Leanne Whitney is the guide in this course on Classical Yoga, Jungian-oriented depth psychology and neuroscience. She will bring theory to the ground and lead you into a more embodied and lead you into a more felt experience of the spiritual life.
Leanne Whitney holds a doctorate in depth psychology. She specializes in the intersection of Western approaches with Eastern and shamanic practices to achieve healing and integration.
Many people in the heartlands of North America and Europe are feeling the loss of meaning in their lives, a kind of spiritual disconnection or existential emptiness. This course offers practical, holistic approaches that respond both to this spiritual alienation and to the extraordinary pressures of contemporary culture.
Jung found evidence that validated his ideas on the psyche’s spiritual instinct. He repeatedly witnessed the soul’s innate knowledge and capacity to transform, transcend, heal, and feel whole. Present day neuroscience also recognizes the relation between the spiritual function and mental health. The harmful effects of a decline in faith on trauma recovery has been demonstrated. The positive mental health effects of engaging the psyche’s spiritual function have also been well documented. Yoga offers an immediately accessible and enjoyable way to engage in a spiritual practice.
In this course you will learn that well-being, individuation and embodied spiritual experience go hand-in-hand. Healing our psychic splits is of immeasurable value for our day-to-day wellbeing. This healing includes knowledge in regard to the ‘guardrails’ of suffering and discontent; improved abilities to relate and communicate; and increased wisdom in relationship to flow states, resonance and synchronicity.
This course combines theory with practices. Each class includes breathwork, meditations and/or journal prompts that help self inquiry.
This is a potent course. It offers practices that we can readily undertake, practices that will help us in healing our painful psychic splits and our suffering.
Course Overview:
Class 1
In this first class Leanne offers an overview of Jung´s ideas and classical yoga. A long-time explorer of the field, she discusses intersections of Jungian psychology, yoga and current scientific findings.
Class 2
In the second class Leanne looks first into Jung’s ideas of the complex. Next she briefly discusses the new science of affective neuroscience to explore how the positive and negative affects might be coding for particular experiences. She also touches on the ‘hand model of the brain’ and polyvagal theory. She provides theoretical insights, breathing practices and journal prompts to enhance our connections to the source, ourselves, and each other through the heart.
Class 3
This third class explores the hidden value of a coherent narrative, and what we can do to help us regulate our bodily states. Leanne shows that integration in the brain is important for integration in our relationships; as within, so without. The theory and practices of this class focus on our common spiritual ground and our interdependence.
Class 4 Webinar Q&A
The class gave participants a place to share experiences and reflections. It also offered the opportunity for asking questions.