Many of us struggle with the experience of difficult emotions, such as anger, jealousy, sadness, grief, shame, anxiety, and depression. In the face of such challenges, how can we keep our hearts open? What is the most skillful way to work with these difficulties in a way where we remain fully embodied and radically committed to our lives as they are? Is there such a thing as a “negative” emotion? How can we most powerfully grow from the experience of difficulty and to view these challenging experiences as messengers and allies on the path of awakening and love?
We hope you enjoy this special video dialogue with Sounds True authors Karla McLaren and Robert Augustus Masters, two pioneering teachers on the healing potential of skillfully working with difficult emotions, for this inspiring dialogue, moderated by Sounds True publisher, Tami Simon.
Tami Simon speaks with Tara Brach, an author, clinical pychologist, and founder and senior teacher of the Insight Meditation Community of Washington (District of Columbia). She’s the author of the Sounds True audio learning program Radical Self-Acceptance: A Buddhist Guide to Freeing Yourself from Shame and Meditations for Emotional Healing. Tami and Tara discuss radical acceptance in the face of difficult emotions. (54 minutes)
Tami Simon speaks with Michael Brant DeMaria, a psychologist and multi-award winning composer. Michael has published and presented numerous papers on the roles of creativity, spirituality, and play in the healing process. He is the author of Ever Flowing On and a book of poetry titled Moments. In this episode, we listen to three songs from Michael’s new album with Sounds True, In the Flow: Music for Emotional Healing. Tami speaks with Michael about the restorative and healing properties of his music, why the Native American flute has a particular power to help us move through grief, and how we can learn to flow like water through difficult times. (64 minutes)
Temple Grandin is a renowned American author, animal behavior expert, and advocate for autistic people. She’s written many books—including Animals in Translation, The Autistic Brain, and Thinking in Pictures—and is currently a professor of animal science at Colorado State University. In this episode of Insights at the Edge, Tami Simon and Temple talk about the differences between verbal and visual thinkers, and how to bridge the gap between them. They speak on Temple’s lifelong relationship with animals and how—as a nonverbal thinker—she feels a deep kinship with them. Finally, Temple and Tami discuss the importance of helping people on the autism spectrum to invest their efforts in what they love rather than what they lack.
(60 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.
Buy your copy of Yoga & Psycheat your favorite bookseller!
1/2 cup coconut cream, from the top of a chilled 13 1/2-ounce can of full-fat coconut milk
1 1/2 cups dark chocolate chips or chopped dark chocolate
2 drops food-grade pure lavender oil
1/4 cup cacao powder
2 Tbsp dried rose petals, crushed
INSTRUCTIONS:
Scoop the coconut cream into a double boiler. Heat the coconut cream until it’s hot to the touch, then pour in the chocolate. Turn the heat down to medium-low. Stir the chocolate and coconut cream together until the chocolate is fully melted and the mixture forms a shiny ganache.
Remove the ganache from heat and stir in the lavender oil. Place the bowl of ganache in the refrigerator to chill for 2 hours, or until completely solid.
Line a plate with parchment paper. Scoop the chocolate mixture into 16 pieces using a tablespoon, and place on the plate. Don’t worry about forming the pieces into spheres yet. Place the plate back in the refrigerator for 10 minutes to firm up.
Pour the cacao powder and crushed rose petals into 2 small separate bowls. Roll the refrigerated chocolate blobs into balls, then roll them in either cacao powder, rose petals, or leave them plain. Serve.
Store leftover Lavender Rose Chocolate Truffles in an airtight container in the refrigerator for about 1 week, or freeze for up to 1 month. Defrost before serving.
Sadie Radinsky is a 19-year-old blogger and recipe creator. For over six years, she has touched the lives of girls and women worldwide with her award-winning website, wholegirl.com, where she shares paleo treat recipes and advice for living an empowered life. She has published articles and recipes in national magazines and other platforms, including Paleo, Shape, Justine, mindbodygreen, and ThePrimal Kitchen Cookbook. She lives in the mountains of Los Angeles. For more, visit wholegirl.com.
Sadie Radinsky
