Do you have to keep on with Focusing even when you’d like to stop? Read on…
A Reader writes:
You wrote last week about Focusing being safe because we can be Self-in-Presence with our feelings. That was helpful. But sometimes when I do Focusing I get the feeling that I’d like to stop, and I push myself to keep going, and then afterward I feel bad for hours.
Dear Reader:
Focusing is about learning to trust your inner sense of rightness (and wrongness). With Focusing, you can get a knowing of the right next steps of your life.
That can include knowing that this might not be the right time to do Focusing.
By sensing inwardly, you might discover – for example – that you’re exhausted, and right now you need to rest more than you need Focusing.
In such cases, it’s important to know that you have the right to stop. And that’s true even if you’re working with a partner, even if the partner has set a timer, even if your time is not up.
It’s still OK to stop.
And if you can tell that something in you is pushing you to keep going, that could be something to notice and to turn toward. It’s probably a part of you feeling anxious about “making progress” and thinking that progress is made by pushing and persisting.
Actually, in Focusing, progress is made by trusting. Trusting yourself and trusting your process to tell you what you need.
Even if what you need to to stop Focusing… for now.
