“Every part of our personality that we do not love will become hostile to us.” Robert Bly
We all have them. One part wants us to do this, the other part wants that. Something triggers us, and in an instant our inner rebellious teen jumps into the control room of our consciousness and takes over. Some of these parts collude against others. Some are vocal, driving and persistent, others are quiet and almost imperceptible – all living together within the inner system of our personal unconscious.
C G Jung called them complexes and identified a complex as a set of impulses with a common emotional tone that exert a strong influence on our attitudes and behaviour. Many systems throughout the world and across time have recognised the multiple mind and proposed ways to work with these aspects of self. From the Buddhist practice of Chüd dating back thousands of years, to Dr Richard Schwartz Internal Family Systems (IFS) we learn that through recognising and building loving and compassionate relationship with all of who we are, we can transform even our most difficult parts.
In this talk, we will explore the concept of Parts – or Complexes – what they are, how they impact us, and how to come into right relationship with them. Every part is trying to be helpful in some way. Our goal should be to meet our own unique cast of internal characters and provide them the opportunity to evolve into allies.