FOCUSING ON THE EMOTIONS* OF DAILY LIFE

A GUIDE FOR THEIR MAINTENANCE

Or

How to change without trying too hard

by Ilan Shalif (Ph.D.)



Originally written in Hebrew by the author and assistance of associates Copyright and responsibility - I. Shalif

Submitted by I. Shalif

E-Mail gshalif@netvision.net.il Home Page <http://www.netvision.net.il/php/gshalif> Snail-mail: Ilan Shalif P.O.B. 13331 Tel-Aviv 61132 ISRAEL

The right to copy sections of this booklet or even all of it is granted to all, on condition that it is done without textual or spelling errors and with no commercial intent or monetary profit. In copying or quoting, the source may be mentioned but it is not mandatory.

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* The term “emotions” stands here as a representative for the general content various aspects of which are called by the different names of, “emotions”,“passions”,“moods”,“feelings”,“the subjective experience”, “felt sensations”, “felt bodily sensations”, etc. The reason for this choice - if not obvious - can be found in the following chapters.

Cover image by Omnipedia.net


THE CONTENTS

What “Focusing” is and what it is not

1. Prologue

“It is all in the head”
So what?

2. For whom the following chapters are intended and for whom they are not

The good news:
The bad news:
Respect for the suffering
Only improvement
The vengeance of psychology

3. How and why to read this book

4. Key to concepts, abbreviations and strange words

5. Do it yourself - now!

I. A warning for beginners

II. First stage - the beginning steps of guided sensate focusing

First step - know thyself
Second step - finding the exact address
The third step - more intimate acquaintanceship with sensations
The fourth step
The fifth step
The sixth step
Summary of the first stage

III. Daily Focusing

1. The nape of the neck
2. The facial muscles and the vocal cords
3. The mouth
4. The muscles of the body in general
5. The common excitations and itching
6. The general survey
7. Focusing on the emotional expressions of others

IV. Second stage - recycled emotions (for very advanced focusers only)

Why to recycle
Why not Psychoanalysis?
Hurrah for the practical leftism
A - Reconstruction of neglected opportunities
B - Lost & Found
C - Changing behavioral patterns
D - A violent patrol
E - Popular scientific literature, art works, nostalgia
F - A most violent patrol
G - The provocations

V. Synthetic emotions or “remedy before disaster”

VI. Special projects - for advanced focusers only

VII. Impossible missions???

1. Steps to be taken against psychosomatic disturbances

2. Increasing the pleasure derived from smoking or curbing the habit

The first step - preliminaries
The second step - getting acquainted with the habit
The third step - the beginning of the real struggle
The fourth step - the real struggle itself
The fifth step - branching to restrictors and abolitionists
The sixth step - the decisive struggle
The seventh step - the final assault
Regular maintenance
Vicarious focusing on smoking

3. Regulating the sexual functioning and reducing disturbances

4. “Cultivating the voice” and the reduction of tension

5. Controlling the body weight

First step
Second step
Third step
Fourth step
Fifth step
Sixth step

VIII. Concluding remarks

6. A short guide for the focusing “coach”

I. General recommendations for professionals

II. The main body of the guide to the focusing “coach”

A general introduction
The first focusing session
The first step of the first stage
The second to fifth steps
The sixth step
Summary of the first session
The following sessions

7. The emotions

What are the emotions
The biological basis of the emotions
The basic emotions
The list of 15 basic emotions:
The essence of emotional phenomenon
How are the emotions of daily life created?
The emotional experience

8. The activation programs

9. Ad hoc activation programs

10. Supra-Programs

11. The emotional supra-programs

12. The cover-programs

13. The trash-programs

Why are programs trashy?
Common roots of trash-programs

14. How it really works

Paying attention
Biofeedback or how the head works
“Illegal” feedback or “how the trash-programs are hunted”
The lost paradox
Selected Bibliography Supplement: A form for marking the time when
bad habits are activated