by Denise Durocher

The teacher instructed us to use our Chinese brush with a very light touch, as if we were a bird flying down to water and flying right back up again.

I made cattails.

Black ink on a white background, bleach on a dark background. One single stroke to make the stalk and furry bit, two more for the leaves. Whether I am adding light to the dark or dark to the light, both paintings need the two elements to “work”. Without the light or dark background I wouldn’t see the light or dark object. Similar to the Yin and Yang symbol.

In Focusing, I know that most times I start out by mainly sensing the dark, and with the help of my Focusing partner, feeling it, naming it, holding it and giving it a voice. And then, usually, light comes, bringing with it lightness. I see something more clearly and it leads to a lighter feeling inside. Something has changed … even if only a little bit. Thank you my all my dear Focusing partners.

(Denise Durocher, India ink, Bleach, on Watercolour papers)

The Path of the Sensing Being Retreat

by Marta Fabregat

There are moments in life when the ordinary transforms into the mystical, where the mundane turns into a profound experience that resonates deeply within us. As I sit down to write about the "Sensing Being Retreat" that took place at the end of April in Olympus, Turkey, I find myself pausing and sensing. It has been two months since the retreat, yet the essence of that experience continues to inform my present moment, shaping my now in subtle yet significant ways.

Writing about an event that still feels alive, even after time has passed, is an act of capturing a living, breathing moment. It's about recognizing that the experience is notnconfined to the past but continues to unfold within me. This process of naming and articulating a forming happening is an encounter with the mystical in the midst of the ordinary.

During the retreat, we immersed ourselves in a Focusing living experiencing as a community of living beings. This heightened our awareness and deepened our connection to the present moment. In pausing and sensing we were met by the mystery of how this could be possible…being fully present with whatever was arising. These may seem simple, but it opened the door to a profound realization: that life is constantly offering us moments of implicit occurrences, subtle yet powerful living processes that shape our being and our belonging to the moment.

The "Sensing Being Retreat" was not just an event but a journey into the heart of what it means to be alive and present. Each day, we engaged in everyday moments that encouraged us to tune into our senses, to feel the textures of the world around us, and to listen to the whispers of our inner landscapes. These moments of deep sensing brought about a mystical ordinary, a space where the boundaries between the sacred and the mundane blurred.

The retreat was part of our in-person Professional Level Training. We gathered in Turkey to support one of our members who is from Turkey, embracing the opportunity to strengthen our global community. There is a special interest in bringing Focusing to Turkey from our friend Ceren, who works in the community sector, particularly with refugees in different areas of the country. This retreat was a testament to our collective commitment to expanding the reach and impact of our practice.

On the first day of meeting the new people who were joining us for the introduction into Focusing, we all went to a very special place close to Olympus, a mountain called Yanartaş. This mountaintop natural wonder is where ancient myth and scientific phenomena collide. The eternal flames found there have been burning for thousands of years. According to legend, the Chimera, a deadly three-headed beast, was the source of these flames. A Lycian king sent Bellophontes on his winged horse, Pegasus, to destroy the part lion, part goat, and part snake fire-breathing monster. Bellophontes plunged his spear into the Chimera and buried it deep into the mountain, where its fiery breath still
burns today.

What happened there was a unique moment of joy and pure healing presence. As we sat there as a group to share the initiation of our time together, a firefly sat on top of one of the Turkish participants. This simple yet profound moment brought more stillness and calm beauty to all of us. It was a reminder of the awe and silence that occurs when we simply belong as we are.

The title "Fireflies in My Hair" is a metaphor that captures the essence of my experience at the retreat. Just as fireflies light up the night with their gentle glow, the retreat illuminated my inner world with moments of clarity and insight. These fireflies are like sparks of wisdom and understanding that continue to dance in my consciousness, reminding me of the beauty and mystery of life.

During the retreat, I felt as if these fireflies were weaving through our hair, symbolizing the transformative power of the experience. Each spark represented a new awareness, a deeper understanding, and a more profound connection to myself and the world around me. These moments of illumination have stayed with me, continuing to light up my path as I navigate the journey of life.

Writing about the "Sensing Being Retreat" has been a journey in itself, a process of reconnecting with the alive happening that continues to inform my present moment. It is a reminder that the mystical can be found in the ordinary, that profound experiences are woven into the fabric of our daily lives.

As I carry the fireflies in my hair, I am reminded to pause, to sense, and to be fully present with whatever is arising. The retreat may have ended, but the path of the sensing being continues, guiding me towards a deeper connection with myself and the world around me. The fireflies from the retreat illuminate the ongoing interconnected life that there is at all times, showing us the lasting impact of living a life of sensing the ordinary, perceiving the biology of our interweaved ecosystem.

I am sensing how the group that met in Turkey while reading this will also feel here what we all shared. The ordinary that occurs noticing the something that can´t be spoken. As Focusing companions finding ourselves marveling in the mystery of the paradox of emptiness and the eternal way of meaning forming. Special thanks to all the practitioner level training 2023, the beautiful Turkish friends, all of them!! And Paula Charnley from the Uk who joined us as a companion trainer all the way.

by Fiona O'Meara

I love when what I’m reading stops me in my tracks and I have a bodily sense that it matters to me. I’m guessing you all know this experience.

Recently, I re-read Ibsen’s A Doll’s House (1879). The play caused outrage at the time because of the final act. Nora, the respectable wife of a respectable husband, leaves him - and her children - in order to find herself.

As I read that final act, I could feel something stir inside. Nora and Torvald have the first real conversation of their marriage, resulting in her waking up to herself, and seeing for the first time how she has been merely acting a role, living as a ‘doll wife’ in a doll’s house created for her by the men in her life.

The phrase reminded me of an expression used, so many years later, by Timothy Leary, a former Harvard professor in the 1960s, in describing his first experience of LSD.

LSD gave him new insight into his relationships. His interactions with his daughter had been robotic, not alive. They had been relating to one another like two ‘dolls on wheels’ squeaking back and forth. They were merely living out roles society had prescribed for them, like little dolls.

It’s clear to us now in 2024, that in 1879, people were conditioned to play certain roles - the role of devoted wife, sweet mother, hard-working father.

What resonated with me is how hard it can still be to know who I am apart from my conditioning. But Focusing has helped me with that.

I was always intellectually aware of being constrained by my conditioning, but I could not feel the aliveness that was me. Focusing has helped me experience myself.

I like how Carl Rogers put it: "the client can let himself examine various aspects of his experience as they actually feel to him, as they are apprehended through his sensory and visceral equipment, without distorting them to fit the existing concept of self.”

It’s immensely freeing to notice and feel your own experience as it actually is, rather than trying to make yourself feel something else.

When Nora declares she is leaving to find her real self, her shocked husband, Torvald, asks if she will return. I loved her reply: “How should I know? I’ve no idea what I might turn out to be”.

Yes, how could anyone who is committed to knowing themselves know who they might turn out to be?

This reminds me of another keystone in Focusing philosophy - we are not fixed entities, but rather, we are ‘in the process of becoming’. We cannot ever know how that will turn out.

I love how the arts or stories can stoke something in us.

Are you reading anything right now that is stoking something in you?

If yes, maybe it is a worthy starting place for a Focusing session.