Bodymind Explained

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.".^[1] 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.^[2]

Relevance to alternative medicine

In the field of alternative medicine, bodymind implies that

• The body, mind, emotions, and spirit are dynamically interrelated.^[3]
• Experience, including physical stress, emotional injury, and pleasures are stored in the body's cells which in turn affects one's reactions to stimuli.^[4]

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.^[5]
• Body psychotherapy,^{[6] [7] [8] [9]} a branch of psychotherapy^[10] 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^[11]
• 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.^[12]
• Postural Integration, a process-oriented body psychotherapy originally developed in the late 1960s by Jack Painter^[13] (1933–2010) in California, US, after exploration in the fields of humanistic psychology and the human potential movement.^[14] The method aims to support personal change and self development,^[15] through a particular form of manipulative holistic bodywork.^[16]

See also

• Ableism
• Binding problem
• Bodymind (disability studies)
• Developmental disability
• Disability
• Disability and religion
• Disability culture
• Disability in the United States
• Disability rights
• Disability studies
• Emotional or behavioral disability
• Inclusion (disability rights)
• Invisible disability
• List of disability studies journals
• Medical model of disability
• Services for the disabled
• Sexuality and disability
• Social model of disability
• Society for Disability Studies

Further reading

• Benson MD, Herbert; (2000) (1975), The Relaxation Response, Harper
• Bracken, Patrick & Philip Thomas; (2002), "Time to move beyond the mind-body split", editorial, British Medical Journal 2002;325:1433–1434 (21 December)
• Dychtwald, Ken; (1986), Bodymind Penguin Putman Inc. NY,
• Gallagher, Shaun; (2005) ‚ How the Body Shapes the Mind Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• Hill, Daniel (2015) Affect Regulation Theory. A Clinical Model W. W. Norton.& Co .
• Keinänen, Matti; (2005), Psychosemiosis as a Key to Body-Mind Continuum: The Reinforcement of Symbolization-Reflectiveness in Psychotherapy. Nova Science Publishers. .
• Mayer, Emeran A. 2003. The Neurobiology Basis of Mind Body Medicine: Convergent Traditional and Scientific Approaches to Health, Disease, and Healing. Source: https://web.archive.org/web/20070403123225/http://www.aboutibs.org/Publications/MindBody.html (accessed: Sunday January 14, 2007).
• Money, John; (1988) Gay, Straight, and In-Between: The Sexology of Erotic Orientation. New York: Oxford University Press.
• Rothschild, Babette; (2000) The Body Remembers: The Psychophysiology of Trauma and Trauma Treatment. W W Norton & Co Inc.
• Scheper-Hughes, Nancy, and Margaret M. Lock; (1987) The Mindful Body: A Prolegomenon to Future Work in Medical Anthropology with Margaret Lock. Medical Anthropology Quarterly. (1): 6–41.
• Seem, Mark & Kaplan, Joan; (1987) Bodymind Energetics, Towards a Dynamic Model of Health Healing Arts Press, Rochester VT,
• Clare, Eli. "Brilliant Imperfection: Grappling with Cure"
• Schalk, Sami. "Bodyminds Reimagined: (Dis)ability, Race, and Gender in Black Women's Speculative Fiction"
• Patsavas, Alyson. "Recovering a Cripistemology of Pain: Leaky Bodies, Connective Tissue, and Feeling Discourse"
• Price, Margaret. "The Bodymind Problem and the Possibilities of Pain"
• Kafer, Alison. "Feminist, Queer, Crip"
• Hall, Kim. "Gender" chapter from "Keywords for Disability Studies".^[17]
• McRuer, Robert, and Johnson, Merri Lisa. "Proliferating Cripistemologies: A Virtual Roundtable".^[18]
• Garland-Thomson, Rosemarie. "Extraordinary Bodies: Figuring Physical Disability in American Culture and Literature".^[19]
• Garland-Thomson, Rosemarie. "Becoming Disabled".^[20]

Notes and References

1. Taylor. John G.. 2010-10-28. Mind-body problem: New approaches. Scholarpedia. en. 5. 10. 1580. 10.4249/scholarpedia.1580. 2010SchpJ...5.1580T. 1941-6016. free.
2. Book: Pert, Candace . 2012 . Molecules of Emotion: Why You Feel the Way You Feel . Simon & Schuster UK. 978-0671033972.
3. Book: Damasio, Antonio. The Feeling of What Happens: Body and Emotion in the Making of Consciousness. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. 2000. 978-0156010757. registration.
4. Keleman, Stanley: Your Body speaks its Mind, Center Press (US) (1989)
5. Book: Michael Irwin, Kavita Vedhara . Human Psychoneuroimmunology. Oxford University Press. 2005. 978-0-19-856884-1.
6. Totton, N. (2003) Body Psychotherapy: An Introduction Open University Press. (pb); 0-335-21039-2.
7. Staunton, T. (Ed.) (2002) Body Psychotherapy Brunner Routledge. PB0; 1-58391-116-2 (pb)
8. Macnaughton, I. (2004) Body, Breath and Consciousness: A Somatics Anthology, ed. Macnaughton, North Atlantic Books.
9. Courtenay Young (2010) article The Science of Body Psychotherapy Today
10. Sharf, R. S. (2011) Theories of Psychotherapy and Counselling p. 600
11. Hill, Daniel (2015) Affect Regulation Theory. A Clinical Model W. W. Norton.& Co
12. Book: Levenson, James L. . Essentials of Psychosomatic Medicine. American Psychiatric Press Inc. 2006. 978-1-58562-246-7.
13. Web site: Ziehl. Silke. Jack Painter - Obituary. 2011-08-15. https://web.archive.org/web/20160304063443/http://www.icpit.info/documents/Jack%20Painter-Obituary.pdf. 2016-03-04. dead.
14. 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)
15. Web site: Painter, Jack: Postural Integration, Transformation of the Whole Self (1985) . 2015-08-02 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160304002824/http://www.icpit.info/articles/J_Painter_PosturalIntegration1985_.pdf . 2016-03-04 . dead .
16. 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)
17. Book: Hall, Kim. Keywords for Disability Studies. NYU Press. 2015. 9781479839520. 89–91.
18. McRuer. Robert. Johnson. Merri. 2014. Proliferating Cripistemologies: A Virtual Roundtable. Journal of Literary & Cultural Disability Studies. en. 8. 2. 149–170. 10.3828/jlcds.2014.13. 144682086 . 1757-6458.
19. Book: Garland-Thomson, Rosemarie. Extraordinary Bodies: Figuring Physical Disability in American Culture and Literature. Columbia University Press. 1996. 9780231105170.
20. News: Opinion Becoming Disabled. Garland-Thomson. Rosemarie. 2016-08-19. The New York Times. 2019-04-25. en-US. 0362-4331.