Reset Repeat Rewire was created by Melissa Angiel, Ph. D., a licensed clinical psychologist with over 25 years of experience. Dr. Angiel is trained in psychoanalysis, cognitive behavioral therapy, mind-body medicine and neuropsychology. She has dedicated many years to the study of contemplative sciences, Buddhism and Buddhist-psychology, Yoga Nidra meditation and somatic psychology.
Some of my greatest teachers…
Over the years of practice as a clinical psychologist I have come to favor integrative, strength-based approaches over traditional pathology-based models of treatment.
After graduate school I did practice in a traditional way for ten years. This was in an effort to help clients understand their patterned behaviors, navigate life’s challenges and heal past wounds in order to create the lives they longed for. Eventually, however I came to realize that my training prepared me very well to diagnose and assess a person’s vulnerabilities - with little focus on their strengths.
Recognizing the limitations of this approach led me to study the theories and findings of the then burgeoning field of positive psychology. Developing a clinical inquiry into “What is working? what is good? what is strong?” became a powerful compliment to support the often painful examination about what brought any particular client to my door.
Over the years I have found that the balance of noting the good develops tolerance for holding space for pain - which leads to greater healing. Using this approach, I could see clients feel better faster, gain insights into habitual patterns more readily and gradually come to correct their myopic vision of themselves as basically badly flawed.
It wasn’t until I had been practicing for 15 years that I had the great fortune to work with several clients at once who had remarkably similar backgrounds and goals. This was fortuitous because it allowed me to see patterns that led me on a journey of changes both personally and professionally.
What I observed was that clients who had meditation and/or spiritual practices achieved their therapy goals much faster than those who did not. And not just basic goals like feeling better - but these clients also met big life goals like meeting a partner and getting married.
I observed too, that for them, holding space for their vulnerability and pain seemed more tolerable. I noted that they could more easily hold the difficultly while simultaneously taking in the good. I firmly believe that this led to faster healing and a deeper sense of authentic connection to themselves which, taken together, helped them to achieve their life goals more readily.
In as much as this clinical observation was exquisitely unscientific and anecdotal, it was simultaneously truly auspicious because from it a hypothesis and path emerged.
Could contemplative practices be the rocket fuel for creating the real and lasting positive change that I was seeing?
Before suggesting that all my clients join centers and meditate, I enrolled myself in the Nalanda Institute for Contemplative Science at the Tibet House US in New York City. Tibet House US was founded at the request of His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of Tibet. It is a highly regarded center, “the real deal “ so to speak. Of course all the resident and visiting teachers for the Nalanda Institute of Contemplative Science were highly accomplished clinicians in the field of psychiatry, psychology and Buddhist studies - it seemed each was better than the next. It had been with great anticipation that I entered my studies. I was not disappointed.
While there, I learned about the science and practice of mediation and I became a practitioner. The outcome? I could not get enough of the science of the Buddha.
The Buddha, also known as Siddhartha Gautama was an extraordinary human being who studied and taught a very deep and spiritual form of psychology. Broadly speaking, Tibetan Buddhism is based on the study of the mind. This study illuminates a path away from confusion and suffering towards clarity, compassion and profound happiness.
Buddha, an unparalleled scholar in the area of mind, consciousness, cognition, science and spirituality lived over 2,500 years ago. Incredibly, his discoveries and teachings are still a revelation despite all of our advances over the past twenty-five hundred years.
Since my first retreats and classes at Tibet House in 2016, I have attended countless courses and retreats focused on Buddhist spiritual and meditation practices, Buddhist psychology, Yoga Nidra meditation, somatic psychology and Yogic sciences. In addition, over the years I have studied and trained in the practices of Sleep-Yoga, Dream-Yoga, lucid dreaming, mindfulness, breath work, progressive-muscle relaxation and visualization.
Formal training in Buddhism and Yoga Nidra meditation continue to remain the main stays of study for me. Contemplating the healing qualities of these profound teachings from a psychological perspective has laid the foundation for the development of Reset Repeat Rewire’s programs. Part of the magic of these practices is that, broadly speaking, meditation creates a space of self-realization through a gathering of attention that allows awareness to expand. Yoga Nidra meditation, in particular, works with deep layers of awareness and intention and traditionally includes using the conception and sensation of opposites, which can be utilized to create a healing environment for processing pain while at the same time holding onto what is good.
Meditation has been studied extensively by neuroscientists. Studies find positive effects, including brain changes in as little as eight weeks of training. In addition, within the wheelhouse of neuropsychology are many findings that indicate that changing how you think can alter neural networks. In other words, you can train your mind to be more accurate, stable and open.
A powerful mechanism of change can be found in a formula that I teach which combines the application of awareness, attention and intention to thought patterns. For example, by noticing dysfunctional thoughts (awareness) rewriting your inner scripts (attention) and repeating that process (intention), you create a new mental pattern. Over time, this new pattern becomes ingrained. The power of re-scripting thoughts to rewire neural networks has been studied for years and is the icing on the proverbial Reset Repeat Rewire cake.
I have been so very fortunate to discover these practices and gain access to so many deeply inspiring, highly realized ordained and lay, western and Tibetan teachers. Big gratitude to the many highly accomplished psychologists, psychiatrists and scientists who have investigated and taught these traditions. Adding to this list of instructors, I can easily say that my clients have been some my greatest teachers. The contemplative traditions offer time-tested and deeply transformative wisdom and practices. My clients led me to these traditions and for that teaching, I am eternally grateful.
It is my sincere wish that sharing what I have learned about mind transformation work will help you to begin or advance on your path to greater self awareness, stability and happiness.