Table of Contents

Foreword by Peter A. Levine, Ph.D.

INTRODUCTION
Psychotherapy, Personality Development, and Meditation

PART ONE
Neuroaffective Developmental Psychology Spiritual Development through the Stages of Life
ONE Grow Up and Wake Up
TWO Embodiment, Emotions, and Identity: Childhood Development of the Triune Brain
THREE The Teenage Years and the “Rebuilding Project” of Identity FOUR Adulthood, Aging, and Perhaps Developing Wisdom

PART TWO
Maturation and Spirituality
FIVE Wisdom Practices and Brain Regulation
SIX Meditation, Prayer, and the Brain

PART THREE
Practices of Neuroaffective Meditation
SEVEN Being in Your Body Transitioning into Meditation with Yawning, Touch, and Movement Inner Listening: Movement and Breathing
EIGHT Being in the Biosphere Grounding: The Embrace of the Earth Air in You, Air around You
NINE Flow and Feeling of Spirit: The Beloved Spirit in Your Sense of Aliveness Core Sense and Spirit
TEN Relationships and Feelings Seven Emotions and Spirit
ELEVEN Meditations on the Songs of the Heart: Love, Compassion, and Gratitude Love, Compassion, and Gratitude Gratitude for the Great Things in Life and the Small Ones
TWELVE Aspects of Our Mental Space Focused Attention and the Field of Awareness
THIRTEEN Mandala: Your Personal Circles of Light and Darkness Mandala: Circle of Positive and Negative Experience
FOURTEEN Balancing Your Energy: Five Centerline-Energy Circulation Meditations
Pineal-Hara Breathing: Connecting Clarity and Pleasure Crown-Root Breathing: Connecting Existential Wholeness and Reality Double C Breathing: Connecting Clarity, Emotions, and Expression Circulation Breathing: Balancing Your Overall Energy Essence-Heart Breathing: Inviting Spiritual Energy into Yourself and Out into the World

CONCLUSION
Engagement and Responsibility in a Balanced Life

EPILOGUE
Reflections at the End of the Journey

Acknowledgments

The Meditation Recordings

Resources

References

Index

About the Author

Marianne Bentzen is a psychotherapist and trainer in neuroaffective development psychology. The author and coauthor of many professional articles and books, including The Neuroaffective Picture Book, she has taught in 17 countries and presented at more than 35 international and national conferences. She lives in Denmark.

Reviews

“This truly remarkable book outlines a systematic journey of embodiment that enables the reader to bridge a pragmatic scientific perspective with a deeper respect for the richness of bodily feelings and their role in expanding and optimizing the human experience.”
*Stephen W. Porges, Ph.D., founding director of the Traumatic Stress Research Consortium, Indiana Uni*

“Marianne Bentzen has been a pioneer in the field of somatics, child development, and neurobiology for many decades. This guide is a thoughtful and inspiring synthesis of her professional work as a psychotherapist as well as her life-long personal devotion to meditation and spiritual practice. Included is a cogent overview of her brilliant neuroaffective model to add theoretical substance to the practices. All will benefit from the depth and breadth of the meditations. Designed to expand our capacity for presence in the body, to deepen our connection to self and others, to inspire, to challenge deep-seated patterns, and, ultimately, to heal trauma. This guide will stimulate you intellectually, evoke a kaleidoscope of emotions, and drop you gently into the marvels of your inner world.”
*Ariel Giarretto, MS, LMFT, somatic therapist and faculty at the Somatic Experiencing Training Instit*

“This book is a gift for anyone who is ready to discover the value of meditation for internal healing. The consequences of mental injuries cannot be meditated away. They are deeply anchored in the brain and the whole body in the form of splits and blockages. But the broken connections between thinking, feeling, and acting, between body and spirit, between heart and mind can be found again, relinked, and integrated. In this book, Marianne Bentzen not only makes the neurobiological basics of these reintegration processes understandable, she also uses examples to show how easily neuroaffective meditation can be learned and practically applied.”
*Gerald Hüther, neurobiologist and author of The Compassionate Brain*

“What does it take to grow up and then embark on a path toward maturity and wisdom? Marianne Bentzen’s tour de force is a lucid journey through the developmental psychology, biology, and neurology of maturation. Drawing on her immense knowledge of both science and meditation, Bentzen offers a step-bystep approach to becoming a full human being. Beautifully written, with compassion and the awareness of our shared humanity, this book is a must-read (and a must-practice) for those of us who wish to cultivate body, mind, and spirit.”
*Halko Weiss, Ph.D., coauthor of Hakomi Mindfulness-Centered Somatic Psychotherapy*

“Neuroaffective Meditation by Marianne Bentzen makes a contribution to several fields--developmental psychology, psychotherapy, and meditation, to name some--while also being a very user-friendly and entertaining read. In her own unique style, Bentzen lets complex ideas become powerful images that create a real ‘Aha!’ experience over and over again as we become able to connect to what is behind the words. Her clarity of thinking together with her great compassion for people shine through and make this an important book that truly models what it talks about.”
*Kathrin A. Stauffer Ph.D., body psychotherapist and author of Emotional Neglect and the Adult in The*

“Marianne Bentzen has woven a wonderful path through neuroscience, meditation, and psychotherapy that deeply explores the emotional development of our species. She has accomplished this at a time when the next phase of human evolution--spiritualization--needs shifting to warp speed. No matter where you are on your life’s journey, this book will provide great value to you on your way to a fuller and more joyful life for yourself and those around you.”
*Keith Lowenstein, M.D., author of Kriya Yoga for Self-Discovery*

“Marianne Bentzen has brought together a vast array of current research on neurophysiology and developmental psychology with spiritual teachings. She has woven this all together in a deeply satisfying manual for awareness training with good science behind it, along with very practical instructions for cultivating full-bodied living in our human bodies. I can think of no other book that brings all this together with such precision and poetry! I offer a deep bow of respect and a heartfelt hug of gratitude for her kindness in birthing this very wonderful book!”
*Patricia Kay, M.A., homeopath and coauthor of Cell Level Meditation*

“Finding stillness is much more than sitting still and, therefore, not so easy to reach as many people may think. Marianne Bentzen shows us with her newest book why.”
*Urs Honauer, Ph.D., director of the Center for Inner Ecology in Zurich, Switzerland*

“This book bundles knowledge with knowing, theory with stillness, body with mind. A must-have, must-do for every psychotherapist!”
*Marjolijne van Buren-Molenaar, docent body-mind integrated psychotherapist*