Body-Mind Centering: Form of somatic therapy promoted by The School for Body-Mind Centering, in Amherst, Massachusetts. It involves guided imagery. Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen, who founded the school in 1973, originated the method. Cohen is the author of Sensing, Feeling and Action.

(See also: Body-Mind Centering , Alternative Health, Body Mind and Soul)

Body mind Centering (Bodymind Centering technique): Form of meditation developed by married couple Gay Hendricks, Ph.D., a university professor, and Kathlyn Hendricks, Ph.D., a dance therapist. In Radiance! Breathwork, Movement and Body-Centered Psychotherapy (Wingbow Press, 1991), they defined it as a precise, step-by-step technique for solving life problems through contact with the Inner Self. They defined Inner Self as the part of us that knows how we really feel. Bodymind Centering reconnects the Inner Self and the Outer Self.

(See also: Bodymind Centering , Alternative Health, Body Mind and Soul)

BODY-MIND CENTERING: a movement-reeducation approach that explores how the bodyÕs systems contribute to movement and self-awareness. The approach also emphasizes movement patterns that develop during infancy and childhood. Incorporates guided movement, exercise, imagery and hands-on work.

(See also: Body-mind centering , Alternative Health, Body Mind and Soul)

somatic therapy (somatic disciplines, somatic methods, somatics, somatic techniques, somatic therapies): Field that encompasses aikido, the Alexander Technique, applied kinesiology, Arica, Aston-Patterning, Awareness Through Movement, bioenergetics, Body-Mind Centering, Capoeria, Continuum, CranioSacral Therapy, Eutony, Focusing, Functional Integration, Hakomi, Hellerwork, judo, karate, kundalini yoga, kung fu, Lomi (see lomi-lomi and Lomi work), Oki yoga (see Oki-Do), Process-Oriented Psychotherapy (process psychology), rebirthing, reflexology, Resonant Kinesiology, Rolfing, Rosen work (see Rosen Method), sensory awareness, SHEN, somasynthesis, tai chi, Touch for Health, Trager, Trans Fiber, yoga therapy, and Zero Balancing.

Subtle-energy elements are a commonality of somatic therapies. Thomas Hanna, founder of the journal Somatics, coined the word somatics.

(See also: Somatic therapy , Body Mind and Soul, Alternative Health, Alternative Health Dictionary)

Centering: Grounding your energy through meditation or other means often before rituals or healing treatments to help harness and direct the balanced energy.

(See also: Centering , Alternative Health, Body Mind and Soul)

This is a sitemap for Alternative Health - B . Click on a link and you will find multiple definitions and articles related to the word.

 Bach Cures, Bach Flower remedies, Bach flower therapy, Bach Flowers, Baguazhang, Balance therapy, Balanced Health, Balinese Massage, Balneology, Balneotherapy, Barbara Brennan Healing science, Barefoot shiatsu massage, Bart, Basic Co-centering, Basic polarity counseling, Bateman Health system, Bates Method, Behavioral kinesiology, Belavi, Berrywork, Beyond Dieting, Beyond Medicine, Beyond therapy, Bfrp, Bhramari, Bhuta shuddhi, Biblical counseling, Biblical Nutrition, Bindegewebsmassage, Bindi, Bio-Chromatic Chakra Alignment, Biodynamic Massage, Biodynamic massage, Biodynamic psychology, Bioelectromagnetics, Bioelectronic diagnosis, Bio-energetic healing, Bioenergetic movement work, Bioenergetic therapy, Bioenergetics, Bioenergy, BioEssence bodywork, BioEssence therapy, Biofeedback, Biofeedback Without Machines, Biofield, Biofield therapeutics, Biogenic support, Biogeometry, Biogram therapy, Bio-iridology, BioKinesiology, Bio-lifting, Biological Archeology, Biological Immunity Analysis, Bio-Magnetic Healing, Biomagnetic therapy, Biomagnetic touch Healing, Bio-magnetic touch Healing, Biomagnetics, Bio-mechanics, Bio-Optic Holography, Bioplasmic healing, Biorhythm, Biosonic Mantric Dream repatterning, Biosonic repatterning, Biosonic repatterning, Biosonic sound and Light repatterning, Biosonics, Biosync, Birthing services, Bitter, Black Hah Feng shui, Black Hat tantric Buddhist Feng shui, Bleeding manipulation, Blood Cell Demonstration, Blood crystallization, Bloodletting, Blue Water technique, Body acupuncture, Body Alignment, Body Centered therapy, Body Characteristics, Body Composition Analysis, Body Harmony, Body Imaging Enhancement, Body Integration, Body Logic, Body Mapping technique, Body Mind Breathwork, Body Mind Counseling, Body Mind Counseling Hypnotherapy, Body Mind Dynamics, Body Mind Massage, Body Mind shiatsu, Body Mind therapy, Body oriented emotional release psychotherapy, Body polish, Body reflexology, Body rolling, Body Work, Body-centered psychotherapy, Bodymind Centering, Body-mind Centering, Body-Mind Centering, Body-oriented psychotherapy, Bodytalk, BODytONICs, BodyWisdom, Bodywork plus, Bodywork tantra, Bon shamanic practices, Bone Marrow Nei Kung, Bonnie prudden Myotherapy, Bonsano, Botanical Medicine, Bowan therapeutic touch, Bowen technique, Bowen therapy, Brain Gym, Breast Massage, Breath regenesis, Breath therapy, Breatharianism, Breathing Exercises, Breathing therapy, Breema, Breema Bodywork, BrEtH, Broadcasting, Brush & tone, Bs, Bubble of light technique, Buddhist Medicine, Buddhist psychology, Budzek Medical Massage therapy, Bu-hang, Business qigong,

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Alternative Health Dictionary

Alternative Health Dictionary - A, Alternative Health Dictionary - B, Alternative Health Dictionary - C, Alternative Health Dictionary - D, Alternative Health Dictionary - E, Alternative Health Dictionary - F, Alternative Health Dictionary - G,Alternative Health Dictionary - H, Alternative Health Dictionary - I, Alternative Health Dictionary - J,Alternative Health Dictionary - K, Alternative Health Dictionary - L, Alternative Health Dictionary - M, Alternative Health Dictionary - N, Alternative Health Dictionary - O, Alternative Health Dictionary - P, Alternative Health Dictionary - Q, Alternative Health Dictionary - R, Alternative Health Dictionary - S, Alternative Health Dictionary - T, Alternative Health Dictionary - U, Alternative Health Dictionary - V, Alternative Health Dictionary - W, Alternative Health Dictionary - X, Alternative Health Dictionary - Y, Alternative Health Dictionary - Z,

Also see these pages:

Sanskrit Dictionary , Theosophy Dictionary , Hinduism Dictionary , Spiritual Dictionary, Mysticism Dictionary .

Read more here: » Alternative Health Sitemap I - B

Hatha Yoga: Hatha Yoga Positions

 One thing I like to do when I start a yoga session, either by myself or when I'm teaching, is to begin with centering. I find that centering is soooo important. I like to begin with sighs and releasing breathe. And close my eyes. I tell myself to leave the worries and troubles and concerns outside at the door. If I need to pick them up on my way out, I can do that. But, for the half hour to hour that I am giving myself this treat of yoga, I can leave the troubles outside. And that includes all the self judgement about postures that I might or might not be able to do or the fat that I carry on my body. I think that is one of the things that has made yoga good for me. I give myself permission not to be disappointed with myself.....mentally, emotionally, or physically. It doesn't always work. And I give myself permission for that, too.

Read more here: » Hatha Yoga: Hatha Yoga Positions

Read more here: » Introduction to Meditation: How to Meditate

A dictionary Of Siddha Yoga Terminology. From Abhanga to Yogini.

Please note that all words in grey, like "enlightenment" or "kundalini" are hyperlinked to archives further explaining the term. At the corresponding archive you will also find articles related to the term.

 This is a course in meditation. This course is for beginners and advanced alike. The process of meditation taught in these pages is easy and effortless. Anyone can do it because it is about finding out who you really are and bringing this realization into every moment of your life. We call this "Practicing the Presence." Your understanding will come from practicing the meditation taught here, and not from reading these words. The instructions in the lessons are as simple and straightforward as possible.

Read more here: » Introduction to Meditation: Introductory Class on Meditation

Expanded Co-centering: A form of Co-centering.

(See also: Expanded Co-centering , Body Mind and Soul, Alternative Health, Alternative Health Dictionary)

Alignment

Synchronization of mental and spiritual vibrations with a god, goddess, or astronomical body. Often the complete balance and centering of the chakras is called an alignment.

(See also: Alignment , New Age Spirituality, Body Mind and Soul)

See also these related archives:

BioSonics, Biosync, Birthing Services, Bitter, Black Hah Feng Shui, Black Hat Tantric Buddhist Feng Shui, Bleeding manipulation, Blood Cell Demonstration, Blood crystallization, Bloodletting, Blue Water technique, Body acupuncture, Body Alignment, Body Centered Therapy, Body Characteristics, Body Composition Analysis, Body Harmony, Body Imaging Enhancement, Body Integration, Body Logic, Body Mapping Technique, Body Mind Breathwork, Body Mind Counseling, Body Mind Counseling Hypnotherapy, Body Mind Dynamics, Body Mind Massage, Body Mind Shiatsu, Body Mind Therapy, Body oriented emotional release psychotherapy, Body Polish, Body reflexology, Body Rolling, Body Work, Body-centered psychotherapy, Bodymind Centering, Body-mind Centering, Body-Mind Centering, Body-oriented Psychotherapy, Bodytalk, BODYTONICS, BodyWisdom, Bodywork Plus, Bodywork Tantra, Bon shamanic practices, Bone Marrow Nei Kung, Bonnie Prudden Myotherapy, Bonsano, Botanical Medicine, Bowan Therapeutic Touch, Bowen Technique, Bowen Therapy, Brain Gym, Breast Massage, Breath Regenesis, Breath Therapy, Breatharianism, Breathing Exercises, Breathing therapy, Breema, Breema Bodywork, BRETH, Broadcasting, Brush & Tone, Bs, Bubble of light technique, Buddhist Medicine, Buddhist psychology, Budzek Medical Massage Therapy, Bu-hang, Business Qigong

Co-Centering: Component of Bodywork Tantra. It connects one's three basic centers: body, heart, and mind. Co-Centering includes Basic Co-Centering and Expanded Co-centering.

(See also: Co-Centering , Body Mind and Soul, Alternative Health, Alternative Health Dictionary)

divine therapy: a combination of centering prayer, Lectio Divina, and Open Mind Open Heart. Centering prayer (the centering prayer method) is a theistic form of meditation that involves using a sacred word. Lectio divina (Lectio) is a method of reading sacred writings such as the Bible. (The expression lectio divina literally means divine reading.) Open Mind Open Heart (the open mind, open heart practice) is a means of opening oneself to God.

(See also: Divine therapy , Body Mind and Soul, Alternative Health, Alternative Health Dictionary)

Concentration With meditation, an equivalent for certain parts of yoga, as found in samadhi, dharana; the removal or surmounting of distractions originating in the mind and centering the latter on the spiritual and intellectual objective to be attained, which in the best sense is union with the inner god, the divine monad -- a conscious identification of oneself with the universal through the individual's innate divinity.

The method of meditative concentration prescribed in the Bhagavad-Gita is to perform all the duties of life without either attachment or avoidance. The hindrances to concentration which are to be removed are those arising from anger, lust, vanity, fear, sloth, etc. Such obstacles are removed by lifting the mind above them or by deliberately ignoring them, since directly fighting with them serves to concentrate the mind on them, thus defeating the object aimed at; and by cultivating the spirit of impersonal love and the light of wisdom which it evokes. Thus the blending of the personal self with the impersonal self is achieved by an orderly process of self-directed evolution, first by unselfish work in the cause of humanity, continued in the various degrees of chelaship, culminating in initiation.

Concentration has often been perverted to mean a kind of personal self-culture, having for its aim the attainment of personal power or self-satisfaction. If unsuccessful, the attempt upsets the balance of the constitution, and if successful, it sows a bitter harvest of aroused personality for future reaping; for when yearning for sympathetic fellowship with our fellowmen we shall find our faculties counterworking us. True meditative concentration actually applies more to the heart than to the mind, and is not a forcible mental practice but a general although very positive and impersonal attitude towards life. It means the centering of our wishes, thoughts, and acts on the ideal of self-identification with the spiritual and universal.

See also DHYANA.

(See also: Concentration , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary)

Vesta (Latin) Hestia (Greek) Daughter of Saturn (Kronos) and Rhea, sister of Jupiter, Juno, Ceres, Pluto, and Neptune (Zeus, Hera, Demeter, Hades, and Poseidon). The first-born, she became, as Terra or Gaia, the earth goddess. She is variously represented as the wife of Uranus, and again as a divine maid, both accounts probably being remnants of an earlier myth similar to those centering around Demeter, Isis, Neith, and other goddesses.

Traces of the worship of goddesses equivalent to Vesta are found in prehistoric times. The cult reached a place of sanctity and importance in ancient Ireland, the Hebrides, and among the Incas of Peru. None, however, is so fully documented as the Roman cult of Vesta worship, centering around the guardianship of the sacred fire, symbol of the loftiest ideals of the state, and hence of the home and domestic life.

In Rome the cult grew in importance until the position of the priestesses almost rivaled that of royalty. There is a tradition that Numa introduced the worship of Vesta into Rome and founded the Temple of Vesta.

(See also: Vesta , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Body mind and Soul)

Tai Chi Chuan

Traditional Chinese non-aggressive martial art based on awareness and yielding which is practiced in slow motion; a meditation technique for grounding and centering, that is based on Taoist philosophy.

(See also: Tai Chi Chuan , New Age Spirituality, Body Mind and Soul)

CENTERING: the act of feeling solid, balanced and focused emotionally.

(See also: CENTERING , Witchcraft, Wicca, Paganism, Pagan Dictionary)

Zagreus, Zagreus-Dionysos (Greek) Dionysos was an earlier name for Bacchus. The mythos concerning Zagreus belongs to the cycle of teachings of the Orphic Mysteries rather than to mythology, so no references occur in the writings for the people, such as Homer and Hesiod. The references that have come down to our day occur principally in the manuscripts of the ancient Greek dramatists, poets, and in other ancient fragments.

As cosmic evolution was taught in the Orphic Mysteries by allegory, so was the evolution of the individual soul or microcosm, centering in the mythos of Zagreus, later Zagreus-Dionysos, the Greek savior, which the Greek Dionysian Mysteries sought to unfold in dramatic and veiled or symbolic literary form. "Dionysos is one with Osiris, with Krishna, and with Buddha (the heavenly wise), and with the coming (tenth) Avatar, the glorified Spiritual Christos . . ." (SD 2:420).

Zagreus has three distinct meanings: 1) the mighty hunter (the pilgrim-soul, hunting for the truth, its aeonic pilgrimage back to divinity); 2) he that takes many captives (the Lord of the Dead); and 3) the restorer or regenerator (King of the Reborn or initiates). Zagreus (later Bacchus or Iacchos) is the divine Son, the third of the Orphic Trinity, the other two being Zeus the Demiurge or divine All-father, and Demeter-Kore, the earth goddess in her twofold aspect as the divine Mother and the mortal maid.

The mythos relates that Zagreus, a favored son of Zeus, aroused the wrath of Hera, who plotted his destruction. First she released the dethroned titans from Tartaros to slay the newborn babe. They induced the child to give up the scepter and apple for the false toys which they held before him: a thyrsos or Bacchic wand (symbol of matter and rebirth into material life), a giddy spinning top, and a mirror (maya or illusion). As the child was gazing at himself in the mirror, they seized him, tore his body into seven or fourteen pieces (as in the Egyptian Mystery tale of Osiris); boiled and roasted and then devoured them. Discovered in this enormity by Zeus, the titans were blasted with his thunderbolt and from their ashes sprang the human race.

The titans with their false gifts symbolize the pursuing energies of the personal, material life, which enchain and delude the soul. They are earth powers which lead the soul from the path by the lure of things of sense. The dismembered body is first boiled in water -- symbol of the astral world; then roasted, "as gold is tried by fire," symbol of suffering and purification and the reascent of the victorious soul to bliss.

Apollo or the Muses, at the command of Zeus, gathered the scattered fragments and interred them near the Omphalos (navel of the earth) at Delphi. The coffin was inscribed: "Here lies dead, the body of Dionysos, son of Semele," as the Zagreus myth was known only to those initiated into the Orphic Mysteries; and the Semele myth was popularly known. The exoteric myth represents the divine Son as the son of Zeus by the mortal maid Semele, Demeter-Kore in the guise of a mortal woman, to whom the still beating heart of Zagreus was entrusted when he was slain, that she might become its mother-guardian.

Hera, however, poisoned the mind of Semele with suspicion when the new-forming body of Zagreus within her reached the seventh month of gestation, and Semele impelled Zeus to reveal himself to her in his true form, whereupon the mortal body of Semele was destroyed by the divine fire. The holy babe was saved from death by Zeus, who sewed the child up in his own thigh until "the life that formerly was Zagreus, was reborn as Dionysos," the risen Savior, at Easter (the spring equinox), while as Zagreus he had been born at Semele's death at the winter solstice. Here we

See the myth's solar significance.

The nymphs of Mount Nysa reared him safely in a cave, and when he reached manhood, Hera forced him to wander over the earth. He overcame all opposition and was successful in establishing Mystery schools wherever he went. After his triumph in the world of men, Dionysos descended into the underworld and led forth his mother, now rechristened as Semele-Thyone (Semele the Inspired), to take her place among the Olympian divinities as the divine mother and radiant queen, and later, with Dionysos, to ascend to heaven.

Zagreus as Dionysos is known as the god of many names, most of which refer to his twofold character as the suffering mortal Zagreus, and the immortal or reborn god-man. Many titles also refer to him as the mystic savior. He is the All-potent, the Permanent, the Life-blood of the World, the majesty in the forest, in fruit, in the hum of the bee, in the flowing of the stream, etc., the earth in its changes -- the list runs on indefinitely, and is strikingly similar to the passage in which Krishna, the Hindu avatara, instructs Arjuna how he shall know him completely: "I am the taste in water, the light in the sun and moon," etc. (BG ch 7).

The philosophers, dramatists, and historians who held the Dionysian mythos to be purely allegorical and symbolic take in the great names of antiquity, including Plato, Pythagoras, all the Neoplatonists, the greatest historians, and a few of the early Christian Fathers, notably Clement of Alexandria; Eusebius, Tertullian, Justin, and Augustine, also write of it.

The exoteric literature of Orphism is scanty, while the esoteric teachings were never committed to writing. Outside of the Orphic Tablets and Orphic Hymns, no original material has been discovered to date. Scholars judging from the Homeric Hymn to Demeter, have held that the Eleusinian Mystery-drama was based solely on the story of Persephone; but later researches indicate that, under the influence of Epimenides and Onomakritos, both deep students of Orphism, the Orphic Mystery tale of Zagreus-Dionysos was incorporated in the Eleusian ritual, the divine son Iacchos becoming thus identified with the Orphic god-man, Zagreus-Dionysos.

Cosmically this highly esoteric story refers to the cosmic Logos building the universe and becoming thereby not only its inspiriting and invigorating soul, but likewise the divinity guiding manifestation from Chaos to complete fullness of evolutionary grandeur; and in the case of mankind, the legend refers to the origin, peregrinations, and destiny of the human monad, itself a spiritual consciousness-center, from unself-consciousness as a god-spark, through the wanderings of destiny until becoming a fully self-conscious god. The key to the symbolism of Zagreus-Dionysos is given by Plato in the Cratylus: "The Spirit within us is the true image of Dionysos. He therefore who acts erroneously in regard to It . . . sins against Dionysos Himself," i.e., the inner god, the divinity in man. The legend thus contains not only past cosmic as well as human history, but contains as a prophecy what will come to pass in the distant future.

(See also: Zagreus, Zagreus-Dionysos , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Body mind and Soul)