Mind Body Bridging

Revitalising your life using the Mind Body Connection

Session 1 Introduction: What is Mind Body Bridging?

Mind Body Bridging is:

a successful healing technique spiritual and evidence-based backed by over 15 years of clinical research

Successful in:
mitigating anger or addiction problems dealing with pain, weight loss, and stress issues addressing a whole range of personal issues improving performance (professional athletes, salespersons, executives etc.)

Extremely effective for:

the treatment of trauma and PTSD

Does not involve:

examining and reconstructing your past banishing negative thoughts and adopting positive thinking techniques talk therapy
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Session 1 The I-System

Our body is made up of various systems:

Physiological (e.g. the respiratory system) Neurological (e.g. the brains Default Mode Network and Executive Network)

We call one system in our body the Identity System or I-system. This corresponds to the Default Mode Network. The I-system is necessary for our survival. This is its role when functioning normally. However, when the I-system becomes over-active it can: numb our senses clutter our mind (creating spinning thoughts) tense our body (cause physiological responses) create a false picture of who we are and the results become embedded in every cell of our body. When overactive, the I-system disrupts our natural self-healing processes and body function regulation (Executive Network)

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Session 1 I-system and Natural Functioning

Every minute of the day, the Executive network coordinates how we see the world, how we think, the decisions we make and influences how we act. It directs and manages our life, and regulates our brain and body functions. The Default Mode network (I-system) exaggerates the thoughts we have about ourselves and our experiences, and is responsible for body tension. This has a positive effect in dangerous situations that may require a flight or fight response. But sometimes it gets out of hand. Our 21st Century lifestyle has created many opportunities for the Isystem to get out of hand. Mind Body Bridging uses the mind and body to create a bridge from a state of impaired healing that is driven by the I-system, to a state in which we can heal ourselves by returning to our natural state, driven by the brains Executive Network. Healing and peak functioning starts with understanding how our I-system works and how to rest it when it becomes dominant and over-reacting.
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Session 1 Whats next?

 We will practice mind and body exercises to learn to rest the I-system.  We will befriend our I-system by learning how it works, both for and against us, and how we can return to and maintain a state of natural functioning  The workbook that accompanies this workshop introduces the principles of MBB  Each chapter introduces Mind-Body Bridging tools and new concepts  It contains self evaluation charts to monitor your progress At home:  Complete one exercise every day. Each exercise takes between 3 and 10 minutes.  Practice the new tools in your daily life, every day for 10 weeks.  The whole program is 10 weeks long. These 70 days will change your life.

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Session 1 Bridging Awareness: Getting acquainted with our thoughts.

A thought is the result of the brain secreting a chemical called a neurotransmitter. The chemicals enable the connection of our brain cells, at the synapses. Electric current produces the thought. A thought is a chemical drip.

Problem Map
Jack shows me no respect People cut in line Pedestrians make me mad Its depressing

People are rude

People dont help each other anymore

 Do you notice any mind clutter and body tension?  How do you act when in this state?

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Session 1 Bridging Awareness: Come to your senses..

Come to your senses with: sounds, gravity, touch, sight, smells and taste.

Problem Map

People are rude

 Do you notice any mind clutter and body tension?  How is this map different from the first one?  Do you feel clearer about your problem now? Closing down our awareness shuts us off from our essence or natural state. Practicing bridging awareness exercises allows you to expand your awareness and rest the I-system. This allows your Executive Network to be in control. The I-system and the Executive Network cannot work at the same time.
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Session 1 Bridging Awareness: Which vessel are you in?

The first map helped you see your I-system activity. The second map lets you experience the benefits of when your I-system is at rest.

The MBB Quality of Life Scale

I-System

Power of selfhealing

Whi h r lf

l ith?

i t

tem a the Executive The INetw rk CANNOT w rk at the ame time.

Challenges

Challenges

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Session 1 Bridging Awareness: Thought Labelling

Problem Map

I think that.

People are rude

Its depressing

It is just a thought

When we use maps, we can see our thoughts written on paper. This gives us an opportunity to befriend our thoughts.
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Session 1 Exercises

10

Tonight, as you go home:

 Listen to any background sound in your environment.  As you take the MTR, drive in a car, walk or take the bus, feel the vibrations of the engine, pay attention to the scenery and to the road.  When taking a shower, feel and hear the water running.

Tonight, when falling asleep:  Listen to and focus on background sounds.  Feel and rub the sheets with your fingers. The busy he d c n ne er settle the busy he d. thought is just thought. thought is chemic l drop that creates a contact ith the brains synapses.
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Session 1 Review

11

Which vessel are you in? MBB quality of life scale Day 2 Day 7 exercises Evaluation Scale

Concepts: I-system Default Mode Network Executive Network Body Tension and Cluttered Mind Resting the I-system Come to your senses: bridging awareness Mapping thoughts Thought labelling Befriending your thoughts

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Session 2 Introduction

12

Session 2: Melting away your tension

In the first session we focused on our foundation tools. Using your senses and labelling your thoughts gave you information about yourself and the world around you. Now, let's look at the tools that prevent the I-system from becoming activated. The I-system is activated by requirements. Requirements are rules about how the world should be. Use this tool:  When preparing for an interview or walking to a meeting  Preparing yourself for a difficult discussion  Reviewing a situation after it has happened Once you learn to use this tool, you will find that it becomes an automatic reaction to events that we face in everyday life.

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ession 2: Re

ire ents

ap

13

When our I-system is triggered, our body tenses up, our thoughts race, and our emotions can flare up. This can lead to all kinds of behaviours which we may regret later. If a person cuts in front of you recklessly, you might think how rude. You may become tense or fear for your safety. You may get angry, and this may lead to a strong reaction about the event later on. In short, a requirement was triggered: No one should cut in front of me.

Map: How the World Should Be Chris should respect me. How the world (my world) should be People should be compassionate. I shouldnt make mistakes.
 Do you notice any mind clutter and bodily tension?  How do you react when in this state?
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I shouldn't be tense My son should behave.

I should say no.

Sessi

equirements map

14

Body tension is a sign that your thought has become a requirement. It has been grabbed by the I-system.  Bridging awareness exercise: How the World Should Be.

Map: How the World Should Be

How the world (my world) should be

 Do you notice any mind clutter and body tensions?  How is this map different from the first one?  Do you feel clearer about your problem now?
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Sessi n : ri

ers.

15

Triggers Triggers are events or thoughts that violate a requirement.

Think about a behaviour or event that created body tension and racing thoughts. Example: the car did not stop at the red light. Find a few more. Now make a trigger map, and jot down what triggers your I-system. Think about situations in the past, or something that happened today.

Triggers

Write down the type of body tensions you feel as you experience various triggers. Write down the corresponding requirements.

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Sessi n : ri

ers.

16

Identifying your requirements can be difficult

Body tension is triggered by an event or thought that is unwelcome in your world. Once you identify the trigger, you will be able to identify your requirement. Use the table on page . to help you find the requirement. Another way to do this is to draw a map called What's On My Mind? Take a few minutes to write your thoughts around the oval.

Bridging Whats on my mind?

Whats on my mind?

It is your requirement, not the situation, that causes you distress.

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Session 2: Review.

17 MBB Quality of Life Scale Concepts:

I-system Default Mode Network Executive Network Body Tension and Cluttered Mind Resting the I-system Come to your senses: bridging awareness Mapping thoughts Thought labelling Befriending your thoughts

Any thought becomes a requirement when grabbed by the I-system. Body Sensation Compass Tension Tension Identity System Befriend the I-system Clear Headed Flexible Calm Relaxed Headache Tightness

Requirements Triggers

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Session 3 Introduction.

18

Session 3: Breaking the tyranny of negative thoughts

A thought is simply a secretion of chemicals where two brain cells connect at the synapses. Nothing more.

The I-system captures some thoughts and becomes transfixed. The I-system has two helpers or sub-systems: the Depressor and the Fixer.
 Our mind is dualistic. It goes from low to high states, from happy to sad feelings, or from positive to negative thoughts.  The Depressor uses negative thoughts. When a negative thought pervades our mental space, we feel damaged. The Depressor hooks onto the negative thought and spins a story line that places us in a state of damaged or impaired functioning.

Tools to help rest the Identity System by calming negative thoughts:

 By using the thought labelling technique, you can make negative thoughts lose their power. As you write the thought, you see it for what it is nothing more than a thought.  Use the map How I got to be the way I am (page 57) to test the Depressor. This map illustrates what we call Channel Me Feelings or self-centered thoughts that always stem from the past.
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Sessi n

St r line.

19 How I got to be the way I am map

Around the oval write how you got to e the way you are. List the tensions you feel in your ody at the ottom of the ma .
My dad scolded me We never had enough money My mother was resentful all the time My parents never encouraged me

How I got to be the way I am

The neighbour tried to molest me

lutt r a /or ody t ion?  Do ou oti a mi  hat toryline themes run through your ma ?  How often do you use these storylines today? .g., when you feel a li e a om lete success or a com lete failure  How do you act when you are in this state?

These stories prevent you from living in the present. They keep you in the past and strengthen your belief in the damaged self. Remember: YOU ARE GREATER THAN YOU THOUGHT YOU WERE.
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Session

Story lines.

20

Depressor map
Scatter your negative self talk and thoughts you have when you feel down. Now choose the most troubling thought around the oval and write it in the next map.

Depressors Troubling thoughts from my depressor map

The thoughts on your map are natural thoughts that happen to be negative.

Most troubling thought

This map holds the key to controlling your Depressor. The thoughts you scattered around this map are spun by your Storylines. Thats how a natural negative thought spins out of control and becomes imbedded in every cell of your body, affecting your health and well-being, and creating distress.

Remember to identify any body tension and write it down after doing each map!
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Sessi n

he

irr r.

21

 Bridging awareness exercise: The Mirror.

Look at yourself for a minute or so in the mirror. Start writing your thoughts around the oval. Glance into the mirror as you do so.

The Mirror Map

Bridging Mirror

 Is your I-system overactive?  Do you recognise your Depressors?  What are your storylines?  What are your requirements?
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Mirror

 Are your facial expressions different?  How is this map different from the first one?  Do you feel a new level of self acceptance?

Session 3 Review.

22 MBB Quality of Life Scale Concepts:

I-system Default Mode Network Executive Network Body Tension and Cluttered Mind Resting the I-system Come to your senses: Bridging Awareness Mapping thoughts Thought labelling Befriending your thoughts

The Depressor hooks onto negative thoughts and spins a storyline that puts you in a state of damage or impaired functioning. Are you really damaged or is your natural state (Executive mode) switched off?

Requirements Triggers

Storylines Depressor

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Session 4 Introdution.

23 Session 4: When everything seems to go wrong

When despite our best efforts, things still seem to go wrong, we feel driven to try harder and fix it. We declare war on our negative feelings. However, we are trying to fix something that is not damaged in the first place . Remember: the more you try to fi what isn't bro en, the worse you find things will become.

The other helper of the I-System is the Fixer.  Activity is key to fixing the Depressor and is termed in the positive.  The Fixer expresses itself through a sense of urgency to fix things, resulting in more thoughts and more storylines.  The Fixer grabs activities because it recognises the damaged states of the Depressor and comes out to fix the damage through activity.  This includes tools such as positive thinking. But fixing is never enough. The Fixer tricks us into making us believe that action and positive thoughts are the solution.

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Session 4 The Fixer.

24
We are also trying to fix what is not damaged in the first place .The more you try to fix what isn't broken, the worse the problem becomes. Fixer Map. Go back to your Depressor map. Once you have identified your most troubling thought, think of what the Fixer can do in this situation. Write your thoughts around the oval. When youve finished jotting down your thoughts, add signs that help you to evaluate areas of greatest body tension.

Map: The Fixer . Get a new job ++ Fixer: Make more money ++ Dress well ++ Think Positive +++
 Do you notice any elevated level of energy when you think of some of the items youve written down? (Remember: your natural state does not create mental tension)  What are your fixers, that is, which thoughts are accompanied by body tension? (Remember: in your natural state you will experience very low levels of body tension)
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Eat right + Be strong +++

Session 4 The Fixer.

25 Befriend Your Fixer is essential reading. You identify and befriend the Fixer when the I-System is switched on. We have a tendency to think that the Fixer is our state of natural functioning or Executive Mode. THIS IS NOT THE CASE

 You need to identify the Depressor embedded in the Fixer. There is always a Depressor underlying the Fixer.  Remember: either your I-system or your Executive Mode is at work. Both cannot co-exist at the same time. The Fixer is a sub-system of the I-system.  The Fixer pushes to perfection and the Depressor never approves.  Whatever the Fixer does, it will never be enough.  In trauma and grief, the Fixer turns to activities that put us on the edge, making us feel revved up and ready to become dangerous.

When we use the Fixer we are declaring war on our symptoms rather than accepting them for what they are.
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Session 4 The Fixer.

26  Bridging awareness exercise: How I am going to fix my life?

Look at yourself for a minute or so in the mirror. Start by writing your thoughts around the oval. Glance into the mirror as you do so.

Map

Bridging How I am going to fix my life? How I am going to fix my life?

 How is this map different from the first one?  What are the items that make you feel the least body tension?

 How do you feel when you look at this map?  Do you recognise items that are part of your natural functioning or Fixer activity? Hint: check your body tension. Add a symbol next to the Fixer items, i.e. where you feel body tension.  Can you identify a Depressor?  What are your requirements?
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Session 5 Introduction.

27 Session 5: Defusing requirements We are not victims of circumstances. Think of an event that devastated you. A person may have done something to cause you distress. The memory, through an overactive I-System, lives in your tense body and your brain through spinning thoughts. You may feel damaged or victimised. These feelings indicate that your I-System is at work. What triggers the reactions of the body and mind is not the event but your I-System.

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Session 5 Natural and Identity System Functioning defined.

28
Whenever we are in the I-system loop or in the natural system loop, we are creating new neural pathways or reinforcing old ones. We can change old responses from the I-system that come from a place of trauma, and bring them to our natural loop, our place of instinct.

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Session 5 Defusing Requirements Map.

29
Disturbing Events Map: This map is different from the others

Painful experience map The others person behaviour: (write the event) Thought + In the oval, write how you think the person should have behaved (your requirement) Bridging

. Thought ++

The thoughts expressed are Depressors

Thought +++

 Is your body tense? Is your mind cluttered?

How do you want the person to be?

 Is your distress a result of the persons behaviour or a reaction to your own requirement?
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Session 5 Defusing Requirements.

30

The brain has plasticity and can easily learn to return to Executive Functioning. The content in the oval after bridging is NOT a requirement. It is an expectation, a natural thought. In I-System functioning, the behaviour may have devastated you through body tension (eventually leading to illness), and mental tension (depressor, fixers and storylines, i.e thought clutter in your mind.) In a state of natural functioning, you may feel very disappointed and upset, but you will not flare up in the heat of the moment to the point of being distressed and overwhelmed. You will experience painful feelings but you will be able to manage them. An overactive I-system has the following characteristics: - Mental tension is created by the Fixer: it results in impulsive actions - Physical tension is created by the Depressor: it results in illness Use Bridging Awareness to DIFFUSE the tensions.
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Session 6 Introduction

31 Session 6 - How I want to be A negative self belief is a dysfunctional mind-body state filled with negative thoughts. These beliefs go away when your I-System is at rest. You may have requirements for yourself that create negative self belief. In this session, we look at identifying requirements for the self, and how to diffuse them. When you diffuse self-belief requirements, they lose power over you, resulting in healing and growth. When your self-requirements arent met, the Depressor hops into the driving seat, leaving you feeling damaged. Then the Fixer hops into the driving seat and comes up with activities or solutions that we think will fix the situation. But remember: enough is never enough! When the Executive mode is switched on, we are able to take the right action at the right moment.
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Session 6 Healing Negative Self-beliefs.

32 Session 6: How I want to be

How I Want To Be map: This map differs from the others.

How I want to be - right here and right now

Clear 1. In the oval, write the qualities you desire to possess Confident Happy

Draw a line outward and write the opposite quality: CONFUSED

shy

sad

 Notice your body tension as you write words outside the oval  If you feel tension, then the word inside the oval is a requirement, i.e., how you should be.  The quality considered has been grabbed by your Fixer.  Each Fixer has an underlying Trigger: Look at the words that you have written outside the oval.

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Session 6 Healing Negative Self-beliefs.

33  For each word outside the oval that creates tension, take the opposite word in the oval and write: I SHOULD BE.happy/confident/etc. You have now identified the requirements you have for yourself.

Your Fixer will always raise the bar. So you will never be happy or confident enough. I SHOULD always be confident ---- the trigger is: I am shy (right now). The Depressor will say: You are useless in social settings. The Depressor has defined you. It tells you that you are damaged. Remember: You are only as good as your thoughts. You feel damaged when you think negative thoughts and try to counter them with positive thoughts. The more you reinforce the positi e the more energy you gi e to its opposite @2011, Copyright Pascale Bertoli - Reprints for personal Use Only negati e.

Session 6 How I want to be.

Do the same exercise again, this time using bridging before filling in the map. How I want to be - right here and right now

34

Clear 1. In the oval, write the qualities you desire to possess Confident Happy sad

shy

Draw a line outward and write the opposite quality: CONFUSED

 As you bridge, the circle expands to include negative and positive thoughts.  Your natural self recognises that you have both negative and positive thoughts.  By resting your I-System, you can be confident in situations that require you to be confident. Or you can accept that you are happy now, but not in another situation. Or you can bring your awareness to clarity as you need it, while understanding that sometimes you may be confused. The stronger your reaction to a negative quality, the stronger your requirement
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Session 6 How I want to be.

35 From the Natural self perspective, this is what we are: Who I am

Clear Shy Confident Confused Happy Sad

We are all these qualities. When we are in a state of free functioning, we can take steps to address the lack of confidence or clarity or sadness in the moment. The I-System is always concerned with outcomes and what-ifs. Trust that what you do is right for that moment.

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Session 6 How I want to be.

36 The more you reinforce the positi e, the more energy you gi e to the opposite negati e. This is why Positi e ffirmations and Positi e ctions recommended in so many Self Help boo s dont wor in the long run. These de ices (Fi ers) fail to or only partially deli er their promises. This brings us bac to the Depressor self tal that tells you that you cant e en follow the program, you are a failure or as s whats wrong with me? or why doesnt it wor for me, its supposed to change my life?

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Session 7 Introduction : About Fear and Emotions

37 Emotion = thought + body sensation This tool shows you how the I-system can paralyse you. It is a map about emotions and feelings, not about thoughts. Map: FEAR I cant buy what need My Greatest Fear: being poor I have no control over my life I have no money for retirement
 Do you notice any mind clutter and/or body tension? What are your storylines? What are your requirements?  How do you react when in this state?
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I cant look after myself I could be homeless I must please boss and not get fired

Session 7 About Fear and Emotions

38

Fear is an emotion that stems from the Natural Functioning mode that signals an immediate danger and makes you alert in the present moment. However if the I-System is over-functioning it captures the fear and convinces you that you cant cope. You become paralysed because you have become a victim of fear. FIGHTING FEAR DOESNT WORK! Fear has two parts: a thought and a body sensation. When fear impairs the way you lead your life, that fear is driven by a requirement. Diffusing the I-system requirement is not about losing the fear, but about moving away from paralysing fear so that you can deal with the situation proactively with the right actions at the right time.
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Session 7 Introduction : About Fear and Emotions

Do the same exercise again, this time using bridging before completing the map.
Come to your senses with: sounds, gravity, touch, sight, smells and taste.

39

Map: FEAR

My Greatest Fear: Being in Debt

 Do you notice any mind clutter and body tension?  How is this map different from the first one?  Do you feel clearer about your problem now?

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