Inner Positioning – The Art of Inhabiting Yourself

Raquel has been a psychologist, integral therapist, coach, and personal/transpersonal development facilitator for over three decades. In this book influenced by the integral approach of Ken Wilber (see interview in Members’ Articles), she elaborates her own original approach of Inner Positioning to enable readers to inhabit the various rooms of their inner house and thereby transform it into a real Home. The four parts cover Inner Positioning in relation to me, you, everyone, and its application in daily life. By coming to know our inner position towards life, we are enabled to make transformative choices towards transpersonal consciousness in service to the whole. In this way, personal development is reflected in the collective and in our relationships. Raquel characterises her approach as Integral Regenerative Reconstructivism. The book combines theory with practical steps/tools/exercises – breath is of particular importance - and illustrative case histories. In this way, readers are able to engage in their own developmental process along the way.

Wilber’s quadrant is repurposed as a series of entrance doors to reality (p. 92 ff.), and six factors are specified in Inner Positioning: position, choice, relationship, identity, and inhabiting as wholeness, integration, authenticity and embodiment. The symbolism of various rooms is thoughtfully explained in ways relevant to readers’ own questions. There is guidance for couples building a Home based on common purpose and energetic expression; the next circle is community and neighbourhood. This leads into an extensive and valuable section on practical applications to daily routine and life, whereby we can actually inhabit the rooms and structure our time more consciously. Readers are encouraged to keep an integral diary and to undertake one of 25 simple practical exercises every day – and as Raquel reminds us – ‘always 25 exercises function if you function.’ The final part describes an extensive illustrative case history, from which readers can draw their own observations. I very much appreciated working through the metaphorical rooms in relation to Inner Positioning and on the practical exercises.