The starting point is D.i.P

“This is the power of D.i.P….no longer flooded by emotions.. we instead have a moment of choice, of reflective self-awareness, where we can effect meaningful change by discovering insights and pathways to new ways of behaving.”

If you want to create meaningful change in your life, start by noticing what’s happening for you unconsciously. Which parts of your life are driven by unconscious patterns of behaviour? How can you bring them into the ‘light’ of consciousness in order to prepare yourself for change? The starting point is D.i.P., a reflective practice for self-identification, self-awareness and a non-judgemental “this is what happens for me”.

As a starting point for self-awareness, D.i.P (or dis-identification practice) can be approached in many ways and has been identified from East to West in methods such as dream analysis, word-association and mindfulness practice. By bringing into consciousness that which is typically unconscious, a stronger sense of self emerges, one which is no longer identified with actions in a “this is me” narrative, but where a space is created between self and action such that “sometimes I behave this way” creates a greater amount of choice and potential for change.

A few years ago I wrote an article for the AAP (Association for the Advancement of Psychosynthesis). We were in the middle of a pandemic, and the article outlined how a creative practice can help during times of uncertainty because it’s a way of noticing ‘what is’ without needing to change anything. In other words, creativity is a form of D.i.P, or self-awareness practice, and engaging in creativity in a flow-state with no desired output can bring space for insights and ease anxiety.

The concept of creativity being a type of mindfulness practice seems well known nowadays but how many fully understand to what end? Re-framed as a D.i.P. the mindfully creative experience sits within a bigger context – the context of psychosynthesis – a psychology which models how the space to just ‘be’ and observe ‘what is’, strengthens the connection to psyche/soul in order that this essence of pure self-awareness (‘I am that’) can be included and synthesised into choice.

D.i.P is an exploration of the unconscious by trusting enough to let go of thinking to create space for the unconscious to ‘speak’. In the last century, Italian psychiatrist and founder of psychosynthesis theory, Roberto Assagioli, created a central dis-identification meditation practice (D.i.P). The simple dis-identification meditation moves from placing awareness onto the body, the feelings, the mind and finally sitting within the place of pure self-awareness. By creating space with this D.i.P meditation we not only familiarise ourselves with our inner landscape, but we also strengthen the connection to pure self-awareness, or True Self, which is the gateway to higher levels of consciousness and an experience of our true nature, being one part of a greater whole.

Assagioli’s model works with the different ‘parts’ of self, which he calls ‘sub-personalities’. He also differentiated across psychological functions such as body sensations, emotions and thinking. Practising the dis-identification meditation we start to discern different aspects of ourselves, and discover different sub-personalities and their associated emotions or thinking, for example, the ‘inner critic’ may manifest as a furrowed brow (body), create a contracted feeling of sadness (emotions) with an internal dialogue of how terrible you are (thought). We learn how often the sub-personalities show up, how they interact with one another, become conflicted and how they ultimately seek to protect.

D.i.P. is a practice of dis-identifying from a sub-personality that you have been identified with. Using the dis-identification meditation you may have become familiar with the body sensations, emotions and thought processes that get evoked by this sub-personality. Maybe you don’t notice for hours, days, weeks or years, because this sub-personality may be very dominant and used to ‘running the show’ (and its dominance is probably supported by a few other sub-personalities as well). Being identified with a sub-personality is a passive state because our consciousness is flooded by the emotions of this part of us. This means that when we dis-identify we move from an unconscious (passive) to a conscious (active) state. This is the power of D.i.P.; no longer flooded by emotions, or entrapped by the conflicting patterns of a web of sub-personalities, we instead have a moment of choice, of reflective self-awareness, where we can effect meaningful change by discovering insights and pathways to new ways of behaving,

For example, someone who is looking for inner peace might sign up for an art class. However, in class they notice that they can’t paint a scene accurately, and this leaves them feeling like a failure. Rather than leaving class deciding never to return again D.i.P. is the post-reflective piece: “I’m feeling a bit low - what happened to me during that art class? How does this feel familiar?” D.i.P. affirms and validates experience; if you hated the experience there may be a very loud inner critic telling you, “I’m rubbish at art, I can’t do it like everyone else”. The ‘inner critic’ sub-personality warns you that by daring to show your art you might be judged and it tries to keep you safe with an inner dialogue that tells you to leave. With a good enough D.i.P. you may notice this is what is happening – and this is the simplicity of D.i.P as it is only in the noticing, and not trying to change anything that space is created for choice. Often clients speak of wanting to ‘rid themselves’ of something, or ‘dial down’ a part of themselves – with D.i.P we are including and acknowledging ourselves and in this acceptance a new choice emerges, one which tends to the underlying protective need of the sub-personality without trying to squish it away. What else was happening in the art class? Was it a safe-enough space to dare to bring your creative self? If it was, maybe you’d consider going back. This is a simplistic example, but it hopefully demonstrates that over time D.i.P soothes the inner frontiers of fear and anxiety, harmonising the inner world and creating a calmer existence where you can ‘risk’ bringing yourself fully.

www.sam-starr.co.uk

Association for the Advancement of Psychosynthesis

The Institute of Psychosynthesis