Most of us experience anxiety, from practical concerns over work, childcare, housing, finances, and health to existential worries about meaning, purpose, and our future as a species. Anxiety is part of this moment, and part of the modern human condition.

Emerging research points to the importance not of calm but resilience, the ability to feel our challenges and return to balance. And one of the best ways to train resilience is to do so through the body. Much like today’s world, the body constantly changes in unpredictable ways. Interoception, our attention to momentary bodily sensation, plays a key role in training our brain to navigate large social change.

In this Masterclass, we’ll explore:

• polyvagal theory and the three nodes of nervous system response
• the mind’s default mode in anxiety
• the importance of interoception in relating differently to anxiety, panic, and fear
• the most effective interventions for optimal vagal tone
• how yoga, mindfulness, and embodiment can help

Drawing from cutting-edge research in neuroscience and psychology, and tools from the yoga and mindfulness traditions, we’ll explore how to be more “at home” in the changing wilderness of the body and the changing world around us.

Learning Objective:

Participants will understand the neuroscience of anxiety and how the application of interoception augments nervous system functioning and improves vagal tone.