Welcome to Spirit Jim.

17 syllables, three lines, 575.

That's all it takes to simultaneously activate both hemispheres of your brain,

regulate your nervous system, and help release trauma stored in your body.

Today's guest is Anne Helfer, a psychotherapist and author of Healing with Haiku, a poetic exploration of self.

She discovered that a 400-year-old Japanese poetry form does something talk therapy often can't.

It unlocks emotions people have been holding for decades.

This is the art of haiku, or what Anne calls

the rap of expressive writing, and it's available to anyone with a pencil and paper. No special

equipment needed, no expensive sessions. These are not cheery little poems about cherry blossoms

and tranquil ponds. This is writing about rage, resentment,

shame and all the messy human stuff we'd rather pretend doesn't exist, and using the creative

process to transmute pain into wisdom. Before we get started, we'd like to say thank you for listening,

as this podcast would not be possible

without you, our subscribers and followers. We'd also like to thank our sponsors, Organify, Bioptimizers,

Paleo Valley, Wild Pastures, Peak Life and Correct. You'll hear their special offers and discounts

throughout this episode,

and your support of our sponsors means we can keep bringing new episodes to you.

So keep listening as Anne and Paul discuss the archetypical and numerical patterns embedded in the structure of haiku,

its somatic dimensions, and its polyvagal theory implications,

as well as something Anne calls the silver rule.

Well, you guys, I'm excited to share a very novel experience with you and a very unique woman,

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