HeadworkMindstates
Much of this is advanced headwork New. All the cautions on that page may (or may not) apply. This is being dropped here quickly.
This article is a Stub. This is lifted in whole from a lecture in Search & Rescue on https://PluralityResource.org (the course will eventually be published as a self-paced course) — and will need to be edited/modified to talk about more than just rescue missions New eventually. Other types of headwork can take place in these mindstates. Also Crisses recently acquired Frank Putnam's newest book which is all about mindstates, so more information may be eventually added from his work as well as other works — and cross-linking this article to other articles.
We wanted to share a little bit about various mindstates that rescues have happened in.
Some notes:
- Don't do rescue missions while operating heavy machinery, driving, cooking, in a bath or pool, etc. Like please know that sometimes we end up in trance states, or if the system wants to shut us down we can be asleep in a moment's notice. So don't do anything that would ruin a batch of brownies or worse while doing rescues. Turn off the stove, and go sit down. Wait til you get home. Stop the bulldozer and turn the engine off.
- Technically there's no failed rescues, only re-dos or pivot methods next time there's an attempt.
- Y'all might want to consider "allowing" as a skill — https://kinhost.org/Main/Allowing (recommended) — as it can be very helpful to learn to relax into things for a variety of reasons. Many mindstates are easier to achieve by allowing — sinking into it — rather than force or trying or some type of active willing of a thing to happen.
- Resistance may be fear of change — or resistance may be "No." It is helpful to try to figure out the nuances. Falling asleep whenever y'all try may be resistance, try another method but if methods that don't require trances cause y'all to fall asleep when y'all are well-rested, it's likely resistance from inside.
- Instincts are good for all methods — both for the words chosen to ask for permission or ascertain whether someone is ready, and for the "How to help them get closer & anchor in the Now" parts.
- In any of the "away team" versions, create or exert a tether to headspace and know that the away team is always tethered to the Here & Now and can additionally be tethered to front or anything else they would like to be tethered to. A tether in this case allows them to come back to the body quickly and easily so they don't have to retrace their steps to come back to headspace. It prevents getting lost, and allows two-way communication with the away team and folk in front. It can look like whatever is appropriate to the metaphors of your headspace — a rope, a communication device, a transporter, an energy cord, etc.
Here's some ideas — but by no means exhaustive — for the mind-states that people actually perform rescues:
- Anxiety — hyperarousal or "activation" can sometimes be due to the lost/stuck headmate being closer to front. Like a fold in time-space in your head. This can make it easier to rescue them as long as y'all are just activated and not in an active crisis situation. The limitation is that often self/ves-awareness, options, creativity are hampered while in this mindstate. All the work on internal boundaries (the Boundaries & Empathy podcast episode) are helpful in keeping everyone in your system sucked into the leaking anxiety.
- Fully Front / No Inner World — Y'all may want to have someone to talk to or make a recording on a device — but y'all can talk (or sign) your way through a rescue (or type /write it) without having a good inner world awareness or being able to trance. Talk your way towards the person y'all are looking to rescue slowly. Relax and allow your words to permeate your mind about being safe, looking forward to meeting them, that it's ok y'all forgive them or whatever feels right like they need to hear it. Ask them to follow your voice to the Here & Now.
- Fully Front & Passive Influence — While writing or touch typing — same as above — but allow yourself to pull away from controlling what you write, sign or type. Allow your hands to continue to move without direction allowing words to just flow and let go of thinking what they are going to write. Y'all can alternate between controlling to say something and allowing to get a response, thus have a converstion and ask whether they want to come to the Here & Now. If they do, perhaps help them understand where y'all are — y'all can ask tem to focus on what's being said and send them feels, intentionally send them a hug to pull them closer with permission, until they are there with you — you can feel them becoming stronger or closer to the front.
- Inner World Background — you can stay in front while others in your system do the work. Y'all can just be quiet, somewhat calm (or excited/anticipatory/awaiting), take notes, keep tabs on the "away team", listen in, ask for updates, and attempt to "trace" what's going on inside without ever leaving front or even (sometimes) closing your eyes. Basically you have the bridge while the away team is "exploring".
- Body on Ice — by which we mean leaving your body "sitting there" seemingly frozen so that y'all can have inner focus or a light trance state. Basically being dissociated from your body so that you can focus entirely on the inner world. A good option for very small systems that don't have many options to create a whole away team. By closing their eyes, front can turn into the Inner World, usually in a sitting position rather than laying down (too comfie) to avoid falling alseep. See also "peri-sleep" if y'all do find yourselves drifting in and out of sleep.
- Split-Consciousness (Advanced?) — Someone is in front, and there's an away team, and they're able to alternate inner world & headspace focus to take notes etc. Like passing a baton back and forth, or like the camera focus changes during a TV show. The system is fully awake & awareness is passed back and forth between the "away team" and front during a mission.
- Simple Trance — done sitting up, eyes closed. Turn the mind's eye to the darkness inside, and like it's a tunnel go deeper and deeper into it. Ask who is in there and ask if they want to come back with you. Note: some tulpamancers may use this method, but the method itself is definitely not limited to tulpamancers. (Singular folk take a long time to find a headmate this way.) We did this accidentally with a combo of Peri-Sleep recently and found Carpenter, one of our newest headmates. We really doubt it's a tulpa — it's just the method/place that we found it. We didn't even ask, we were going really deep and in and out of sleep and there was a mind in the darkness, and it was Carpenter. We're pretty sure Carpenter is one of the many Walk-Ins who got pushed "out" when we were a kid and someone panicked about letting too many spirits in.
- Peri-sleep — while in a very light sleep or coming towards wakefullness, one can do something like lucid dreaming. Headmates may be able to drift or do things in the inner world or dreamworld that have an effect on stuck/lost headmates, conduct rescues or find and talk to a headmate. There's 2 ways to "get there" — overall marked by detouring from dreamtime towards consciousness but staying in the inner world. It's similar to Body on Ice in that you can let your body stay there and focus on the inner world, but the mindstate is closer to dreams or sleep than a trance or wakefulness plus dissociation. You can also try allowing yourself to drift and start falling asleep but exert consciousness and effort before getting there to pull away from sleeping. Alternatively, as you are waking up you can delay fully awakening and slip into the inner world while still in a somewhat dreamy state. It can be very helpful to set an intention (optional) to do these before falling asleep. Isabeau used this state to rescue 2 "little sisters" of hers recently — so we say "Welcome Back" to Lindsey & Cora.
- Meditation — There's many types of meditation, this would be an inner world focus. There's various types of meditative trance states with varying levels of consciousness, and a good number of ways to achieve a meditative state out there. Learning how to meditate to do inner world work is beyond our scope here.
- Self-Hypnosis — https://pluralevents.org/Sessions/2019-SelfHypnosisInnerworld (suggested if interested, 43:21 mins, suggest using the captions on to be clear when they say "can" or "can't"). There's also various levels of self-hypnotizability that are good for making inner world changes and communication devices, etc. Use with caution for rescues — this state is usually highly suggestible — remember that y'all can accept or reject suggestions in any mindstate. Y'all just need to be aware of and know this fact. Be aware of and block any coercion. Stronghold gives good precautions.
- Journey — This is a shamanic technique usually used to go to the Shamanic Worlds but the technique could be used instead to go to the Inner World — the brainwaves/state/focus and lucidity are different in this state than others. Usually folk use solo or double drumming to "get there" but there's other alternatives like crystal bowls and recordings that encourage Journey states.
- Your Own State(s) Here — you& can create your own place, pace, and mindstate(s) — a special spot, blanket, journal, recording, other objects to help y'all achieve and maintain the "focus" you wish to achieve to do a rescue mission.