News From Maggie Phillips, Ph.D.
May 2014

In This Issue
* Teleseminars & E-Courses
* News You Can Use: The Embodied Brain

     

 Maggie Phillips

Maggie Phillips, Ph.D.
2768 Darnby Dr.  
Oakland, CA  94611 USA
510-655-3843

reversingchronicpain.com 

 

 

CD: Reversing Chronic Pain  

 

 

 

 

 

 Book: Freedom From Pain  

 

 

 

 

 

 Book: Reversing Chronic Pain  

 

 

 

 

 

Book: Finding the Energy to Heal  

 

  

 

 

 

Book: Healing the Divided Self  

 

 

   

 

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

 

Greetings! 

 

At this point, we are learning that spring weather means a wide range of weather phenomena, everything from cold windy weather in Paris and Zurich, where I`ve been recently to very hot weather on the west coast, tornadoes and floods, and earthquakes elsewhere. This month we update our calendar and also include information about my teleseminar with Bonnie Badenoch on "Mending Torn Attachments with the Embodied Brain in Mind, scheduled Tuesday, May 27, from 9am - 10:30 am Pacific time/on demand 24-7 so you don`t have to attend live or change your schedule. Our News You Can Use article is The Embodied Brain-scroll down to find it!

 

Have a great month,

Maggie


 

The ITT Online Conference
Continues to Thrive

 

 

You will shortly be receiving the registration information for the ITT on-demand version of the conference. When you register, you will have a choice of purchasing one of 3 packages. All of them are available for 30 CEs, all include the written transcripts for 13 quality 2-3 hour sessions, and all of them contain the entire content for the whole conference. You don't have to change your schedule to participate. All media is ready 24/7 whenever you are!

 

We are also including some excellent bonuses including an excerpt of chapter one from Rick Hansen's new book, Hardwiring Happiness, plus 3 audio downloads on Love, Peace, and Contentment. My clients (and I) really benefit from his work. Coming soon is a bonus from Bill O'Hanlon, popular speaker and author of 35 books, including Simple Steps to Resolving Trauma. We are offering an mp3 download and written transcript of our recent teleseminarPost-Traumatic Success. Visit www.rickhanson.net and www.billohanlon.com to find out more about these outstanding experts.

 

Here's what one participant has written recently about the conference:

 

"The trauma conference was one of the best educational experiences I have ever had! Thank you so much for putting it together."

 

Join her now here. And don't forget to use the promo code that will allow you to register. It is coming soon to your inbox.

 

 

 

Don`t forget that The Association of Comprehensive Energy Psychology has invited me to speak at their 2014 Conference: Talk is Not Enough: Activating Broader and Deeper Levels of Healing, scheduled from Thursday, 29 May - Sunday, June 1st. I'll present an all-day preconference workshop, "Healing Relational Trauma with Somatic Experiencing and Energy Psychologyon Thursday, MAY 29th and hope to see some of you there!

 

I'm offering a special sign-up bonus if you register for my all-day workshop on Thursday, May 29--Your free bonus is an audio/video download of a presentation with Dr. Fred Gallo and me on How Energy Psychology Can Help to Solve the Puzzle of Pain Conditions. This presentation will not be available in any form within the U.S. Please act quickly to reserve your space in the workshop, secure the best discounts in registering for the conference, and receive your bonus!

 

 

In addition, this conference will take place in a true retreat setting, The Sheraton Wild Horse Pass Phoenix Resort and Spa, located in the high Sonoran desert. I guarantee that this will be a live training experience you will savor long after the conference is over. Are you looking for a way to combine a vacation, outstanding training, and CEU's? This is my first choice of a US conference destination this spring. Go here now, before you forget for a conference schedule and to register. If you attend my preconference workshop on Healing Relational Trauma, you'll receive the links to my presentation with Fred Gallo when you attend the class (value: priceless because you cannot obtain or buy it anywhere else).

 

Because I know what a great resource membership in ACEP can be, I am also offering a second bonus if you join as a member. Go here to the membership link now: When you have received your receipt, send it to me by email in order to claim your second bonus, the Pain Coaching for Success kit. This is a $69.97 value and will help you upgrade your skills in working with chronic pain clients.

 

So really, won't you give this two-part offer some serious thought? 1) an exciting conference venue, a dynamic learning environment, more than 60 training events including my Healing Relational Trauma through Somatic Experiencing and Energy Psychology preconference workshop plus the free audio/video presentation on pain with Fred Gallo and me,  2) and an opportunity to join ACEP at a lower fee by March 31 while also receiving the Pain Coaching for Success set absolutely free. Membership benefits don't just include the live conference. Curious? Visit here.

  
Teleseminars and E-courses

 

 

May Teleseminar with Bonnie Badenoch

 

This month I welcome Bonnie Badenoch, specialist in the neurobiology of attachment to join me for a teleseminar on Mending Torn Attachments with the Embodied Brain in Mind. It will be held live on Tuesday, May 27, from 9-10:30 am Pacific. With our immediate audio replay/download feature, you can listen anytime and anywhere without the stress of changing your schedule.

 

Here are some of our talking points:

 

  • How our earliest attachment experiences create felt sense patterns in our embodied brains
  • How Brains in our Bellies and Hearts contain implicit memory from the past that influence how we experience our present experience
  • 7 Streams of Essential Nourishment and how they help to support our relationships with inner and outer worlds
  • How to experience the interrelationships of the polyvagal neural circuits in

ways that reshape our attachment inheritance at a sustainable root level.

 

To join us, please go now to register here.

   


News You Can Use
 

The Embodied Brain

Since at least the Middle Ages, Western thought has emphasized the superiority of the cognitive mind over the rest of the body. Scientists are finally documenting what somatic practitioners have always known: The body affects the brain. The state of the body has a direct effect on what the brain is capable of - perception, thinking, cognition, and more.

 

On some level, it's obvious. The brain does not exist separately from the body. It's one dependent part of a highly complex network of nerves and hormones, electrical impulses and biological tissues. If the heart stops, the brain dies. The substances that enter the system have a direct result on the way the brain works.

 

Many people develop highly attuned sensory perceptive mechanisms on purpose in their bodies. Indian trackers, martial arts masters, solo sailors, woodcutters all attune their physical perception to the precise requirements of their work. Charismatic leaders, performing artists, teachers, and people who work with animals (human or otherwise) cultivate an ability to communicate with their bodies.

 

As somatic psychologists, we've been teaching and writing about the trusted presence of the therapist. This form of neurological attunement, as we have discussed in several of our online seminars, is also a favorite subject in the growing field of energy psychology. It's an essential component of energy therapies. We could even say that this "embodied rapport" is the ground on which the work of all therapy is built: Without the trusted attunement and deep witnessing and affirming gaze of the therapist, the client is less ready to find self-acceptance and feel supported in change and growth.

 

 

The Field of Interpersonal Neurobiology 

 

Dan Siegel, one of the primary spokespersons for this dynamic field, writes that interpersonal neurobiology "embraces everything from our deepest relational connections with one another to the synaptic connections we have within our extended nervous systems. It encompasses the interpersonal power of cultures and families, as well as insights into molecular mechanisms; each contributes to the reality of our subjective mental lives."

 

An important principle here is that the mind is an ongoing activity that emerges from the distributed nervous system extending throughout the entire body, and also from the communication patterns that occur within relationships between individual people.

 

In a recent talk, Siegel spoke of the mind as "an embodied and relational process that regulates the flow of energy and information ... within the [individual] brain and between brains. ... Moderating & modifying is what regulation is all about." As Siegel says, a supportive therapeutic approach helps "stabilize the camera lens [and help the client] see with greater depth, clarity, and detail." He goes on to describe the workings of a well-functioning mind: "A successful (i.e. healthy) system is characterized by harmony, equilibrium, adaptability, energy, and flexibility... and by integration, the linkage of complex parts."

 

 

Somatics, Self-Care, and the Body-Mind

 

Siegel and other leading neuroscience researchers are raising public awareness of the principle that the brainchanges through our directed attention. So where do we need to direct our attention in order to create and support this embodied brain and a healthy system called "mind"?

 

For one thing, we can cultivate systems of self-care. As somatic practitioners, we teach others how deeply interconnected mind and body are-and yet we don't always take good care of ourselves! Let's spell this out: To provide the best care to our clients, we need to look after our own brain-body instrument. What does this entail? Here are some starting points:

 

Nutrition

The food we select, prepare, and ingest is the raw material for our physical bodies-the bones, organs, and fluids. Our molecular chemistry is directly related to the nutrient content of our food. As such, our brain and body's neural functioning is directly affected by what we eat and drink. We can each ask ourselves: What are the foods that support my clear thinking? What beverages interfere with my mental perception by creating anxiety in my mental flow? What are the portions that make this body energized or sluggish?

 

Breath

The air in our lungs is a nutrient, too. Without sufficient oxygen, the body feels tired and the mind becomes addled. Are you sitting at a desk or across from a client holding your breath? Are you working in a closed space with no access to fresh air? Is your air supply infused with pollutants or allergens? Have you ever tried the breathing methods from Asian teachings, renowned for their effects on mind and body?

 

Touch

Massage & bodywork, spa scrub/wrap, cuddles with a friend or animal. Trustworthy touch sends oxytocin and other stress-processing hormones coursing through the body and brain, creating a sense of calm, safety, connectedness, and access to resources. Stimulating large areas of the skin can help create a sense of containment, in which our awareness is brought to our immediate embodied experience.

 

Which leads us to the next aspect of a thorough self-care system for the embodied brain:

 

Human Companionship: Releasing & Connecting

Our interactions with others have a direct correspondence to our frame of mind, our sense of self in the world, and our ideas about possibility. Particularly for highly sensitive people (and many therapists and somatic practitioners are extremely so), we need to give some attention to this aspect of self-care.

 

We are professionally responsible for attuning to others' needs. At the end of a day seeing clients, we need to build in an extra step of releasing those ties to our energy and attention, physically and mentally. Especially if you work alone, this can be a challenge. How do we accomplish that? How do you switch gears from caring for others to caring for yourself?

 

Consider what kind of people you want to connect with on a regular basis. How much time do you make for all the people in your life who are needy or demanding? What about those who are caring and inspiring?

 

We're collaborating with Bonnie Badenoch for our upcoming conference. Another promoter of interpersonal neurobiology, she has written a number of books and articles under the slogan "Nurturing the Heart with the Brain in Mind." In a recent article called "Seeking Connection," she says that our earliest relationships form the template for our expectations about relationships in general. While this is no surprise to developmental psychologists, she takes it even farther, adding in the principle of neuroplasticity: "In adulthood, if we bring our vulnerable self to another person who is able to provide attunement, we can gradually change the old wiring into the new pattern that becomes a deep and powerfully attracting expectation of warm connection."

 

Nature

Trees & water. Mountains & gardens. Animals. Sun, moon, & stars.

Spending time in the garden tending plants or walking in the woods puts you in touch with the larger cycles of life on this planet, which can help increase our sense of capacity for change and growth. It means we're 

 part of a larger system of interconnected movements in agriculture, biology, ecology, and astronomy. Do you have a regular practice for tuning into this larger reality which we are all participating in? How do you connect with other creatures?

 

Exercise

To me, this is the biggie for embodied cognition. If I could give every one of our readers a gift, it would be a daily dose of moderate exercise. A brisk half-hour walk outdoors has endless benefits, starting with oxygenation of the blood supply. It brings awareness to the body, which in turn creates a different awareness of the effects of food and drink. It provides connection with nature if you do it somewhere green, and social benefits if you do it with a group.

 

It's probably easiest to address one area at time--No need to do it all at once. See how your thoughts & perceptions shift over time with each new practice.

 

Regardless of the barriers you experience to nurturing the Embodied Brain, you can learn more tools to help yourself and clients bridge the gap. Join Bonnie Badenock and me on Tuesday, may 27, from 9:00-10:30 Pacific time for the live event. 

Your registration includes anytime audio replay and permanent download. 

 

Go here for more info and registration.  



 

My very best wishes to you and thanks for being a part of my online community. Have a good month practicing new ways of embodying your brain,

 

Maggie

 

 

 

 

Article References:

Wikipedia: 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Embodied_cognition

 

Dan Siegel book chapter: 
http://www.drdansiegel.com/pdf/Chapter%20excerpt%20from%20TDM%202nd%20Ed..pdf

 

Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: 
http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/embodied-cognition/

 

Dan Siegel, talk on The Emerging Mind: The Emerging Mind - Dan Siegel

 

Bonnie Badenoch article: 
http://www.psychalive.org/seeking-connection/

 
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