How much of our internal world do we understand? Our thinking, feeling, actions? Our senses, hormones, nervous system? Would it be useful to delve into this world for the sake of our wellbeing? If so, listen up.

Here's some show notes:

The Book of Human Emotions

The Action Cycle (aka The Gestalt Cycle)

Bad Faith

Defence mechanisms

Polyvagal Theory

NLP: changing bad memories

If the body expresses what the mind represses then we're going to need some somatic knowledge to help us out.

In this episode Louise shares her lived-experience as well as her professional wisdom when it comes to healing, regulating, and generally being at one with our bodies. She's full of ideas, interventions and challenges. Enjoy.

Here's some links to go with this episode...

Top Ten Somatic Exercises

Grounding Techniques

Brain development and the alarm system

Nervous system/polyvagal theory

Self regulation/Co-regulation

Mirror neurons

Vooing

Peter Levine (1)

Peter Levine (2)

Body Doubling

Isn’t just about everything we do based around relationships in some way or other? Aren’t relationships the source of 99.9% of all our happiness and 99.9% of all our distress?

In today's episode we are going to explore themes such as games people play, attachments, love, as well as substitutes of love.

Here are some show notes that follow up on some of these themes...

Games people play

https://xabierlopez.co.uk/a-classification-of-games-people-play/

A strange situation

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DRejV6f-Y3c

The elephant in the room

https://www.nyc.gov/assets/olr/downloads/pdf/wellness/elephantintheroom-poembyterrykettering.pdf

Harlow's monkeys

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OrNBEhzjg8I

Mental Load

https://english.emmaclit.com/2017/05/20/you-shouldve-asked/

It's all very well having a cognitive self. But if we want to work out stuff that isn't so easy to pin-point or find answers to, then we'll likely need a wider approach.

Welcome to the world of creativity - as a means of tapping into our unconscious self. Welcome to the idea that when we are actively expressive we are less dominated by our neocortex and more open to accessing more aspects of ourselves.

In this session you'll be invited to undertake 10 relatively simple tasks. With time and space, alongside pens, pencils and 10 sheets of paper, let's have an experience and see where it takes us.

“I use this word ‘I’ and I don't know what it means. I don't know where it begins and ends. I don't even know what it's made of.”

Scarlett Thomas, The End of Mr. Y

This episode of the Wellness Calendar finds us devoting our energies towards understanding our self.

Who are you? What makes you who you are? What are the essential qualities that separate you from others? When you think about yourself, what immediately springs to mind? What defines you as a unique individual? At what point might you stop becoming a ‘self’ – and start becoming something else?

[In case you are wondering why this episode is a little delayed, the short answer is gremlins - of the electronic kind.]

In this episode we are seeking ways to engage with music on a wellness-focused level. Rather than treat sounds passively we're looking to utilise all that sonic waves can offer us. We'll be exploring different tempos, rhythms, instruments, genres, lyrics, soundscapes, etc, etc, in order to help regulate and enhance our emotions, our senses, our bodies as a whole.

Have a listen. See what you think. Part two of this show - the lived experience bit - is just waiting to be recorded, once we round up some self detectives willing to share their own personal musical adventures. Could this be you? Link to eventbrite invitation - here.

Feedback, suggestions, links, collaborations always welcome: podcast@selfdetective. net

Here's some more links to more musical resources/websites:

'Self Detective Playlists' on Spotify including the mentioned African Music Playlist

Coping Strategies of the Musical Kind [Interactive PDF]

The Musecology website takes music, wellness and our environment into interesting directions. Check out their playlist on the English countryside.

Elsewhere we have the website for Nordoff and Robbin's music therapy; You Tube clips on: Music Vibro-acoustics; Toning; Music–elicited imagery; Musical Improvisation.

Finally, if you do want to see the Norman Wisdom clip from the film 'One Good Turn' - it's right here.

Welcome to another series of bite-sized ideas to get us thinking about ourselves and our wellness. This time we are focusing on coping strategies. Listen in and you'll find notions such as mood wheels, recovery bags and leaky buckets. As ever, take the gems away with you and bin the rest.

Could this episode be useful to you? Could it be used to expand the range of tools you have available for your own self detective purposes? Could shapes be of use? Symmetry? Periodic tables? Playing cards? Spinning plates? Aliens? Have a listen. See what you think. And in the meantime here are some links to stuff from the show...

Using Shapes pdf

Using Spinning Plates pdf

Using Aliens pdf

Using The Periodic Table pdf

Chanel Miller's Victim Impact Statement (you tube)

⁠Eric Berne's Parent, Adult, Child Model pdf⁠

Smog "To Be Of Use" (Spotify)⁠⁠"

And, as always, here is a useful email if you wish to contact us: podcast@selfdetective.net