Everything IFS Blog

Internal Family Systems

An elderly East Asian sage standing beside gently rippling muddy water, hands open in quiet contemplation, surrounded by misty mountains and soft natural tones, illustrating the Tao Te Ching’s teaching on stillness and clarity.

Chapter 15 – Tao Te Ching

This chapter shows the ancient sages living with subtlety, patience, and depth. Through Internal Family Systems (IFS), their qualities become a portrait of Self-led presence—careful, flexible, and still enough for clarity to rise without force.

8 min read

A contemplative figure standing in soft natural mist, reaching toward an unseen presence to portray the Tao as invisible, inaudible, and intangible, inspired by Tao Te Ching Chapter 14 and Internal Family Systems (IFS) themes.

Tao Te Ching - Chapter 14

Tao Te Ching Chapter 14 describes the Tao as invisible, inaudible, and intangible — a mystery you cannot grasp but can live from. Through Internal Family Systems (IFS), this chapter becomes a journey inward, showing how Self-energy mirrors the Tao’s subtle presence and how parts soften when held by something deeper. With line-by-line commentary and parts-aware insight, this chapter reveals how the ancient Tao guides modern inner work.

7 min read

A traditional Taoist sage sits in quiet meditation beneath an ancient pine tree, surrounded by misty mountains, conveying the calm spaciousness beyond ego and the gentle wisdom of Chapter 13.

Tao Te Ching - Chapter 13

Laozi teaches that praise and blame shake our parts, but not the Self. Through the IFS lens, Chapter 13 shows how ego creates fear while Self offers calm, steady, spacious leadership.

4 min read

Traditional Chinese ink painting of a sage beside a wheel, clay vessel, and empty room, symbolizing the Taoist teaching that emptiness creates usefulness.

Tao Te Ching - Chapter 11

Laozi teaches that true usefulness comes from emptiness — the open space within and around all things. Through the IFS lens, this chapter reveals how inner spaciousness allows parts to unblend and Self to lead with clarity, calm, and creativity.

4 min read

Traditional East Asian ink painting of a serene Taoist sage in deep contemplation beside flowing water, symbolizing unity, softness, and effortless virtue.

Tao Te Ching — Chapter 10

Chapter 10 of the Tao Te Ching, through the Internal Family Systems (IFS) lens, explores the art of staying unified inside—keeping soul and Self connected, softening effort, clearing the inner mirror, and acting without ego. Laozi shows how profound virtue arises when protectors relax, Self leads gently, and action flows without control, comparison, or force.

4 min read

A gentle Taoist landscape with flowing water winding through quiet valleys, symbolizing humility, softness, and non-competition as taught in Chapter 8.

Tao Te Ching - Chapter 8

Chapter 8 teaches that the highest goodness moves like water—humble, gentle, and without competition. Through the IFS lens, this softness mirrors Self-energy: steady, receptive, and naturally aligned, allowing protectors to soften and life to flow with ease.

4 min read

A serene Taoist scene of wide sky and enduring earth with a sage standing humbly in the landscape, symbolizing ego-softening and the steady presence described in Chapter 7.

Tao Te Ching - Chapter 7

Laozi teaches that Heaven and Earth endure because they do not live for themselves. Through IFS, Chapter 7 shows how protectors soften when ego relaxes, allowing Self to lead with steadiness, humility, and quiet fulfillment.

3 min read

A serene Taoist valley with mist, flowing water, and a quiet feminine presence symbolizing the receptive, inexhaustible essence described in Chapter 6.

Tao Te Ching - Chapter 6

Laozi describes the Tao as an endless, receptive depth—the mysterious feminine. Through IFS, Chapter 6 shows Self as the same quiet, nurturing source that never runs dry and restores the system through softness, openness, and calm presence.

4 min read

A serene Taoist landscape with a sage near misty mountains and flowing water, symbolizing the endless, calming presence described in Chapter 4.

Chapter 4 – Tao Te Ching

Laozi describes the Tao as an inexhaustible, calming presence that softens what is sharp and settles what is chaotic. Through IFS, Chapter 4 reveals Self as the same endless, quiet capacity that restores balance without force.

4 min read

A traditional Taoist scene of a sage guiding simple villagers in a quiet landscape, symbolizing the calming of desire and the effortless harmony taught in Chapter 3.

Chapter 3 – Tao Te Ching

Laozi teaches that striving, desire, and ambition confuse the heart, while simplicity restores balance. Through IFS, Chapter 3 shows how parts calm when ego-softening replaces grasping, allowing Self to lead with quiet, grounded ease.

4 min read

A traditional Taoist landscape with misty mountains and flowing water, symbolizing the harmony of opposites and the effortless balance taught in Chapter 2.

Chapter 2 – Tao Te Ching

Laozi teaches that opposites create each other, and suffering comes from clinging to one side. Through IFS, Chapter 2 reveals how parts polarize while Self stays centered, acting with effortless alignment.

5 min read

Back view of a woman with short, curly gray hair seated in a comfortable chair near a sunlit window. Surrounded by books, plants, and personal photographs, she appears quietly reflective in a warm home setting, representing Bronnie Ware's work exploring the life lessons and regrets commonly shared by people nearing the end of life.

🥀 Module 2 — Who Is Bronnie Ware? | Deathbed Regrets Course

A free course by Everything IFS Academy on Bronnie Ware, the unlikely founder of deathbed regret knowledge: follow her path from soul-starving banking work into palliative caregiving with no qualifications, living in the homes of the dying through their last three to twelve weeks. Discover the 2009 blog post on Inspiration and Chai that reached three million readers in a year, the 2012 bestseller The Top Five Regrets of the Dying translated into more than thirty languages, an

Everything IFS

An older man sits alone indoors with his face buried in his hands, his posture heavy with distress and reflection. The softly blurred background and subdued lighting emphasize the emotional weight of regret, loss, and unresolved life choices often explored in discussions of deathbed regrets.

🥀Module 3 — The Anatomy of Regret | Deathbed Regrets Course

A free course by Everything IFS Academy on the anatomy of regret: meet the counterfactual emotion, the mind holding two lives side by side and finding the real one wanting, plus the classic study naming regret the second most common emotion after love. Learn the three machines through Theo's absent years: regret says I wish it had gone differently, guilt says I did something wrong, shame says I am something wrong. Then discover the values mechanism through Marisol's unrecorde

Everything IFS

A woman undergoing cancer treatment rests in a hospital bed, lost in thought. Above her, two vivid memories appear: one shows a painful argument with a loved one, representing regret over actions taken, while the other shows a missed opportunity to reconnect before someone walked away, representing regret over actions not taken. The image illustrates the difference between regrets of action and regrets of inaction at the end of life.

🥀 Module 4 — Regrets of Action and Regrets of Inaction | Deathbed Regrets Course

A free course by Everything IFS Academy on the two species of regret: learn why the regrets of the dying almost all begin I wish I had, through the landmark Cornell research of Thomas Gilovich and Victoria Medvec and the temporal pattern, actions burn short term while inactions dominate the long run. Explore why action regrets close and inaction regrets stay open forever, the cross-cultural evidence from China, Japan, and Russia, Davidai and Gilovich's ideal self versus ought

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