Blog

What is Embodied Spirituality? Embodied spirituality refers to a lived experience of spirituality that is grounded in the body. When we embrace embodied spirituality, we come out of our minds and back into our bodies : into that which is visceral, instinctual, and deeply felt through the senses. We see that the body isn’t just a temple of the Divine, but a living expression of Spirit. As such, the body becomes a source of tremendous wisdom and insight: a doorway to the present moment. Not...

A meditator’s job is to remember to be aware. Whether you are standing, sitting, lying down, or walking, if you remember that you are aware, then you are meditating, and you are cultivating the positive qualities of the mind. We always start with awareness. It is that quality that grounds us and allows all the wholesome mind-states to arise, especially the quality of wisdom. When awareness and wisdom are working together like this, we gain the confidence and the motivation to keep exploring...

I was asked to offer a free viewing of our new documentary video on the topic of ACEs. Due to my limited knowledge of technology it took a minute to get this set up. Now we can announce: View “How Many ACEs Are You Holding?” for FREE! Use code ACES-FREE on October 13th, 2020 to see the entire video free . Use this link to view. Coupon will only work on the Vimeo rental page for How Many Aces are You Holding? , not the subscription page. This post will appear on the homepage of our website...

I've been seeing so many posts of Facebook and Twitter about this series on trauma, development, and neuroplasticity being led by Ruth Lanius, MD, PhD that I have to share about it here on ACEs Connection as well. Please find details excerpted below from the EEGLearn website. For more details about this series (which costs $260.), please go here.

Bad things happen to good people. I know. My six-year-old son was murdered by a former student in his first grade classroom at Sandy Hook Elementary School alongside 19 of his classmates and six educators. We read about those who die in countless natural disasters all over the world. Thousands of good people perished in the 9/11 attacks. The media shares headlines of brutality and destruction on a daily basis. The labeling of good versus evil has helped us to categorize unspeakable horror in...

We are living in complicated and stressful times. What needs to be healed seems more palpable than ever. It feels like the call to release what no longer serves has never been louder and we are feeling that tug at our core. While the founder of The League of Extraordinary People, Alfred White, has been gaining more clarity everyday on this, he was invited to be part of an event, more like a movement, to help others find freedom from what has been holding them back. It is a free, online...

Hi There Friends ~ Hello September! Does your nervous system need a reset? If yes, I am so with you! It's been awhile since we've met in community for an embodied practice of breath, movement and connection, and I am looking forward to gathering again. I've missed y'all! September 10 - October 15, 2020 Six Week Class Series Thursdays, 12:00-12:50 To learn more visit my website at www.dionwiedenhoefer.com Persons of all identities and abilities welcome! Please connect with me to receive the...

If you have gone through a traumatic experience, then you have experienced something that is extremely difficult and may have symptoms of PTSD. Symptoms of PTSD include: 1. Intrusive thoughts, memories, flashbacks or nightmares about the traumatic experience 2. Avoidance of internal and external reminders of the traumatic experience such as memories, feelings, people, places, or things. 3. Negative thoughts and emotions related to the traumatic experience such as believing the traumatic...

Transform Trauma with ACEs Sciences Film Festival & Follow-Up Discussions The following weekend watch parties and follow-up discussions are co-hosted by ACEs Connection, The Relentless School Nurse , and The Campaign for Trauma-Informed Policy & Practice (CTIPP) . We appreciated the filmmakers for making these films free to watch for our members and for the public programming of PBS. The films we’ll feature are as follows: Portraits of Professional Caregivers Whole People Part 1...

By John Rich, USA Today, August 30, 2020 As a primary care doctor in Boston in the late 1990s and early 2000s, I saw many young Black men who were injured by violence. But one young man stands out in my mind. The first time I saw him, he was lying in a hospital bed sweating and writhing in pain. Like many young men I saw as a doctor in an urban medical center, and despite what I – and many of my colleagues – might have assumed, this young man had done nothing to provoke the attack. Rather,...

By Randi B. Hagi Across video conference screens, Strategies for Trauma Awareness and Resilience Lead Trainer Katie Mansfield and Kirby Broadnax MA ’20 sit down together. Their topic of discussion: learning from our pain. “For me, there’s not a moment or a particular event that I think about, but just a continual deepening of my understanding of the ways that structural traumas like racism and sexism in particular, have impacted, continue to impact my life and my body,” Broadnax says. “So...

Dear Pete, I read your blog post, “Influential Critic D. J. Jaffe Has Died: Remembered As “Bomb Thrower” Who Demanded Mental Illness Reforms” and thought of how he has done so much to hurt those of us labeled “mentally ill”. You considered him a friend, he was anything but for those of us struggling with the challenges of trauma, abuse and mental health concerns. These are some of my thoughts on D.J. Jaffe. He did not have the best interests of people struggling despite all of his rhetoric,...