Discovering the Inner World – Introduction to Emotional Intelligence

People are often wary of looking within, at themselves. Our inner worlds can appear complex or unpleasant — full of things we would rather avoid. Sometimes it seems that not much happens inside, or that it’s just random or irrelevant. Or it may simply be the idea that ‘Ican’t do it’ or ‘it’s not my thing’ which stops us delving deeper.

And yet, self-awareness is vital for effective living and working. An understanding of ourselves and what makes us tick is the bedrock of essential life skills. Discovering our inner world opens up fresh competency in many crucial areas, for example with:

• Decision-making
• Time-management
• Communication and people-skills
• Professional and personal learning
• Emotional intelligence and empathy
• Clear thinking
• Goal-setting
• Dependability
• Career choice and progression
• Work-life balance
• Personal satisfaction and fulfilment
• Keeping resolutions and arragnements
• Quality of sleep

These skills underpin our ability to be effective, creative and dependable. The better our engagement with our inner world, the greater our chances of achieving our goals in practice.

Course Aims

• To discover, explore and know how to approach our inner world
• To raise self-awareness and self-understanding
• To engage more effectively and dynamically with the outer world

Learning Outcomes

• How to approach the inner world
• What to do with strong emotions
• Handling difficult thoughts or memories
• Gaining confidence in the contents of the mind
• ‘Grounding’ oneself to feel confident and safe
• Using the physical body as a helpful resource
• Dealing with overwhelming experiences
• Dealing with ‘blank’ experiences
• Metaphor and symbol (and dreams) as doorways to awareness
• Spotting reactive and creative responses in any situation
• Applying the ‘revolutionary pause’ to understand our responses better
• Gaining calm and clear perspectives
• Raising our quality of presence in any situation

Why our inner worlds matter

Although what we do often seems to be dictated by factors outside us (the needs of our job, finance, health, families), in fact, the decisions we make come from inside us. It is how we are affected by our situation that moves us forward. It is how we respond to our context that determines what we do. So the steps we take at any time are always more than a knee-jerk response, or a random reaction. Our actions are formed by, and depend upon, a vast array of conditions which lie here, within ourselves. Whether we realise it or not, we turn to our innner worlds for a better understanding of any situation. We draw on knowledge which may be latent and implicit, yet is still significant and influential. For example:

• Past experiences which relate to the current situation
• Our present awareness of the facts
• An in-depth and practised knowledge of a subject
• Our feelings and needs in this situation
• Wider perceptions of the overall context
• Hunches, gut-instincts and intuition
• A global sense of what’s needed to move forward

How this course (or coaching) helps

We have a specific emphasis on introducing people to their inner worlds in ways which are exploratory, empowering, safe and enjoyable. It includes practical exercises to take away, and ways of working by oneself and in pairs to build up the inner ‘muscles’ for exploring our experience. The better we can navigate and understand our inner responses, the more ef­fective we become in managing what happens around us. Time spent learning how our inner worlds work brings us extraordinary returns. Both professionally and personally, our inner worlds hold resources which are crucial for our effectiveness and well-being.

What holds us back

Some people feel hesitant about approaching their inner world. They may be wary because they have tried different approaches which haven’t worked. Or they may be nervous about unpleasant feelings, painful memories or gripping thoughts which might haunt or ambush them when they look within. Often what holds people back is a sense of:

• Too little going on; fear of no inner experience:Many people worry they ‘won’t find anything’ if they look within — perhaps just a blank, or nothing of any worth. In this case, looking into the inner worlds may feel demoralising, a waste of time or ‘stupid’.
• Too much going on; overwhelming or difficult experiences. If this is the case, contact with our inner world may feel unpleasant, painful, or even dangerous and threatening — as if it could sabotage us, or ruin what we’ve made of ourselves. Reluctance to discover or explore our inner worlds is always there for an understandable reason. In this course, we introduce ways of reaching the inner world respectfully, neither forcing nor avoiding, but moving respectfully and wisely, as it feels right for each individual.