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- ==============================================================================================================
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- || M A L F A E L ' S G U I D E ||
- || T O ||
- || S W I T C H I N G ||
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- version 1.0 – switchin’ with bacon
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- T A B L E O F C O N T E N T S 000
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- Acknowledgements ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 001
- Vocabulary ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 002
- Switching
- Association
- Dissociation / Disassociation
- Possession / Full Body Possession
- Cofronting
- 1: Prelude---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 003
- 2: Conceptual Dissociation ----------------------------------------------------------------- 004
- 3: Physical Dissociation ------------------------------------------------------------------- 005
- 4: Association------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 006
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- A C K N O W L E D G E M E N T S 001
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- I’d like to thank Kronkleberry and Alyson for their input on different switching styles and
- experiences, and Metallica48423 for being my pre-audience. ALSO NYCTO!!!11oneone
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- V O C A B U L A R Y: P L O T T I N G T H E C O U R S E 002
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- I like the psychological school of thought, so I see tulpas as a product of the mind. Thus, this
- guide will follow a psychologically leaned perspective. That’s not to say metaphysical slanted individuals
- can’t use it. (We all have brains, after all. Psychology still applies to metaphysics, and vice versa.)
- I’m starting with some vocabulary because it’s important to identify where you are with switching
- so you can see where your progress deviates from the course I have set. Now, this is only for deviations
- that harm your progress. Deviation isn’t inherently bad, and if a certain way works for you, then it
- works.
- ------------------------
- Switching
- ------------------------
- Switching, for the purposes of this guide, is based on several things. First of all, switching
- is recognizing there are at least three parts to the process: you (a) as the one who is currently
- associated with or “in” the body, the body (b), and the switchee (c) that wishes to associate with the
- body. Notice the body is neither paired with you or your switchee here. Next, switching is the process of
- having you (a) dissociate with the body (b) and the switchee (c) associate instead of you. Notice that
- you and the switchee must switch places, thus the name “switching.”
- ------------------------
- Association
- ------------------------
- Association, for the purposes of this guide, is a term based on this guide’s concept of
- switching. Association is treating you (a) and the body (b) as one, or linked. Basically, it’s
- feeling things as you through the body.
- ------------------------
- Dissociation / Disassociation
- ------------------------
- Although dissociate and disassociate are synonyms in English, the term dissociate is
- the psychological term used to refer to the state we’re looking for.
- “In psychology, the term dissociation describes a wide array of experiences from mild detachment
- from immediate surroundings to more severe detachment from physical and emotional experience.
- The major characteristic of all dissociative phenomena involves a detachment from reality, rather
- than a loss of reality as in psychosis.” –Wikipedia, on the psychological term Dissociation
- For our purposes, dissociation will refer to the detachment (or inability to perceive) the direct
- results of your body. So, basically, not being able to feel your senses directly. More advanced dissociation
- would have you not even notice them, but you are still dissociated if you are aware of them but cannot feel
- them yourself. Imagine this as the difference between seeing pictures of your friend’s birthday, and actually
- being there to experience it.
- ------------------------
- Possession / Full Body Possession
- ------------------------
- Possession is a concept close to the below, confronting. It is based on the idea that the “you” is a host,
- or the original/prevalent controller of the body. You are still associated with the body, however you do not
- control the body. Instead you let another less experienced or weaker controller move the body. This is a tulpa
- concept, whereas confronting is a multiple community concept. Multiples do not assume there is and will always be
- an original host; thus tend to treat other members of a single-body group, which they call a system, more as equals
- than the tulpa/host dynamic the tulpa community has. There is a great deal of overlap between possession and
- confronting, and most of the difference is that the two words come from two different communities.
- ------------------------
- Cofronting
- ------------------------
- Cofronting for this guide is based on the same switching model with you (a), the body (b), and the
- switchee (c). However, with confronting, both you (a) and the switchee (c) associate with the body (b). Neither
- of you are dissociated. Not to be confused with possession.
- ==============================================================================================================
- 1: T H E N A T U R E O F S W I T C H I N G 003
- ==============================================================================================================
- Before we get into switching, I’d like to go over the concepts surrounding switching. First of all,
- switching itself is a manufactured idea. It is the pairing of several concepts, not just a natural thing
- that happens. That’s why the vocab word for it was written the way it was! Switching, as you may have read,
- is made up of dissociation and association. These are two separate things. You can associate with something,
- or you can dissociate, or you can do both (which is switching). Dissociating with the body, for example,
- would just leave your poor body as a lump of human on the floor. You’d still be breathing, obviously, but
- it would be like a temporary coma you can get yourself out of at any time. Association, similarly,
- can be seen in stuff like going to wonderland! When you visit your imaginary landscape, the goal is to put
- yourself there as if you’re really there really feeling stuff. This is associating with the wonderland.
- But you don’t have to dissociate with your body to associate with wonderland, and you don’t have to
- associate with wonderland to dissociate with your body. The more you know, right?
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- 2: C O N C E P T U A L D E P E R S O N A L I Z A T I O N 004
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- Switching is very conceptual. Like tulpas themselves, it requires you to look inside yourself and
- see a change that you're not sure is happening. To help you map out the process, I am using a specific
- context for viewing yourself. If you read my definition of switching, you saw the condensed version.
- This goes into more depth, but remember this is just one concept. It's not "an ultimate truth of life,"
- just a helpful way to think about things.
- Your sense of self is the concept you’ve formed of what “you” are. Notice the quotations. You is
- a very personal concept, and it can be whatever you want it to be.
- Are you your body?
- Your gender?
- Your hair color?
- Your age?
- Are you a complex string of DNA replicated throughout your entire system?
- Are you your collected thoughts?
- Your dreams? Your tulpas?
- Are you the collection of your memories?
- Are you the columniation of your life events?
- Are you your soul?
- These are all questions concerned with the definition of “you,” and the answer to them varies according to
- how you perceive yourself. Whatever your answers are, it is this “you” (a) that must become separate from
- your body. Which means the first four (or five) questions you should be answering no to. Distance yourself
- from your physical form, your body (b), and your sense of “you” will not encompass it anymore. One way to
- do this is to give your body depersonalizing attributes, or to treat it like an object you use instead of
- you. This is basically making it out to be a vessel for “you” instead of a part of “you.” To help you
- understand and practice this concept, I have several exercises you can do to separate you (a) from your
- body (b) on a conceptual level. Later in this section we’ll also have physical detachment from the body.
- Hosts in the host/tulpa relationship usually have years of experience with controlling the body
- alone without any concept of dissociative feats like possession or switching. When the body moves, the
- default expectation is that the host did it. Removing the host from the equation will allow the tulpa to
- practice association without doubt that the host is still in power. If the switchee doubts they are
- moving the body, check if the host (a) is dissociated or not.
- ------------------------
- Exercise: Your Body is a Car
- ------------------------
- This is an exercise that will help you (a) dissociate from the body (b). You are going to pick a day
- and pretend your body is a car you drive all day. Simple, but it requires a lot of distancing thought
- to drive home the idea that you (a) and your body (b) are separate. Here are some things you should consider
- while driving your body…
- -You own the body, but it is not you: The body is like your car. You aren't your car, but you're still
- responsible when you get into a car crash. This is because you are controlling your car, just like you
- control the body.
- -The body is your vehicle: The body (not your body) is a vehicle for you to get around in. Like a car has
- roads to drive on, your body has physical things that make up the places it can go. The body has roads too –
- sidewalks and stairwells. The entire human world is paved to make it so the body can travel places, like a
- lot of the world is paved with roads to make it so your car can go places.
- -The body is a machine: The body is made of things like meat and bone and hair. It becomes physically injured.
- It grows weary and doesn’t work as well, like a rusting machine. Sleep and food are the fuel and lubricant you
- give the body to make sure it works well for you, but you are not your body.
- -The body is driven by you: When you want to go somewhere, you must tell the body to move, like you shift your
- car into gear and drive it. This is an automatic function for you, but like you knew when you were young, it was
- not always automatic. Today you know how to walk, like someone who has driven a long time knows how to drive,
- but focus on the mechanisms of walking. Focus on each step, and how you are in control of it. Focus on your
- breathing, and how you can control that too. Everything you do is you telling the body to do something.
- These kinds of concepts applied to the body are made to sever the link you have with it. Eventually you will
- understand and practice these concepts well enough to know you can pull off to the side of the road and take a
- step out of your body. You can leave the gridlock and sit for a moment outside of your world. But remember,
- you do need your car to get around. Taking a break isn’t the same as giving your car away to a friend (your tulpa)!
- ------------------------
- Exercise: Someone Else
- ------------------------
- This exercise is made to practice your detachment from your actions. Hosts are used to every motion,
- thought, and feeling in their body belonging to them. Tulpas are an exercise in giving some of that over to
- another sense of self - a you that is not you. When you made your tulpa, you learned that some thoughts are
- alien and not your own. Now you will learn that some actions are the same – not yours.
- This is a very involved process and you might want to use timers to remind yourself of the steps. You
- will pick a time that is at least one hour, but can be as long as a day to several days at a time. You will
- split your day up into two sections: being mindful of your actions, and depersonalizing them.
- Being mindful is simply being aware of what you are doing. Take at least 15 minutes to sit still and just watch
- yourself think. Do not change your thought, do not judge the things that come to mind, just watch as you think
- them. After at least 15 minutes, get up and go about your day. If you have homework to do, do it. If you go to
- school or work, get ready or go. Drive, walk, brush your teeth. Do what you normally do, just watch yourself as
- you do this. Be aware at all times that you are doing things, like you’re monitoring your own life. Do not change
- anything. I repeat this because it can be hard to see yourself doing something and not affect it, but this is part
- of the process. Do exactly as you always do for at least 15 minutes.
- After your first 30 minutes of mindfulness, now you get to start depersonalizing. Do not stop being mindful
- of your actions – the first step was to identify your action. Now you will distance yourself from it. Pretend
- that the person thinking your thoughts and living your life is not you. Nothing about you has changed, and you
- should not change anything. You’re only there to watch as things happen around you. Your life plays out like a movie
- reel, and your thoughts are like the people in the audience commenting on that movie. You are a quiet observer,
- sitting in your own seat, not saying a word. You’re just here to enjoy a movie about someone that is exactly
- like you, but not you at all. Do this for at least 30 minutes, and try to work up to longer and longer times.
- This can be difficult for some. Awareness of your actions often leads to wanting to fix or change something.
- When you have your morning coffee or someone shouts at you, your first instinct is to be happy or sad – to act as
- yourself. Remember this is not you, but someone else doing what you would do. Thus, you cannot change your action,
- because you are not the one doing it. For the length of this exercise, everything that happens is not you.
- ==============================================================================================================
- 2: P H Y S I C A L D I S S O C I A T I O N 005
- ==============================================================================================================
- Now let's talk about more physical aspects of dissociation. A good number of people don’t know where to
- even begin with switching, but everyone can experience physical sensations – hunger or fatigue, something that
- affects the body. Switching, as described by those who can do it, feels a variety of different ways to different
- people. Because of this, I will give you examples of a few ways of what switching physically feels like. Keep in
- mind, switching is not any one of these things or a combination of them. Switching feels LIKE a lot of these
- exercises. Exactness is not necessary, but if you feel similarly without the aides I’m giving you in this
- section, then you have probably dissociated.
- ------------------------
- Exercise: Numbness
- ------------------------
- Switching often feels numbing both emotionally and physically. One good way to dissociate from your sense of
- touch is to simply expose yourself to cold. You can dunk your hands in ice water, but if your cold is weather
- related, you should bring some cold weather gear with you. Obviously this sensation will get uncomfortable
- after a while, and it may even hurt afterwards. Numbness in low levels is what you’re looking for – if you
- feel pain while defrosting you’ve probably gone too far. Also remember not to freeze yourself out in the
- wilderness! You want to feel numb, not like you’re catching pneumonia.
- Numbness via cold is a good quick method of losing the touch sensation, but there are other ways to experience
- numbness too. Feeling like your limbs fell asleep is another common switching sensation. Having your arm or
- leg fall asleep happens when bloodflow is cut off. To do this, simply sit on your own leg, or rest your arm
- under something heavy but not heavy enough to trap yourself. Again, try not to hurt yourself doing this. Limit
- numbness exposure to around 30 minutes. If you lose color in your extremities during either of these exercises,
- you may want to stop.
- The goal with the numbness exercise is to expose you to the physical sensations that are close to switching.
- Occasionally these sensations do not occur, but the presence of them while attempting to switch is a good sign.
- Note, your switchee (c) should either not feel these, or learn to get used to the body so these effects are
- less intense for them. When you are switching, you (a) are dissociating, and your switchee (c) is associating.
- ------------------------
- Exercise: Deafness & Time Loss
- ------------------------
- Dissociation, in many ways, is the healthy form of a disordered concept. Multiple Personality Disorder patients
- often experience blackouts in which they are not aware of their body’s presence or the passage of time.
- Not all switching has this severity of symptoms, and it is possible to switch and never experience loss of
- time or awareness of the outside world. Switching is only dissociating, not blacking yourself out. However,
- a good method of proving to yourself that you have switched is to experience induced time gaps and ignorance
- of the outside world.
- In order to accomplish this, and immunize yourself against “snapping” back to association with the body,
- this exercise is designed to black you out for a specific amount of time you choose, while also testing
- your dissociation in the face of interesting external stimuli. Put on a tv show or soundtrack you’re easily
- drawn in by. The idea is to listen/watch through the entire span without discerning any fine details. For tv,
- you would look right at the show and not be able to retain anything that happened during it. This is often
- difficult for some, and you might want to begin by listening to or watching media that is in a foreign language
- so it is impossible for you to pick up on what is being said.
- The goal would be to maintain a dissociative state in a variety of associating stimuli (like wanting to watch tv),
- to experience time gaps, and to not retain details of the outer world while switched. This will help focus you
- inwardly. Note that again, your switchee (c) should be associated with the body and the outside world. They
- should either not lose time, or experience lesser dissociative symptoms than you.
- ==============================================================================================================
- 3: A S S O C I A T I O N 006
- ==============================================================================================================
- This section is concerned with conceptual association with the body, whether it is for the host or the
- tulpa. The last two sections defined the you (a) that would dissociate and is used to associating, and the
- body (b), which is the vessel for both you and the switchee. This section will define more of the switchee’s (c)
- role in it. Remember, neither you (a) nor the switchee (c) have all the responsibility in a switch. It is a
- collaborative effort. You (a), or in the case of tulpas, the host, is usually more associated with the body and
- more well developed than a tulpa. The host will have a lot of ways to aid the tulpa, but both parties have
- methods of contributing to create a successful switch. Working together is key.
- Note: this section is also useful for hosts who have dissociative symptoms or trouble getting back into
- the body. It’s not just for tulpas.
- ------------------------
- Exercise: It’s All You
- ------------------------
- The switchee (c) is going to pick a day and pretend the body is and always has been theirs. Like with the Your
- Body is a Car exercise, this is a simple but mindful process that you should practice over longer and longer
- periods of time. Here are some prompts to help you become in the habit of calling the body yours…
- -It’s your body: Do not speak or think of the body as “the body” or “my host’s body.” This body is yours. It
- is who you are, and who you show up to others as. Look at your body, and everything about it is you. It may be
- a new sensation, but it’s still familiar to you. You remember and know things about your body. You remember
- what you look like. What DO you look like? Do you have long or short hair? What color is your hair? What
- body shape do you have? Are you hungry or full right now? Are you tired or energized? Are you male or
- female? Recite these things about yourself, because this is who you are. Keep them in mind in everything
- that you do.
- -You feel your body: You do not feel things from a source outside of yourself; from a host or a physical form.
- The feeling and sensation comes directly from you. When you sit on a chair, you can feel your spine straightening
- and tightening to keep you in place. You can feel your clothes on your own skin. You can feel your lungs
- expanding and contracting as you breathe in and out, naturally. You don’t even need to think about it, everything
- you do is so naturally you.
- -You are the source of everything: When you feel emotion, the source is yourself. Your concern whether or not
- you’re really here experiencing this; whether or not you’re really a part of this body. Your excitement to be
- physical and alive and seen by others. It’s all coming from you, and it’s making your heart beat just a little
- faster. That’s you, from within, making your body respond to your emotions effortlessly.
- -You are the center of experience: The person that left this body to you is still there. They may have looked
- at you from their perspective at a time, but now you are the ultimate perspective. When your mind thinks, it
- thinks according to you. You look at your host and your body from your own insight. You are the beginning of
- thought, and the end of it. When you hear someone else, they are always thinking or talking from an altered
- state of you, because you are the center and the source of all things in your mind, and you are the ultimate
- controller of your feeling and your actions both inside and outside the body.
- These kinds of concepts applied to the body are made to strengthen your connection firstly to the body, and
- secondly to yourself as the stronger, more dominant personality within your body. Eventually you will understand
- and practice these concepts well enough to know your role as the switchee (c) is simply another passenger in
- the vehicle that is your body. At any time you can take the wheel and drive yourself, because you are every
- bit as able a driver as who normally drives.
- ------------------------
- Exercise: Fake it Till you Make it
- ------------------------
- This is one of the most simple, easy, but consequently slow methods of maintaining a long switch. Basically,
- the host (a) pretends to the the tulpa (c). Pick a long stretch of time, at least 30 minutes but it would be
- better if you did it for an hour or longer. Think about how your switchee acts. How they move, how they react,
- how they feel about things. Now copy that. You might want to make it easy by writing out categories and adding
- traits to each section.
- -What physical attributes does your switchee have that would make them move differently than you? Are they
- taller and heavier than you, so they walk with a large powerful gait? Are they more bouncy? To they smile more?
- Pick three descriptions of how they physically appear differently than you.
- -What mental attributes does your switchee have that would make them think differently than you? Are they more
- considerate of others? More extroverted? Would they, given the time, chat online all day longer than you would?
- Pick three descriptions here to practice too.
- -What emotional variations do they have differently? Pick three different attributes where you differ emotionally.
- -What hobbies to they enjoy more than you? This is self explanatory. Just go do these things in ways your switchee
- would.
- ------------------------
- Exercise: You are Your Host
- ------------------------
- This exercise is made to practice your association with the body’s actions. Switchees (c) are used to
- things in the body being someone else’s. They may experience sensations from the physical world, but they are
- not associated with the body itself, and the body is the source of all physical sensation. When you became self-aware,
- you learned that not all of your actions are yours. You may have learned that nothing relating to the body has
- anything to do with you, but you know someone close who experiences things for you or instead of you. This perception
- is naturally dissociative in nature, and if you want to switch, you’re going to have to associate with more things.
- You’re going to have to be greedy about what is really “you” and what is the person that’s usually driving you around.
- This is a very involved process and you might want to use timers to remind yourself of the steps. You will
- pick a time that is at least one hour, but can be as long as a day to several days at a time. You will split your
- day up into two sections: watching your body’s actions, and associating with them.
- Take at least 15 minutes to compose yourself and focus intently on every minute detail that the body does. Make
- sure you look at everything for a time. How is it doing with its needs? Is it fed? Well-rested? Stressed or calm?
- Does it need to use the bathroom? Is it cold or hot? Next look at how it’s feeling. The body has the limbic system,
- which is the source for emotional response. That system will be yours soon, but for right now just notice the activity.
- Is it happy or sad? Mildly annoyed? What feelings can you feel coming from the body? Then look at the mind, which
- lives in the brain. This is where the essence of you as a mental being lives. What thoughts are going through your head?
- Are they all yours? Which ones aren’t, and which ones are? Is there anything you have at the back of your head that you’re
- not focusing on to read these words?
- After taking 15-30 minutes to notice everything, start connecting yourself to it. Focus intently on not just watching
- everything, but affecting it too. If the body feels a little down, make it feel a little better. Like you’re feeling. If
- you’re hungry, think of something you have in your kitchen then go get it. You may not feel the connection at first – your
- host might be the one actually getting up for food, but if you keep putting yourself in the place of your host and acting
- on that, you will begin to form associative bonds with the body that grow stronger. Each time the body does something,
- always say it’s you. Every time you think of something big or small to make the body move, or make the body feel something,
- push to have it done. Twitch limbs, make your stomach growl. Pick up a pencil you see on a desk. Every action, no matter
- what, was something you had a part in. And eventually the one who may or may not be helping you with this will be gone,
- and you’ll be the only one doing everything. But for the span of at least 30 minutes, no matter what you feel is actually
- happen, claim everything that happens to the body is your doing.
- ------------------------
- Exercise: The Control Room
- ------------------------
- This is a more symbolic idea that you can apply to any one of the above dissociative or associative exercises to
- help provide more of a clean definition in the switch. It’s very simple. Design a room in your head that looks like
- it might control something – maybe a spaceship, a plane, or a fighter mech. Whatever you like. It will have large screens
- to see and many controls to use. Now you simply envision whoever is controlling the body as inside the control room.
- When practicing the above exercises, have the one controlling the body step out of the room, and the one trying to
- control the body step in. The more detail into this process, the more it will have a solid, valid place to operate
- from mentally.
- Once the controller of the room is switched, it may help to envision the new controller working the controls while
- learning to operate the body. If something doesn’t work, like a hand doesn’t flinch when you ask it to, then something
- is wrong with the control seat. Finding the electrical issue and doing some rewiring could help, or if you find yourself
- being moved out of the body and your partner moving back in, throw them out again.
- Anything that happens can be translated into a symbolism, and finding a symbolic solution will help resolve the kind of
- conceptual problems encountered in switching.
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