Mindfulness of the Body

Mindfulness, The Body, Somatic Experiencing, and Chronic Pain Management

MINDFULNESS & THE BODY VIDEOS

  • [Video] Mindfulness and the Body | Michelle Maldonado interview by Risa Morimoto
  • [Video] Befriending Our Bodies | Jon Kabat-Zinn (Greater Good Science Center)
  • [Video] All Bodies are Beautiful | Amy Pence-Brown
  • [Video] MBSR Yoga # 1
  • [Video] MBSR Yoga # 2
  • [Video] MBSR Yoga – 20 minute version
  • [Video] Ten Mindful Movements – Plum Village and Thich Nhat Hahn

MINDFULNESS & CHRONIC PAIN VIDEOS

  • [Video] Pain x Resistance = Suffering | Tara Brach
  • [Video] Guided Reflection on Inhabiting this Body | Tara Brach
  • [Video] Working Skillfully with Pain | Tara Brach
  • [Video] The Pace of Pain | Amberly Lago
  • [Video] Mindfulness & Physical Pain | Kelly McGonigal
  • [Video] Mindfulness-Based Pain Management | Vidyamala Burch
  • [Video] The Fist Exercise | Vidyamala Burch
  • [Video] Vidyamala Burch – ‘Living Well With Pain And Illness’ – Interview by Iain McNay
  • [Video] Spiritual Healing Sound Bath – Releasing Pain (Healing Vibrations)

MINDFULNESS COURSE LESSONS

  • [Course Lesson] Mindfulness for Chronic Pain Management
  • [Course Lesson] Somatic Experiencing Therapy Introduction
  • [Course Lesson] Understanding your body sensations
  • [Course Lesson] Accepting your body sensations
  • [Course Lesson] Accessing your body sensations
  • [Course Lesson] Relaxation and stress reduction techniques
  • [Course Lesson] Paired progressive muscle relaxation and breathing
  • [Course Lesson] Yoga and stretching
  • [Course Lesson] Mapping tension and stress in your body
  • [Course Lesson] Physical movement
  • [Course Lesson] Polyvagal Theory – Safety and Connection

Lessons and Activities from the Somatic Therapy Toolbox

MINDFULNESS AND BODY

  • What is Embodied Mindfulness?
  • Pitfalls When Working with Mindfulness
  • Remedy the Pitfalls
  • Tool #21: How to Induce Mindfulness
  • Tool #22: Cultivating Self – Witnessing-Suspend the Moment
  • Tool #23: Befriending the Body
  • Tool #24: Relaxing Rest
  • Tool #25: Moving Body Scan
  • Tool #26: Walking Meditation
  • Tool #27: Simple Earth Mindfulness

BODY AWARENESS AND BODY READING

  • Tool #28: Global Awareness of Body
  • Tool #29: Body Awareness Inventory
  • Tool #30: Naming Your Present-Moment Experience in Your Body
  • Tool #31: Identifying Body Themes
  • Tool #32: Somatic Beliefs of Self
  • Tool #33: Mapping the Body
  • Tool #34: Body Reading for the Therapist

THE SOMAGRAM AND BODY PARTS

  • Tool #35: Somagram #1
  • Tool #36: Somagram #2 – Free Charting
  • Working with Body Splits
  • Tool #37: Left/Right Body Split
  • Tool #38: Upper/Lower Body Split
  • Tool #39: Front/Back Body Split
  • Tool #40: Body Splits

PRESENCE, PERCEPTION AND SENSATIONS

  • Tool #41: Soft Vision
  • Tool #42: Gentle Head Lift
  • Tool #43: Hands Over Eye Sockets
  • Tool #44: Sensing Your Fluid Brain
  • Tool #45: The Spaces In-Between
  • Tool #46: Dual Awareness
  • Tool #47: Bumper Stickers – Reminders for the Body
  • Tool #48: Sensing Space

MOVEMENT INTERVENTIONS

  • Movement Takes All Forms
  • Tool #49: Unfurling
  • Tool #50: Wet Sandbag
  • Tool #51: Micro-Movement in Neck
  • Tool #52: Opening the Horizon
  • Tool #53: Walking with Aim
  • Tool #54: Mirror, Mirror
  • Tool #55: Movement Play and Beliefs
  • Tool #56: Figure 8 Resource Movement
  • Tool #57: Defending Arms
  • Tool #58: Orienting Movements

BOUNDARIES

  • The Importance of Setting Boundaries
  • Tool #59: Body Boundary
  • Tool #60: Extending a Physical Boundary
  • Tool #61: Muscle Tone Boundary
  • Tool #62: Wrapping Yourself into Your Own Space
  • Tool #63: Personal Space Exploration
  • Tool #64: Boundary Homework for Personal Space
  • Tool #65: When Boundary is Violated – Re-drawing the Territory
  • Tool #66: Personal Space in Relation
  • Tool #67: String Exercise in Relationship

POSTURE

  • Posture and Internal Messages
  • Tool #68: The Lengthy Spine
  • Tool #69: Grounding Through the Spine
  • Tool #70: Inner Alignment
  • Tool #71: Somatic Strength Posture
  • Tool #72: Posture Snapshot
  • Tool #73: Draw Your Skeleton

GESTURE AND NONVERBAL COMMUNICATION

  • Non-Verbal Communication
  • Tool #74: Non-Verbal Communications Chart
  • Tool #75: Tracking the Meaning of Gestures
  • Tool #76: Centered Hands
  • Tool #77: Midline Gestures

EMOTIONS AND SELF-REGULATION

  • Soma, Emotions and the Art of Self-Regulation
  • Tool #78: Meaning Making: High-Road vs. Low-Road
  • Tool #79: Emotions Chart – Self-Assessment and Emotional Themes
  • Tool #80: Lean Back to Lean In
  • Tool #81: Managing the “Too Much”
  • Tool #82: Sailing the Midline
  • Tool #83: Sitting Run

BODY AND SELF-IMAGE

  • Tool #84: Body Image – Inside-Out vs. Outside-In
  • Tool #85: Shifting the Perception
  • Tool #86: Body Drawing
  • Tool #87: Breathing into the Seven Energy Centers

BREATH AWARENESS AND TECHNIQUES

  • Guidelines When Working with Breath
  • The Truth About Deep Breathing
  • How to Use the Breathing Tools
  • Tool #88: Round-Wave Breath
  • Tool #89: Breathing Towards Calm – Regulate Your Breath
  • Tool #90: Lateral Breathing Sequence
  • Tool #91: Three-Part Breathing Sequence
  • Tool #92: Cellular Breathing
  • Tool #93: Deflating the Tire of Anxiety
  • Tool #94: Lunar Breath – Diffusing the Tension

WORKING WITH SOUND AND VOICE

  • Tool #95: Listening Bell
  • Tool #96: Sounding into the Body
  • Tool #97: “Hmmm” Sound
  • Tool #98: Corridor of Sound

WORKING WITH SAFE TOUCH

  • Why is Touch Important?
  • General Therapeutic Guidelines
  • When to Potentially Use Safe Touch
  • Tips for Using Touch
  • Tool #99: Self-Touch – Tapping
  • Tool #100: Cueing Hands
  • Tool #101: Compassionate Self-Touch

TRAUMA AND THE BODY

  • Polyvagal Theory: A Very Brief Overview
  • Tool #102: Tracking Your Own Nervous System
  • Tool #103: Expanded Window of Tolerance Chart
  • Tool #104: How Can I Resource Myself?
  • Tool #105: Scanning Towards Safety
  • Tool #106: MOVE!
  • Tool #107: Imagine Running Faster Than the Tiger
  • Tool #108: The Container Principle
  • Tool #109: Tracking Triggers Chart
  • Tool #110: Trauma Stressor Timeline
  • Tool #111: Shaking to Safety
  • Tool #112: Orienting Gong Awareness
  • Tool #113: Calling Your Experience by Its True Name
  • Tool #114: Releasing the Psoas Muscle

SOMATIC RESOURCING

  • Somatic Resources – Thriving Resources
  • Cultivating Dual Awareness
  • Tool #115: Five-Step Resourcing
  • Tool #116: Dual Awareness Practice
  • Tool #117: Flat Back Strength
  • Tool #118: Embodied Self-Awareness and Resourcing
  • Tool #119: Name Your Resource
  • Somatic Coherence
  • Tool #120: Reflect on Your Own Somatic Coherence
  • Tool #121: Tracking Your Client from Body Activation to Somatic Coherence

SHAME AND TRAUMA

  • Shame and Somatic Interventions
  • Verbal Cues
  • Breathing Cues
  • Tool #122: Intervention Sequence with Shame
  • Tool #123: Outing the Shame Monster
  • Tool #124: Part 1: Identifying and Reframing Shame Attacks
  • Tool #124: Part 2: Identifying Shame Attacks and Preventing Shame Spirals
  • Tool #125: Sun Rays into Your Body

SUPPORTING READING MATERIALS & JOURNAL ARTICLES

  • [Article] The Body Scan Meditation | Jon Kabat Zin (Palouse Mindfulness)
  • [Article] The Origins of Mindfulness in Body-Based Awareness | Elad Levinson (ATD, 2017)
  • [Article] Mindfulness of the Body | Jack Kornfield (Author’s website, 2020)
  • [Article] Mindfulness, Interoception, and the Body: A Contemporary Perspective (Frontiers)
  • [Article] Use mindfulness to cope with chronic pain (Mayo Clinic Health System, 2020)
  • [Article] Mindfulness Meditation for Chronic Pain (Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 2017)
  • [Article] Acceptance and Mindfulness-based interventions for chronic pain (CBT Journal, 2016)

SUGGESTED ADDITIONAL READING

  • [Book] The Body Keeps the Score (Bessel van Der Kolk)
  • [Book] Living Well With Pain & Illness (Vidyamala Burch)
  • [Book] You Are Not Your Pain (Vidyamala Burch)
  • [Book] Mindfulness Meditation for Pain Relief (Jon Kabat Zin, 2023)
  • [Book] Pain Management Workbook (Rachel Zoffness MS PhD, Mark A. Schumacher MD PhD)
  • [Book] Somatic Psychotherapy Toolbox (Manuela Mischke-Reeds, MA, LMFT, 2018, PESI)

ASSIGNMENTS & PRACTICAL APPLICATION

  • [Assignment] Formal Daily Practice: Yoga and Stretching
  • [Assignment] Formal Daily Practice: Body Scan; Cued Progressive Muscle Relaxation
  • [Assignment] Formal Daily Practice: Vagus Nerve Exercises
  • [Assignment] Informal Practice: Pain vs Pleasure Journal
  • [Assignment] Informal Practice: Walk on a Daily Schedule