Daily AEP practice
From time to time this link will give you suggestions for Daily Practice of your Aware Ego Process. These come from our AEP Workbook. Please feel free to send your comments and questions about these exercises. We are always creating new ones and appreciate your reflections on how well they worked for you.
As we wrote in the book, “Nothing can replace having Voice Dialogue sessions. Even after twenty years, we continue to be impressed by the awakening that results from each facilitation. After all, we have vast areas of unconsciousness, plenty to tap into for any lifetime. What we are aware of seems to be only the tip of what is there.” These exercises are designed to supplement your experience of having Voice Dialogue sessions not to be a replacement for them.
As we begin to develop our Aware Ego Process regular practice gives us the repeated exposure, consistency, and continuity we need to strengthen this capacity. After you have had some sessions you begin to build up the experience of selves, awareness and the central place from which conscious choice is possible. Each session can be enhanced by recording it. We recommend having a written account of your facilitations, even if it is brief. The process of writing can bring greater clarity to the session and perhaps more importantly this creates a log you can use to harvest further understanding of your process as you review it in the future.
Some people like to give their selves a literal name, like Fred or Ethel, or a name based on their function, like Pusher or Aphrodite, while others like to give selves a brief description instead of a name, like “the one who wants me to be organized.” After writing a brief account of the session, this is the first exercise we recommend.
Exercise 1: Mapping a session
Date___ Facilitator ______
Draw a circle for where you began the session. Then draw a circle in proximity to the center representing each voice that spoke. Add the part’s name or description. Draw a line from the center circle to each part as you moved to it. Number them in the sequence of the session. By the end of the session, the place where you started becomes the AEP circle. By using this simple mapping and naming of the selves, you will be able to remember this session more vividly.
Exercise 2: Enhancing Your Awareness
Step A: Whether or not your session included the Awareness Level, it is illuminating to re-experience it as soon as possible after being facilitated.
Step outside the sphere of the session, disconnect from the selves and the person in the center.
Step B: Observe the sequence of your session without analysis or judgments. Recall each step of the session; the center, the first self, the center, etc.
Step C: Sit in the center again and make note of what you experienced from the Awareness Level.