Bodymind

(Redirected from Body mind) Academic concept

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
Find sources: "Bodymind" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (April 2019) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Bodymind is an approach to understand the relationship between the human body and mind where they are seen as a single integrated unit. It attempts to address the mind–body problem and resists the Western traditions of mind–body dualism.

Dualism vs holism

In the field of philosophy, the theory of dualism is the speculation that the mental and the physical parts of us, like our minds and our bodies, are different or separate.

Modern understanding

"The mind is composed of mental fragments- sensations, feelings, thoughts, imaginations, all flowing now in an ordered sequence, now in a chaotic fashion…. On the other hand, the body is constructed under the underlying laws of physics, and its components obey the well-enumerated laws of physiology. It is these characteristic differences between these two – between mind and body – that lead to the Mind-Body problem.". While Western populations tend to believe more in the idea of dualism, there is also good research on the neurophysiology of emotions and their foundation in human meaning-making and mental function, such as the research of Candace Pert.

Relevance to alternative medicine

In the field of alternative medicine, bodymind implies that

The body, mind, emotions, and spirit are dynamically interrelated.
Experience, including physical stress, emotional injury, and pleasures are stored in the body's cells which in turn affects one's reactions to stimuli.

The term can be a number of disciplines, including:

Psychoneuroimmunology, the study of the interaction between psychological processes and the nervous and immune systems of the human body.
Body psychotherapy, a branch of psychotherapy which applies basic principles of somatic psychology. It originated in the work of Pierre Janet and particularly Wilhelm Reich.
Neurobiology, the study of the nervous system
Psychosomatic medicine, an interdisciplinary medical field exploring the relationships among social, psychological, and behavioral factors on bodily processes and quality of life in humans and animals. Clinical situations where mental processes act as a major factor affecting medical outcomes are areas where psychosomatic medicine excels.
Postural Integration, a process-oriented body psychotherapy originally developed in the late 1960s by Jack Painter (1933–2010) in California, US, after exploration in the fields of humanistic psychology and the human potential movement. The method aims to support personal change and self development, through a particular form of manipulative holistic bodywork.

References

Robinson, Howard (2017), "Dualism", in Zalta, Edward N. (ed.), The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Fall 2017 ed.), Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University, retrieved 2020-04-10
Taylor, John G. (2010-10-28). "Mind-body problem: New approaches". Scholarpedia. 5 (10): 1580. Bibcode:2010SchpJ...5.1580T. doi:10.4249/scholarpedia.1580. ISSN 1941-6016.
Pert, Candace (2012). Molecules of Emotion: Why You Feel the Way You Feel. Simon & Schuster UK. ISBN 978-0671033972.
Damasio, Antonio (2000). The Feeling of What Happens: Body and Emotion in the Making of Consciousness. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. ISBN 978-0156010757.
Keleman, Stanley: Your Body speaks its Mind, Center Press (US) (1989) ISBN 978-0934320016
Michael Irwin, Kavita Vedhara (2005). Human Psychoneuroimmunology. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-856884-1.
Totton, N. (2003) Body Psychotherapy: An Introduction Open University Press. ISBN 0-335-21038-4 (pb); 0-335-21039-2.
Staunton, T. (Ed.) (2002) Body Psychotherapy Brunner Routledge. ISBN 1-58391-115-4 PB0; 1-58391-116-2 (pb)
Macnaughton, I. (2004) Body, Breath and Consciousness: A Somatics Anthology, ed. Macnaughton, North Atlantic Books. ISBN 1-55643-496-0 ISBN 978-1-55643-496-9
Courtenay Young (2010) article The Science of Body Psychotherapy Today
Sharf, R. S. (2011) Theories of Psychotherapy and Counselling p. 600
Hill, Daniel (2015) Affect Regulation Theory. A Clinical Model W. W. Norton.& Co ISBN 978-0-393-70726-7
Levenson, James L. (2006). Essentials of Psychosomatic Medicine. American Psychiatric Press Inc. ISBN 978-1-58562-246-7.
Ziehl, Silke. "Jack Painter - Obituary" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2011-08-15.
Erken, Rita and Schlage, Bernhard: Editors: Transformation of the Self with Bodymind Integration. Postural Integration – Energetic Integration – Psychotherapeutic Postural Integration; Articles by 14 international authors; Hubert W. Holzinger Verlag, Berlin (2012) ISBN 978-3-926396-67-9
"Painter, Jack: Postural Integration, Transformation of the Whole Self (1985)" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2015-08-02.
Painter, Jack: Technical Manual of Deep Wholistic Bodywork, Postural Integration; published by The International Centre for Release and Integration, Mill Valley, Calif. USA (1984) (2nd edit. 1990)

Misplaced Pages

Dualism vs holism

Modern understanding

Relevance to alternative medicine

See also

References

Further reading