I love sharing IFS with a wide variety of people. So there is IFS 101 as an intro to IFS and IFS 102 for more in-depth takes.
IFS is a therapeutic model that views the mind as composed of "parts" (everybody remembers this bit better) and a core "Self" (which most people miss at first).
A part can be any internal experience (emotion, urge, tension) that you give an identity to, in whatever form feels most appropriate. It can really be anything. If you feel anger because you didn’t buy a delicious cupcake, for example, you can feel the feeling and notice that the most appropriate form might be a hairy, furious, rainbow-colored bear. What matters is that it feels like an accurate portrayal of the essence of the feeling. When you have identity on the feeling/tension/urge you can more easily remember it (this is probably something how our mind works) and treat it like a subject, talk to it, and have a relationship with it, empathize with it.
Self in IFS is the core essence beneath all parts. It’s where healing occurs. Not a part itself, but the innate healing, compassionate spacious field within everyone. When parts "step back," Self naturally emerges. It's described as a "field" larger than the individual—felt as love, trust, presence and 8C’s: Calm, Curiosity, Clarity, Compassion, Confidence, Courage, Creativity, Connectedness.
Self heals by compassionately witnessing parts, without managing, fixing, or wanting any outcome.
Self has parallel concepts in many spiritual traditions: Buddha-nature—the inherent awakened quality in all beings, Atman in Hinduism—the true self beyond ego, Christianity: the "Christ within", Taoism: connection to the Tao
My favorite exercise to feel Self is "22: The Path Exercise," an audio meditation in Greater than the sum of our parts .
Greater than the sum of our parts is my favorite introduction to IFS, by the creator of IFS. It's an audiobook where half the chapters are guided IFS practice and half discuss IFS. Richard Schwartz was asked what's the best introduction to IFS and he pointed to this resource. I think you can go really far just by listening it on loop. Or just start working with an IFS guide.
