Mark Wolynn is the director of The Family Constellation Institute, The Inherited Trauma Institute, and The Hellinger Institute of Northern California. His book It Didn’t Start With You: How Inherited Family Trauma Shapes Who We Are and How to End the Cycle was a Silver Nautilus award-winner in 2016. In this episode of Insights at the Edge, Tami Simon speaks with Mark about inherited trauma and how it can be the source of unexplained illnesses. Mark explains how the effects of deep trauma ripple across generations, citing the evidence of epigenetic changes following traumatic events. Mark and Tami discuss the work of Roger Woolger and the possibility of trauma descending from past lives. Finally, they talk about what it means to honor our ancestors’ pain while also healing and moving forward with our own lives. (70 minutes)
Ruth King is an Insight Meditation teacher, life coach, diversity consultant, and the author of Healing Rage: Women Making Inner Peace Possible. She is publishing her new book, Mindful of Race: Transforming Racism from the Inside Out, in collaboration with Sounds True. In this episode of Insights at the Edge, Tami Simon speaks with Ruth about the personal experiences that led to writing Mindful of Race and why the heart can be “a mass weapon of healing.” They talk about the different ways we can interpret current racial narratives and why it takes honest self-examination to discover how one has benefited from a racist system. Ruth explains how mindfulness can open us up to having difficult conversations around racism, colonialism, and other forms of systemic oppression. Finally, Tami and Ruth discuss how “life is not personal, permanent, or perfect” and the necessity of cultivating compassion in all walks of life. (74 minutes)
Briana Saussy is a teacher, counselor, and the founder of the Sacred Arts Academy. A true polymath, she draws from a background in math, philosophy, and classic languages to teach arts such as tarot, divination, and alchemy. With Sounds True, Briana has released the new book Making Magic: Weaving Together the Everyday and the Extraordinary. In this episode of Insights at the Edge, Tami Simon speaks with Briana about the moments of magic that permeate our days, but are rarely noticed as such.They discuss how there are potential portals to magic in every instant, including seemingly mundane acts such as entering a doorway or drinking a glass of water. Briana explains that practicing magic helps you reclaim your sovereignty and also shares the teaching story “Golden Locks and the Bear People.” Finally, Tami and Briana talk about the surprising abundance of time for practice and why our society needs more headstrong women. (70 minutes)
Sheryl Paul is a counselor in the depth psychology tradition who has helped thousands of people through her website, online courses, and books. With Sounds True, she has released the new book, The Wisdom of Anxiety: How Worry and Intrusive Thoughts Are Gifts to Help You Heal. In this episode of Insights at the Edge, Tami Simon speaks with Sheryl about why we should consider anxiety “a distress flare from the subconscious” that is meant to alert us to unspoken and unacknowledged inner truths. Sheryl explains why running away or numbing out from anxiety is ultimately futile, and describes how opening to one’s anxious thoughts can summon valuable personal epiphanies. Tami and Sheryl also talk about what it means to develop our wise inner parent and how we can examine the meaning of intrusive thoughts. Finally, they discuss the importance of positive daily rituals and why life transitions are so acutely stressful. (69 minutes)
Fleet Maull is an author, consultant, and executive coach who founded Prison Dharma Network and the National Prison Hospice Association while serving 14 years in federal prison. In the 20 years since his release, Fleet has taught the expansive philosophy he discovered while incarcerated as a meditation teacher, end-of-life educator, and the creator of the Radical Responsibility training program. With Sounds True, he has released the book Radical Responsibility and accompanying audio program Living with Radical Responsibility. In this episode of Insights at the Edge, Tami talks with Fleet about the roots of Radical Responsibility and how its philosophy came to define his life. Fleet explains what it means to leave behind your “victim story” even while honoring the fact that your boundaries were violated. Tami and Fleet discuss Karpman’s model of “the drama triangle,” which is essential to the tenets of Radical Responsibility. Finally, they speak on the neurobiology behind the Radical Responsibility model, as well as the paramount importance of recognizing the innate goodness of other people. (71 minutes)
A practitioner in Tree Pose (or you can, of
course, use any pose in this exploration) can experience the different layers
of neural processing stacked atop each other, even if unconsciously. The
structure and experience of Tree Pose itself reflect the hierarchical structure
of the nervous system; the stability of the lower, sensory layers is like the
trunk of a tree, whereas the higher, abstract layers are like the tree’s
branches.
Whole
Body
While
you are positioned in Tree Pose, what information is available to you?
At the bottom layer are the
exteroceptive senses that perceive the external world (touch, smell, sight,
taste, and hearing)
Next are the proprioceptive
senses—those that perceive the positions of neighboring body parts relative to
each other
Also at play is the
equilibrio-ceptive sense, which measures the position of the body relative to
gravity
Neck
Can you
sense your heartbeat and breath while in Tree Pose?
You cultivate the stability
discovered through equilibrioception through autonomic functions controlled by
the medulla and pons in the brain stem
Heart
What is
your emotional experience while in Tree Pose?
Do any
fears or past traumas influence your current experience, even unconsciously?
The limbic system—comprised of
numerous brain regions above the brain stem—is associated with assigning
emotional value to experience
Head
When we inhabit an asana like Tree Pose with ease and stability, we
experience multisensory integration in a refined and cohesive way.
Mindfully paying attention to the
body as we practice harnesses neuroplasticity, refining the neural pathways
associated with processing signals from the body
What
does it feel like to be you while in Tree Pose?
Feet
The self-sense is the most
abstract layer of the nervous system hierarchy; it’s associated with the
brain’s DMN (default mode network). It is the part of the nervous system that
generates a sense of selfhood, and it is also the capacity that allows the
feeling of being me to occur.
Excerpted from Yoga & Psyche: Integrating the Paths of Yoga and Psychology for
Healing, Transformation, and Joy by Mariana Caplan.
Mariana Caplan, PhD, MFT, E-RTY 500, is a psychotherapist, yoga teacher, and author of eight books in the fields of psychology, spirituality, and yoga. She has been teaching workshops and trainings online, in yoga studios and universities, and at major retreat centers throughout the world since 1997. She is the founder of Yoga & Psyche International, an organization created to integrate the fields of yoga and psychology globally, and lives in Fairfax, California. Learn more at realspirituality.com and yogaandpsyche.com.
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