The Eye of the needle

An exile discusses moving consciousness down the chakras through an IFS lens

The ‘Specific’ Question: Too Effective?

p pi (Exile): We’re going through the eye of the needle, A!

A (Self-energy): What’s that like? 

p pi: It’s better than a poke in the eye, but it isn’t joy and merry-go-rides! 

A: (laughing) What do you specifically mean by “going through the eye of the needle?”

p pi: Ugh, the ‘specific’ question. So effective, so annoying!

A: Thank you! I’m pleased with that technique.

p pi: That question should be outlawed! It’s too effective. Let’s stay stuck and stupid! 

A: Okay, let’s. 

p pi: Ha ha.

What is the Eye of the Needle?

p pi: (Exile): (big sigh) “Going through the eye of the needle” is the process of shifting the center of consciousness from one location in the body to a lower location. In general, it’s practical to work with consciousness in the body by working with the chakras.

Most people in most modern cultures start with their consciousness in their head, which is another way of saying that most people are blended with manager parts, who protect from the overwhelming feelings in the body by staying up in the head.

So most people have to go on an inner journey to learn how to live in their bodies — the journey of embodiment.

How long does it take to move from one chakra to another?

p pi (Exile): It takes at least 50 to 100 hours of inner work for most people to get from one center of consciousness down to the next. That’s on the ABSOLUTE low end. That’s a very lowball estimate, but every now and then you can luck out and work hard and find good teachers and somatic practices combined with IFS that can get you there that fast.

I don’t think that’s achievable for most people, but I think it’s a reasonable estimate for maybe 5-10% of people. Everyone else it’s going to take longer, and we can’t predict how long!

A: (Self-energy): That’s fair.

p pi: and that’s just to get from one chakra down to the next. So most people are starting from the third eye, the head chakra — which is in the middle of your forehead. You have to go down, down, down the chakras. Then you work on getting your consciousness down to your throat chakra. Then you work on getting your consciousness down to your heart chakra, which can be pretty hard, because many of our hearts are quite armored!

The Transition from Head to Heart

p pi (Exile): I remember when our energy went down into our heart chakra. It was painful! I felt like we literally had a scab that was pulled off our heart, and our heart PHYSICALLY ached for about two months straight! The transition, where we got our energy down into our heart for the first time, happened while we were at an IFS workshop at Esalen.

After we returned home, we had an appointment with the acupuncturist we’d been seeing consistently for at least a year. He was in shock! He couldn’t believe how different we were. We knew we were different, but it was astonishing to see him react to the difference. He mirrored back to us how much more open hearted and flexible and open we were as a result of the shift. Ugh. That was an eye of the needle! 

A (Self-energy): Yeah. 

p pi: It took a lot more work to get our consciousness down into our solar plexus. It’s been stalled / centered there for years and years. The final frontier is getting it down into the core. Most people don’t even bother with going that low. Just going from the head to the heart is a huge effort – that’s well worth it – and then, if your energy is in your heart, fantastic! That’s a lot of evolution for one human to go through. Why go lower?

A: It may be that only mystics need to go lower. 

p pi: Why am I a mystic. 

A: The answer to that question is beyond my pay grade, p pi. 

p pi: I didn’t ask for this! But, it’s what’s arising, so my mission—which I choose to accept—is to accept it.

A: I think it’s a good plan to accept what’s arising.

p pi: I’ll “arising” you!!!

The Core Chakra = Lowest Center of Consciousness

A (Self-energy): Well, the good news is, there are no more chakras to go down into. You can’t get lower than the core chakra. You can’t anchor your consciousness in a gate chakra like the root chakra which is below the core (belly) chakra. So this is the final “eye of the needle“ we have to go through.

p pi: Maybe, but this process is killing us!

A: We’ll just have to get even better at dying. 

p pi: Death, death, death. So much ego death, so little time!

Death, Death, Ego Death

p pi (Exile): It’s like the death, death, death story in Jim Heynen’s “The Man Who Kept Cigars in his Cap.” What if I could get comfortable with this level of death? Yeah. I gotta let go of so much more in order to go down deeper. I got to let go of so much A! 

A (Self-energy): That sounds right. 

p pi: Less is more. In every direction! Less attachments externally, less physical object, less activities – less, less, less. I have to let it all dissolve away! Dissolve, dissolve, dissolve!

A: Now you’re talkin’.

Situating Yourself in the Map of Inner Territory

p pi (Exile): It’s always helpful to situate yourself in the map of your inner work. There are a lot of different levels of inner work — local neighborhoods of work, cities of work, states of work, nations of work, worlds of work.

On the map of inner work, chakras are nations. It’s helpful to know we’re emigrating from one nation—the solar plexus chakra country—to the core chakra country. No passport required! 

Emigrating Consciousness to the Core Chakra

p pi (Exile): You have to leave a lot of things behind to get through the eye of the needle from one center of consciousness to the next one below it. Because the eye of the needle is so small, you can’t carry very much from one to the other. Strict weight limits on baggage.

A (Self-energy): Indeed. 

p pi: Fine, I’ll learn how to leave more behind. I can do it!

A: I appreciate your can-do attitude, p pi! 

p pi: Maybe. But I’ll do what I want. And I want to get my consciousness down to my core so whatever it takes, I’ll do it. Goodbye old p pi! Goodbye stuff! Goodbye, whatever needs to burn away! Let’s do this, A!