BUILD YOUR SUPPORT TEAM

MMC values a holistic framework for building and maintaining your best self and best life.

True well-being is complex and requires a team of diverse experts and therefore Mental Muscle is a collective:

• Our team offers a mental gym to build psychological strength

• The extended team collaborates to provide additional resources and inspiration.

Explore curated readings, research, certified Jiu-Jitsu training centers and more to help you optimize core domains of adult well-being.

RECOMMENDED BOOKS, ONLINE SOURCES and MORE

Discover foundational literature on nervous system regulation, and trauma-informed leadership and more. These texts offer practical frameworks for coaches, clinicians, and athletes.

Trauma

• https://www.northatlanticbooks.com/shop/transforming-trauma-with-jiu-jitsu/

• Jamie Marich, Trauma Made Simple: Competencies in Assessment, Treatment, and Working with Survivors (Eau Claire, WI PESI Publications & Media, 2014),6.

• Bessel Van Der Kolk, The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind and Body in the Healing of Trauma (New York: Viking, 2014), 21.

• Zchristine Courtois and Julian Ford, Treating Complex Traumatic Stress Disorders: An Evidence-Based Guide, 2nd Ed. (New York: The Guilford Press, 2020), 1.

• Jameie Marich and Stephen Dansiger. EMDR Therapy and Mindfulness for Trauma-Focused Care (New York: Springer Publishing Company, 2018), 45, 87.

• Marich, J. (2023). Dissociation made simple: A stigma-free guide to embracing your dissociative mind and navigating daily life. North Atlantic Books. [1] (https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/710427/dissociation-made-simple-by-jamie-marich/)

Jiu-Jitsu: Over 90 references in “Transforming Trauma with Jiu-Jitsu

• Weinberger, K., Burraston, T. (2021). Benefits of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in Managing Post- Traumatic Stress Disorder: Longitudinal Study. Nighthawks Open Institutional Repository

• Gino L. Collura, “Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu: A Tool for Veteran Reassimilation” (unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of South Florida, 2018)

• Alison Willing, Sue Ann Girling, Ryan Deichert, and Rebeca Wood-Deichert, “Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Training for US Service Members and Veterans with Symptoms of PTSD,” Military Medicine 184, no. 6 (2019): 11-6.

• Julie C. Weitlauf, Daniel Cervone, Ronald E. Smith, and Paul M. Wright, “Assessing Generalization in Perceived Self-Efficacy: Multidomain and Gobal Assessments of the Effects of Self-Defense Training for Woman,” Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin 27 no. 12 (2001): 1683-1691

Mental Wellness :

• Institute for Creative Mindfulness: https://www.instituteforcreativemindfulness.com/resources/

Art Therapy:

• https://www.oneheartcounselingcenter.com/personal-growth-in-recovery/

• American Art Therapy Association website: http://www.arttherapy.org/

• Art Therapy Blog: http://www.arttherapyblog.com/what-is-art-therapy/

• Art Therapy Credentials Board: http://www.atcb.org/what_is_art_therapy/

• International Art Therapy Organization: http://www.internationalarttherapy.org/whatisarttherapy.html

Social Action Therapies:

• Prilleltensky, I. (2008). The role of power in wellness, oppression, and liberation: The promise of psychopolitical validity. Journal of Community Psychology, 36(2), 116-136. doi:10.1002/jcop.20225

• Hocoy, D. (2005). Art therapy and social action: A transpersonal framework. Art Therapy, 22(1),7-16. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.

• Klein, M. (2006). When something goes wrong, how do you get over a disaster?. Current Health 1, 30(1), 20-23. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.

• Aber, M., Maton, K., & Seidman, E. (2011). Empowering settings and voices for social change. New York, NY US: Oxford University Press. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.

• Evans, S. D., & Prilleltensky, I. (2007). Youth and democracy: Participation for personal, relational, and collective well-being. Journal of Community Psychology, 35(6), 681-692. doi:10.1002/jcop.20172

• Bryant-Davis, T. (2005). Coping strategies of african american adult survivors of childhood violence. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 36(4), 409-414. doi:10.1037/0735-7028.36.4.409

• Paster, V. S. (1986). A social action model of intervention for difficult to reach populations. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 56(4), 625-629. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.

• Aber, M., Maton, K., & Seidman, E. (2011). Empowering settings and voices for social change. New York, NY US: Oxford University Press. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.

• Block, D., Harris, T., & Laing, S. (2005). Open studio process as a model of social action: A program for at-risk youth. Art Therapy, 22(1), 32-38. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.

Restorative Justice

• Zehr, H. (2015). The little book of restorative justice (Revised and updated ed.). Good Books.

• A.A. Grapevine. Making Amends: Finding a New Freedom. AA Grapevine, Inc., 2017.

CERTIFIED DOJOS

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How do I find a good support???

Questions to ask when seeking a meditation teacher.

By John Kovalsky -Meditation Leader

1. Are you nurtured by the practices they teach and the environment that they foster? Consider this with the caveat that like any other exercise there are times where we will be challenged. Difficult emotions or thoughts may arise while we practice meditation. It may take more than one session to know if a teacher offers a practice that nurtures and enriches our lives. It will most likely take two or three classes or sessions to sense if this is true for you. I recommend finding a community of practitioners such as a recurring class, meditation center, or online group to get a sense of the people there. If the community feels like a good fit, most often the teachers will be as well.

2. How long have they studied? Can they name a teacher or community that they have practiced with for at least 5-10 years? Entry level teachers should have had a practice for at least this amount of time and for longer retreats I would seek out a center or a teacher who has taught even longer.

3. From my experience great meditation teachers tend to look deeper into your questions, they often follow up your question with another question of their own. These questions tend to ask us to examine our experience further. They don't often guide us to some insight of their own but guide us into connecting to our own internal process to uncover what is true for us as an individual.

4. Do they embody what they teach? for example: do they move with compassion? Are they a good listener? Do you have a sense that they really walk the walk and not just talk the talk?

5. Do they teach compassion in their meditation? After many years of practice what has become apparent to me is that a strong meditation practice develops a kind awareness towards ourselves. They teach us to cultivate a kind attitude towards ourselves and work with our inner critic rather than beat ourselves up senselessly.

6. They have strong boundaries and clearly state that they are not serving as a personal therapist. Though great meditation teachers may offer support for our mental health they are not our therapist. Even if they also happen to be a licensed therapist, attending a meditation class or lecture by them does not give them the right to act as such to us personally. If they offer those services that is to be approached independently and formally within the appropriate methods.

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