In our personal journeys, we have experienced some beautiful synergies between meditation and parts-work. And the goal of this conversation was to explore these synergies. We started with discussing the limitations and potential pitfalls of parts work. We then delved deeper into the relationship between parts work and meditation, exploring how the wisdom of traditional mediation teachings can help us overcome the limitations of parts work. And then we also go into how parts work can greatly augment spiritual and meditation practices.
This is part two of our conversation about parts work, following up on the part one — Intro to Parts Work
Timestamps:
0:00 Limitations of Parts Work and turning it into "energy work" (less conceptual & verbal, more energetic)
3:00 Can anyone start or are there “therapy prerequisites”? Find the channel that works for you (often verbal)
7:05 View of “dealmaking” & deceptive/subtle agendas (eg. “negotiating between parts”)
11:00 Goals & Intentions: like meditation, have one to get you to start, then drop when you begin
12:35 How has Theo seen people move from verbal to imaginal and somatic?
15:45 IFS and “reification vs nebulosity”
20:00 Understanding “default emotions” as deeply reified, conceptual, disembodied
23:45 Blending in to your parts to allow them to be fully felt
26:20 Recommendations on skills to develop to safely blend in
29:50 “Tapping into a reservoir of wellbeing” as a skill
35:10 Parts work and concentration states support each other (jhanas, core transformation)
42:55 Emotional Untangling & Wellbeing work as a core part vs. just Concentration/Insight paths of awakening
44:15 Avoiding failure modes of “pure IFS” (“everything is only trauma” , “heal all the exiles”)
48:40 What is The Path?
51:10 Parts work freeform, letting go of steps & folding into a mode of attention
54:30 View of meditation hindrances: befriend, not fight
56:55 3 Marks Practice: Seeing Dukkha from parts interactions
58:20 "Parts" lens as a frame upgrade to early buddhism and psychological concepts
1:03:20 Suffusing this into your life as a way of being, enjoying the process
1:05:40 Emptiness & parts work
1:08:30 Issue of conflating parts work with truth seeking
Resources:
- Romeo Stevens' Threefold Training Model https://neuroticgradientdescent.blogspot.com/2021/03/threefold-training.html
Untangling Self