The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, a masterwork of spirituality, psychology and philosophy, are attributed to Patanjali. Compiled a few hundred years before the Common Era, these teachings arose out of a most prolific and sophisticated civilization – ancient India.
The brain is the central organ for adaptation to experiences, including those we call “stressors,” that are capable of changing brain architecture as well as altering systemic function via the neuroendocrine, autonomic, immune and metabolic systems.
As I read the ‘Handbook’ I was reminded that trauma and abuse need to be understood from a biological perspective and not solely from behavioral, sociological, and psychosocial perspectives.
Trauma impacts much more than just our thoughts and actions. Trauma is far-reaching and systemic—it cuts us to our bones.
Fascia, long ignored as just excess flesh to be cut away in search of the “stuff that matters”, like muscles, bones, ligaments, and veins, is now being acknowledged as considerably important to a holistic understanding of functional anatomy.
Somatic psychotherapy—also called body psychotherapy—focuses on the complex and profoundly powerful connections between body and mind and how those connections affect how we process and recover from trauma and other emotional distress.
Energy medicine is in some ways very basic to all experience and yet it is something that is quite difficult to speak about.
The very idea of “contemplative” psychotherapy may invoke some cognitive dissonance.