Jacci Gruninger MS, C-IAYT
Los Alamos

Focus Coaching (Inner Relationship Focusing/IRF) is a gentle therapeutic practice that allows you to connect to your body’s wisdom with non-judgemental awareness. It involves going inside to explore and inquire for answers that you may not find by thinking alone.

IRF emphasizes being in relationship with all parts of yourself, even the parts that feel uncomfortable, unacceptable, overwhelming, in conflict or disliked. These parts are often hidden or buried, which inhibits our ability to move forward in our lives.

When you work with a Focus Coach, you will slowly connect to the various parts of you through the use of guided inquiry, imagery, and visualization. Movement, breathwork and meditation may also be part of the process. Acknowledging and being with what shows up can lead to transformation, healing of trauma, resolution of past difficulties or other difficult mental, physical, emotional and spiritual issues.

Focusing work asks you to learn to be with your sensations and feelings. It is a process of being present with something that is asking for your attention. During a Focusing Session you learn to lean into what you are feeling with interested curiosity.

Focusing doesn’t try to eliminate the symptoms you are experiencing, it tries to get to the root cause of the problem without having to dive back into your story. It uses the body as a means of connection and communication.

Like yoga, which enhances our body awareness, Focusing enhances our embodied self-awareness and provides us a framework to notice, watch, feel and allow.  From this place of knowing, we can create the life we want and strengthen our resilience and resources.

Once learned, Focusing can be used in all aspects of your life to check in and determine if your thoughts, emotions, actions and behaviors are coming from the truest part of yourself.

Benefits of Focusing

• Build self-trust and sense of self

• Develop a meaningful relationship with your body

• Learn to be with what you feel without judgment

• Develop new ways of managing difficult or stressful situations

• Move from exteroception (outside the body awareness) to interoception (inside the body awareness)

• Deepen your relationship with yourself

• Learn to say no when something doesn’t feel right

• Learn self-regulation to manage stress

• Learn pendiculations – the ability to go back and forth between tension and relaxation

• Deepen your capacity to be present with your thoughts and feelings

• Release repetitive thoughts and emotional states

• Connect and relate to uncomfortable emotions in the body

• Increase self-acceptance

Next week I’ll share why you might want to try a Focus Coaching session. Until then, start to listen to what your body might be saying.

Jacci Gruninger is a Certified Yoga Therapist, Thai Yoga Massage Therapist, Focusing Coach and Facilitated Stretch Practitioner.  She regularly helps clients manage the ups and downs of life with yoga, meditation, breathwork, focusing, stretching and bodywork.  Her Yoga Therapy Center is located at 190 Central Park Square #212.  For her current in person and online teaching schedule and information on her other services, visit her website at www.yogawithjacci.com to find out more.