INTERNAL TEAM
Have been coaching the internal team and it is exciting to share that the learning, perking, and experiencing journey is evolving! As previously mentioned, through work with a quantum energy coach, the author has realized that John most likely would have been a better child, teenager, student, parent, partner, subordinate, soldier, and leader if the 50-year self-awareness and self-development commitment had included coaching for “digging deep” into inner, buried, repressed subconscious aspects of the self. Selected literature refers to these subconscious aspects as shadow,
… the dark side of the psyche-those aspects of ourselves that we’ve split off, rejected, denied, hidden from ourselves, projected onto others, or otherwise disowned. In the language of psychotherapy, the shadow is referred to as the ‘repressed unconscious’-repressed because we’ve pushed or ‘pressed’ it out of our awareness, and unconscious because we’re not aware of it! [Integral Life Practice: A 21st Century Blueprint for Physical Health, Emotional Balance, Mental Clarity, and Spiritual Awakening, Wilber, Patten, Leonard, and Morelli, 2008, Boston: Integral, 41]
The most recent awareness tool has been Introduction to Internal Family Systems written by Dr. Richard C. Schwartz (2023, Boulder, CO: Sounds True). Dr. Schwartz offers,
…IFS is a collaborative process. Your Self and your therapist’s Self set out together on a healing journey inside your system of parts. You are the expert on your experience—what you encounter on the journey—and the therapist is an expert in helping you hold Self-leadership during the journey. (136)
Anticipation of confidence, wellbeing, clarity, and calmness was inviting, and an evolving definition of Self-leadership surfaced: leadership by Self is an earned, team-based influence relationship between the Self as leader and inner personalities who intend ethical relationships and mirror common purpose, sparkling, energized stars (mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual) in a quantum universe. Dr. Schwartz calls the inner team players, the system of inner personalities, exiles, managers, and firefighters; and each player has a protective role to play for the Self. The quantum coach’s role is to facilitate a teambuilding process between the leader and his-her team players through evolving awareness of the Self as leader, identification of internal team players, and helping iron out conflicts between team players and between the leader and respective team players. Reminds of General MacArthur, who in the context of football, remarked, “Upon the fields of friendly strife are sown the seeds that at other times and in other places, bear the fruits of victory.” In the case of IFS, the TD’s are less stress, more energy, improved relationships, better listening, and simply improved peace-of-mind, joy, and quality of living and life.
The “dig deeper” quantum coaching for evolving, authentic John and little John has led to a wish that this challenge, opportunity, coaching, and learning to “dig deeper” had begun 60 + years ago! Moreover, it offers that young adults who are considering partnership, becoming parents, having kids, and raising kids may benefit from quantum energy coaching mentally, physically, spiritually, and emotionally. The vison is that the world is exponentially, positively evolving for generations to come because our parenting is improving.
Steve McIntosh contends,
Although America is plagued with abundant problems and challenges, most of these problems have pragmatic solutions that are within our power to implement. Almost none of these solutions, however, can be realized within our current political environment. Our frustrated, stymied, stalemated, and hyperpolarized political process is stuck in its tracks, and this gridlocked condition is now beginning to cause our social regression. Hyperpolarization is really the mother of all our problems because very few of the serious challenges we face can be adequately addressed until we ameliorate the fractious and frozen state of our body politic. [Developmental Politics: How America Can Grow into a Better Version of Itself. 2020. St. Paul, Minnesota: Paragon House, xiii]
The only way to effectively solve this ugly problem is to evolve our collective human condition. A judgement is that polarization can be traced back to programmed subconscious issues with our parents, our parent’s issues with their parents, their ancestors, etc., etc. Folks who are considering parenting need to resolve personal issues and relationship issues before they choose partners, opt to have children, and become parents. Choosing otherwise, the mental-emotional loop will continue, and the predictable result will be more polarization.
If you are anxious to get started, find a meditation coach and learn to meditate. If you are ready to “dig deep” into that shadow, look for a quantum energy coach who is a good fit, while at the same time passionately committing to a balance of integral health, wellness, and wellbeing. Additional literature that may be of interest: Dr. Joe Dispenza, You Are the Placebo; Evolve Your Brain; Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself; and Becoming Supernatural. In closing, a “make new stuff stick” process that really works for the author is contemplating the new learning: write about it, reflect on it, perk it, exercise with it, think about it, chat with others about it, sleep with it, and “simply sit” with it to experience it. Along the way it is important to remember to take good care of yourself because one cannot love others absent love of Self, your team leader.
