Holistic Human Development:

Mind, Body, SpiritAlternative Notions of the Body

Elizabeth Topp PhD

MLS Thesis, U of Minnesota, 1998

1998Cardiovascular patients: Study found that physical healing happens with attention given to healthy lifestyle: stress relief & mind calming practices

Intervention: Relaxation & Meditation on hypertension patientsHigh risk patients: Treatment was lipid-altering drugs + $30K bypass

Outcome: could reverse coronary artery disease in 1 yr. Practices could reverse stress response:

Exercise

Vegetarian diet

Group support meetings

Stress reduction activities: yoga, breathing, med, visualization

Financial Savings - $100Billion surgery, time off, + drugs annually

Also Found: Hostility & Cynicism most dangerous personality traits affecting long-term health.

Herbert Benson, Harvard; Dean Ornish U SF

Allopathic Medicine

Our model: Dissecting the parts to know the whole.

Effective, but not the panacea.

Still no cure for:Cancer

Auto-immune diseases

Degenerative diseases

Psychological illness

Alternative Medicine

Often include & emphasize Psychological (mind), Emotional, & Spiritual components as pre-requisites for healing

As a psychologist in training, wanted to explore new emotional, spiritual, and physical healing concepts to contribute to client’s health and wellness. MLS studies included exposure to:

General Systems Theory

Psychoneuroimmunology

Cultural studies

Ayurveda

The Energetic Body

Spirituality

What are we?What is Health?

bodymind spirit

General Systems Theory

PRINCIPLES

There are complex forces that act within and upon a system

Systems are holistic – not linear

RELATIONSHIPS between the parts are as significant as the individual parts themselves

Centers of Gravity called 'Strange Attractors ' are organizing basis for the system

Living Systems are open, complex & adaptive

HUMANS:BOUND - physically (body/skin) & psychologically (self, family, community, culture)

Interdependent physical & psychological factors

Organs, bones, cells + emotions, thoughts, beliefs, will

Capra, 1996

General Systems Theory cont.

Primary qualities of a system

Ability to achieve HOMEOSTASIS (stable balance)Feedback & iteration from internal & external environ

Continual repetition of behavioral experiments

Revises & rearranges itself for adaptation & survival

Self-Organization

&

Undergo TRANSFORMATIONPartial or entire change in composition /structure

Small changes over time: The Butterfly Effect

Massive change all at once: addition or subtract of Strange Attractor

Butz, Chamberlain, & McCown, 1997

Psychoneuroimmunology

The discovery of nerve fibers in organs of the immune system of the body.

The discovery of neuropeptides (hormones & chemicals thought only to exist in the brain) throughout the body.

example: Mind to Body directed connection Neuropeptides released in brain travel through body seeking cellular receptors. Cellular receptors are found on the surface of all cells in the body.

Neuropeptide & receptor join and create a chemical reaction.

example: Body to Mind directed connectionIn Infection: IL – Interleukin – signal from immune system that communicates with hypothalamus – gets released by activated immune cells signals brain to increase body temperature & enhance deep slow wave sleep.

Felton, 1993, p. 214

Psychoneuroimmunology

The discovery that ‘Psyche’ – mind and all it’s functions (thoughts, beliefs, attitudes, planning, imagination) is related to ‘Neuro’, the nervous and neuroendocrine (chemical) system.

This discovery “Implies that both mind & molecules interact with the immune system, the part of the body associated with self-identiy, defense and protection.”

This new knowledge scientifically linked the mind and body.

Implication: Thoughts & reactions (neurological responses) directly communicate with organs of the body.

Viktor Frankl, 1984, Man’s Search for MeaningSurvivors had an “iron will to live.”

Pamela Peeke, Institute for CorTexT Research & Development

Health Across Cultures

Hmong: word for illness = “disconnected”

Soul-loss is most important cause of illness

Epilepsy ‘the spirit catches you and you fall down'

Hindu: Ayurvedic Medicine: one of oldest traditions

Three primary psychopyisiological doshas/constitutions – must be balanced (doshas are combination of elements: earth, air, fire, water)

Centuries of observation, experimentation, & meditation of natural sciences

AyurvedaComprehensive Health Program includes:

Body, mind, spirit, and heart practices

Diet

Herbal supplements

Detoxification

Exercise

Bodywork & massage

Meditation

Counseling

Honoring seasonal changes

Energetic BodyAura – Light around the body; subtle body beyond skin

Adepts of all World Religions speak of seeing light around the head:

Prayer & meditation

Expanded states of consciousness open latent High Sense Perception

Kabbalah, JEWISH mystical theosophy 538 BC“The Astral Light”

CHRISTIAN – Jesus with fields of light / aura

Barbara Brennan, Hands of Light, 1988

An Energetic Body

John White Future Science – 97 cultures refer to auric phenomena - 97 different names

HINDU – “Prana”

CHINESE – “Ch’I”

Barbara Brennan – the HEF “Human Energy Field”From dense energy (matter) to finer energy (light)

Our world of solid concrete objects is surrounded by and permeated with a fluid world of radiating energy, constantly moving, constantly changing like the sea.

termed: the UEF “Universal Energy Field”

Dolores Krieger & Dora Kunz – THERAPEUTIC TOUCHAssess, clear & balance patient’s energy field

Human Energy Field

Show physical, mental, emotional, & spiritual influences on health

Human Energy Field

INSTRUMENTS THAT MEASURE ASPECTS OF HEF

ECG

EEG

Electropotential of skin – lie detectors

SQUID superconducting quantum interference device

More science: “supporting the idea that we are composed of energy fields”

Field theory

Electromagnetic phenomena

Theory of relativity – matter is slowed or crystalized energy

Quantum theory – particle / wave patterns

The Subtle BodyHinduism – 3 Bodies*

ONE Physical body:Concrete, material body: organs & tissues

TWO Subtle Bodies: Energetic Body - Mind, intellect, personality = karma

Spiritual Body - Brahman, World-Soul

Goal: achieve mind, intellect & understanding of oneself as Brahman or God = No reincarnation into a physical body or vehicle. No more human form required for spiritual learning.

(Sane, 1998)

The Conscious Body

Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen“How is mind expressed through body & movement?”

Studying systems of the body, discovered functional and psychological aspects of mind reflected in the physical system.Example: Skeletal System- bones & joints

“provides the supporting structure.”

Lever us through space and support our weight in relationship to gravity.

Embodying Skeletal System – the mind becomes structurally organized, providing the supporting ground for our thoughts.

Mind & Meditation

John Kabat Zinn (U Mass)

Mind chatters – moving from one association to another

Rarely are we led to find deeper layer of mind

Robert Kegan – Zone of Meditation In between event happening & person’s reaction to it

Can learn to watch & observe the associations.

Mindfulness Meditation

http://www.apa.org/monitor/2012/07-08/ce-corner.aspx

Empirical Benefits: (July 2012)Reduced rumination

Stress reduction

Boosts to working memory

Focus

Less emotional reactivity

More cognitive flexibility

Relationship Satisfaction

Other: enhances self-insight, morality, intuition, fear modulation

SpiritStudy of women contemplating spirituality in their lives

What is Spirituality?

Patterns of spiritual development

SpiritDictionary definitions:

The animating or life-giving principle.

The immaterial part of a corporeal human being.

This as a disembodied or separate entity, especially regarded as living after death.

Immaterial substance, as opposed to body or matter

Theological: the divine nature or essential power of God as creative, animating, or inspiring influence.

SpiritDefined by Institutions:

University of Minnesota, Center for Spirituality & Healing:Spirituality includes one’s experience of life’s purpose, meaning, and mystery, as well as one’s harmonious interconnectedness with self, others, and a higher power or God.

Mary Jo Kreitzer, Director

Minnesota State Board of Education (MSBE, 1989)

emphasizes ‘Wholeness’ in education: The condition in every school whereby each [person] gives necessary and appropriate consideration to the potential career needs, spiritual, social, emotional, and physical growth of each learner and staff member as they design and implement educational programs.

Spirituality according the MSBE is a quality in individuals whereby each recognizes and accepts the importance of nurturing one’s inner spirit, that creative force which transcends the human and the material.

MSBE lists spirituality as a “preeminent human attribute” and believes that helping learners achieve spirituality as a value (along with the other preeminent values) is a primary purpose of education.

SpiritStudy:

5 women - interviews

Self-identified asReligious & non-religious

Life-long spirituality & not Life-long spirituality

SpiritParticipants defined Spirit as:

Human possibility and human growth

The beauty and power of life

Children (are spirit)

The “other of life that we are not taught about, but contributes to such things as intuition, ways of knowing, and ways of ‘being’ with children

(seeing) the positive or potential – enhancing quality

Field that underlies everything and everybody

Divine energy

SpiritSpirit is experienced through:

PEOPLE: Love

Children

Loving, accepting, humorous, soft-spoken & grounded individuals

INTERNAL EXPERIENCEConnection to something greater

Wisdom/intuition/ways of knowing

Synchronicity, spontaneously saying the right thing @ right time.

Ease, flow

DIRECT EXPERIENCEHighly emotional or interactive experiences with NATURE

Light presence in the room

through altered states – drugs

“can’t quite remember now in this reality but I completely knew. There was deep silence, complete love, complete bliss, and expanded sensation, a feeling of boundlessness.

Infinite potential

Spiritual Experiences

Shifted to belief in a higher powerConnection – Disconnection – (Re)connection

Opened to directly perceiving experiences of spiritOften had memories of this as children

Experience of “REMEMBERING” & intuition vs. new learning. Trusting “fit” or “non-fit” of information.

An inner drive & necessity for wholeness

From external to INTERNAL orientation

Spiritual MaturityNon-idealism – non-perfection

Kindness

Patience (respect for autonomy)

Immediacy

Sense of sacred as integrated & personal

Questioning – seeking truth for oneself

Flexibility

Embracing opposites

Relationship as the arena for Spiritual Life

Ordinariness

Jack Kornfield, A Path with Heart

ConclusionsHealth is a dynamic process.

Health & wellness includes mind / body / spirit / emotions integration.

Need to study ineffable aspects of human experience such as energy, consciousness, spirituality, emotions for full understanding of wellness or

FULL HUMAN EXPERIENCE

contactElizabeth Topp PhD

tel: 310-773-7679

email: bethtopp@mac.com

LinkedIN: www.linkedin.com/in/elizabethtopp

twitter: @PresenceCoach

website: www.shiftalliance.com (co-founder/ceo)