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The living organism expresses itself in movemBent more clearly than in words
But not alone in movement in pose in posture in attitude and in every gesture the organism speaks a language
Which antedates and transcends its verbal expression?
The connection between mind and body has long been a contentious point of debate and our understanding of it remains shrouded in mystery
but whatever its true nature this connection is extremely powerful and it is one in which causation runs both ways our
Mind can help heal an ailing body while our body can do the same for an ailing mind in
The West this latter approach is underutilized
mainstream psychologists and psychiatrists are far more
Oriented toward techniques that work at the level of our thoughts or emotions or to altering the chemistry of our brain with drugs
Than they are to helping us resolve our issues with techniques that work at the level of the body
But for many of us change at the somatic level may be the change
We need to unlock a better life in this video relying on the work of Alexander Lowen a 20th century
psychotherapist and medical doctor
We are going to explore how our bodies can be used to promote our psychological health in the development of a great character
So intimate is the intermingling of bodily and psychic traits wrote Carl Jung that not only can we draw far-reaching?
Inferences as to the constitution of the psyche from the constitution of the body
But we can also infer from psychic peculiarities the corresponding bodily characteristics
The etymological root of the word character stretches back to the ancient Greek word for a stamping tool
Our life experiences stamp their imprint on us and in conjunction with our genetic dispositions help shape our character
This stamp of experience. However
operates at both the level of the body and the mind and for this reason our
Character is expressed as much in our bodies as it is through our minds or as low and explains
Psyche and soma are two aspects of a unitary process one mental and the other physical
Much like the head and tail phases of a coin whatever one does with the coin affects both sides simultaneously
An example can clarify this point suppose in our childhood
We had role models who demeaned or ridiculed us rather than teaching us how to live and how to flourish
Such an experience will undoubtedly influenced the development of our character
Self inhibiting thought patterns and negative emotions such as hate anger and anxiety are likely to shape who we become
but these negative thought patterns and maladaptive emotions are not hermetically sealed off in the mind our
Thoughts lead to action or abstention of action and action is a bodily phenomenon
Emotions are felt in the mind, but they also have a somatic form of expression and this expression
influences the structure of our body the
Baggage of our youth will not just weigh us down psychologically
but it can also weigh us down physically and inhibit the functioning of our body whereas Lowe and explains if
A person has a strong and secure sense of himself
He will naturally stand erect if he is frightened
He will tend to cower if he is sad or depressed his body will droop
If he is trying to deny or compensate for inner feelings of insecurity
He will stand like a martinet and his posture will be unnaturally rigid
that a human body is an expression of its character is
Intuitively known by each of us as it forms the basis of our ability to read people by their body language
wise men wrote Ralph Waldo Emerson
read very sharply all your private history in your look and gait and behavior the
Whole economy of sure is bent on expression. The tell-tale body is all tongues
We also pay homage to this connection between character and body in the many somatic metaphors
We use to represent psychic conditions. We call people pushovers
We say they lack guts that they are spineless always on their toes or incapable of holding their ground
But while we may rely on the bodily
Instantiations of other people's character to help us interpret who they are and how we should interact with them
Relatively few of us. Take a serious look at our own body and the somatic expression of our character flaws
But ignorance is not bliss in this regard for as Socrates stated long ago
It is a disgrace to grow old through sheer carelessness
Before seeing what manner of man you may become by developing your bodily strength and beauty to their highest limit
Developing our body in the direction of its highest ideal is one of the surest means to the cultivation of a great character
For just as our thought patterns and emotions affect the structure of our body
How we hold and move our body alters how we think and feel if we want to be courageous?
For example, we can change how we relate to our emotions
But in addition to this we can also start holding and moving our body in a manner that reflects and promotes courage
But in order to make use of this bottom-up approach to character development
We need to understand the bodily ideal toward which we should aim for only with such knowledge
Can we begin crafting experiments to help move us in this direction?
The first thing we need to recognize is that with the rise of anxiety disorders and depression in the modern West
The bodily expression of increasing numbers of people is likewise becoming pathological
Normality should not be seen as a representation of health
Rigidity immobility and awkwardness and movement and either compulsivity or impulsivity in action
Typify the somatic expression of the normal man or woman these days and all these traits are ones. We need to move away from
Broadly speaking
right slowin
the emotionally disturbed person moves compulsively or impulsively
The compulsive person is rigid his ego restraints are so-so that his movements take on a mechanical
Patterned quality and spontaneity is missing the impulsive person is hyperactive
He can neither sit still nor channel his energy into constructive activities
His inadequate ego is constantly being overwhelmed by his feelings
At the same time he is constantly frustrated since his feelings spill out without achieving anything
The compulsive person is afraid to let go of his rigid control. The impulsive person is unable to maintain control
in contrast to this picture of the emotionally disturbed the healthy body the body that is the reflection and promoter of a well-developed and
High functioning human being can be defined by two main traits
gracefulness and aggressiveness
Gracefulness is perhaps the most obvious sign of a body
That is the home to a flourishing mind the graceful individual naturally catches our eye and not just because such people are rare
But also because this type of movement is inherently attractive
Graceful individuals are not self-conscious about their bodies and they move with a natural ease
Lowe and suggests that gracefulness is found at the golden mean between spontaneity and control
Too much of either contributes to psychological disturbance but a healthy dose of both is the recipe for grace
Spontaneity is a function of self-expression. The more alive a person is the more spontaneous are his movements
The body is naturally
Expressive it is constantly changing to reflect its inner feelings in this respect
It is like a flame which is never the same at any two moments
While the body is more structured than a flame. It is not as rigid as a machine
It has a fluid quality and responds to the play of the inner forces
When control and spontaneity are integrated in the body's movements, the result is coordination
coordination reflects the degree to which the ego is identified with the body and yet is in command of its movements a
Healthy person is well coordinated in his movements. He is spontaneous and yet in control
But the flourishing human being is more than just graceful in bodily expression
He or she is also capable of aggression
Not aggression in the sense of committing hostile acts against other people but aggression as the opposite to passivity
The aggressive manner woman does not sit idly by waiting for the necessities of life to be delivered on a platter
Rather he or she is proactive such people move forward into life in search of what they need
Aggressiveness is a trait naturally embodied in all living creatures and necessarily. So for without it survival would be impossible
man is the only creature who can deceive himself in the belief that passiveness is an appropriate way to live a
person's natural aggressive impulses can be suppressed but they cannot be eliminated right slow in life itself is
Aggressive in that it is a forward moving
ongoing process that seeks to overcome all obstacles a
sprouting seed pushes its way very aggressively upward through the earth to reach the light as
long as the metabolic activities of life continue
Energy is produced to power the aggressive impulses when these impulses are blocked from expression
The normal flow of energy is dammed creating an explosive situation
How does one embody the aggression that promotes health?
according to Lowen aggression is primarily a function of our legs our
Legs are what move us forward into life and so limited strength or flexibility in our legs and a more sedentary
Existence will inhibit an aggressive mindset
Standing with the weight shifted to the balls of our feet and knees slightly bent is a pose that can imbue the mind with increased
Agressivity but aggressiveness is also promoted or hindered by our connection to the ground or as low and explains
Having some ground to stand on has both the psychological and a literal meaning psychologically
It means that a person has a good reason or cause for his aggressive action
Without the inner conviction right or wrong. That one's aggression is justified
It would be difficult to move forward effectively in another sense the term having some ground to stand on
Means that a person feels he has the right be on this earth and to share in the life of the earth
He feels that he has the right to be to want to move towards and to take
To evaluate how strongly a person feels this right? We can measure how strongly he can hold his ground
Broadly speaking
We can say that the more grounded a person is in his legs the more strongly he can hold his ground
He will feel that he has some ground to stand on and therefore some standing as a person
aggression and grace
These are the traits of the flourishing body and the more we can mimic such forms of expression
The more we will develop in both body and mind in our next video
We are going to explore some practical ways to promote the bodily ideal
We just outlined and one man, we will turn to for guidance is Friedrich Nietzsche
for Nietzsche
Well understood how important the body is in the promotion of a flourishing life so much so that he made the following bold Proclamation
You say I and are proud of this word?
But greater than this in which you do not want to believe in is your body and it's great intelligence
this does not say I but performs I
You
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