The Idea Crucible

Articles

The Stars Will Catch You: Building a Self-Compassion Practice

Emily Murray, PT, DPT

May 1, 2021

Self-compassion is one of the latest hot topics in health and wellbeing for so many great reasons. People who practice self-compassion likely experience more happiness, have stronger personal initiative, enjoy greater overall health, are more apt to treat others compassionately, and tend to have greater awareness of their interconnectivity with all of humanity (1, 5, 12, 13, 14). But what is self-compassion and how does one cultivate it? Within this piece, I define self-compassion, review some of the available literature, and share ways to increase self-compassion through practice. In studying and working in healthcare for the past 10 years, I think that self-compassion is the much-needed revival that starts with us and has the capability to make a profound, positive impact on us all.

Within this piece, Emily Murray, PT, DPT defines self-compassion, reviews some of the available literature, and share ways to increase self-compassion through practice. Join us to read the rest of the article.

Biophilia, Mindfulness, and Their Connection to Affective Ecology

Alessandra Isidoro, MA, Ayurvedic Therapist, Hatha Yoga, Mindfulness & Holistic Techniques Instructor

Jan 18, 2021

Follow Ayurvedic Therapist; Yoga & Mindfulness Instructor, Alessandra Isidoro, on her journey into the study of biophilia.

Her yoga & mindfulness leadership work was deepened in centering her study and instruction within the Italian mountain-to-sea region of Abruzzo and by connecting her students to their natural surroundings.

Alessandra stumbled into the topic of biophilia while traveling the coasts of Spain and Portugal. A seemingly inconsequential question by a yogi-surfer and subsequent attended Gabriele Barbiero lecture at ITER-ITALY [The Italian Network for Long-Term Ecological Research] led Alessandra into an entirely new aspect of her own training and instruction. It transformed her practice and the retreats she leads to center on the connection between ourselves, our meditative open state of attention, and our relationship and love of the natural world.

Now her mindfulness retreat business is based on these principles, which goes to show how small questions can lead to a lifetime of discovery.

Do these practices have the potential to shift humans' relationship with the natural world so as to preserve it?

To learn more about Alessandra Isidoro, link to her contributor bio.

Taking a Complex Systems View of the Current State of the World (For Therapists)

Eric Moya, Cst-D, Ms/Mfct

Mar 14, 2020

by Eric Moya, Cst-D, Ms/Mfct

(Editor's Note: This was originally published on Facebook on March 14, 2020, in specialized groups for bodymindspirit therapists as the coronavirus pandemic was accelerating in the United States and globally)

Hello everyone in the group,

I hope you all are doing well and keeping safe and finding some peace in the midst of it all. So, if you're interested, the world's events at the moment are a good example of complexity at work if you're interested in reviewing some of the stuff we talked about in the CST Working with Chronic Depletion class.

Using the terms of complexity (as a fun reminder):

The global system is currently in the midst of a "large event" as it goes through a “tipping point” into a massive “phase shift”. Dominating the phase shift are "positive feedback loops" causing "cascading failures" in the old phase of the system.