of felt sense
The following pages present a series of emotions. Each page
contains an emotion along with a space for a label and a drawing. The
instructions are the same for each emotion:
1. Reflect on emotion. Try to mention a specific incident when you
experience this emotion strongly. Leave room for it to expand. Pay
attention to how you physically experience the emotion (¿i.e. what
bodily sensations do you notice? Where in the body are the strongest
sensations?).
2. Using your nondominant hand, label the emotion. You can use the
word or any other word or phrase that conveys its meaning to you (eg,
fear). You can write the word FEAR or write fearful, scared to death,
etc.
3. Again, using your non-dominant hand, draw a picture of the
emotion. Use the colors, textures and strokes that you consider
appropriate for each emotion.
4. Reflect on the finished drawing.
On the lines provided, use your dominant hand to write some
observations and reactions to the drawing.
pág. 6 THE BODY
LABEL: ______________________
ANGER
REFLECTION
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
pág. 7 THE BODY
LABEL: ______________________
SADNESS
REFLECTION
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
pág. 8 THE BODY
LABEL: ______________________
FEAR
REFLECTION
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
pág. 9 THE BODY
LABEL: ______________________
TERROR
REFLECTION
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
pág. 10 THE BODY
LABEL: ______________________
FURY
REFLCTION
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
pág. 11 THE BODY
LABEL: ______________________
CONFUSION
REFLECTION
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
pág. 12 THE BODY
LABEL: ______________________
JOY
REFLECTION
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
pág. 13 THE BODY
LABEL: ______________________
SHAME
REFLECTION
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
pág. 14 THE BODY
LABEL: ______________________
SURPRISE
REFLECTION
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
pág. 15 THE BODY
Focus on Sensations - Awareness of Felt Feeling
INSTRUCTIONS:
There is no right or wrong approach to this body focus exercise; it is
a part of the process. Whatever you think will be fine and appropriate.
EXERCISE 1
On the body map, color in the areas where you most often experience
discomfort, tension, tightness, or pain. Color the areas where you
currently experience discomfort, tension, stiffness, or pain. Use those
colors and the type of strokes you feel that best represent the
particular sensation of the body that you experience in each area of
the body. For example, if you feel agitated and nervous in the
stomach, you can choose a bright color and draw something that
represents electricity in the stomach area. If you feel fickle and not
really present, you can choose a light color and draw faint lines
wherever you notice that feeling.
Once you have completed the body map, you will use the non-
dominant hand to label the colored areas with words of emotion.
Finally, on the back of the page with your dominant hand, write down
any observations you have about your body map.
pág. 16 THE BODY
pág. 17 THE BODY
PART TWO:
Choose the area that felt the strongest, the one that had the strongest
feelings of pain, tension, or tightness. In the diagram below, mark that
area of the body.
pág. 18 THE BODY
PART THREE:
• In this space provided, you will write a dialogue between you
and that part of the body. You will use both hands, therefore,
both hemispheres of the brain. With the dominant hand, you will
write the questions, and with the non-dominant hand, you will
answer the questions:
• What are you?
• How you feel?
• How long have you felt bad?
• What has you feeling like this?
• Is there something you want or need from me? Is there anything
I can do to help you?
• Is there anything I need to know about you?
• Is it okay to stop now?
• Should I check again?
QUESTIONS FROM THE NON-DOMINANT HAND
DOMINANT HAND ANSWERS
pág. 19 THE BODY
pág. 20 THE BODY
