Active Pause

What happens when we get polarized? How can we avoid polarization to engage in more enriching discussions?

This recording is different from the other recordings in this podcast series. Instead of a conversation, it features Serge Prengel talking about polarization and the Relational Implicit. You can also read this as a text (below the audio player).

What happens when we get polarized? How can we avoid polarization to engage in more enriching discussions? I would like to share some thoughts based on an experiential exploration of polarization.

The experience I am drawing upon was not a polarized discussion. It was a collaborative endeavor: Remembering experiences of polarization to better understand them. I will be bringing up a contrast between this collaborative atmosphere and the circumstances under which we get more polarized.

The initial shift

The conversation started as an interview. The roles were clear. I was the interviewer, and Kirk Schneider was the person interviewed. We were going to talk about a topic he has thought about a lot and written a book about: “The Polarized Mind.” We didn’t go very far with the conventional interview portion. Soon after the beginning, we shifted the format of the conversation.

It started with my suggestion that we proceed carefully: We were not discussing a neutral topic, but one which could emotionally touch our audience. I disclosed that I could, at times, have a polarized mind. Kirk suggested that we explore the topic experientially. Effectively, we shifted roles, with him leading me through a process of experiential exploration. Before we went any further into this process, we established some rules for safety. All of this evolved organically.

When an interview takes place, some things are so evident that it is not necessary to state them explicitly. There are specific roles: the interviewer and the interviewee. The manner of the interview may vary, but both parties share the implicit assumptions. They constitute a stable framework for the interchange—I think about it as the Shared Implicit.

Through a process of attunement, we restructured our Shared Implicit. This involved paying attention to implicit clues and resulted in making the space safe and comfortable. This early step set the tone for the possibility of further expansion during the rest of the conversation.

Embodied Experience 

An experiential exploration means paying attention to the experience from inside, as opposed to talking about it as if it were outside. Exploring inner experience involves paying attention to body sensations.

Here is what came up for me as I was recollecting polarized interactions to access my inner experience of them. I noticed the tightening of my shoulders, a shallower breath, a sense of my spine folding in. All of this, subtly, not necessarily visible to an outside observer.

These physical sensations were not random. They were the result of my whole organism reacting to the situation. They were “bottom-up,” implicit reactions, as opposed to “top-down.” Through neuroscience findings, we are keenly aware that much of our functioning is at a “bottom-up,” implicit level. Somatic mindfulness involves being in touch with embodied experience, i.e., the Somatic Implicit.

As we stay present with our experience, a felt sense forms, which is the way we experience the Somatic Implicit. In this case, my felt sense of the experience came down to a simple handle: a sense of rigidity. Conversely, as I shifted away from polarization, the experience was a sense of fluidity.

Interestingly, Kirk had defined the polarized mind as a “fixation on a single point of view to the utter exclusion of competing points of view.” The bodily sense of rigidity, the opposite of fluidity, made this concept come to life. It was not an abstract idea, but a felt experience of the Somatic Implicit.

Tracking the Somatic Implicit

We touch upon the personal and embodied impact of the polarized mind (or fixation on a single point of view to the utter exclusion of competing points of view).

In this wide-ranging conversation, Bill Epperly discusses his sources of inspiration and renewal as well as the role of vulnerability in awakened living. The conversation ends with a discussion of how to be an awake, mindful person in today’s chaotic, unbalanced world. Bill offers a practice that can help us remain grounded in the present moment during daily life.

Bill Epperly, Ph.D., is an intuitive spiritual guide, healer and coach who guides clients towards embodied awakening and post-awakening healing and integration. Bill has a BS in Biology and a Ph.D. in biochemistry as well as extensive formal training in contemplative Christianity and Zen Buddhism. He is a long-time student of integral spirituality and a Mentor in the Trillium Awakening community. During graduate school, Bill experienced an initial glimpse of non-dual consciousness that re-oriented his life towards spirituality. He works with people of all spiritual orientations, helping them find their unique paths to healing, awakening, and integration. He teaches mindfulness at DePaul University and offers workshops throughout the greater Chicago area. Bill is on the Board of Sacred Ground Chicago and Chicago Area Spiritual Directors. See website.

Published January 2020

Leslie Ellis talks about how working with dreams engages client and therapist in a co-creative process from which much can emerge.

We explore Climate Change from a perspective informed by somatic psychotherapy.

Carmen Joanne Ablack, President of the European Association for Body Psychotherapy (EABP) talks about the association as a polyphonic endeavor.

Carmen Joanne Ablack holds BA Hons in Psychology and Sociology, PG Diploma in Body Psychotherapy, and an MSc in Leading and Managing Health and Social Care (Advanced Professional Practice). She is an individual, group, couples and relationships psychotherapist, trainer and supervisor. She has published on clinical contemporary practice in Body Psychotherapy and Integrative Psychotherapy, intercultural communications, diversity dilemmas, trauma, access to the profession and regulation. Carmen is currently President of EABP. She is a former chair of Chiron Association for Body Psychotherapy and trained with the Chiron Centre for Body Psychotherapy; additionally she is a registered Gestalt Psychotherapist and Gestalt Group Psychotherapist. Carmen has particular interest in mental health, social responsibility and educational access. She was External Consultant to Pink Therapy (the UK’s largest independent therapy organisation working with gender and sexual diversity). Carmen is a member of the Black, African and Asian Therapy Network (BAATN) Leadership Group.  See website.

Published December 2019.