Switching intentionally

Sometimes we do, a lot of the time lately we don't. When we do it's usually like when one of us needs Samantha for something, 'cause she kind of knows how to herd cats. NOBODY forces me out, if I'm lucky they might let me out a while, on purpose, 'cause they know I been cooped up, but like, they're not just going to any old time for the heck of it, heck I wouldn't either, ha. It's like, should we let Sabrina out to play? And the other is like, either heck no, or sure why not it'll be all right.

But yeah here lately it's just like someone will come out and we can't do much about it, and if it's really in the way or just a bad time or something, then we'll be like Samantha can you come out and take charge for us, 'cause we can't get back in or we can't get that person back in and stuff like that. And then she'll come out and do whatever it is she does, we don't know she don't even know, it just happens. She can come out and put someone away and they're like not even mad at her for doing it, where if like, Steph was to try that we'd be like ###$ you dude.

We are new, so unfortunately we can't be of much help. I know what triggere some alts negativity and what triggers some positively. I don't even know all of their names yet. Some of us can in certain circumstances "push" others out. It doesn't seem like they necessarily know that they are doing it. It's almost like if things get to a point where one isn't handling a situation others come running. I am still trying to figure it all out and will take time. I simply can't make switches or "fall back" well or consistently. I need more practice and we will go the speed the system sets. I know this probably doesn't help much but learning positive triggers and letting go of control is all I have come up with this far. Of course negative triggers are nothing I want to mess with at this time.

we are practicing with what worked for us, moving the computer mouse from one hand to the other, trying to give it to the other one.
it sometimes works. it only works when I take the left side and Asti the right.
maybe it is coincidence but that would match us with more dominant brain sides too...
knowing when to try to switch is a whole new question in itself...

we notice a state change when we do it. Asti has sharper vision, tighter muscles in the shoulders and general hypervigilance. she feels a tingling when we switch back, like relaxing muscles around the shoulders. for us it is the first time that we notice these physical changes, since we kind of switch in slow motion.

the 'step' is way waaay smaller than any imagery around switching suggests. I think that is why we struggle so badly with the idea of 'stepping' anywhere. it just doesn't work like this for us. it is far closer to a slide projector changing the slide the light shines through. everything is tinted slightly differently, producing a new picture, but we are like slides that look pretty much the same from the outside. switching with Littles feels like a much much bigger change. the whole world we look at seems to change then.

Hey birdsong,

You make such great threads. Thanks for that.

Anyway, just today we were joking around with our partner. I was out front and complaining that I can't switch on command the way I wish we could. It makes sharing life hard. We got the idea for me to try to role play the conflicts that have to do with switching. I'm a co-host I guess who mostly does what Asti does.

I was trying to act out what I'd say to my co-host to make her let go, then I was going to role play what she'd say. She's not nearly as excited about hacking our DID as I am, so she was flummoxed but not thrilled to find herself suddenly there. She was disoriented (even though she's basically co-con) then said something like "no, I'm not doing this," and I found myself 100% out again, and her in. I was psyched! (Literally?) I tried to do it again and it didn't work. I figured she must be resisting. Then we tried practicing getting another more willing one of us to come out. I couldn't do it until my partner asked her to come out (which he normally never does, because some of us despise DID and get mad at him.)

It's such a trip when we switch all the way and are co-conscious. We're not a florid system, but wow, the felt differences in posture, emotional tone, and bodily experience are massive. Kind of makes it hard for the deniers to deny, after they experience it for themselves.

I'm going to try to handing over technique tomorrow. Thanks for sharing all this. Pretty cool.

After doing a bunch of it, suddenly we find it hard. And trying to force it has been.... ButNot a good idea.

Something is going on, not sure what.

birdsong87 wrote:we are practicing with what worked for us, moving the computer mouse from one hand to the other, trying to give it to the other one.
it sometimes works. it only works when I take the left side and Asti the right.
.

We have some can do this with video games. For a long time they can play together each working one hand and the relevant buttons for a character. But only the ones with the best hand eye co-ordination and most experience with video gaming.

Some have recently mastered operating the original switch in docked mode (with joy cons together as one controller) and a switch lite so they could have an island and character each on AC one in Northern hemisphere one in southern and visit each others islands both been on simultaneously. (some things that need 2 hands they have to move one character then the other as there's only one pair of hands between them!) but they can for example make 2 characters run or walk forwards simultaneously on each different controller.

It was interesting to find some are actually naturally left handed when the body has always performed as a right handed individual publicly!

So like flor our little Peter was the strongest At switching he can and always could come out when ever he wanted in such a forceful way that even now when we don't get knocked unconscious it feals like the body is being snatched. In theory he could totally take over and we could do nothing about it fortunately adult life is rather boring as far as he is concerned so he is happy to share outside time

For the rest of us we had to be triggered inorder to make it past host. Journalling showed up posative triggers which we then actively used to hand control over (so like we'd put on their favourite music) after months of this we realised each switch was accompanied by an ears popping pressure sensation so now all we need to do to change control is focus on that. Its a bit more random because the sensation isn't them coming forward but us going back. When only 2 of us would be Co-concious then we knew who would be up next but with all of us Co-concious it's a bit of Russian roulette. (If we have been in the back seat a while we get very blendy and it's hard to tell who we are till we are at the control panel) Sometimes it will take a few seconds of piping back and forth before the right one has control.

So yeah are there any posative triggers that could encourage asti out? Like anything the more you practice the easier it will get.

Hi,

I've always been pretty co-con with Host so he didn't know switching was a thing - like it was just normal have a teenager in your head all the time. Our first (good) T told Host he was switching and he was like 'You're kidding. THAT'S switching? I do that all the time.' Sometimes Host is so freaking clueless.

Iain

For us, I, the host, will tend to focus on a corner of the body near the back, and sort of notice my thoughts gathering there. I'll shut everything else out and focus on that one part. The most recent time it was my right side and behind me, the right corner of the body if that makes sense.
I focused there like I would focus on what was in front of me and let the other person's thoughts fill the rest of the head's space. Even then it's hard to get out of the way entirely and I have to let their thoughts become strong enough and their presence to front enough that I don't override them on accident, which would happen a lot otherwise.
In my case switching feels like an identity shift when doing it that way. The other way is through heavy dissociation and letting others speak while it takes me out of the way. I've found that in some ways dissociation makes surrendering to switching easier but I prefer the other method.
Hope this helps.

Eliseahorse wrote: (so like we'd put on their favourite music)

^^ That. Especially with me.