An IRF Level 1 Student's
Feedback on His Experience

One student's experience of his Level 1 Class:

A friend of mine who knows I have fibromyalgia with pain all over the place had gotten an e-mail about a class called “Inner Relationship Focusing, Level 1.” My impression from the email was essentially it would be about getting in touch with my body.

There’s a disconnect between me and my body.

So the idea of finally having a healthy relationship with my body attracted me.

Before we had the first class, each of us had a personal guided Focusing session with Jocelyn. I think part of it was that her voice and my brain were so compatible! Something about her voice was so incredibly soothing.

She was extremely tuned in to me when she was reflecting things back. She has an incredible gift to listen, to be totally present, and to reflect back in a way that I responded really positively towards.

It just felt like Jocelyn was incredibly adept at leading me on a journey into myself.

At this point, I have completed the Level 1 class, and I would say that I now feel connected to my body in a way I never have been before, ever, in my life.

What I mean by that – the benefits of doing the focusing are not just during the focusing session. They last all the time. In the past, if someone asked me how I feel, well – I felt like "I just have pain!"

But now, when I have a thought, or I am doing something, and I notice a pain, instead of ignoring it, I observe and acknowledge it. I listen to it. I’ve opened up a channel of communication with my body that I never had before.

Jocelyn was an excellent instructor, and I loved the format! What I liked was that we had class, we had instruction on what we were going to do, we practiced in class, and afterward we shared our experiences – what worked and what didn’t work. So it wasn’t just my focusing, it was our focusing.

And it was really wonderful that then we got to practice with each other during the week – I liked having more time for our focusing sessions.

I would recommend this class to anyone, but especially to someone who has chronic pain, fibro, or anything else where they’ve been dealing with chronic issues – especially where they have tried other modalities and have not received the results they were hoping for.

It’s unlike anything I’ve tried – very different from meditation.

The results that I’ve gotten in a short period of time are literally mind-blowing!

I have not yet noticed a decrease in my pain. At the same time, there are so many stressful things going on in my life that would ordinarily make my pain worse. If I weren’t doing Focusing, I could only imagine what pain I’d be in right now! Focusing is actually giving me an important tool in my toolbox to help me process what’s going on in my life.

I don’t want to think what my life would be like without Focusing. I’m extremely optimistic that this is one of the things that’s going to get me there in terms of my pain going away when my body is ready.

The last thing I want to say about this class is: Don’t hesitate – just sign up! You’ll thank yourself.

~~Theo M. (Bergen County, NJ)