On the topic of The VAGUS
Mysterious coordinator of our health
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Program Overview for the Festival Thursday, August 19th- Sunday, August 22th, 2021
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Festival Program
Thursday, August 19, 2021
10.30
Opening with Dr. Urs Honauer (CH)
Host and initiator of the Bildungsfestival10.45 am - 1 pm and 3 pm - 6.15 pm
The Polyvagal Theory
Prof. Dr. Stephen Porges (USA)8 pm - 9.15 pm
Sound meets Voice
Concert evening with Monika Graf (Harp), accompanied by Martin Hübscher (various sound instruments)Friday, August 20, 2021
8.00 am - 9.00 a.m.
Trauma Sensitive Qi Gong
Paki E. Heisserer (CH)10 am - 1 pm and 3 pm - 6.15 pm
When the Vagus Grows Up
Marianne Bentzen (DK)8 pm - 9.30 pm
Inner Self-Regulation through Vagus Care
Paki E. Heisserer (CH)Saturday, August 21, 2021
8.00 - 9.00 a.m.
Trauma Sensitive Qi Gong
Paki E. Heisserer (CH)
10 am - 1 pm and 3 pm - 6.15 pm
The Healing Power of the Vagus Nerve
Dr. Peter A. Levine (USA)8 pm
The War in Me
A film about transgenerational trauma by Sebastian HeinzelSunday, August 22, 2021
8.00 am - 9.00 am
Trauma Sensitive Qi Gong
Paki E. Heisserer (CH)
10 am - 1 pm and 2 pm - 3.30 pm
Panel with all Speakers and Open Space
with Marianne Bentzen, Prof. Stephen Porges and Dr. Peter A. Levine
Facilitator: Dr. Urs Honauer -
1st Festival Day - Program Thursday, August 19th, 2021
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Program for the 1st festival day
10.30 am
Opening mit Dr. Urs Honauer (CH),
Host and initiator of the Bildungsfestival10.45 am to 1 pm and 3 pm to 6.15 pm
The Polyvagal Theorie
Prof. Dr. Stephen Porges (USA)Humans are the phylogenetic product of a journey towards sociality that is highlighted by the evolutionary transition from asocial reptiles to social mammals. The presentations will focus on the dependence of sociality on the emergence of the uniquely mammalian ventral vagus and social engagement system.
Session 1 focuses on common themes of sociality that occur across mammalian This bias towards sociality is disrupted by trauma and replaced with a bias towards detecting threat.
Session 2 provides information on the evolutionary changes that resulted in unique changes to the autonomic nervous system of mammals that enabled them to reflexively down regulate threat reactions, to be safe in proximity of others, to trust others and to co-regulate.
Session 3 will elaborate on how neuroception enables cues of safety reflexively down regulate threat reactions, calm autonomic state, and foster accessibility and opportunities for therapeutic gains.8 pm - 8.15 pm
Sound Meets Voice - evening concert
with Monika Graf (harp), accompanied by Martin Hübscher (various sound instruments)
Monika Graf and Martin Hübscher combine the sound of the harp with Irish songs and various sound instruments, thanks to which new sound spaces are created again and again, which allow the Irish-Celtic songs to resound in an expanded form.
Many old Irish songs are built on a basic tone. The song is woven and embellished around this tone. This place, where the tone originates, is to be found, is to be felt and then to be sung exactly from there. This place can be found outside in nature or inside the singer. To connect the inner landscape with the outer one is the high art of Irish singing.
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2nd Festival Day - Program Friday, August 20th, 2021
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Program for the 2nd festival day
8.00 am - 9.00 am
Trauma Sensitive Qi Gong
Paki E. Heisserer (CH)10 am - 1 pm and 3 pm - 6.15 pm
When the Vagus grows up
Marianne Bentzen (DK)When do we lose ventral vagal responses in childhood and adulthood and how do we regain it?
Session 1 focuses on interactions in childhood and teenage years that inhibit the social engagement system, and how the ventral vagal system then can reconnect.
Session 2 focuses on adult loss of ventral vagal function through traumatic and stressful events and experiences, and on some of the ways that we can reestablish this sense of social connection and warmth.8 pm - 9.30 pm
Inner Self-Regulation through Vagus Care
Paki E. Heisserer (CH)The theoretical knowledge about the functions of the vegetative nervous system and its application in preventive as well as therapeutic settings will be complemented in these evening sequences by practical details and applications. The speaker shows how people can pragmatically influence this key area of the nervous system. The exercises help with self-regulation and thus support regeneration, sleep, digestion and well-being. They are enormously valuable for an improved perspective towards life.
Our nervous system is the interface between inside and outside. The concept of neuroception by Stephen Porges shows that the vegetative nervous system knows two different parasympathetic states. One branch enjoying safety and one kicking when there are threatening emergency situations. These are the moments where the body sensed threat and the fight and flight mode was no longer sufficient or had been overused for too long - preventing the system from regulating itself towards safety.
In this evening Paki E. Heisserer will show possibilities of how the rhythmic change between parasympathetic (vagus) and sympathetic nervous system can be cultivated and experienced with simple exercises (which can be well integrated into everyday life). Our organism thus gets the opportunity to consciously support and strengthen the regenerative aspect of the parasympathetic nervous system.
The exercises are suitable for everyday life as well as for accompanying people who are strongly activated internally in a professional setting. Our strongly sympathetic world usually keeps our eyes shut in regard to our over activation, if we do not consciously direct our attention there. For the majority of people in the Western culture the small islands for lowering the stress levels therefore remain mostly somewhere by the wayside.
With various exercises, the Paki E. Heisserer will show how the rhythmic flexibility in the nervous system can be promoted and thus the ground for greater resilience, improved health and more confidence in one's own body can be built. -
3rd Festival Day - Program Saturday, August 21st, 2021
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Program for the 3rd festival day
8.00 - 9.00 am
Trauma Sensitive Qi Gong
Paki E. Heisserer (CH)10 am - 1 pm and 3 pm - 6.15 pm
The Healing Power of the Vagus Nerve
Dr. Peter A.Levine (USA)In a very real sense, the vagus nerve is a two-way stream, connecting mind and body. When the connection is fluid and coherent, we feel safe and at ease with our selves and with our environment.However, when this conduit is disrupted, we become disconnected from our core feelings and alienated from an abiding deep sense of Self. We are also at odds with the world, perceiving threat where it does not exist.
In this program, we will learn simple tools to regulate and reestablish a coherent flow along the vagus nerve. This two-way connection then gives rise to many fluid sensations and feelings of well-being.We can then be more at ease within ourselves and mutually connected with chosen others; such is the vast power of the vagus nerve.
Evening program: 8 pm - 9.30 pm
The War in Me
A film by Sebastian HeinzelNew research results indicate that enormous stress experiences change our genetic make-up. Sebastian Heinzel explores the effects of WWII on his family and follows his grandfather’s path, who was a German soldier in Belarus. He discovers unexpected connections to his own past and his war dreams, which have been haunting him for years.
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4th Festival Day - Program Sunday, August 22th, 2021
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Program for the 4th day of the festival
8.00 - 9.00 am
Trauma Sensitive Qi Gong
Paki E. Heisserer (CH)10 am - 1 pm and 2 pm - 3.30 pm
Panel and Open Space
with Marianne Bentzen, Prof. Dr. Stephen Porges and Dr. Peter A. Levine
Facilitator: Dr. Urs Honauer
On the fourth day we will look at how the different approaches and perspectives of the three speakers can be combined with each other. This happens in the spirit of the Open Space idea with complementary ideas and also by means of practical and playful discovery between the lecturers and the audience. The fourth day of the festival is always a day of surprise and integration - and an important completion of the three approaches to the title theme. The aim is to network knowledge that has already been presented or brought in in order to pass it on with a visionary attitude.
The Education Festival is part of the culture of the summer festivals, which have enriched the music, film and theatre sectors enormously since the 1970s. Education was long forgotten and continued to take place in a rather joyless environment. This is where the idea of the education festival as a supplement to the festival culture and the field of learning comes in. First and foremost, education should be fun and be characterized by motivation, curiosity and the spirit of discovery. Voilà!
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