TAKING BACK PROJECTIONS >>>

{A PRACTICE IN TAKING BACK PROJECTIONS:

TRANSFORMING STRONG ATTRACTION OR REPULSION

INTO INTEGRATED POWER}

This practice can be done solo, with another, or as a group discussion. After you do the journal work it can be useful to share what you are learning with another in your life/circle. In addition, after you complete this practice you will have a leans to see what happens for you in future moments if/when you feel strong attractions or repulsions arising inside of you. Pausing for a moment to feel and notice with mindfulness is the first step towards radical empowerment. 

STEP 1: Set aside 10/20 minutes in a quiet space with your journal and pen. 

STEP 2: Light a candle, burn some sage, and settle into an intentional space to be with yourself in this powerful inquiry. 

STEP 3: Find a comfortable seat or lie down and begin taking slow deep breaths. Allow your attention to shift inward towards yourself. Scan your body, heart, and mind for how you are doing at this moment. 

STEP 4: Once you feel settled, conjure up the person with whom you are either strongly attracted or repulsed. Imagine the person there with you and allow yourself to just feel what it is like being in their presence. Notice what you are either drawn to or pushed away by. 

STEP 5: Notice what arises and take 10 minutes to free-write in your journal about everything that arises from you. Do not hold back. Allow yourself to feel all of it. The key here is welcoming all parts of yourself to be present with our judgment or make wrong. Be as unedited as possible to really let the energy flow! 

STEP 6: Look back over what you wrote and reread your discoveries. Try to have an open mind and begin to try on the idea that what you see outwardly (your repulsions and judgments) are really all projections living inside of you that you are not willing to face and own. Ask yourself powerfully, what is it in the other that I either resist or desire in my own life/being? Take a serious look at the judgments and see if you can take responsibility for this aspect inside of you. 

*example: I notice that one judgment I have is that “she” seems to have such a successful career and is so confident! ~ Turning back to own my projections I would start to see that what I see in her is actually something I want for myself. I would love to have a successful career and be confident like her. Perhaps we can shift the focus towards, “wow, she seems so confident and successful. Maybe I could learn something from her!” Instead of making her wrong, I can actually celebrate her and her wins. 

STEP 7: Make a commitment to take notice of how and when this comes up for you as you move forward. Again, we are not trying to change or fix anything, just simply bringing awareness to the parts of ourselves with mindful awareness. As we notice projections and repulsions in others, we can begin to reclaim the lost parts of ourselves that are really speaking through our judgments. 

STEP 8: Share what you are learning about this with your other sisters. Continue to inquire ongoing about this conversation. Comment and share what you are getting from this experience. 

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