Neuroscientists used to think that the brain stopped developing in adolescence and any subsequent learning capacity was minimal. However, more recent studies tell us that the brain is malleable, or neuroplastic, where neuroplasticity is the capacity for our brain cells to change in response to our behaviour. Neuroplastic changes occur at the chemical, structural and functional levels of the brain and work in concert with one another. Chemical changes primarily influence short-term memory or, for example, short-term improvement in a motor skill. Structural changes occur when neurons in the brain change their connections, thus altering the brain’s structure, and functional changes occur when entire brain networks change (University of Utah, 2019). This is important because Mind-Body medicine works primarily based on the foundations of neuroplasticity. It focuses on the interactions among the brain, mind, body and behaviour and the powerful ways in which emotional, mental, social, spiritual, and behavioural factors can directly affect health outcomes.
George Engel (1977) published a set of papers in which he coined the term “the biopsychosocial model” of health. Questioning the traditional biomedical model of health which assumes disease is fully accounted for by deviations from the norm of measurable biological (somatic) variables. Engel argued that this model does not leave room for the social, psychological and behavioural dimensions of illness. The Biopsychosocial model therefore, considers biological factors such as physical health, for example temperament and abilities etc., psychological factors such as self-esteem, mental health etc. and social factors such as family, relationships, peers etc. In this model, it is considered that everything interacts with and affects everything. The body is considered in relationship to the external environment and to relationships with yourself and others.
Fundamental to Mind-Body medicine is an approach that respects and enhances each person’s capacity for self-knowledge and self-care. It views illness as an opportunity for personal growth and transformation. Mind-Body medicine links traditional research methods with wholistic healthcare practices and is the underscoring science and art of working in co-regulated balance toward the alleviation of illness, disease, and suffering.
From these perspectives, then, Mind-Body medicine is the linkage between the embodied and relational nature of the brain, the physical body, the mind, and the whole person in the context of their environments, relationships, and behaviours. Mind-Body medicine is a term that demonstrates physical, chemical, mental, and spiritual interconnectedness, and currently encompasses a wide variety of techniques including biofeedback, relaxation training, meditation, guided imagery, spiritual healing, prayer, and psychosynthesis to name a few. However, here at Sacred Stillness Meditation & Mind-Body Medicine, it is the practice of Meditation that we primarily work within.
So what exactly is the role of Meditation in Mind-Body Medicine?
The ancient traditions of Yoga, Buddhism and Classical Tantra encourage self-inquiry, to tune into awareness of the functioning fluctuations of the senses and the nature of consciousness and the conscious mind. These traditions recognise that there is no separation between the mind, the body, and relationships; between me and the other. Classical Tantra especially, teaches that the whole spectrum of the human experience is embraced as equally valid and divine (Wallis, n.d.). The first verse from the Spanda-karika (The Stanzas on Pulsation) by Kallata, a disciple of Vasugupta in the 9th Century reads...
“We praise the Beneficent Source of the all-pervasive activity of the Wheel of the Powers [of Consciousness], the expansion of which is the arising of the world [of one’s experience] and the contraction of which is its dissolution. [1]
That in which all this rests and from which it has come forth as an effect--since It has an unveiled nature, there is no obstruction of It anywhere. [2]. (Trans. Wallis, 2019).
Kallata’s commentary on this verse explains “But how can one’s essential nature be described as Divine in this teaching, when one is subject to aging, decay, death and rebirth? If this is asked, we reply: that by which this world is supported and from which it arises as an essence-nature that is not obscured even in the state of being one subject the conditions of aging, death and so on. Since it has such a nature, it is never obstructed (nirodha), nor does it ever cease to be (nirodha), and thus is said to be Divine.”
Wallis (2019) further goes on to explain that you can experience the fullness of your Divine nature even while subject to the conditions of aging, illness, or decay, just as much as you can experience it in the bloom of youth and health.
The study, therefore, of these ancient wisdom traditions gives us a sense of self-empowerment or sovereignty. A deeper understanding that no matter the current state of our being, that we can find and truly embody the truth of our essence nature.
Why undertake a course of Mind-Body Medicine with a practitioner such as me, instead of embarking on self-study?
There are many reasons why you might choose to share this Mind-Body medicine journey with a practitioner, but perhaps the most important is that because we are all fundamentally relational beings, there is power in sitting in co-regulation with an experienced practitioner. Sitting in meditation with a person that has walked this path and transformed, at least to some extent, their own pain and suffering into opportunities for realising truth. Finding perhaps, a person that is open to further exploring their own journey in co-regulation with you and holding space for you while you find ways to transform your own pain into opportunities for self-realisation.
Within my own life, I have journeyed through mental health crises, trauma, relationship breakdowns and complex physical health issues. In addition to my meditation study and practice, these too are my daily teachers. I would love to sit with you on the meditation cushion and hold a space of compassionate connection for you that allows you to explore the traditional paths of self-inquiry through Buddhism, Yoga and Classical Tantra such that you may come to trust the practices and to trust that the practices will help you transform pain, suffering and ill-health into opportunities for intentional, intuitive awareness. I hope that together we can find that flow towards our essence nature described above by Kallata such that it is not obscured, whether in states of ill-health or whether we are thriving.
Why Should you join me for Mind-Body Medicine?
I started Sacred Stillness Meditation & Mind-Body Medicine because I have a deep love for meditation. I have lived experience with the ways in which meditation can be healing for both the body and mind for conditions as diverse as chronic pain to stress, to executive function, memory, and mental health. I have studied meditation for over 30 years in the ancient wisdom traditions such as Buddhism, Yoga and Classical Tantra, as well as shamanic feminine mystery traditions and the biomedical model. I have completed the 330-hour Advanced Diploma in Meditation as Lifestyle Medicine with BIYOME and my sessions are Trauma Informed and Rainbow and Neurodivergent friendly. But, most importantly, I care deeply about your wellbeing, listening to your concerns and holding space for your healing and growth. It is my strong belief that the best person to heal your body is you, and this is done through self-knowledge, deep internal awareness, mindfulness and self-compassion.
If you sign up for a Mind-Body Medicine session we will explore your health in the context of your relationships, your environment, your lifestyle and your embodied brain. We will work with the body’s neuroplasticity and bio-plasticity to support you in deepening into knowledge of self.
Through a variety of meditation techniques and the study and practice of the ancient wisdom traditions of Buddhism, Yoga and Classical Tantra in conjunction with the Biomedical model, we will explore:
Heart Rate Variability
The gut-brain axis
HPA (hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal) axis
Cortical re-mapping and neuroplasticity
The heart-brain connection
Psychoneuroimmunology
The vagus nerve
Meditations effects on the brain's neurotransmitters
And so much more.
Meditation techniques that we might adopt include, for example:
Focussed Attention or Body Scan Meditation
Walking and Moving Meditation / Embodiment Practices
Pranayama and Breathing Techniques
Sound and Mantra
Compassion Focussed Meditation
Metta or Loving Kindness
Traditional Classical Tantra Practices
Please reach out for more information, I can’t wait to sit in nurturing silent space with you!
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