The Core Questions
What it is
Four questions the manual names as “the heart of all this work” (Manual v3, p. 31). Carried as a single set because together they form the smallest complete map of the practice: where I am, what holds me there, where I want to be, and how to move.
At the heart of all this work are a few simple — but transformational — questions:
- Where am I? (What state am I in?)
- What energy is keeping me anchored here?
- Where do I want to be?
- How can I move the old energy out so I can step into a new frequency?
Everything we do in this work ultimately points back to these questions. — Manual v3, p. 31
Why this is one tool
Each question maps onto a practice tool:
| Question | Tool / move |
|---|---|
| 1. Where am I? | inner-map — locate the state. |
| 2. What energy is keeping me anchored here? | hypnotic-inductions — what story is inducing this state? Often a persona’s story; see personas. |
| 3. Where do I want to be? | sew (the W) — what do I really want, asked from the body. manifesto — the long-form answer. |
| 4. How can I move the old energy out? | sew (the E), experiencing-your-feelings, fact, withhold-withdraw-project. |
Together they are the smallest complete pattern of the practice. Any one tool implicitly answers at least one of these questions; the four questions explicitly are the check-in when nothing else feels right and the practitioner needs to start somewhere.
When to use it
- Daily check-in. A morning or evening pass through the four questions is the simplest possible practice.
- When stuck. If a more complex tool isn’t landing, the four questions usually surface the actual issue.
- When holding space for another peer. The four questions are a clean scaffold for a peer conversation without prescribing a specific tool.
- When teaching the practice to a newcomer. The simplest entry point that still names the whole shape of the work.
The move
This is more navigation than process. Move through the questions slowly, in the body. The answers come from sensation, not from thinking.
-
Where am I? Locate your state on the inner-map. Body cue first, then naming.
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What energy is keeping me anchored here? What story are you telling? What persona is speaking? What feeling hasn’t been felt? (See personas, withhold-withdraw-project.)
-
Where do I want to be? Not aspirational — body-true. What state would feel right for what’s actually happening? What do you really want?
-
How can I move the old energy out? What tool fits this moment? Sometimes sew. Sometimes a withhold to clear. Sometimes a manifesto to read. Sometimes simply moving the body.
Why this matters
When we begin to live them — not just intellectually, but somatically — we start to reclaim our ability to choose our state, our stories, and our lives. — Manual v3, p. 31
The questions are not for thinking about. They are for living from. A practitioner who has internalized them has an always-on practice — there is never a moment where the four questions are not available as a check-in.
That’s the real power of the Inner Map. It’s not just a model — it’s a pathway home. — Manual v3, p. 31
Facets served
- facet-navigating-inner-world — the Core Questions are the navigation discipline of the Inner Map.
- All six facets — by design, the questions touch every facet by asking where am I and what is needed.
Related tools
- inner-map — Question 1 lives here.
- hypnotic-inductions — Question 2 lives here.
- sew — Questions 3 and 4 live here.
- manifesto — the long-form answer to Question 3.
- fact — the structured form of all four questions.
Source and attribution
Primary source:
raw/The Colwell Practice Immersion Manual-v3 with cover.pdf, Section II (The Inner Map: Navigating The Internal World), p. 31 (The Core Questions).
Lineage: Julia Colwell, PhD.
Status notes
canonical — minted 2026-05-25 from the Colwell Practice
Immersion Manual v3 (p. 31). This page did not previously exist
in the wiki. Filed as a tool rather than a framing because it is
something practitioners do — a check-in — not just a way of
talking about the practice.