Body-Mind Connections, Part One
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I’ve been doing some “Marie Kondo” to my file cabinets and found these notes in a folder of unused passages intended for my book, The New Rules of Posture.
Body Metaphors
Bodynamics research indicates that sensations around the sacrum relate to one’s sense of a basic right to exist.
Western culture’s understanding of the relationship between body and mind is reflected in our language. If we compare someone who is “spineless” to someone else who “has backbone” we tap into an understanding that personality is co-expressed through mind and body. Dozens of such body metaphors originate from “gut feelings” about ourselves and our fellow beings.
The Bodynamic Institute, a training center for somatic developmental psychology based in Denmark, has refined the understanding of body-mind connections through clinical research with hundreds of volunteers. This research has resulted in the creation of a map of psychological functions as expressed through the body. Twenty years ago I took a basic course with the Bodynamic Institute. What I like about this approach to body-mind correlation is that I can feel the truth of it in my body. Other groups’ formulations sometimes feel more cerebral than physical.
THE SACRUM
Bodynamic research indicates that sensations around the sacrum relate to one’s sense of a basic right to exist. Associated with this right are feelings of self-worth, self-containment and an inner sense of direction.
When we cradle an infant, our hands automatically support the tiny sacrum and cranium. Without thinking about it, we touch with delicacy and awe. When we contact cranium and sacrum we are touching the head and tail of the embryological notochord from which the new life has evolved. Tactile contact at the sacrum, even for an adult, can lead to profound feelings of distress if early life was threatened, or of peace if early life experiences were secure.
THE PELVIC FLOOR
Indian and yogic traditions recognize seven “chakras” or energy forces within the body. These correlate to major nerve centers that branch out from the spine. The chakras are related both to bodily function and to levels of consciousness. The first or “root chakra” is located at the perineum. It represents our primal relationship with physical reality, our longing to feel nurtured and secure, and our vitality and capacity for material success.
Bodynamic research suggests that muscles that contain the lower pelvis are involved with energy management and containment of feelings of sensuality and sexuality. Muscles in the groin area have to do with openness to intimate body contact.
BREATHING MUSCLES
Ancient Greek physicians, observing a relationship between breathing and thinking, regarded the diaphragm as a second brain.
Ancient Greek physicians, observing a relationship between breathing and thinking, regarded the diaphragm as a second brain. In the modern body-mind theory of Bodynamic Institute, the diaphragm is associated with managing energy and with containing emotions as they relate to a sense of personal power.
Among other muscles involved in breathing, the scalenes—muscles that connect the cervical spine to the first two ribs—are associated with stress management, vigilance, and “keeping one’s head.” The intercostals—muscles between the ribs—have to do with containing emotions
The correlation of respiration with personal space accords with physiological reality. If the air cells (alveoli) within the lungs were spread out flat, their surface area would be about the size of a large living room. When you make full use of this breathing room within your lungs, your posture automatically improves. Having a more erect spine and more open rib cage correlates to positive, spacious perceptions of your self.
Symbolically, opening the body to receive the breath represents going out into the world of things and other people. The release of the outbreath symbolizes returning home within oneself.
Click here for more about The Bodynamic Institute. I’m excited that they are now offering online courses.
© 2020 Mary Bond