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Lewis Mehl-Madrona: Talking to Animals; what's the point?
We reflect on the winter buffalo hunt ceremonies of the Northern Plains and the ways in which humans communicated with animals, negotiating with them to cooperate in being hunted. This leads us to modern day attempts to communicate with animals, including studies from Northern Arizona University that decode the meaning of prairie dog chirps and efforts to talk to the great apes. We ask what is the point? What do learn? 2  |
Lewis Mehl-Madrona: Day 2 of Australia 2013: Story is Healing
Today we considered how story can save people's lives. When people are filled with negative stories about being inferior and worthy of humiliation and contempt, they respond accordingly often with substance misuse and violence. The traditional cultural stories of all of our peoples are antidotes to this negativity. By immersing ourselves in our cultural stories, we can turn victimization into recovery and transformation. 1 |
Lewis Mehl-Madrona: Nanglyala Mental Health Center
I write about the composite mental health center I have created in previous essays which comes from my and others' experiences working in mental health in New York State. I call it Nanglyala Mental Health Center, in honor of the Russian word for Valhalla, which one can't use, for it actually exists. I propose a thought experiment in changing the culture at NMHC, which I hope someone somewhere will be inspired to do. |
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Lewis Mehl-Madrona: Intergenerational and Historical Trauma: Day 4 of the Australia Journey
We continue our Australian cross-cultural mental health journey for day 4. Today's topic was intergenerational and historic trauma. In an inter-faith context we talked about the need for the suppressed stories to be told. We talked about epigenetics, which is the way in which the trauma of the ancestors are genetically transmitted across as many as four generations, if not more. We discussed the need to tell these stories. 1 |
Lewis Mehl-Madrona: Coyotes and Reclaiming Indigenous Knowledge
Three of us from Coyote Institute have journeyed to Australia to consult with a local aboriginal group on how to incorporate local culture into their health care and other services. This is the first in a series of daily blogs about the trip. I begin by wondering about coyote as a symbolic muse, an animal who lives at the margin and is currently expanding its territory. We discuss templates for the expression of pain. |
Lewis Mehl-Madrona: Why can't the sundance feeling last all year long?
I reflect on my experience of coming out of sundance, which is always a powerful, personally transformative experience for me and those others with whom I dance. Because of its deep embodiedness, sundance is simultaneously mental, physical, spiritual and communal. This and the prayers brought to sundance and the examples provided by the dancers of transcending our physical limits, explains in part the amazing healings seen. 1 |
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Lewis Mehl-Madrona: Why do we need Stories?
Making up story is what are brains do best. In fact, the default mode of the brain is to idly invent what if and if only stories to so that we can run simulations of our social world. We are designed to fill in gaps in our perception. We must reject much environmental information in order to maintain a stable world map. |
Lewis Mehl-Madrona: Reflections on the American Psychiaatric Association's annual meeting
This past week we attended the annual meeting of the American Psychiatric Association in New Orleans, Louisiana. The high point was the amazing food that New Orleans offers. Besides that, we dialogue about the myths that psychiatry has created that now need to be changed. These myths include the idea that a perfect pill exists to make people feel "normal" and that a pill exists that can change unpleasant affect in happiness |
Lewis Mehl-Madrona: Coyote Healing Excerpt from Chapter 4, The Medicine Wheel
This is an excerpt from my book, Coyote Healing: Miracles from Native America. It's about the medicine wheel. |
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Lincoln Stoller: Neurofeedback, Growth, and Habit I describe a holistic approach to changing addictive behaviors based on neurofeedback with elements common to the therapies of indigenous cultures. The transformative journey does not have to be terrifying, though it will be disturbing, confusing, and probably dangerous. Perhaps, in the end, it's not even a choice. 1 |
Nancy White: Part 2; Alpha-Theta Neurotherapy As a Multi-Level Matrix of Intervention part 2 of Nancy White's chapter |
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Articles For Tag "Transformation" |
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