Focusing

Saint Raphaela Center is pleased to announce the beginning of a new program called FOCUSING now being offered by Sister Julie Grey, op.  It involves taking time to be quiet and listen to the wisdom of your body. The process itself is a respectful, natural, and an unobtrusive way of "coming home to yourself". It is an alternative way of being with your emotions (instead of being caught up with them) leading to greater calm and more resources to deal with your issues. This process is like a doorway into fresh energy, and offers new steps to move forward.

What’s Focusing really all about?

Well, the first response to your question would be come in and try a focusing session.  If it is not for you … you are under no obligation to come back.  If you want to journey further using focusing, Sister Julie will be delighted to accompany you.

The second response is … it is difficult to put a focusing experience into words …especially an experience that can bring you inner peace and a greater awareness of the God within. God desires that we live peacefully and we can be in touch with our God through focusing in a very real way.

Read a small portion of a book entitled “The Power of Focusing” by Ann Weiser Cornell.

“Focusing is a body-oriented process of self-awareness and emotional healing. It’s as simple as noticing how you feel—and then having a conversation with your feelings in which you do most of the listening. Focusing starts with the familiar experience of feeling something in your body that is about what is going on in your life.

When you feel jittery in your stomach as you stand up to speak, or when you feel tightness in your chest as you anticipate making a crucial phone call, you are experiencing what we call a “felt sense”— a body sensation that is meaningful.

So what do you do when you have a jittery feeling or a tightness or a choking sensation in your throat? If you’re like most of us, you try to get rid of it. Maybe you curse it a little: “Why does this stupid feeling have to come now, just when I need to be my best?” Or maybe you put yourself down: “If I were a better person, I wouldn’t freeze up this way.” Maybe you do deep breathing exercises, or have a drink or a cigarette.

What doesn’t occur to you, unless you know Focusing, is to listen to the feeling, to let it speak to you. And yet, when you let the feeling speak to you, you are allowing yourself to be open to the depth and richness of your whole self. Furthermore, when you listen to the feeling, it is much more likely to relax, release, and let you go on with what you’re doing in a clear and centered way. You might even move forward in this area of your life in ways that surprise and delight you.

Focusing is the process of listening to your body in a gentle, accepting way and hearing the messages that your inner self is sending you. It’s a process of honoring the wisdom that you have inside you, becoming aware of the subtle level of knowing that speaks to you through your body. The results of listening to your body are insight, physical release, and positive life change. You understand yourself better, you feel better, and you act in ways that are more likely to create the life you want.”

The best way to come to understand Focusing is to try it! Sister Julie is an experienced spiritual director who uses focusing in both her spiritual direction practice and in her own personal life. Being a gentle soul herself, Julie will guide you quietly through the process. It will change your life!

Looking for relief from anxiety, fear or tension?

Try Focusing!!!