In 2018 I revisited Focusing after a long break only to fall head over heels in love with this practice.

I became certified in Focusing (British Focusing Association) and in March 2020 at the beginning of the pandemic I began offering short Focusing courses online to support people to find ground, balance and steadiness during this disruptive period. Two years ago I took this passion further through specialising and training in ‘Untangling’ with Ann Weiser Cornell. These days I am particularly intrigued by how Focusing interweaves with creativity and dream through the felt sense.

Many people ask me what the difference is between Focusing and Mindfulness. Well, there’s much I could say. In brief, it’s possible to try and practice Mindfulness whilst being very disconnected from the body in which case you are probably cultivating hyper vigilance. Whereas it is not really possible to practice Focusing without being in touch with the body, to some extent. If you are keen to explore Embodiment then this is fertile ground.

Somatic Experiencing which was developed decades after the Focusing seems to borrow a lot from Gendlin’s Focusing method. From my experience Somatic Experiencing tends to focus on trauma whereas Focusing does not.

Here we somatically track our own body sensations or ‘felt-sense’ which enables the nervous system to show us trapped survival energy felt in the body and enable its release.

This body-aware approach can be deeply empowering, enabling us to connect with our deeper authentic voice and navigate the world from a place of centred-ness (our inner compass). Learning to be at home within ourselves with natural confidence.

If you have a chance to work with Natasha seize it. She is a rare gift of quiet determination, deep compassion and authentic wisdom. Thanks to her gentle way, and the nurturing space she holds I am a complete convert to Focusing and its value as a tool for integration and expectance. I feel Natasha has given me a gift that will resonate for years.

- Doug

Each week I learnt a little more about focusing. Natasha’s experience of Focusing transmitted in a natural way that was more experiential than intellectual. I came away from the course with a better feeling for the work and a real urge to do more.

- Stephen

I’ve never done any of this somatic type of work and its wonderful fo me I need it. I have been a bit disconnected. Maybe we all are, from our body a lot of the time? So to start looking for the experiences in the body - it centres me right away. And I got right out of fight or flight today. I still feel a bit sad because I know something is waiting for me to attend to, but I also feel calm and I do generally feel calm after theses session so I know its working on a deep level. “

Participant Level 1 Focusing

Natasha, your presence is very strong over the internet. I felt you holding us, giving to us with this very strong kind of connection. There’s a strong intimacy with this work and I felt very held even even though we were working online. And today, stroking and squeezing and the thing with my scalp I’m so glad to know that. I realise I needed that very much. I feel I’ve been bought to such a different kind of understanding of the world - that ‘this vast blue sky’ or ‘this field’ is here all of the time and we can open into it through this feeling of sensations. So I’ve been really blown away, I really thankful.

Participant Level 1 Focusing

This course has been perfect timing fro me I feel that I’ve discovering my body for the first time in my life, feeling safe in my body for the first time. There are new worlds to explore and new ways to approach mediation that isn’t just working with my mind but its being present with my body. Because I’m here with me all the distraction fall away - that’s been such a revelation. There a lot of insight in wisdom in what you have shared - this has been very special.

Participant Level 1 Focusing

Completing this Focusing Introduction felt like being in a space of soft yielding. Focusing has allowed me to deepen into the warrens of the body to uncover and meet the known, the unknown and the yet-to-be. To orient more accurately towards understanding and sensing the mind-body connection. Seeing this unfold in the everyday life has been such a revelatory experience. Like following the invisible thread of something you instinctively recognise as important and, at the same time, being fully aware that there is so much more to it than you currently know. And really wanting to know more. Natasha facilitates this practice with mettle, authenticity and great tenderness.

Egle

It is a moment by moment way of ‘coming home’ to yourself. It is an exquisitely sensitive way of listening to, or sensing what our (inner) world is telling us, often in the form of subtle feelings/sensations, in a way that is safe and gentle. It offers a creative and quietly profound way of being even with what we find most difficult and challenging. In focusing we are often pleasantly surprised by fresh or new spaces emerging, even from ‘impossibly stuck’ places. It is, in my experience a deeply satisfying process allowing my heart and soul space to breathe and be itself, to find its own sense of rightness.

With gratitude to K2 for this.