Heart. Mind. Body. Soul.
The deepest part of who we are is spiritual.
It is through the tending of our souls where we discover meaning, purpose and belonging.
SoulWalk is an invitation into that discovery through the lens of the Christian story.
Engaging in this story is more than an academic exercise though, it requires our whole selves - heart, mind, body, and soul.
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The heart is a metaphor for our emotional engagement
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The mind is the place where our human experiences are processed
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The body is our physical presence through which we experience reality
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The soul is our non-physical awareness that carries mystery, wonder, purpose and meaning.
SoulWalk makes space for the complexity of who we are as people, and recognises that different people respond differently in different life seasons.
Below you'll find an introduction to some neuro-science basics* that provide language to help navigate that complexity.
* SoulWalk acknowledges Aundi Kolber's work in her book 'Try Softer' as a key prompt to this presentation
INTRODUCTION
three 'boards'
Some brain-science basics can help us understand how our mind talks with itself.
Our pre-frontal cortex is where we think about our thinking - our WHITEBOARD.
Our limbic system is where our thinking informs what we feel - our SWITCHBOARD.
Our brain stem sends messages to our body in response to our thoughts and feelings - our FUSEBOARD.
AN INTEGRATED MIND
Our whiteboard is doing its work of strategizing, imagining, dreaming, adjusting. Our switchboard is receiving this information and connecting it into feelings like determination, longing, focus, frustration and celebration. Our fuse-board enables our body to respond to all of our thinking, and all of our feeling.
A DISRUPTED MIND
Our mind has stopped talking with itself. Nothing on the whiteboard makes sense. The switchboard is unrecognisable — none of the inputs are working, and the outputs don’t fit anymore. And if the fuse-board is still sending messages, they often don’t make sense, and the body might be losing trust in the way our mind works.
A RESTED MIND
Here the whiteboard turns its attention away from figuring out the cause of disconnection at the switchboard, and takes time to notice the function of the fuse-board. 'What is my body doing? What kind of messages are getting through? What does my body need right now?'
This is mindfulness - where the whiteboard orients toward the fuse-board to create space for calm and healing.
A RE-INTEGRATED MIND
Our mind is talking to itself again along new pathways from the whiteboard to the switchboard to the fuse-board.
But it has also discovered a capacity for the whiteboard to notice and listen to the fuse-board — not only as a safety mechanism, but also an enhancement — a reintegration.