Mindfulness & Embodiment

Identifying & synchronising your various Intelligences & senses

“As I often tell my students, the two most important phrases in therapy, as in yoga, are “Notice that” and “What happens next?” Once you start approaching your body with curiosity rather than with fear, everything shifts.”
― van der Kolk, B. (1)

Mindfulness practices which focus on present moment attention and sensory awareness have been a part of various spiritual practices for centuries. Similarly for generations body-oriented practices have been an integral part of ritualised practice, health and healing in communities all over the world. In the early 2000s Mindfulness became recognised in the mainstream as an intervention for mental health and healing (2&3). At Live Particle, mindfulness and embodiment are in the same camp – different sides of the same coin. We humans are embodied. This means we have mental capacity AND body capacity (among other capacities) which are inextricably linked and the more we can acknowledge and synchronise the various aspects of ourselves the more we can manage our physical and mental well-being. Embodiment work is a kind of physical mindfulness that integrates the many aspects of being human. 

Throughout history humans have been forced to be adaptable. The past two years have been no exception. Life has been incredibly challenging. Without a doubt this has put unprecedented pressure on our capacity to cope. In fact, Australia is now in a mental health crisis with recent statistics showing that one in five Australians are struggling with mental ill-health. Mindfulness and embodiment strategies are now more important than ever as preventive tools for combating our mental health crisis.

To further exacerbate things, our health systems are struggling to support children and adults alike with many unable to get timely support for mental health issues. ”Most Australians recognise mental health as being equally important as physical health. With 53.1% taking additional steps to care for their mental wellbeing during COVID 19 and many recognising mindfulness as a helpful tool” (Smiling Mind, Whitepaper, 2020).

Growing a personalised embodied practice is a preventative measure that we can take to combat the effects of stress and anxiety. It is a process of mindfully attuning to yourself at a cellular level – that is noticing what and how your senses are communicating with you through your skin, your breath, your guts, your emotions and more. 

The practices are low-tech, easy to learn and aim to provide you with techniques to self-soothe and self-regulate when things are getting difficult or overwhelming.  In the literature, the benefits of physical activity for mental health are well accepted. Contemporary bioscience is now strongly endorsing the need for ‘body-oriented’ interventions that support physical and mental well-being.

Not all of our practices will resonate with you – but many will. Our aim is to help you to find and build a suite of personalised practices that support you in daily life so that you can feel more grounded, adaptable and able to cope with the challenges that life throws at you.

  1. van der Kolk, B. (2014) The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma. Penguine Random House UK

  2. Kabat-Zinn, J. (2005) Coming to Our Senses: Healing Ourselves and the World through Mindfulness. United Kingdom: Hachette.

  3. Kabat-Zinn, J. (2013) Full Catastrophe Living, Revised Edition: How to Cope with Stress, Pain and Illness Using Mindfulness Meditation. United Kingdom: Hachette.

LP Core knowledge and Skill

This work is not only about helping you to feel great in the moment but also about supporting you to grow knowledge and skills around self regulating and managing your physical and mental health. Here are some of the things you’ll learn.


CORE KNOWLEDGE

  • Embodied Practices

  • Human Development

  • Creative Process

  • Embodied anatomy & cellular intelligence

  • Poly-intelligence

  • Multi-sensory knowing


CORE SKILLS

  • Modulating emotional responses

  • Tuning to your senses

  • Directing and dilating attention

  • Sensory observation

  • Somatic imagining

  • Improvisation

  • Focusing in-between

  • Activating poly-intelligence

  • Attuning to inner & outer environments