This 4 week class covers the basics of how thought works, the role of the predictive protective brain and nervous system in generating catastrophic and anxious thoughts, and tools to orient to the safety of the present moment.
Date and time: Thursday October 19 from 7 to 8:30 PM Eastern for 4 weeks
The mind is a system of stimulus and response, and our brain literally develops in response to our experiences. A foundation of being friends with our own mind is to be able to work effectively with our thoughts, with our responses to our thoughts, and with the energy and sensations in our body that are stimulated by our thoughts.
We focus on two complementary approaches:
We work with somatic (body) mindfulness and awareness of thoughts in the present moment so we can intervene before we’re sucked into a whirlpool of toxicity or anxiety AND
We go upstream to what is generating the sense of danger → we strengthen the nervous system and build resilience to lessen hypervigilance so the brain doesn’t generate so many alarming thoughts and sensations
The secret of emotional regulation is being able to reliably stay in the present moment. Participants learn powerful tools to take the intensity out of catastrophic thoughts and emotional flashbacks. To break the trance of the past, we tap lightly on the forehead, taking our attention away from the thought and into the sound and sensation of the tapping. With our eyes open, we put the image in a frame on the opposite wall and take our eyes around the empty space on the outside of the frame.
We orient to visual cues of safety. The warmth of our own hands and our feet on the ground reminds us we are here in the present where we can offer ourselves kindness. We activate the relaxation response in our body through long exhalations or speaking in long sentences.
Our thoughts are not a mystery. Most of them are in response to the brain and nervous system trying to protect us. For 90 minutes each week we practice powerful tools to regulate our nervous system and increase our sense of ease and agency.
Explore these key learnings and tools in a supportive setting. You’ll learn about the mind, brain and why core deficiency beliefs and intrusive thinking get a hold on us. We will do somatic mindfulness inquiry to see what is driving the habits of the mind. We’ll learn and practice grounding and orienting tools, and cultivate patience and kindness for ourselves. You will walk away with a changed relationship with your mind.
-
Trauma and our thoughts
Developmental trauma
Fight/ flight/ freeze/ fawn
Two complementary approaches to work with troubling thoughts: build resilience, somatic mindfulness for early awareness
Tools: tapping, frame and trace, focus shifting
-
Trauma is stored in our body as energy with associated thoughts
Locate and describe the sensations
Space around the energy
Awareness and safety in the present moment
Experiences turn into beliefs
Connecting with self-compassion
-
“Breath is a direct pathway to our autonomic nervous system, making it both a regulating resource and an activator of our survival states.” Deb Dana, LCSW
The effect of trauma and stress on our breath
Catastrophic thinking
Ruminating and agency
Welcoming what is here
-
“Shame is one of the most painful and corrosive emotions, which can feel like death.” Trauma expert Dr Peter Levine
Shame is a primary emotion related to our survival need for connection
Who’s Driving? Bringing your adult self to support your fearful younger self who feels like they are on their own.
Welcoming all of who we are
Friends with our mind
Lynn Fraser has been teaching people about their mind for twenty five years. She is a senior teacher in the Himalayan Tradition of Yoga Meditation, and specializes in helping people understand and heal trauma. The Stillpoint Method of Healing Trauma is a somatic mindfulness inquiry practice.
Lynn published a book by the same title in 2017. She is currently working on a revision of Friends With Your Mind.
Price $79 US, reduced price $59 US. If you’ve taken the course before, you are welcome to join me as my guest. Please email to let me know.
I am flexible on pricing for this course. If you are interested and cost is a barrier, email me with a suggestion of a price that works for you.