Conflict & Identity

This week we are beginning our final integration phase with the exploration of the theme of conflict in the contaxt of identity. Why do we form an identity and how is it pulling us into conflict?

Become curious about the conflicts in your life! Exploring your inner relationship to a conflict, moving from discussion to dialogue:

• Pick a topic in your life that activates you.
• What is the polarity that you are perceiving? What are the positions you are aware of? What is the position you feel drawn to?
• Bring awareness into your somatic experience, track how thinking about the different positions is causing different activations in your body.
• Regulate yourself, try finding a deeper sense of safety, through breath, sound, movement, touch, somatic resources and following your movement impulses.
• Try identifying the activated parts in yourself that are drawn to attach to and defend one position over the other. What are they getting out of this? Why do they want to belong to this group? What needs to they get met through this polarity?
• Deepen your sense of safety and meet that part with compassion. It makes perfect sense for this part to try to get its needs met through attaching to the polarity. Locate this part in your body and meet it with attention and love.
• Take three deep breaths.
• Now try actively releasing your identification with the in-group and creating more space. Consciously detach from the position while regulating your somatic experience.
• Try exploring the other possible positions in this conflict. Why would it make sense to see it that way? What partial truth is potentially hidden in this position that is worth looking at with open mind, open heart, and open will? What kind of experience has produced this position?
• Track how your body is responding to this exploration, stay present and keep regulating.
• Continue to explore the different positions with presence, curiosity and compassion.
• There is no need to solve this conflict, but see if you can arrive at a place that meets the conflict with 5% more curiosity and openness than before. What new partial truths have you gained through this inquiry? How is the picture a little more complete than before?
• Finish by thanking all the parts involved for doing their job to get their needs met.
• Take some time to feel and breathe.

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