Body integration

Reverb 10 Prompt (from Patrick Reynolds): This year, when did you feel the most integrated with your body? Did you have a moment where there wasn’t mind and body, but simply a cohesive YOU, alive and present?

Hmmm… Well, the thing is I already covered a lot of this ground when describing my most alive moment. And besides, body-mind integration is like, my thing. I’m like, Mr. Body-Mind Integration. I studied it in graduate school, wrote a master’s thesis and a book chapter about it, read a ton of books on the subject, attended several professional integrative trainings, created a website dedicated to better understanding it, blogged about it incessantly, and I’ve worked toward personally realizing it through a variety of practices for the past fifteen years. So yeah, I got this. Yeah. Got this bull by the horns, yo.

Alright, so the truth is my posture sucks, I spend most of the day in my head engaged in imaginary conversations, I fell down recently and separated my shoulder while running (just fell the fuck down onto the ground, like a toddler), and I write/talk about my body-centered practices more than I actually do them these days. So maybe I’m like, Mr. Wannabe Body-Mind Integration. Yo.

But I did have that “Most Alive Moment of 2010” and a few others when I experienced the integrity of my whole being to a relatively remarkable degree. Many of them were downstairs in my living room, where I might spend five, six, seven hours even, just me and my acoustic guitar (and maybe a couple of beers or glasses of wine), serenading the ceiling. However hard I’ve tried over the years to crack the code, I’ve not yet found a way to make these experiences happen. Sometimes I’ll pick up my guitar, run through a few tunes, then move on to something else, mind and body in their familiar compartments. But every now and again I find myself slipping into the zone, that elusive sweet spot where all sense of effort drops away, my mind opens, my body softens, and the constraints of clock-time give way to the freedom of pure flow. It’s a cliche, I know, but it’s like the music is coming through me, like I’m experiencing the nexus point between the transcendent and immanent aspects of my being.

When I was kid, I experienced this same sense of integration through athletics. All I wanted to do was play sports, all day, everyday. That was when I experienced the greatest sense of freedom, the absence of inner turmoil, a temporary respite from the complications of concepts and personalities. Once the whistle blew, there was no Bob. There was only playing. I just reacted, responded, lost myself in the game. My muscles just moved, my lungs breathed, and my brain made all the necessary calculations, all of their own accord, without “me” having to do anything at all.

My fascination with these types of peak experiences is what inspired me in my early twenties to pack up and move from Upstate New York to San Francisco in search of adventure and self-realization, to spend all those years studying, inquiring, discovering, and experimenting with how best to cultivate this integration, how to open myself as much as possible to the full depths of my humanity. The journey continues, of course, and the more I learn, the more I realize how much I don’t know. But I have learned a few things, and that’s a big reason why I’m working on the Integral Health Resources website — to share those insights with whoever might be interested. I’m also doing it to clarify my thinking, engage in dialogue, and to create some kind of context and structure for my scattered ideas and interests. Some day soon, probably in 2011 (assuming my wife lands an academic position somewhere), it will be time for me to finally step into a meaningful career of my own. I’ve been talking for years about stepping out of the box and doing my own thing, all the while staying in the box with my hundred-and-one excuses and ultimately doing jack.

But that’s another story altogether. I wonder if any of the remaining 19 prompts will force me to dig into that can of worms?

Integrative Health Coaching Training at DUKE: Module Four

integrativegarden.jpg

[The photo is of the “Labyrinth” at Duke Integrative Medicine]

It’s hard to believe, but Sunday my training came to an end and my friends and I were sent out into the world, certificates in hand, as Integrative Health Coaches. This last four-day module flew by, but fortunately we had plenty of time and space to reflect on and celebrate our four months together.

As with the previous modules, there were fascinating presentations (on Genomics, Spirtuality and Health, Business and Marketing) and opportunities to learn, practice and review coaching skills. It was the final module, though, so the major theme was “next steps,” as in: “What are you all actually going to do with this training, and how are you going to do it?” Of course, each of us has a unique answer to that question, and some of us (me!) are still trying to figure it all out.

To all those who’ve been following these posts to get the “inside scoop” on the training program, here’s the bottom line: It’s excellent. If you came across the description on the Duke website and thought to yourself, “This sounds amazing, but I wonder if it’s really worth it”—It’s totally worth it. There were a few participants who struggled at times and voiced some minor criticisms of the program privately, but everyone of them also expressed deep gratitude for the experience as a whole. Of course, no training will meet everyone’s needs and expectations. That said—I’ve been around the block a few times and have participated in trainings sponsored by mainstream, respected institutions, as well as a few interesting, yet kinda New-Agey/Woo-Woo affairs. This Integrative Health Coaching training at Duke Integrative Medicine has been hands-down, THE BEST. Solid, grounded in rigorous research, expertly crafted and delivered, and yeah, a little touchy-feely at times. But the mushy stuff came from a place of such open-heartedness and authenticity that it softened even the prickliest of us.

Most of all, though, this training was about the people—both those who instructed us and the forty or so of us who came from all over the country to form this community of kindred spirits. Many of us will continue to network and work together as we carry our visions forward in the world. What an amazing group of people! Thank you all.

If anyone has further questions about anything, feel free to comment here or email me at “isaacdust at gmail dot com.” You can also check out my professional website-in-progress, Integral Health Resources.com.

Integrative Health Coaching Training at DUKE: Module Three

Jon Seskevich

It’s been about three weeks since Module Three, which means it’s only a few weeks until the fourth and final module. Things are happening so fast that it’s hard to keep track of what happened during Module Three, what happened in the weeks since, and what’s happening in my own head from moment to moment. Off the top of my head:

Module Three was awesome, as the entire training has been. We learned more coaching skills—specifically, how to work with people who have psychological issues, and how to do “group coaching”—and we practiced those skills on each other. The always inspiring Tracy Gaudet (Director of Duke Integrative Medicine) gave us an update on what she’s been up to lately. In February, Dr. Gaudet presented at the “Summit on Integrative Medicine and the Health of the Public,” in Washington, DC, where she made the case for Integrative Health Coaching’s place in the future of Integrative Medicine. Dr. Evangeline Lausier gave a fascinating presentation on “nutritional supplements and botanicals.” Janet Shaffer taught us all about acupuncture and oriental medicine, and Dr. Jeff Brantley (Director the Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction Program) did another wonderful session with us.

Of all the presenters—all of whom were very impressive—I was particularly impressed with Jon Seskevich, a nurse clinician at Duke Medicine who teaches stress and pain management skills to patients, most of whom are dealing with very challenging health conditions. Jon just blew me away with his gentle nature, his radiant kindness and his boundless compassion for others. He taught me a meditation technique that I used the very next day in the midst of difficult situation—and it was incredibly helpful.

We also met with some folks who graduated from the inaugural training (ours is only the second cohort to move through the training) to discuss setting up a professional association for Integrative Health Coaching. The staff at Duke is very supportive and we anticipate a future website where our community can come together and raise the field to new levels of awesomeness.

Speaking of new websites, Duke Integrative Medicine’s has a great new look, and my own website (Integral Health Resources.com) is shaping up rather nicely, if I do say so myself.

What more can I say. It’s all very exciting, and I look forward to Module Four, graduation, and then bringing all this into the world somehow (I’m still figuring that one out!).

Boo-ya!