Hello ladies of the Nada Lou Workbook Group! Here are the first 25 pages of the workbook that comprise Step 1 of 5.

You can buy the workbook here (from the International Focusing Institute) if you want, but I don’t mind scanning my pages. FYI pg. 10 looks funky because I filled it in already, but put paper over it to cover it.

The Goal of the First Phase of Focusing: Breaking the Language Barrier:

“This first phase is finding the felt sense about something that you want to work on, articulating it and finding different strands which will help you to go deeper into your topic. First you try to express it the best you can. You may notice very quickly that the words you used to describe what you felt sensingly [you?] know are not adequate. There is a more intricate take about “that” than you can say. All that your felt sense brings is part of your situation and has so much richness to it that it cannot all be expressed, but you can speak “from it”. Your felt sense can be the source of language that is closer to your meaning than any words you have already used. You know when you speak from it, because you recognize that it has some value for you. When it doesn’t like the word or sentence, it knows- you can immediately sense when your felt sense doesn’t like it!

“By the end of this phase, you will be able to say what you want to express in adequate language, with deeper meaning, understanding and ability to communicate it for yourself and to others….”

I’m thinking a good format for the meetings can be:

Friday, January 30, 2026 at 7:00 PM

1. 10 min- Go around the circle and introduce ourselves, how we got to Quebec (you know if we’re Anglophones, we probably have a story), and what project we’re working on, or what we’re trying to articulate or “give birth” to.
2. 5 mins- Condensed presentation on Gendlin’s work / Buddhist mindfulness / body / creativity,
3. 15 mins- Watch a youtube video of a facilitator doing the felt sense activity, while talking the viewer through it.
4. 7 mins- We do our own [shorter] version
5. 15 mins- pg 15-16: Let a felt sense form. This is starting from some small thing that we know already. Write first paragraph.
6. 5 mins-optional group sharing
7. 3 mins- Wrap up.

Tuesday, Friday 17, 2026 at 7:00 PM

1. 5 min- short icebreaker
2. 5 mins- pg 17- “Intro Experiential Exercise C: check in-write down”
3. 8 mins- focusing
4. 16 mins- pg 19- write a few paragraphs from your felt sense
5. 4 mins- optional group sharing
6. 1 min- go over how partnership works (pg. 18)
7. 15 mins- Partnership activity- 5 minutes each of monologue and listening/notetaking. 2.5 minutes each of feedback.
8. 4 mins- optional group sharing
9. 2 min- wrap up.