Neuroscience, Neuroplasticity and Neural Integration: A Pathway to Resilience and Well-Being

Daniel J. SiegelMindsight Institute

Mind Your Brain, Inc., (c) 2017

RELATIONSHIPS

(EMBODIED) BRAIN MIND

WHAT CONNECTS MIND, BRAIN, AND

RELATIONSHIPS?

Mind Your Brain, Inc., (c) 2017

FourFacetsofMIND:

SubjectiveExperienceConsciousness

InformationProcessingSelf-Organization

Mind Your Brain, Inc., (c) 2017

IntegrationandHealth:A“FACESFlow”:

FlexibleAdaptiveCoherentEnergizedStable

Mind Your Brain, Inc., (c) 2017

Integration: A simple but powerful framework

Integration is:The

LINKAGEof

D I F F E R E N T I A T E D Parts

Mind Your Brain, Inc., (c) 2017

The River of Integration

Mind Your Brain, Inc., (c) 2017

Integration, Presence and Health1. Studies of Well-Being reveal the interconnected connectome, or the linkage of differentiated regions best predictor;2. Studies of impaired well-being reveal impaired integration in the brain;3. Neural integration is the mechanism beneath regulation (mood, emotion , thought, attention, behavior, relationships, morality)4. Integrated Relationships à Neural Integration à Health

Mind Your Brain, Inc., (c) 2017

Trauma and Impaired Integration

Trauma induces neural effects on the capacity for integration:n Linking fibers compromised in their growthn Epigenetic changesn Self-reinforcing interpersonal behaviorsn A “Trapped Mind” potentially caught in a

neurally and interpersonally reinforcing loop of potentially maladaptive, destructive, and addictive behaviors.

Mind Your Brain, Inc., (c) 2017

REGULATION

Monitoring

Modifying

Mind Your Brain, Inc., (c) 2017

Mind Your Brain, Inc., (c) 2017

If Consciousness is needed for change, and integration is the basis for well-being, how can we integrate consciousness?

Mind Your Brain, Inc., (c) 2017

TheWheelofAwareness

Mind Your Brain, Inc., (c) 2016

Implications and Applications of the Wheel of Awareness

10,000 person study: Universal findings across wide range of backgrounds;Shift in relationships with others and self;Reduction in Chaos and Rigidity;Illumination of Nature of Awareness itself:n Quotes: “Clarity, Joy, Expansiveness, the

infinite, eternity, God, Love, Peace, Sense of being a fundamental part of the whole, connected to others, the world, the universe” Mind Your Brain, Inc., (c) 2017

The Plane of Possibility

Mind Your Brain, Inc., (c) 2017

A No-Brain and a Yes-BrainReactivity (NO!) versus Receptivity (Yes…)Threat state of REACTIVTY: Four F’s n Fightn Flightn Freezen Faint

Mind Your Brain, Inc., (c) 2017

Strategies of Cultivating Integration and Resilience:

“Where Attention Goes, Neural Firing Flows, and Neural Connection GrowsReflective Practices “SNAG” the brain toward integration:S timulatesN euronal A ctivation &G rowth

Mind Your Brain, Inc., (c) 2017

Mind Your Brain, Inc., (c) 2017

The Brain in the Palm of Your Hand

Mind Your Brain, Inc., (c) 2017

MindYourBrain,Inc.,(c)2017

IntegrativePrefrontalFunctions�BodilyRegulation

�AttunedCommunication

�EmotionalBalance

�FearExtinction�Flexibility

�Insight�Empathy�Morality�Intuition

Mind Your Brain, Inc., (c) 2017

An Example: The Low RoadTemporarily Disengaging the the Prefrontal Cortex dissolves any or all of its nine functionsShame shuts down efforts at RepairDisconnection socially mediated in same anterior cingulate region as bodily painCycle of RuptureàDisconnectionàShame-DenialàDisconnection

Mind Your Brain, Inc., (c) 2017

The “Four S’s” of Attachment: Children Need to be:

SeenSafeSoothedIn order to develop “Secure Attachment”

Remembering REPAIR is essential, as ruptures may be common!

Mind Your Brain, Inc., (c) 2017

The PART we play as parents

Presence

Attunement

Resonance

Trust

Mind Your Brain, Inc., (c) 2017

Presenceand“MindfulAwareness”� “Aformofawarenessthatcomesfrompayingattention,onpurpose,non-judgmentallytothepresentmoment”(Kabat-Zinn)

� MindfulPractice involves:� ALovingAwarenessandaKindAttention(Goodman-Kornfield/Kornfield; Shapiro)

� FocusingAttentiononIntention� AwarenessofAwarenessitself� “TrainingtheMind”tofocusoninnerexperience� Fundamentally Integrative:DifferentiatingSensoryAwarenessfromObserving/NarratingAwarenessandLinkingwithAttentionalPractice

Mind Your Brain, Inc., (c) 2017

Mindfulness:Usingawareness&thefocusofattentiontotransform:TheBrain (Davidsonetal)(Holzel,etal)TheImmuneSystem (Davidsonetal)SenseofWell-Being (Kabat-Zinnetal)PhysicianBurn-Out (Reduction: Epstein,etal)Attention (Jha,etal)Relational Function (Shapiro,etal)Epigenetic Regulation (Fredrickson, etal)Telomerase Levels(Epel,etal)

Mind Your Brain, Inc., (c) 2017

Mindfulness, Mindsight, & Integration

“Mindfulness”: Training Focused Attention, Open Awareness, and Kind Intention Self-Compassion: Mindfulness, Self-Kindness, and our Interconnected Humanity (K. Neff)Mindsight: Perceiving energy and information flow within and between people and moving that flow toward integration n Insightn Empathyn Integration. Mind Your Brain, Inc., (c) 2017

Integration Made Visible

IsKindness and Compassion

Mind Your Brain, Inc., (c) 2017