Description
Book SynopsisHow to Change Your Body provides an enlightening discourse on the missing piece of the mind-body relationship — our need for social connection.
What if symptoms from some of our most common afflictions—everything from depression and anxiety to addiction and PTSD—could be traced back to a disconnection from our bodies?
How to Change Your Body explores this provocative question through a rigorous yet playful collection of interviews with scientists, somatic workers, and artists from around the world to uncover the social-emotional aspects of so-called mental illnesses. Saga Briggs is our compassionate guide, pairing peer-reviewed research with moving personal vignettes about her journey away from alcohol dependence to draw a profound link between bodily awareness, social connection, and mental well-being. Interoception, regarded by some as our eighth sense, is fundamental to human health and, Briggs argues, lies at the heart of many techniques shown to improve our relationships to ourselves and others, including psychedelic-assisted therapy, synchronous movement, and energy work.
Whether you are facing a mental health diagnosis or simply yearn for a deeper connection to yourself and your community, How to Change Your Body offers a potent antidote to alienation. Through remembering our bodies in all of their intricacy, we can increase our capacity for presence, reconnect with others, and begin to heal.
Table of ContentsTABLE OF CONTENTS
Foreword by Julie Holland, MD xiii
Acknowledgments xvii
Introduction xix
PART 1: PREDICTING THE BODY 1
Predictive Coding 3
Interoception 6
The Bodily Self 10
The Possibility Space 14
PART 2: DISCONNECTION 19
Alexithymia 22
Schizophrenia 24
Stress 27
Loneliness 29
Addiction 30
Anxiety 33
Depression 35
PTSD 37
Eating Disorders 39
Suicidal Ideation 42
PART 3: CONNECTION 45
Authenticity 47
Kama Muta 50
Peak and Transcendent Experiences 54
Nature 59
Body, Emotion, Action 68
Attachment 73
Social Interoception 80
Empathy and Compassion 88
Body Oneness and Movement Synchrony 93
Mindfulness 96
Trust 107
Music 113
Narrative 124
Movement, Yoga, and Reiki 133
Psychedelics 142
PART 4: EXPANDING THE POSSIBILITY SPACE 149
Agency 151
Expansion 154
Transformation 159
PART 5: PRACTICES 163
MAIA Scale: Multidimensional Assessment
of Interoceptive Awareness 165
Interoceptive Connection Toolkit 168
Attentional Strategies 168
Flexible Switching 172
Mindful Awareness in Body-Oriented Therapy (MABT) 172
Respiratory Practices 174
Aligning Dimensions of Interoceptive Experience (ADIE) 175
Somatic Practices 175
Social Justice Approaches 177
Practices from This Book 180
Body Trusting Toolkit 181
Glossary 187
Notes 191
Index 213
