Centring Down with Compassion

A Gentle IFS Parts Check-In: Welcoming the Parts of You

In this gentle IFS meditation, we slow down and turn our attention inward, creating a safe and spacious place to notice what is present within us.

Using the body as a starting point, we gently ask, “Who is here?” and allow our awareness to move slowly through the body, welcoming whatever parts may be there — without judgement, pressure or the need to change anything.

We explore the experience of Self-energy: perhaps as warmth, softness, spaciousness or simply a sense of quiet presence. There is an invitation to offer this energy to our parts, like sunlight offered equally to everything, with no favourites.

We also explore the beautiful metaphor of a watering hole, waiting patiently and quietly for even the shyest parts to emerge.

The meditation then opens into a sense of connection — both horizontally with others in our shared space, and vertically with a deeper sense of Self, deep time, nature and the wider universe.

This is an invitation to slow down, listen inwardly and discover what your parts might want you to know.

If this meditation resonates with you and you would like to explore IFS more deeply, I’d love to hear from you. Please get in touch with me to find out about working together.

Carolyn

www.carolynbaynes.co.uk

Being Held: An IFS Meditation for Letting Go | Inspired by Rosemary Wahtola Trommer’s Hush

In this gentle IFS-inspired meditation, I reflect on the beautiful poem Shavasana by Rosemary Wahtola Trommer, from her collection Hush.

The poem speaks of the changing seasons, the grass rehearsing how to die, and the quiet invitation to surrender ourselves to the earth — to be held “without striving.” It offers a tender reflection on uncertainty, transition, endings and the possibility of being supported through them.

The poem has particular resonance for me as I accompany my father through the final stages of his life, and also as we move into the darker, quieter time of year. It invites us to consider our own relationship with letting go — not only at the end of life, but in all the small ways we are continually asked to soften, change and release.

Using an Internal Family Systems (IFS) approach, this meditation invites you to notice your parts and offer them the experience of being held: by the earth beneath you, by your own Self energy, and by the relational field of this shared space.

There is nothing you need to achieve. Nothing to fix or strive towards.

Simply an invitation to pause, turn inward, and notice what happens when you allow yourself to be supported.

“How quietly we might lean into the uncertainty.

How generous the ground.”

With gratitude to Rosemary Wahtola Trommer for the poem Shavasana and for the contemplative space created by Hush.

This meditation is offered as a space for reflection and inner connection, and is not intended as therapy or medical advice.

What if the part of you that doesn’t want to meditate doesn’t need to be overcome?

Perhaps you’ve tried meditation and found yourself restless, distracted, bored, resistant — or suddenly thinking about everything else you could be doing.

In Internal Family Systems (IFS), we can get curious about these parts rather than trying to silence them.

This gentle guided meditation invites you to welcome the parts of you that don’t want to meditate, with curiosity, compassion and no pressure to change them.

You don’t have to make yourself calm.

You don’t have to empty your mind.

You don’t even have to want to meditate.

Instead, you can simply become curious about what is here.

This practice is an invitation to meet yourself exactly where you are — including the parts that are busy, sceptical, restless, resistant or simply saying, “I don’t want to do this!”

🌿 A gentle introduction to meditation through an IFS lens.

🎧 Find somewhere comfortable, press play, and see what happens when you stop fighting the part of you that doesn’t want to meditate.

Carolyn Baynes is a psychotherapist, Internal Family Systems (IFS) practitioner and mindfulness teacher based in Farnham, Surrey.

carolynbaynes.co.uk

What if the part of you that doesn’t want to meditate doesn’t need to be overcome?

Perhaps you’ve tried meditation and found yourself restless, distracted, bored, resistant — or suddenly thinking about everything else you could be doing.

In Internal Family Systems (IFS), we can get curious about these parts rather than trying to silence them.

This gentle guided meditation invites you to welcome the parts of you that don’t want to meditate, with curiosity, compassion and no pressure to change them.

You don’t have to make yourself calm.

You don’t have to empty your mind.

You don’t even have to want to meditate.

Instead, you can simply become curious about what is here.

This practice is an invitation to meet yourself exactly where you are — including the parts that are busy, sceptical, restless, resistant or simply saying, “I don’t want to do this!”

🌿 A gentle introduction to meditation through an IFS lens.

🎧 Find somewhere comfortable, press play, and see what happens when you stop fighting the part of you that doesn’t want to meditate.

Carolyn Baynes is a psychotherapist, Internal Family Systems (IFS) practitioner and mindfulness teacher based in Farnham, Surrey.

carolynbaynes.co.uk

Relational Noticing — a guided meditation for connection, curiosity and presence

What happens when you pause and become curious about what is happening between you and another person — and what is happening inside you at the same time?

This gentle guided meditation invites you into the practice of relational noticing: slowing down, becoming aware of your inner experience, and noticing the subtle shifts that happen when we bring curiosity and presence to our relationships.

Rather than trying to change anything, you are invited simply to notice.

You might use this meditation when you are:

• feeling caught in a difficult relationship

• aware of tension, irritation or disconnection

• wanting to understand your own reactions more compassionately

• preparing for a conversation

• or simply wanting to become more present with yourself and others.

This is a short practice you can return to whenever you need a little more space, curiosity and connection.

🎧 Find a comfortable place, press play, and see what you notice.

About Carolyn Baynes

Carolyn is a psychotherapist, Internal Family Systems (IFS) practitioner and mindfulness teacher based in Farnham, Surrey. Her work brings together curiosity, compassion, embodied awareness and the IFS understanding that the different parts of us are all trying, in their own way, to help.

🌿 More about Carolyn: carolynbaynes.co.uk

What might it feel like to allow yourself to take up space, just as you are?

In this gentle Internal Family Systems (IFS) meditation, we explore how the qualities of Self energy can be experienced and embodied through the heart and body.

Beginning with a sense of grounding and connection, we invite our bodies, nervous systems and all our hardworking parts to feel welcomed. We explore what it might be like to soften, expand and take up a little more space, while gently acknowledging any parts that may feel uncertain about doing so.

Bringing our attention to the heart, we explore the balance of the Yang qualities of Self — Courage, Confidence, Clarity and Curiosity — and the Yin qualities of Compassion, Creativity, Connection and Calm.

Rather than trying to create a particular experience, we simply notice how these qualities might already be present within us, and how our bodies respond when we invite a little more of them.

An invitation to connect with your inner world with curiosity, kindness and compassion.

**About Carolyn**

I'm Carolyn Baynes, an Internal Family Systems (IFS) therapist based near Farnham, Surrey. If you'd like to explore your inner world through compassionate, attuned therapy, you're warmly welcome to get in touch.

https://carolynbaynes.co.uk

This gentle meditation helps us to soften and relax out bodies and connect to our parts.

This gentle short meditation helps our parts sense your Self energy. I apologise for the giggles!

What might it feel like to be deeply rooted in ourselves while also feeling connected to others?

In this gentle Internal Family Systems (IFS) informed meditation, we explore the experience of Self energy through our connection with the earth, our bodies and one another.

Beginning with an awareness of our feet on the ground, we imagine roots reaching deep into the earth, offering stability and strength, while other roots spread outwards, connecting us like the mycelium beneath a woodland floor. A beautiful image of giving and receiving, of being both grounded and connected.

Drawing on ideas from Susan McConnell's Somatic IFS work, we then bring awareness to the front and back of the body, exploring how different qualities of Self might be experienced within us.

We invite the Yin qualities of Calm, Compassion, Connection and Creativity into the front body, and the Yang qualities of Confidence, Clarity, Courage and Curiosity into the back body.

As these qualities begin to meet, we gently notice what happens in our bodies and what becomes possible when strength and connection can coexist.

There is nothing to achieve or get right. Simply an invitation to become curious about the experience of being rooted in ourselves while remaining open to the relational field around us.

**About Carolyn**

I'm Carolyn Baynes, an Internal Family Systems (IFS) therapist based near Farnham, Surrey. I share meditations and reflections that support a more compassionate relationship with ourselves and our inner parts.

You're warmly welcome to explore my writing, meditations and therapy work at:

https://carolynbaynes.co.uk

Or get in touch: [email protected]

Appreciating our hard working pats 26:6:26 by Carolyn Baynes