Make it Conscious - Inner Work Exercises

In this exercise, we're going to be working with fear. As Carl Jung famously said, "where the fear, there is your task!" Working with fear is a very important part of the individuation journey, and in adult development more generally. There is little growth without confronting fear at some point or another. Often what makes fear so challenging is more about how our mind is relating to it than the...

In this exercise, there's no need to decide ahead of time what you'd like to work with. It's appropriate for when you aren't sure quite how you're feeling, or you know there's something that is bothering you but you can't quite get a handle on it. Instead, we ask the question 'what is coming alive in me that is calling for my attention,' and let the unconscious present the seed for the active imag...

In this active imagination exercise, there's a particular focus on how to engage with the unconscious effectively. In active imagination practice, one of two things can happen. Either there's a tendency to try and control the experience a bit too much — the ego gets too involved and the unconscious takes a back seat, producing what it already wants to create, and you come away having not really le...

In almost every tradition, the gods are placed on the mountains - Olympus, Sinai, Fuji. The mountain is where heaven meets earth. In alchemy, the mountain is considered the source of prima materia, containing the raw materials needed for transformation. The ascent of a mountain gives you perspective, expansion, maybe a fleeting peak experience - it literally involves rising up above the earth, but...

In today's exercise, we're going to be investigating the symbol of the cave. Caves form a profound part of our collective psyche. Long before we had temples or structures of our own, humans were entering caves. The oldest known art on Earth was made deep inside caves. To enter a cave is literally to go inwards, to go beneath the surface — making it a very useful symbol to work with as a way to fac...

In this active imagination exercise, we investigate the symbol of the ocean. Oceans are possibly the most potent natural symbol of the unconscious mind available to us. Water, when it shows up in visions and dreams, very often represents the unconscious. Some liken the ocean and the psyche to visible and invisible forms of the same reality. We came from the ocean biologically and ancestrally, and...

In this active imagination exercise, we investigate the symbol of the forest. Forests continue to play a vital role in our lives. Much of Europe was once dominated by forest. Today, the Amazon Rainforest is believed to contain around 10% of all the world's species. Forests are often associated with the unconscious itself - they contain many unknown elements, and you never quite know what you're go...

In this exercise, you'll engage with the four main functions of the ISTJ personality type through active imagination. You'll meet the Stalwart (introverted sensing), the Commander (extraverted thinking), the Lover (introverted feeling), and the Explorer (extraverted intuition) in symbolic form, allowing for direct dialogue with different aspects of your mind. You can do this exercise whether you a...

In this exercise, you'll engage with the four main functions of the ISFP personality type through active imagination. You'll meet the Lover (introverted feeling), the Tactician (extraverted sensing), the Seer (introverted intuition), and the Commander (extraverted thinking) in symbolic form, allowing for direct dialogue with different aspects of your mind. You can do this exercise whether you are...

In this exercise, you'll engage with the four main functions of the ENTP personality type through active imagination. You'll meet the Explorer (extraverted intuition), the Sage (introverted thinking), the Caregiver (extraverted feeling), and the Stalwart (introverted sensing) in symbolic form, allowing for direct dialogue with different aspects of your mind. You can do this exercise whether you ar...

In this exercise, you'll engage with the four main functions of the ENFP personality type through active imagination. You'll meet the Explorer (extraverted intuition), the Lover (introverted feeling), the Commander (extraverted thinking), and the Stalwart (introverted sensing) in symbolic form, allowing for direct dialogue with different aspects of your mind. You can do this exercise whether you a...

In this exercise, you'll engage with the four main functions of the ISFJ personality type through active imagination. You'll meet the Stalwart (introverted sensing), the Caregiver (extraverted feeling), the Sage (introverted thinking), and the Explorer (extraverted intuition) in symbolic form, allowing for direct dialogue with different aspects of your mind. You can do this exercise whether you ar...

In this exercise, you'll engage with the four main functions of the INTJ personality type through active imagination. You'll meet the Seer (introverted intuition), the Commander (extraverted thinking), the Lover (introverted feeling), and the Tactician (extraverted sensing) in symbolic form, allowing for direct dialogue with different aspects of your mind. You can do this exercise whether you are...

In this exercise, you'll engage with the four main functions of the INFP personality type through active imagination. You'll meet the Lover (introverted feeling), the Explorer (extraverted intuition), the Stalwart (introverted sensing), and the Commander (extraverted thinking) in symbolic form, allowing for direct dialogue with different aspects of your mind. You can do this exercise whether you a...

In this exercise, you'll engage with the four main functions of the INTP personality type through active imagination. You'll meet the Sage (introverted thinking), the Explorer (extraverted intuition), the Stalwart (introverted sensing), and the Caregiver (extraverted feeling) in symbolic form, allowing for direct dialogue with different aspects of your mind. You can do this exercise whether you ar...

In this exercise, you'll engage with the four main functions of the INFJ personality type through active imagination. You'll meet the Seer (introverted intuition), the Caregiver (extraverted feeling), the Sage (introverted thinking), and the Tactician (extraverted sensing) in symbolic form, allowing for direct dialogue with different aspects of your mind. This exercise uses active imagination, a t...

In any kind of inner work, working with feeling is of utmost importance. This involves first being aware of feeling and then being willing to confront the tension that it brings into your conscious awareness. This guided exercise focuses on a technique called bare attention—directing your awareness to the direct and raw experience of what you are actually experiencing. It combines traditional medi...

In this active imagination exercise, you'll perform what I call simply Core Practice - a foundational technique you can use on a regular, if not daily basis. The idea here is that this is a very basic technique without deciding ahead of time which seed you're going to work with today. Instead, you're going to be simply listening to your mind, to your body and letting it give you a steer and workin...

In this exercise, we're using a technique I call core practice. This is a basic, stripped down active imagination exercise you can use on a daily basis. The idea is that you don't need to decide ahead of time what you're going to be working with. Instead, you're going to listen and respond to your mind, because it usually has a way of telling us what needs to be worked on. It communicates with us...

In this exercise, you'll work directly with the shadow - a key concept in Jungian psychology. As James Hollis defines it, the shadow is "that which is difficult to confront in ourselves." This includes any parts of our minds that we don't like, deny, or push away - behaviours, traits, and clusters of psychic content we'd rather not face. Using a recent situation where you felt indignant or experie...

Active imagination is a cornerstone of Jungian psychology. Carl Jung himself said it was "the vital second part of any analysis." Marie-Louise von Franz said it is "the most powerful tool in Jung's psychology for achieving wholeness - far more efficient than dream interpretation alone." In this Core Practice exercise, we'll be bringing it right back to basics, working with either an image or a fee...

Welcome to Beyond the Limen , a seven-part guided introduction to the transformative Jungian practice of active imagination, brought to you by Make it Conscious. Whether you're new to this technique or have prior experience, this series is designed to guide you just below the threshold of conscious awareness, leading to the rediscovery of a timeless method of self-knowledge. Experience the pro...

Welcome to Beyond the Limen , a seven-part guided introduction to the transformative Jungian practice of active imagination, brought to you by Make it Conscious. Whether you're new to this technique or have prior experience, this series is designed to guide you just below the threshold of conscious awareness, leading to the rediscovery of a timeless method of self-knowledge. Experience the profoun...

Welcome to Beyond the Limen , a seven-part guided introduction to the transformative Jungian practice of active imagination, brought to you by Make it Conscious. Whether you're new to this technique or have prior experience, this series is designed to guide you just below the threshold of conscious awareness, leading to the rediscovery of a timeless method of self-knowledge. Experience the profoun...

Welcome to Beyond the Limen , a seven-part guided introduction to the transformative Jungian practice of active imagination, brought to you by Make it Conscious. Whether you're new to this technique or have prior experience, this series is designed to guide you just below the threshold of conscious awareness, leading to the rediscovery of a timeless method of self-knowledge. Experience the profoun...