Exercise Of Disidentification And Self-Identification

Assagioli teaches a group of students the use of his famous exercise of disidentification and self-identification.

By Roberto Assagioli, Lecture Course on Psychosynthesis, Psychological Exercises and Training, Doc. #23994 dated March 8, 1964[1], from the Assagioli Archive in Florence. Original Title: Esercizio di Disidentificazione e di Auto-identificazione. Translated and Edited With Notes by Jan Kuniholm. (See also the following glossary entries for more on this topic: Disidentification, the observer and Why You Are Not Your Body.

Introduction

The first stage is to state with conviction, and become aware of the fact, “I have a body, but I am not my body.” This should be obvious: the body is something material, constantly changing and in a few years all its cells are renewed. However, we mistakenly identify ourselves with our body all the time and attribute our physical sensations to the “I”[or self]. For example, we say, “I am tired,” but this is a psychological fallacy, for the “I” cannot be tired; the body is tired and transmits a feeling of fatigue to the “I” — and this is very different.

This first stage is relatively easy; the second is much less so. It consists in realizing that “I have an emotional life, but I am not my emotions, my feelings.” When one says, “I am irritated,” or “I am happy,” one again makes a false identification of the “I” with psychological states, which are changeable and sometimes contradictory. To say “I am irritated” is to commit an error in “psychological grammar;” the right expression is rather, “There is a state of irritation in me.”

The third stage is to say, “I have a mind, but I am not the mind.” Ordinarily we identify with our thoughts; but when we analyze them, when we observe ourselves while thinking, we find that the mind functions as an instrument. We can examine its more or less logical way of working, observe it from above, so to speak; this indicates that we are not our thoughts. They too are changeable: one day we think one way, the next day we may think the opposite way. André Maurois,[2] a fine psychologist (not by profession but by intuition), went so far as to say that “the normal man changes his philosophy ten times a day!” Clear evidence that we are not our own thoughts is when we try to master and direct them; when we want to think about something abstract or uninteresting our mental instrument often refuses to obey us. Any student who has to learn something that bores him knows this well. So, if the mind rebels against the direction of the “I,” this means that the “I” is not the mind.

These facts show that the body, feelings, and mind are instruments of experience, perception and action, tools that are changeable and impermanent. But the “I” is essentially different: it is simple, unchanging, self-conscious. The experience of the “I” can be formulated as follows: “I am I, a Center of pure consciousness.” Affirming this with conviction does not mean that one has already achieved the experience of the “I,” self-identification, but it is the path that leads there and is a means of mastering our psychic activities.

Consciousness of the “I,” self-consciousness, is what distinguishes man from animal. Animals have physical sensations, they have emotions, they also demonstrate elementary mental activity, but they do not appear to have self-consciousness. In contrast, man has self-consciousness, sometimes vague and uncertain, sometimes sharp and separative (egocentricity), and can arrive at pure consciousness of the “I,” free from all identification.

We will now do the Disidentification and Self-identification Exercise together, as a training to do it then individually. It is useful to do it in the morning, before we start our active life. We should “come back to ourselves.” Let us reflect on the profound meaning of this expression: “coming back to ourselves.” Generally we live “outside” of our true being; distracted by countless sensations, impressions, worries, recurrences of the past, plans for the future. We are “un-centered,” unaware or oblivious to what we actually are.

I can say that for some people it is easier to do the exercise in a group, because of the help given by the person who is describing it; for others it may be more difficult, because of the sensation of the presence of others. So let’s begin by turning our attention away from the presence of others, by coming back to and staying “in ourselves.”

The Exercise

1. The first stage is to sit comfortably, releasing all muscle and nerve tension; this can be helped by a prior practice of the relaxation exercise. It is good to keep the spine straight, the head slightly lowered; close the eyes; then take a few deep, slow, regular breaths.

(pause)

2. Affirm slowly, with attention and conviction, “I have a body, but I am not my body. My body may be in different conditions of health or sickness, it may be rested or tired, but this has nothing to do with Me, with my true Self. My body is a valuable instrument of experience and action in the outer world, but it is only a tool; I treat it well, I try to keep it healthy, but it is not my self. I have a body, but I am not my body.” (After a period of training one can simply repeat the final sentence several times, “I have a body, but I am not my body.” The same applies to the later stages as well.)

(pause)

3. We affirm with conviction, “I have emotions, but I am not my emotions. They are different, changing, conflicting, while I always remain me, myself, in the alternation of hope and discouragement, joy and sorrow, irritation and calm. I can observe, understand and judge my emotions, and become more and more capable of mastering, directing and using them.” — “I have emotions, but I am not my emotions.”

(pause)

4. “I have desires, but I am not my desires. Desires are also changeable, conflicting; they are a succession of attractions and repulsions. There are desires in me, but they are not Me.”

(pause)

5. “I have a mind, but I am not my mind. It may be more or less developed and active; it is undisciplined, but little by little I can master and direct it. It is an organ of knowledge, both of the external world and of the internal world, but it is not myself. I have a mind, but I am not my mind.”

(pause)

6. All this is preparation for the final positive stage, the affirmation and experience of self-consciousness: “I am convinced and affirm that I am a Center of pure awareness, of pure self-consciousness; I am a Center of will, capable of mastering, directing and using all my psychic functions and my body. I AM.”

Let us dwell on this statement, striving to realize this pure consciousness of being, this stable, unchanging Center, steady as a rock amidst the churning waves of becoming. “I AM.”

OUTLINE OF THE PSYCHIC CONSTITUTION OF THE HUMAN BEING

In the diagram the Star or Sun representing the spiritual Self is drawn partly within the periphery of the personality, and partly above. This indicates that the Self, while it is the most real and essential element of the human being, is also part of a transcendent, supra-individual, universal

[1] This translation incorporates Assagioli’s hand-written corrections to Doc. #23994. —Tr.

[2] André Maurois (1885-1967), French author and novelist. —Ed.