Focusing: Dialoguing with the Body
Focusing is a somatic psychotherapy practice developed by Eugene Gendlin that involves attending to the "felt sense", the subtle, pre-verbal bodily knowing that arises when we attend to our experience. Focusing and TRE are natural companions.
What Is Focusing?
Focusing involves bringing gentle attention to the body, noticing the subtle felt sense of an issue or question, staying with this felt sense with curiosity and acceptance, allowing words, images, or shifts to emerge organically, and receiving what the body communicates.
Unlike TRE's emphasis on movement and release, Focusing emphasises stillness and listening. Together, they offer a complete practice of both releasing and understanding.
TRE and Focusing Together
Before TRE
Settle into your body and ask: "What wants my attention right now?" Notice what arises: sensations, images, emotions. Acknowledge this without trying to change it. Then move into TRE practice, allowing the body to work with what came up. This connects you with what your body wants to work with today.
After TRE
After rest, bring gentle attention to your body. Notice: "How does my body feel now? What has shifted?" Stay with any felt sense that emerges. Let it speak to you in its own way. Journal what comes. This helps integrate and understand what was released.
During TRE (Advanced)
Notice the felt sense of where the body wants to tremor. Stay with the quality of sensations as they shift. Listen to what your body is "saying" through the movements. Allow meaning to emerge without forcing interpretation. This brings Focusing-like awareness into the tremoring itself.
Learning Focusing
Resources for learning Focusing:
- Eugene Gendlin's book Focusing
- Certified Focusing trainers and practitioners
- The Focusing Institute website (focusing.org)
- Online Focusing partnerships
Focusing and trauma: Like TRE, Focusing can bring up challenging material. If you have significant trauma, consider learning with a Focusing-oriented therapist who can provide appropriate support.
Think of TRE as helping the body release what it's holding, and Focusing as helping you listen to what the body is trying to communicate. Together, they create a complete dialogue with your embodied experience.