Zoning Out On Purpose: When Sleepy or Foggy Parts Take Over — Sunday, August 16, 2:30–4:30 PM Central
Sunday, August 16
2:30–4:30 PM Central
2 hours on Zoom • $165 per Class
Do you ever suddenly get sleepy, foggy, or spaced out during meditation, therapy, journaling, or other inner work?
Join this small, experiential IFS group to explore the protectors behind sleepiness, brain fog & dissociation.
In Internal Family Systems (IFS), these experiences are often firefighters: protector parts that quickly change your state of consciousness to keep overwhelming emotions, memories, or sensations out of awareness. They numb, fuzz, fog, and ensure your inner work doesn’t go too far, too fast for the system to handle.
Instead of fighting these firefighters, we’ll explore how to work with them to gain appropriate access to what they’re protecting.
We’ll discuss how to talk with firefighters respectfully, using the casual tone they often respond best to.
We’ll also explore why making sure your managers are fully unblended before approaching firefighters can make these conversations more effective.
Does any of this sound familiar?
“Let’s not go there.”
“Not today.”
“We can deal with this later.”
“Let’s change the subject.”
“We don’t need to feel this.”
“Go somewhere else.”
“Look away.”
“Think about something else.”
“Just disappear for a while.”
“Let’s check out.”
“Let’s take a nap.”
“Just rest.”
“You don’t have to think about this.”
“We’ll come back to this later.”
“Too much… I need a break.”
“Not safe right now. Let’s go offline.”
What You’ll Learn
Many people have experienced the strange phenomenon of feeling wide awake one moment, then suddenly struggling to keep their eyes open the moment they turn inward.
Others describe a heavy fog, feeling disconnected, losing track of conversations, or simply “checking out.”
These experiences make perfect sense when viewed through the lens of firefighters.
In this experiential class, we’ll explore:
- Why firefighters use sleepiness, fogginess, or dissociation
- How these strategies differ from ordinary fatigue
- How to recognize your own early signs of checking out
- Ways to stay connected without overwhelming your system
- How Self can build trust with these protectors instead of battling them
Who This Class Is For
This class may be especially helpful if you:
- Become unexpectedly sleepy during therapy or IFS work (with yourself or others)
- Feel foggy while journaling or meditating
- Lose focus whenever difficult emotions arise
- Have parts that “go offline” during conflict or stress
- Want to understand dissociation through the compassionate lens of IFS
A Different Way to Understand Sleepiness
Many of us have been told sleepiness means we’re bored, lazy, resistant, or we figure it’s biological and that we need more rest.
Sometimes that’s true.
But sometimes it’s a protector putting a blanket on things because “this is too much right now.”
Rather than arguing with this protector, we’ll get curious.
The goal isn’t to white knuckle through.
The goal is to connect to the parts that are genuinely concerned about staying.
What to Expect
This is an educational and experiential workshop that includes:
- Teaching about firefighters
- Time to go inside
- Opportunities to notice your own protective patterns
- A twenty-minute IFS demo
- Time for questions and discussion
Interested? Schedule a free Zoom call or email me to get your questions answered & see if it’s the right fit!
Schedule Free Zoom Call Email meFrom a Fellow IFS Therapist
“Melissa is on my Mount Rushmore of people who have made me FEEL the most Unconditionally Positively Regarded, ‘professional’ or otherwise.
In IFS-speak, she is one of two people who I say being around their Self energy FEELS like a warm hug. And I’ve only shared virtual spaces with her.
I have learned to access more and more Self energy over the years of my journey since discovering IFS, and I’ve experienced the jolt to the system and kickstart of being in the presence of someone who carries that proverbial ‘critical mass’ of Self energy.
This is what Melissa brings to the table.”
— Jesse Daso, MS, LPC, SAC
All About Melissa’s IFS Classes!
An intimate, live 2-hour experiential workshop
for only five people on Zoom!
- You have some experience working with your parts and want to go deeper.
- You want more confidence doing IFS on your own between sessions.
- You’re a healer who feels safest with other people who are already on the healing journey.
- You’re an IFS coach or therapist seeking guidance in a low-key, friendly setting with a master IFS practitioner.
If you’re looking for a place to hone your IFS skills with emotionally mature, IFS-savvy folks in a safe container of mutual support and encouragement — I invite you to consider this group!
If you want to learn more, sign up for a free Zoom with me, or watch one of my YouTube interviews to get a better sense of me as a teacher!
Click here to schedule a free chat to see if this group is for you
Common Reasons to Join This Group:
“I enjoy parts work with my practitioner / coach / therapist, but then I don’t tend to check in with them between sessions.”
“I want to be able to connect more deeply with my parts but my protectors won’t let me.”
“I just don’t feel like journaling.”
“I want to learn from someone who has experience working directly with their parts on their own. I don’t want to just read about the IFS steps from a book.”
“I’d like to connect with other like-minded people who also see IFS as a way of life, not merely something theoretical they’re learning to use with clients.”
If you resonate with any of these statements, then this drop-in group is ideal for you!
Imagine having a 24-year expert in IFS support you
in developing your OWN relationship to your parts
• Get questions answered right when they arise, before they begin blocking your work
• Bring compassion to your DIY IFS process
• Provide Self-energy to enhance yours, to create more access to deeper parts
• Help you make IFS a way of life, not just something you do one hour a week with a practitioner
• Build a supportive community: Connect with other IFS folks and also to other IFS resources
Melissa
Learn from a 24-year IFS Expert:
Melissa Sandfort has been an IFS Certified Practitioner since 2010.
From 2002-2017, Melissa dedicated herself to learning IFS from the inside out, taking 20 IFS trainings with the Institute for Self-Leadership. Specifically:
• 2 Level 1 IFS trainings
• 5 Level 2 IFS trainings, including all 3 levels of Intimacy from the Inside Out
• 13 Level 3 IFS trainings with Richard Schwartz
With over 1,000 hours of in-person training with the founder of IFS, Richard Schwartz, and over 2,350 hours of IFS training including dozens of retreats and workshops, she has a depth of IFS training few can match!
However, what truly sets her apart is her profound personal commitment to the practice of IFS in her own life.
Building on a very solid foundation of IFS training, she has slowly increased her capacity to do IFS by herself, on herself, and now has a daily self-IFS practice of 2-3 hours of intensive IFS work on herself every day.
She has currently done over 8,000 hours of her own, personal IFS work. And that number increases by 730+ hours a year!
To get a sense of this work, you can listen to a free podcast of one of her personal IFS sessions.
As a passionate advocate of the power of IFS to transform lives, unravel trauma, and help us all come home to our Self, Melissa is dedicated to sharing her IFS expertise in the most creative and loving ways possible!
To that end, she offers her own work as a model for DIY IFS — how to do your own IFS work with yourself! She has two Substacks where she shares this work:
Radical IFS - https://radicalifs.substack.com/about
Radical IFS podcast - https://radicalifs.substack.com/podcast
This class is your chance to learn from a Master IFS practitioner about how to work with your own parts, based on decades of radically intense IFS practice.
Looking for a Smaller Class?
If you’re seeking a 2 hour group with even more time to practice, consider creating
a 3-person DIY IFS Practice Group which meets once a month or quarter for two hours.
Learn more here: www.athousandpaths.com/small
FAQ
What is the refund policy?
There are no refunds. If you must miss a class, you can transfer your registration to a future class!
I have done everything I can to provide an affordable class full of value.
If a refund policy is important to you, I am the wrong teacher for you. I ask that you think carefully before purchasing a class so that it is the right match for you.
Thanks for understanding!
Class Safety Agreement
Clarity about our purpose:
To deepen our capacity to do IFS and to develop our Self-leadership as human beings.
Privacy and Confidentiality:
These classes require a private, confidential space. A private room in your home or office. Or a private conference room in a library or your car parked in a quiet space. This is for the safety of all participants, as we can not open and focus inside if we are distracted by external environments.
If you join the Zoom from a public place, like a cafe, store or park, you will be asked to leave the group.
Zoom Video On:
Being able to see everyone in the group enhances safety, so plan to have your video on during most of the class, which is not recorded. Turning video off during personal practice time is fine.
Choice:
You are free to censor what you disclose. No is a complete sentence. Choose to share ONLY what you feel comfortable with.
Confidentiality:
All material everyone shares should not be shared with people who are not members of this group, even if you don’t use their name. You’d be surprised how far stories can travel. To read more, visit https://www.athousandpaths.com/safety-story.
Speak up for Safety:
If you are having difficulty with something that’s triggered you, PLEASE speak for your parts, either directly in the group or as soon as you can afterwards. Please LISTEN to your parts when they tell you what they need in order to feel safe. Safety is our number one value. When you speak for your safety needs, you speak for the safety needs of the whole group.
Speaking for parts, not from parts:
To the extent that you can, speaking for parts, not from them, will help us maintain safety when sharing in the group.
Embodying parts:
During coaching demos, in distinction to other times during the group, feel free to speak FROM parts and to experiment with embodying them. The difference between blending and embodying is: when you are blended, you are in a part and you don’t know you are in a part. When you embody a part, you are in a part and YOU and the part BOTH know you are ‘being’ the part.
No Coercion:
“Thank you, for letting me, be myself!” In this group, there is “no crosstalk.” This means when one person shares, no one judges, gives advice, or reacts against what they shared.
Feedback: Share how you are inspired or how you resonate with others. DO NOT share judgement, advice, or criticism. If you criticize others in the class, I reserve the right to determine that you may not be the right fit for my classes. Thank you for understanding.
https://radicalifs.substack.com offers endless examples of how parts crosstalk and then repair, if you’re interested in a deeper dive.
Timeliness:
We commit to start and end on time. We start on time; this increases safety and strengthens the container.
Support and responsibility:
Ultimately, the only person who can keep you fully safe in a group is you. I want to do everything I can to make this group a safe space to learn, to go inside, and to share, in whatever ways feel right for you — but you are responsible for listening to the sometimes difficult-to-hear voices who tell you what they REALLY need to be safe.
You are not crazy if you get triggered, it’s ULTRA NORMAL in IFS work. So take care of yourself, and possibly give yourself extra support on days when you do IFS!
Thank you for your commitment to this safety agreement!
For more information about safety, which I take very seriously, here are more links!
Melissa’s DIY IFS courses gave me a quantum leap in my inner work practice.
Before, although I had a daily journaling practice, I was pretty reliant on life coaching for doing deep work.
Now, thanks to the DIY IFS beginner and advanced course, I have the skills to be my own therapist.
My own practice and my relationship with myself are so much deeper, more trusting, and more productive.
The courses epitomize Melissa’s motto, “Work smarter, not harder,” making inner work more fun and more efficient.
Every part of me recommends them with great enthusiasm. They have totally changed my life!
—Liv Love