Engaging the Individuation Process in Moments of Everyday Living

Life is a wild and mysterious process. And so is the process of deepening our awareness of ourselves and living more authentically. Carl Jung developed a model of the psyche which includes the notions of Self and individuation. The Self is the deep inclusive center of our whole being (both conscious and unconscious), and individuation is the process of becoming aware of unconscious aspects of Self and integrating them into our usual conscious self and way of living. Jungian analysis and psychotherapy, dreamwork, and active imagination have been the primary modes of exploration of the unconscious within the Jungian model. We will briefly review the model and these traditional ways of exploring. Then, we will turn our focus to ways of engaging the unconscious and individuating in the moments of everyday living. We will develop together a list of general attitudes which are likely to invite the unconscious into awareness. Then, we will explore some specific practices related to: becoming and staying present; wholistic felt-awareness and intuition; compassionate Self-inquiry; and projection reclaiming. We'll describe what these involve, do brief individual exercises, and discuss them in small groups. All exercises are voluntary. Please bring your own writing materials for notes you wish to make.

We will be oriented toward creating and maintaining a safe, warm, supportive environment so that each person feels free to be themselves and pursue these explorations in their own unique way. There will be time for socializing before and after the program, a break during the program, time for discussions and questions, and light refreshments.