Whatever internal balance you had before COVID has likely been challenged over the past two years. From disrupted work-rest patterns to the right amount of connection and alone time, major changes have likely affected both your inner and outer world.
It is possible to thrive during stress and challenge by cultivating awareness of our inner needs.
“Multiplicity of Mind” is a term describing how some parts need safety and others need growth.
Working with the safety-growth spectrum can bring clarity, effective action, and integration.
Familiarize yourself with the safety-growth spectrum to promote healthy growth and avoid burnout.
Likely, you’ve asked yourself, “Do I hunker down and play it safe, or do I stretch myself now, in ways that I can?” From starting a new exercise routine to looking for a new job or career, the safety versus growth dynamic is a very real and perhaps unsettling part of life.
Amanda Gorman faced a high-stakes version of the safety-growth dynamic before delivering her now-famous poem on Inauguration Day, 2021. Hearing how others successfully, and not so successfully, navigate this universal dilemma can bring insight and inspiration. And connection, too—you are not alone with this challenge.
Finding our feet in the growth-safety dance is a key to thriving. A simple process, called “Multiplicity of Mind”.
Multiplicity of Mind
There is a very real part of you that is the safety advocate and another very real part that pleads for growth. This is the concept of “multiplicity of mind,” which normalizes this inner duality.
Attuning to these parts can be helpful, as illuminated in the work of Richard Schwartz, Ph.D., and Dan Seigel, M.D. Working with aspects of ourselves that advocate for polarized needs, like safety vs. growth, can be a helpful way to live more gently with yourself and effectively accomplish your goals.
A simple process can help by increasing awareness and clarifying effective action. Read How to Thrive During Times of Stress and Challenge | Psychology Today