Daniel J. Siegel - Mind, Consciousness, and Well-Being (Norton Series on Interpersonal Neurobiology)

The Norton Series on Interpersonal Neurobiology

Louis Cozolino, PhD, Series Editor
Allan N. Schore, PhD, Series Editor (20072014)
Daniel J. Siegel, MD, Founding Editor

The field of mental health is in a tremendously exciting period of growth and conceptual reorganization. Independent findings from a variety of scientific endeavors are converging in an interdisciplinary view of the mind and mental well-being. An interpersonal neurobiology of human development enables us to understand that the structure and function of the mind and brain are shaped by experiences, especially those involving emotional relationships.

The Norton Series on Interpersonal Neurobiology provides cutting-edge, multidisciplinary views that further our understanding of the complex neurobiology of the human mind. By drawing on a wide range of traditionally independent fields of research, such as neurobiology, genetics, memory, attachment, complex systems, anthropology, and evolutionary psychology, these texts offer mental health professionals a review and synthesis of scientific findings often inaccessible to clinicians. The books advance our understanding of human experience by finding the unity of knowledge, or consilience, that emerges with the translation of findings from numerous domains of study into a common language and conceptual framework. The series integrates the best of modern science with the healing art of psychotherapy.

EDITED BY

Daniel J. Siegel and Marion Solomon

A Norton Professional Book

This e-book contains some places that ask the reader to fill in questions or comments. Please keep pen and paper handy as you read this e-book so that you can complete the exercises within.

Copyright 2020 by Mind Your Brain, Inc., and Marion F. Solomon

Strengthening Attention with Mindfulness Training in Workplace Settings 2020 by Ekaterina Denkova, Anthony P. Zanesco, Alexandra B. Morrison, Joshua Rooks, Scott L. Rogers, and Amishi P. Jha

Love and Well-Being 2020 by Trudy Goodman Kornfield and Jack Kornfield

The Power of Mindfulness 2020 by Shauna Shapiro

The Art and Science of Self Compassion 2020 by Kristin Neff

Learning to Be a Self 2020 by Judson Brewer

Train Your Mind to Save your Brain 2020 by Gary Small

Mind-Body Medicine: Consciousness and Health 2020 by Helen Lavretsky

Toward Creating a Natural Anti-Depressant Brain 2020 by Elisha Goldstein

Therapeutic Relational Presence: Cultivating Shared Consciousness for Positive Well-Being 2020 by Shari Geller

The Science of Presence 2020 by Rhonda Magee and Mind Your Brain, Inc.

Being Present 2020 by Pat Ogden and Bonnie Goldstein

The Enlightened Brain 2020 by Deepak Chopra

What Alzheimers Can Teach Us About Brain, Mind, and Self 2020 by Rudolph Tanzi

Living the Living Presence 2020 by Menas Kafatos

The Interconnection of Mind, Consciousness, and Well-Being 2020 by Mind Your Brain, Inc.

All rights reserved

First Edition

For information about permission to reproduce selections from this book, write to Permissions, W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., 500 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10110

For information about special discounts for bulk purchases, please contact W. W. Norton Special Sales at specialsales@wwnorton.com or 800-233-4830

JACKET DESIGN: Lauren Graessle of leading writers to your clinical work.

JACKET ART: Kristina Kokhanova / Alamy Stock Photo

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available

Production manager: Katelyn MacKenzie

ISBN: 978-0-393-71331-2

ISBN 978-0-393-71332-9 (ebk.)

W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., 500 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10110

www.wwnorton.com

W. W. Norton & Company Ltd., 15 Carlisle Street, London W1D 3BS

Note to Readers: Standards of clinical practice and protocol change over time, and no technique or recommendation is guaranteed to be safe or effective in all circumstances. This volume is intended as a general information resource for professionals practicing in the field of psychotherapy and mental health; it is not a substitute for appropriate training, peer review, and/or clinical supervision. Neither the publisher nor the authors can guarantee the complete accuracy, efficacy, or appropriateness of any particular recommendation in every respect.

To our human family on this precious planet: May MWe
all open our awareness and realize the crucial reality of
interconnection as we cherish and protect life on Earth.

Marion and Dan have worked for decades together providing conferences on interpersonal neurobiology (IPNB) for clinicians, and we are grateful for all those speakers who have shared their work and wisdom with us over the years. In this volume, the contributions of a wide array of professionals focusing on consciousness who came together for an intensive three-day IPNB conference have been transcribed, new presentations prepared for publication, and extensions to presentations compiled in order to offer an in-depth look at how mind, consciousness, and well-being come together in our lives personally and professionally. It has been a labor of love to organize these gatherings, and this conference and book would not have been possible without the support of our teams at the Lifespan Learning InstituteBonnie Goldstein, Matt Solomon, and Ginger Garnitzand at the Mindsight InstituteCaroline Welch, Kristi Morelli, Jane Daily, Andrew Schuman, and Ashish Soni. We are proud to work with you all.

We are grateful, too, for the partnership we, the editors, have had with each other all these years of collaboration. Our collective dream was to provide clinicians and others working to promote mental health in our world with cutting-edge knowledge from science that could inform our psychotherapeutic efforts to heal the suffering so many individuals, couples, and families experience in our modern culture. To our larger human family, we dedicate this work in hopes that the exploration of the mind and consciousness will bring more health to our individual, collective, and planetary lives. May these words find their way to anyone who might find them both informational and inspirational, giving us the knowledge and vision to create a more regenerative and just way we can live on our common home, this place weve named Earth.

WELCOME TO Mind, Consciousness, and Well-Being! In this compilation of fifteen presentations by leaders in the fields of mental health and contemplation, science and spiritual exploration, youll hear from scientists, clinicians, and mindfulness teachers about research and practical applications for training the mind to bring more health and flourishing to our lives.

Marion Solomon, Bonnie Goldstein, and I organized a conference on this topic for one of our annual Interpersonal Neurobiology Conferences, which have spanned over two decades, hosted by the Lifespan Learning Institute. As the institutes medical director, I am honored to work with them to facilitate these conferences and then, in some cases, to transform the proceedings from those events into book format, such as this text. Because the feeling that emerged in the flow of presentations at this event was so empowering and accessible, we have chosen to leave each of the following chapters as close to the transcript of the offering as possible. What this means is that you, as the reader, will have a chance to also experience the flow of exercises, audience engagement, jokes, and even at times poignant moments that spontaneously arose in the course of doing live presentations.