Such drawings reflect the activity of the unconscious mind and may be of value in self-understanding. Thus, drawing as well as writing can be part of a complete workbook. When we begin to understand that we are made of parts, and that some parts can show strange, difficult or extreme behaviors, while others act to challenge and support us, we suddenly stop seeing ourselves as a homogenous entity, but rather as a whole repository of different personality parts.

Subpersonalities are the many diverse personages or psychological formations within our personality, which have their own semi-independent activity, needs, and aims. Many of them are quite individual. Others are fairly common, such as the Child, the Parent, the Seeker, the Clinger, the Poet, the Lonely One. Psychosynthesis Exercises for Personal & Spiritual Growth Compiled and Edited by Thomas Yeomans, Ph.D. The notion of a single mind means that we look at ourselves in a very one-dimensional way. And that does a lot of harm to our self-esteem. Internal Family Systems theory Examples: “There are so many flaws in this novel of mine, I’m such a poor writer!”, “B+? I could have done way better!”, “I’m such a weak person compared to _____. I should be better.” The VictimSubpersonality is a temporary personality mode. It can be active at one moment, and can alter after a while. You may have noticed that you act differently in the presence of different people. You are someone else at work and you are someone else at home. I know people who are extroverts at work, they are loud, funny, etc., but when they are around their close ones at home they seem to turn into quiet introverts who like loneliness and serenity. Depending on the part that is active, we can behave differently. I am not saying the darker subpersonalities need to come out and steal the show, or make your life any more difficult than it needs to be. But what I will say is this: every subpersonality needs something, wants something, and is ultimately trying to express something core in YOU. Imagine yourself in circumstances common in your daily life which in the past would have tended to upset or irritate you; perhaps being with a hostile person—or facing a difficult problem—or obliged to do many things rapidly—or in danger—and and feel yourself calm and serene. (This step may be postponed until gaining some familiarity with the exercise).

This exercise to develop desired qualities can become the focus of a larger program. You can gather together poetry, symbols, music, drama, artwork, photography, dance,’ and biographical excerpts, all evoking or in some personal sense symbolizing serenity, and use them for a total experience. By surrounding yourself with these materials, you can evoke and develop a deep sense of serenity—or of any other quality. You can use all that you find in your environment to foster a sense of serenity through your own creation of a synthesis of experiential forms. This exercise has been found most effective if practiced daily, preferably during the first hours of the day. Whenever possible, it is to be done shortly after waking up and considered as a symbolic second awakening. It is also of great value to repeat it in its brief form several times during the day, returning to the state of dis- identified “I” consciousness.

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Many have found it of value to write down, perhaps as part of their Psychological Workbook (No. 1), points observed and any insights or impressions that come. By reviewing the notes written over a period of time, you may observe patterns and trends not otherwise apparent. I recognise and affirm myself as a centre of pure self-awareness and of creative, dynamic energy. I realise that from this centre of true identity I can learn to observe, direct, and harmonise all the psychological processes and the physical body. I choose to achieve a constant awareness of this fact in the midst of my everyday life, and to use it to help me and give increasing meaning and direction to my life. Focus your attention on the central realisation: I am a centre of pure self-consciousness and of will. Attempt, as much as you can, to realise this as an experienced fact in your awareness. Were different aspects predominant in the various circumstances of the day? What has been the relative activity of each?

Perhaps we can think about it ilike a dance. You would move differently at a disco than you would at a ballet class, but you would also dance differently depending on who is around, or how you are feeling. It all gets blurry and overly-complex at this point, so I find the subpersonality concept a handy way to stay grounded, and a useful tool in excavating different parts of our being, while knowing that it is not the whole picture. The central, fundamental experience of self-consciousness, the discovery of the “I,” is implicit in our human consciousness (“Self-consciousness” is used here in the purely psychological sense of being aware of oneself as a distinct individual and not in the customary sense of egocentric and even neurotic “self-centeredness.”). It is that which distinguishes our consciousness from that of the animals, which are conscious but not self-conscious. But generally this self-consciousness is indeed “implicit” rather than explicit. It is experienced in a nebulous and distorted way because it is usually mixed with and veiled by the contents of consciousness.First is the importance of practice itself, the consistent “doing” of certain exercises that support the process of psychosynthesis within oneself over time.