Focusing

By: Eugene Gendlin

Narrated by: Eugene Gendlin

Length: 1 hr and 16 mins

Publisher's Summary

Here is a breakthrough method of “unlocking the wisdom within your body” to solve specific problems and achieve dramatic personal growth and change. This original, innovative program of self-therapy enables you to tap into your deepest level of wisdom, the “gut-level” knowledge that already exists within your body. By accessing this subliminal body-mind awareness (or “felt sense”) that lies beyond thoughts and feelings, you can get to the root of the conflicts within you, gain a fuller comprehension of your unresolved problems, and solve them.

What is focusing? It is a technique of self-therapy that teaches you to identify and change the way your personal problems concretely exist in your body. Unlike methods that stress “getting in touch with your feelings”, there is a built-in test: each focusing step, when done correctly, is marked by a physical relief, a profound release of tension. Focusing guides you to the deepest level of awareness within your body. It is on this level, unfamiliar to most people, that unresolved problems actually exist, and only on this level can they change.

Both a practical guide and a powerful philosophy of personal growth, this effective, proven procedure has wide-ranging applications, including healing, education, business, creative pursuits, and problem solving.

©1978, 1981 Eugene T. Gendlin, Ph.D. (P)2011 Macmillan Audio

Concise guide to the process of focusing

This is really a functional guide to focusing. You use your felt sense in your body to be able to apprehend how you feel and the nature of an issue. You find the felt sense of it in your body, as well as finding an expression or image that accurately represents it. Then, when you have this awareness and focus in relation to it, you can ask it questions, find out what it wants and needs. It's sort of magical how things change. I love that it is somatic and imaginative, even though imaginative means an accurate and true imagination, not made up. The first part of the book explains the process and explores the pieces of it. At, I think, chapter 24,begins a concise run through of the process that you can pause as needed. I bookmarked it, so that I can easily do the process when I want to. I can see the influence and relevance of this in fields like somatic psychology, trauma work, body work, shamanism, dance, somatic experiencing, meditation, art, and much more.

Real Breakthroughs, I'm so glad I found this again

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I've listened to many self hypnosis and self development programs. I used to listen to tapes, and now I've graduated to Audible.

I had this focusing tape and listened to it many times. I've looked for it several times on Audible, and I'm so glad it's now available, as I lost the tape (plus don't have a tape player).

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

On a couple of occasions I've had actual life changing breakthroughs of understanding doing this program. While I enjoy lots of different self development concepts and self hypnosis, this is the only one that has lead to a real epiphany.

Any additional comments?

I highly recommend this program to everyone. It's really different and really effective. I love it when I can find something like that.

Subtle but powerful

Focusing is an intuitive approach that works! Eugene's voice is perfect to guide in the process. I've listened to this a number of times and I know I will many more times!

love it

I've been into Gestalt psychology for years and this book has given me another way to work with bodily sensations & their movement. Lovely.

Good listen

Easy listen. Nice to hear a more specific breakdown of concepts I'm already familiar with.

Good one

I really liked His book , I'm glad they have it on audible did, read it many years ago and it was very helpful and is good to review now that I'm older.
Excellen information and how to do it .

Focuses on working with and interpreting gut instincts

Focuses on working with and interpreting gut instincts -- a refreshing vacation from approaches which are exclusively logic based. Hard to execute on the steps at first if you haven't done focusing before, but it is worth it to keep at it until you feel the shift.

great step by step

loved thus audio book. will try these steps. I am new to this practice and can see how it could help to understand and gain key information about how to move forward.

Seminal Work

This is instructional, the narration is short and easy to listen to. It goes through the technique thoroughly. It's very good to have this on a recording. The instructions for the technique are easy to follow, given several times and with an example. The voice is slow and calm, perfect for this kind of work.

This book is a great resource

I love the fact that this book is so concise. Only thing I would request is that it come with an accompanying PDF outline of what he is talking about. That would be very helpful.