Irish Focusing Gathering In-Person Workshop
Introduction
“And it was at that age… Poetry arrived in search of me” - Pablo Neruda
To introduce this piece about poetry and Focusing at the Irish Focusing Network, I shall quote from one of my favorite poets and author, Kim Rosen:
“I discovered that taking a poem I loved deeply into my life and speaking it aloud caused a profound integration of every aspect of me – physical, emotional, mental and spiritual. I felt a wholeness I had never before experienced, I felt like I was flying. I was speaking the truth and the truth was setting me free. For the first time in my life I had found the voice of my soul.”
I also cannot begin without referencing Eugene Gendlin’s example of a poet writing a poem in his paper, “Three Assertions About the Body.” Gene describes how a poet can struggle to discover the words for the next line, sensing that they are already known: "A poet is in the midst of writing a poem. Six or seven lines have been written and they seem quite good. Now what?”
When the line feels right, it starts to flow: “The line lets the poet discover more than was there before. The line reveals, opens, expands, develops the ... The line carries the ... further. It carries the ... forward. We also notice that the body knows the language – since it recognizes when phrases do not say what is implied.”
The passage above indicates that the body already knows the right way forward. In terms of working with poetry that has already been written and the right lines discovered, we can allow these phrases and lines to connect with the deeper meaning within us to help us find our own way forward.
“Every good poem brings us something that has never been said before, usually something more intricate than what is usually said.” – Eugene Gendlin
Focusing and Poetry Gathering at the Irish Focusing Network
It has been a sheer joy to join my love of poetry with my love of Focusing! I find it energizing and liberating to witness peoples’ experiences of Focusing with a poem. We welcome lovers of poetry as well as those who are simply curious. We have members that were put off from poetry during their school years but have come to experience Focusing with a poem as a revelation and a different, pleasant surprise. We have quite a few regular attendees. To our immense delight, one of our members is a centenarian who has done a video recording of one of her favorite poems – “Like a Holy Face” by Rainer Maria Rilke.
It all began as part of the formation of Focusing.ie, the Irish Focusing Network’s website. With the support of Elaine Goggin, I have been facilitating Focusing and Poetry evenings bi-monthly for the past three years. It has been a great opportunity to share our favorite poems and poets while also using Focusing to gently evoke felt senses, felt meanings, symbols and memories.
We invite you to access the Poetry Corner via our website to view and listen to a variety of audio poems accompanied by a short Focusing reflection and some beautiful images and pictures. Elaine chooses and formulates the images that best accompany the themes of the poems.
I shall outline here the format of our evenings, including some of our member’s feedback and Focusing experiences.
Our poetry evenings begin with a welcome and lead-in. Members who sign up to attend are sent the poems one week prior. I choose the poems, and sometimes a theme emerges from the actual poems themselves. We also invite participants to bring their own poems and to have them in a format their partner can access. I outline the structure of the evening with a short discussion on the poets I have chosen. I refer to the poetry and Focusing guidelines, which we have amended with grateful permission from Gordon Adam of the British Focusing Association (BFA). This has been most helpful in setting the scene and context regarding Focusing with a poem.
Elaine and I then do a short demonstration of Focusing with a poem of choice. We encourage any comments or queries before participants go into Zoom rooms to Focus with a poem. We aim to allow for 30 minutes each, then conclude the evening by taking some time for any feedback or comments. It never ceases to amaze me when I listen to participants’ Focusing experiences. Yet again, I am in awe of this powerful process.
Below are a sample of comments we have received in reflection following the sessions:
“Listening to the poem 'Kindness' being read to me by my partner allowed me to experience the emotions the words evoked in my body... feelings of fear running through me at the sense of loss, devastation... a sense of sorrow behind my eyes and nose... struck by the richness of life experiences, death and the continuum of it all. I loved the reference to “the simple breath, the breath of life.”
“Slowed me down, had a visceral feeling from the poem, sparking and speaking in me in a completely fresh alive way.”
“Focusing provides such a beautiful container for exploring poetry in this way. The kindness in the group and in my triad created a safe space for a very inspiring session.”
“I love having a poem read to me... it lifts the words from the page. I also love being in contact with another person’s response. It is curious to see how words in the poem can catch and give shape to whatever is alive in us. I was left in wonder at the variation of our individual responses.”
“It’s incredible to me how a line of a poem can instantly come alive the moment it is heard or read. ‘Unfurl yourself into the grace of beginning’ (‘For A New Beginning’ -- John O’Donohue). This line alone was heard by a part of me that needed to rest into a beginning. It brought profound trust and comfort to me and an invitation for me to unfold into my life process.”
We are so grateful to all those who have inspired us to create our poetry space, such as Gordon Adams of the BFA, and those who continue to bring sparks of light and wisdom to our little community through their own process and the powerful connection with the words of the poem. To all of you poets, thank you for your openness and just the right words that offer support, healing and wisdom to parts of us that may never have felt understood. We are truly changed and moved by your offerings.
A selection of poems from the Irish Focusing Network’s website can be found here, and you can listen to a daily poem read by Dr. Michael Mosley on BBC Radio 4 on the podcast Just One Thing. It is light-hearted, enjoyable and includes some recent research outlining the benefits of reading poetry.
To conclude, we leave the last word to Kim Rosen on poetry, from “The Medicine of Poetry” chapter:
“When could be a better time for poetry than now? Poets can be truly courageous people who are willing to stand up for what they believe.... In times of pain, you need to know that other human beings have felt what you feel. And that feeling is not confined to race, class, issues, country or nation. It is the heart of being human.”
Marie Mc Guigan is a retired nurse and counsellor from Belfast, Ireland. She qualified as a Certified Focusing Professional in 2013 and is now the Lead on the Poetry Corner, with Elaine Goggin, at the Irish Focusing Network website.
Elaine Goggin is a Focusing Professional and Trainer from Limerick, Ireland and has a particular interest in Children's Focusing. Elaine has a passion for promoting Focusing and is delighted to volunteer with the International Focusing Institute and the Irish Focusing Network.