Mindfulness and Emotional Growth
Engracia B. Gill, LCSW, MBA, The Meadows Quarterly Lecture Series,
November 8th, 2007
We profoundly desire deep joy, emotional balance and flexibility. Mindfulness can be the essential tool to increase resilience to stress and to invite greater fulfillment in life as it is. While we use our attention on a daily basis, attention in this kind of mental training is done at will with the attitude of meeting life on life’s terms in the present moment. Neuroscience has confirmed that mindfulness practice can change the structure of the emotional brain by training the mind. Training the mind changes the brain and can increase positive emotions through intentional practice. This lecture outlines the essential elements in the practice of mindfulness that enables anyone to achieve greater emotional stability and happiness. It also invites the mind to rest in the present moment to experience the breadth of what mindfulness has to offer.
The Dance of Lasting Connections
Engracia B. Gill, LCSW, MBA, The Meadows Quarterly Lecture Series,
May 13th, 2010
We all have a wired-in need to connect with significant others from birth, a need which follows us throughout our life. This biological need is embodied in our cells, in our nervous system and in our brains. Our childhood history gives us a template from which we either feed connections with others or we do not. Our personal childhood story either leaves us with an embodied legacy of balance with self and with others or it does not. We will examine together how our childhood legacy impacts our bodies, minds and brains in the dance of connection to self and others. We will review the elements of emotional balance and how to strengthen them in our deepest relationships. The essence of this balance rests in a conscious choice to choose kindness especially after distancing has happened as it inevitably does in our most intimate relationships.
Engracia Gill is a psychotherapist with a private practice in Austin, Texas. She has worked in the field of chemical dependency and trauma in the last 10 years. She taught mindfulness tools in psycho-educational groups at The Crossings with Dr. Lewis, author of “The Infertility Cure”. She focuses on healing trauma, anxiety and couples’ relational trauma. She is currently training in a psychobiological approach to couples’ therapy with Stan Tatkin, PsyD., assistant professor at the UCLA David Geffen School of Medecine.