Fire Drill Meditation Script

I want you to start by thinking of a person in your life (past or present)

who really triggers you. Maybe they make you angry or sad, or maybe

they’re somebody you closed your heart to at some point.

In your mind’s eye, put that person in a room by themselves so

that they’re contained and can’t get out right now. Now look at the

person through some kind of window, and while you watch the person

from outside—from the safety of not being in that room—have them

do or say the things that upset you, and notice what happens in your

body and your mind as your protector jumps in. That is, notice what

your protector does to your muscles, to your heart, and feel what kind

of impulses you have. Check out your breathing too. We’re just

noticing the impact of a protective part on your body and mind.

Now take another look at the person from this place and get a

sense of how they look to you through the eyes of this protector.

Reassure your protector that you’re not going to go into that room, so

it can stand down a little. See if it’s willing to separate its energy from

you, because you’re not going to put yourself in jeopardy right now.

And if it’s willing to pull its energy out of you, you’ll notice a

palpable shift in your body and your mind as that happens.

What are your muscles like now? What’s your heart like? Your

breathing? Also pay attention to what’s going on in your mind. And

then take another look at the person in the room to see if they appear

any differently. What does the person look like now?

Then focus again on the protector who jumps up when you focus

on this person. See if you can become curious about it now that it’s

separated from you a little more. And if you can, ask the protector

why it feels such a need to become so strong with this person. What’s

it afraid would happen if it didn’t do that for you?

In answering that question, it’s likely that it told you about

vulnerable parts that it protects, so see if you can show appreciation to

it for working so hard to try to keep those parts of you safe. See how it

reacts to your appreciation. Ask it if you could heal those parts so they

weren’t so vulnerable to this person, would it have to be so involved

in protecting them? What might it like to do instead inside of you?

We’re not going to go into the room holding that triggering person

in this exercise. However, I want you to get a sense of what it would

be like if you did. If you entered that room feeling more Self-led, what

might that look like? How would it play out in terms of how you

would relate to this person?

If that’s difficult to imagine, it might be because your protector

still doesn’t trust that it’s safe to let you do that. If you do have a sense

of how different the experience would be, convey that to the protector

and ask what it would take for that part to trust you to lead with

triggering people like this one. And if it’s still afraid to trust you, ask

for more information about that.

When the time feels right, thank this part for whatever it did.

Show it appreciation for whatever it allowed you to do or let you

know. Finally, begin to shift your focus back outside, and take deep

breaths if that helps.

from 'No Bad Parts' ( 2021) by Richard Schwartz, Developer of IFS therapy