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The Body Is a Doorway: A Memoir: A Journey Beyond Healing, Hope, and the Human
In this lyrical, radically expansive self-portrait, celebrated poet, author, and lecturer Sophie Strand explores—with searing insight and honesty—the intersecting spaces of her own chronic illness, the complex ecology of a changing world, and the very nature of the stories we tell ourselves.
At age sixteen Sophie Strand—bright, agile, fearless—is suddenly beset by unexplained, debilitating illness while on a family trip abroad. Her once vibrant life becomes a tangled miasma of medication, specialists, anaphylaxis, and seemingly never-ending attempts to explain what has gone so terribly wrong. And, for many years thereafter, Sophie's life becomes subsumed with ideas not of "health," but of explanation, and the narrative of how and why she became sick. But slowly, through both profound fatigue with the medical industrial complex and a deeply entwined relationship with the natural world, she comes to another, more fundamental understanding of what has happened to her body. What if sickness is not a separation from the body? What if health is not quite so easy to see? What if physical pain leaves us no choice but to return to our bodies, the pinpricks and lightning of illness stitching us back into a physical presence our society has taught us to ignore?
In a work both expansively tender and shockingly frank, Sophie Strand offers readers a window onto her own winding journey through the maze of chronic illness—a web not unlike those created by the mycorrizhal fungi whose networks she begins to see as a metaphor for the profound connections between all species and the earth. Grounded deeply in the mountains of the Hudson Valley, each moment of this far-reaching narrative snakes its way through the multi-layered ecology of the land around us, from the stunningly powerful pollen of a phlox plant to the unexpected beauty and wisdom of the woodchuck.
The Body Is a Doorway dives into the murky waters of sickness and trauma, as well as the resonant challenges and joys of friendship, young adulthood, first love, and fertility. Throughout, in precise, sparkling language, it explores questions both personal and Is there healing beyond the human? Beyond the hope for a cure or a happy ending? Is there something wilder and more symbiotic beyond narrow ideas of well-being?
At age sixteen Sophie Strand—bright, agile, fearless—is suddenly beset by unexplained, debilitating illness while on a family trip abroad. Her once vibrant life becomes a tangled miasma of medication, specialists, anaphylaxis, and seemingly never-ending attempts to explain what has gone so terribly wrong. And, for many years thereafter, Sophie's life becomes subsumed with ideas not of "health," but of explanation, and the narrative of how and why she became sick. But slowly, through both profound fatigue with the medical industrial complex and a deeply entwined relationship with the natural world, she comes to another, more fundamental understanding of what has happened to her body. What if sickness is not a separation from the body? What if health is not quite so easy to see? What if physical pain leaves us no choice but to return to our bodies, the pinpricks and lightning of illness stitching us back into a physical presence our society has taught us to ignore?
In a work both expansively tender and shockingly frank, Sophie Strand offers readers a window onto her own winding journey through the maze of chronic illness—a web not unlike those created by the mycorrizhal fungi whose networks she begins to see as a metaphor for the profound connections between all species and the earth. Grounded deeply in the mountains of the Hudson Valley, each moment of this far-reaching narrative snakes its way through the multi-layered ecology of the land around us, from the stunningly powerful pollen of a phlox plant to the unexpected beauty and wisdom of the woodchuck.
The Body Is a Doorway dives into the murky waters of sickness and trauma, as well as the resonant challenges and joys of friendship, young adulthood, first love, and fertility. Throughout, in precise, sparkling language, it explores questions both personal and Is there healing beyond the human? Beyond the hope for a cure or a happy ending? Is there something wilder and more symbiotic beyond narrow ideas of well-being?
272 pages, Hardcover
First published March 4, 2025
127 people are currently reading
1890 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 75 reviews
July 26, 2025
This lyrical memoir depicts the author’s experience with chronic illness, informed by her animist beliefs. The sheer beauty of the prose in this book stood out to me. The writer’s background in poetry really shines through. Though I didn’t agree with all the author had to say, her words were a pleasure to read. I was particularly struck by the way she talks about how her experience with illness failed to follow a neat narrative arc. Finally getting a diagnosis should have come as a relief, but it did little to heal her. She moved in with a romantic partner, but it wasn’t a fairy-tale ending. Intensive courses of therapy to heal her mind and body from trauma only left her feeling worse. This book points to the flaws in both conventional and alternative medicine—this is not a “Western medicine failed me and then I found my amazing naturopath” story! She encountered overconfident, patronizing and exploitative doctors as well as alternative healers who did little other than pushing her to buy more supplements. As a whole, this book felt raw and real, liking getting a peek inside the author’s brain. In refusing to follow the traditional narrative structure for illness stories, she’s created a book that is a true work of art.
December 1, 2024
In many ways I’m simply not the audience for this book: I have zero appetite (and as much patience) for the new age sensibility found here, which says more about me than Strand. If that’s your thing, you may get more out of this. She also has some insightful things to say about the medical system and abuse (of various kinds), and of course I feel for her, as someone who also lives with chronic illness.
But I really couldn’t abide the way she talked about her illness and body in a symbolic way, somehow the receiver of signs from the universe and the natural world. There’s been a lot of writing about illness and nature, treating nature as a mystical healing force, and plenty of criticism of that approach; this book also buys into that idea in a fairly extreme way. Most troublingly, near the end Strand frames her illness and trauma as a virtue, experiences that have taught her about the world and without which she’d be callous, selfish, and clueless. We do learn things from our illnesses but I strongly reject this conception of illness and trauma. Going through severely traumatizing events doesn’t make us better or somehow more insightful people, or better artists; dealing with this kind of experience just fucks people up. Ditto serious illness.
This outlook plays into and mirrors other ideas in the book that I found troubling, though it was the one that aggravated me the most. There are better options than this; for people interested in EDS and nature writing, I’d especially recommend Polly Atkin’s Some of Us Just Fall.
But I really couldn’t abide the way she talked about her illness and body in a symbolic way, somehow the receiver of signs from the universe and the natural world. There’s been a lot of writing about illness and nature, treating nature as a mystical healing force, and plenty of criticism of that approach; this book also buys into that idea in a fairly extreme way. Most troublingly, near the end Strand frames her illness and trauma as a virtue, experiences that have taught her about the world and without which she’d be callous, selfish, and clueless. We do learn things from our illnesses but I strongly reject this conception of illness and trauma. Going through severely traumatizing events doesn’t make us better or somehow more insightful people, or better artists; dealing with this kind of experience just fucks people up. Ditto serious illness.
This outlook plays into and mirrors other ideas in the book that I found troubling, though it was the one that aggravated me the most. There are better options than this; for people interested in EDS and nature writing, I’d especially recommend Polly Atkin’s Some of Us Just Fall.
December 28, 2024
One of my most anticipated releases of 2025, I was sorely disappointed and cancelled my preorder a third of the way into forcing myself to finish reading My Body Is A Doorway by Sophie Strand.
Despite being chronically ill and having the same disorder as the author, I was apparently not the target audience for this book. Who that target audience would be, remains a mystery to me. I can empathize with Strand insofar as the medical gaslighting and lack of awareness, urgent care and outright abuse is horrendous, but there seems to be little perspective, wisdom or humility in these overwrought pages.
Heavy with Jesus name dropping, new age proclivities, and self-congratulatory messages, alongside troubling and problematic views on trauma and illness, My Body Is A Doorway is a wildly convoluted, repetitive and tedious book that could use heavy rewriting and major editing.
Many thanks to NetGalley, Running Press and the Author for access to an eARC. All opinions are my own.
For a memoir on chronic illness, EDS and nature, a much better choice would be Polly Atkin's Some Of Us Just Fall: On Nature and Not Getting Better.
Despite being chronically ill and having the same disorder as the author, I was apparently not the target audience for this book. Who that target audience would be, remains a mystery to me. I can empathize with Strand insofar as the medical gaslighting and lack of awareness, urgent care and outright abuse is horrendous, but there seems to be little perspective, wisdom or humility in these overwrought pages.
Heavy with Jesus name dropping, new age proclivities, and self-congratulatory messages, alongside troubling and problematic views on trauma and illness, My Body Is A Doorway is a wildly convoluted, repetitive and tedious book that could use heavy rewriting and major editing.
Many thanks to NetGalley, Running Press and the Author for access to an eARC. All opinions are my own.
For a memoir on chronic illness, EDS and nature, a much better choice would be Polly Atkin's Some Of Us Just Fall: On Nature and Not Getting Better.
March 3, 2025
Sophie Strand’s vocal insistence that “storytelling is an emergency” has become a touchstone for me as a writer. In our media ecosystem so suffocatingly cluttered with *content*, it often feels that to generate more words and put them out into our shared airspace is simply...not helpful right now. And then I encounter another piece of Strand's writing, and I believe afresh in the power of language—language that unabashedly allies itself with land, with wild and radical kin, with the fraught and fertile landscape of the senses.
With her third book, The Body is a Doorway, Strand gifts us her own stories. Fairy stories, love stories, horror stories. She offers us indigestible traumas she has endured, as a child and again and again as a disabled young person navigating fundamentally broken systems, but treats us as readers with all the tenderness and heart that has been withheld from her so often. The journey she takes us on is by turns as expansive as a mountain range and as focused as a mote of dust suspended in sunlight. And, like everything she writes, intellectually rigorous and overflowing with earthly wisdom. Critically, Strand leads us away from the myriad, ever-proliferating cults of “wellness” that dominate our cultural imagination today, instead asking us to sit with the question: What happens if healing, as we want to imagine it, isn’t actually possible? For a person, for a planet? What stories do we most urgently need to compost so that something new can possibly grow?
With her third book, The Body is a Doorway, Strand gifts us her own stories. Fairy stories, love stories, horror stories. She offers us indigestible traumas she has endured, as a child and again and again as a disabled young person navigating fundamentally broken systems, but treats us as readers with all the tenderness and heart that has been withheld from her so often. The journey she takes us on is by turns as expansive as a mountain range and as focused as a mote of dust suspended in sunlight. And, like everything she writes, intellectually rigorous and overflowing with earthly wisdom. Critically, Strand leads us away from the myriad, ever-proliferating cults of “wellness” that dominate our cultural imagination today, instead asking us to sit with the question: What happens if healing, as we want to imagine it, isn’t actually possible? For a person, for a planet? What stories do we most urgently need to compost so that something new can possibly grow?
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July 1, 2025this one didn't hit has hard as her other ones and i think i know why.... a) i've listened to so many podcast episodes with her and read so many of her essays that her conclusions feel old hat b) there's a TON of eco-radical babble in here (ex. "bodied," "stitching," "mycelial," etc.) and i have just had it up to here with virtue-/knowledge-signaling language.......what about some originality!!!! new metaphors!!! or even simple clear verbage!!! the problem (and the deeper problem that i've had with the ways this babble shows up in my life recently) is that i generally agree with the thoughts that are being shared and feel aligned with the communities that espouse this way of speaking but i just cannot standdddddddd the way that this language is used not to simply communicate ideas but to act like a secret little passkey that shows ur cool and in the right spaces and have read the right books. i mean it's just performative. don't let me become someone who compares everything to mycelium even if that's what wmass wants me to do. anyways #digression. i also think the purple prosey-ness in general was a bit too much for me although i do admire how it's so rooted in her intensely bioregional/specific ecological knowledge.
that being said.......i do like a lot of what she's doing here. the way she intertwines ecology & chronic illness & criticizes traditional narratives of "trauma" and "healing" is very interesting to me. although i did find myself questioning some of her trust in the cosmic coincidences that kept showing up in her life and also her relentless optimism that all the horrific things that happened were actually gifts that could be composted into something beautiful. i didn't disagree and also like it's her life not mine lol i just found that to be a recurring pattern of sense-making that felt a bit contrived and unattainable. and especially the chapter about meeting a version of herself who hadn't experienced trauma/illness left a bad taste in my mouth and seemed to valorize illness in a problematic and unsettling way
that being said.......i do like a lot of what she's doing here. the way she intertwines ecology & chronic illness & criticizes traditional narratives of "trauma" and "healing" is very interesting to me. although i did find myself questioning some of her trust in the cosmic coincidences that kept showing up in her life and also her relentless optimism that all the horrific things that happened were actually gifts that could be composted into something beautiful. i didn't disagree and also like it's her life not mine lol i just found that to be a recurring pattern of sense-making that felt a bit contrived and unattainable. and especially the chapter about meeting a version of herself who hadn't experienced trauma/illness left a bad taste in my mouth and seemed to valorize illness in a problematic and unsettling way
March 19, 2025
As always, reading Sophie Strand feels like hearing the echo of a very ancient voice—one that is, at the same time, my own. Like her, I had to endure a complete rupture of my identity after an abuse that became trauma, that became a symptom, that became illness, that became a diagnosis. Like her, I, too, had to go through medical processes and procedures that, for years, turned into medical violence before finally reaching a proper diagnosis. This is a very lonesome, isolating, and painful path.
By cosmic synchronicity, I found Sophie’s words in the midst of my health turbulence years ago, and since then, they have held me. This book became a set of much-needed and invaluable stitches in the fabric of my healing process—a healing that is now more flesh, more heart, more animal.
I have been reminded of the lessons the medicine of the earth once taught me but that are so easily forgotten in this materialistic world: that I am not alone in my pain, that finding a "cure" is not the goal, that I am not damaged, that where I have been broken is where the light gets in. If any of the pieces that contributed to my illness had been missing, I wouldn’t have had to descend into the deepest underworld of my spirit. I wouldn’t have had to learn how to live with my shadow. I wouldn’t have fallen—but I also wouldn’t understand what it means to be part of the mycelium. I wouldn’t have found joy in the painful breakage of the seed deep in the soil before she extends her whole being toward the light. I wouldn’t have found community. And I wouldn’t have blossomed.
By cosmic synchronicity, I found Sophie’s words in the midst of my health turbulence years ago, and since then, they have held me. This book became a set of much-needed and invaluable stitches in the fabric of my healing process—a healing that is now more flesh, more heart, more animal.
I have been reminded of the lessons the medicine of the earth once taught me but that are so easily forgotten in this materialistic world: that I am not alone in my pain, that finding a "cure" is not the goal, that I am not damaged, that where I have been broken is where the light gets in. If any of the pieces that contributed to my illness had been missing, I wouldn’t have had to descend into the deepest underworld of my spirit. I wouldn’t have had to learn how to live with my shadow. I wouldn’t have fallen—but I also wouldn’t understand what it means to be part of the mycelium. I wouldn’t have found joy in the painful breakage of the seed deep in the soil before she extends her whole being toward the light. I wouldn’t have found community. And I wouldn’t have blossomed.
"Trauma does not belong to an individual. It is a web that includes someone. It is not an object that can be removed. Your body's innate ability to dance with harm and with discomfort is not always a problem. It is a relational tactic. A nonconsensual opening to both the good and the bad, the human and the nonhuman."
May 25, 2025
I think I am the target demographic for this book and yet, it was very much not for me. Strand's writing is very pretty and I do agree with a lot of her broader points about human entanglement with the natural world. However, it often felt like she was trying to wring meaning from hardship like her life is a soggy sponge. It didn't feel authentic, but forced. I also found myself getting frustrated with the prose at many points: everything is wrapped in so many layers of metaphor and literary fluff that it starts to lose meaning rather than become more profound. I also have a huge problem with the author's romanticization of trauma, pain, anorexia, and healthism. It seems like she's implying that she has a deeper relationship with the natural world than everybody else on the planet solely because of her trauma and pain, a perspective that I find really problematic. Being in relationship with the natural world isn't foreclosed to people who haven't undergone immense hardship. While illness or abuse can be transformative, suffering doesn't render us more virtuous or whole in our human nature. In general there's an off putting self-important and overly-image-conscious vibe that permeates this collection- for example, in the second to last essay Strand brags about choosing to juice parsley instead of eat carbs. I really expected to love this book but alas!
June 4, 2025
Full of arresting, luminous, and generative insight. Her work brims with wisdom about health and illness, meaning and mystery. A must-read.
July 25, 2025
“I was stitched to the present with radical intensity. There was no nostalgia for the past and no ability to envision the future.
My breath was a needle, piercing the cloth of me with each inhale, embroidering an embodied instant. The inhale was white-hot anguish for one-eighteenth of a second, the exhale a nonconsensual witness to a complete meltdown of every one of my dreams and imagined lives.”
My breath was a needle, piercing the cloth of me with each inhale, embroidering an embodied instant. The inhale was white-hot anguish for one-eighteenth of a second, the exhale a nonconsensual witness to a complete meltdown of every one of my dreams and imagined lives.”
March 19, 2025
Fascinating, thought-provoking, confusing, and a bit weird. I’m absolutely riveted by some of the author’s work in this and her writing is definitely spell-binding.
I’m glad I got to hear her story and her perspective, even if at times I felt like it was a bit limited. (I really wish she was in conversation with disability justice writers and the disability community...) Unfortunately, I feel like she has a huge blind spot re: the ongoing pandemic and I wish she had explored the theme of community and connectivity in its true context.
I’m definitely going to be chewing over these thoughts for a long time… I may need to return to this book again just to decide what I think about it. I might need to buy my own copy to highlight, chew on, and ponder.
I’m glad I got to hear her story and her perspective, even if at times I felt like it was a bit limited. (I really wish she was in conversation with disability justice writers and the disability community...) Unfortunately, I feel like she has a huge blind spot re: the ongoing pandemic and I wish she had explored the theme of community and connectivity in its true context.
I’m definitely going to be chewing over these thoughts for a long time… I may need to return to this book again just to decide what I think about it. I might need to buy my own copy to highlight, chew on, and ponder.
August 31, 2025
Dit is een van de echtste, belangrijkste, mooiste, bitterzoete, bitterzure, confronterende, maar vooral compassievolle boeken die ik ooit heb gelezen en waarschijnlijk ooit zal lezen.
Sophie Strand kampt met Ehlers-damos, een van de zwaarste chronische ziektes die haar leven verziekt met een continue staat van aandoeningen, pijn, lijden. Ze kan geen normaal bestaan lijden, niet meedoen met de maatschappij, ze past niet in het ritme van gezond zijn.
In dit boek deelt ze haar verhaal van ziek zijn en haar zoektocht naar heling. Wat betekent het om ziek te zijn? Wat zijn de aannames achter 'beter' worden en hoe ziet die 'gezonde' zelf er dan uit? Bestaat er zoiets als een gezonde zelf in een zieke wereld? Of is ziek zijn juist een rechtmatige reactie van het lichaam, een doorgang naar een wereld voorbij het individuele, mensgerichte bestaan?
De Westerse samenleving met haar geschiedenis van Dualisme - de Zonde van het Christendom en de Succesvolle persoon - verhemelt de hemel. We willen gelukkig zijn, gezond zijn, licht en luchtig zijn, trauma helen, een medicijn hebben voor onze ziekte. De afkeer tegen zwaarte, ziekte, afval, compost, verdriet, is groot.
Hoe gaan we om met een aarde die doodgaat? Hoe gaan we om met een ziek lichaam? We willen het oplossen, het ongemak uit de weg gaan. Helen, beter worden, naar een staat van gezondheid. Terug naar Eden.
Maar wat is Eden? Is het de meteorietinslag die zorgde voor de massie extinctie van de dinosaurus, zodat zoogdieren zich konden ontwikkelen tot de mens? Is het de big bang, de knal van het begin? Is het een pure staat voor incarnatie van de ziel?
We zijn licht en donker. Compost en de Roos. We zijn leuk en luchtig en gezellig en lastig en zwaar en melancholisch. We kunnen spelen, leren, creeëren, en we kunnen huilen om de pijn van de wereld.
Sophie Strand roept ons in de diepste zin op om mens te zijn. Om beiden kanten van het leven te accepteren en te stoppen met streven naar een onrealistisch ideaal wat ons de bitterzoete realiteit van de werkelijkheid laat ontkennen. Trauma is een opening naar een wereld voorbij de perfecte gezonde zelf. Ziekte komt met een sensitiviteit en compassie die je voorbij het standaard heteronormatieve verhaal van de samenleving laten kijken. Gezond zijn in een zieke wereld kan ook een blindheid zijn. Het is okay om niet okay te zijn.
Wat een boek.
Sophie Strand kampt met Ehlers-damos, een van de zwaarste chronische ziektes die haar leven verziekt met een continue staat van aandoeningen, pijn, lijden. Ze kan geen normaal bestaan lijden, niet meedoen met de maatschappij, ze past niet in het ritme van gezond zijn.
In dit boek deelt ze haar verhaal van ziek zijn en haar zoektocht naar heling. Wat betekent het om ziek te zijn? Wat zijn de aannames achter 'beter' worden en hoe ziet die 'gezonde' zelf er dan uit? Bestaat er zoiets als een gezonde zelf in een zieke wereld? Of is ziek zijn juist een rechtmatige reactie van het lichaam, een doorgang naar een wereld voorbij het individuele, mensgerichte bestaan?
De Westerse samenleving met haar geschiedenis van Dualisme - de Zonde van het Christendom en de Succesvolle persoon - verhemelt de hemel. We willen gelukkig zijn, gezond zijn, licht en luchtig zijn, trauma helen, een medicijn hebben voor onze ziekte. De afkeer tegen zwaarte, ziekte, afval, compost, verdriet, is groot.
Hoe gaan we om met een aarde die doodgaat? Hoe gaan we om met een ziek lichaam? We willen het oplossen, het ongemak uit de weg gaan. Helen, beter worden, naar een staat van gezondheid. Terug naar Eden.
Maar wat is Eden? Is het de meteorietinslag die zorgde voor de massie extinctie van de dinosaurus, zodat zoogdieren zich konden ontwikkelen tot de mens? Is het de big bang, de knal van het begin? Is het een pure staat voor incarnatie van de ziel?
We zijn licht en donker. Compost en de Roos. We zijn leuk en luchtig en gezellig en lastig en zwaar en melancholisch. We kunnen spelen, leren, creeëren, en we kunnen huilen om de pijn van de wereld.
Sophie Strand roept ons in de diepste zin op om mens te zijn. Om beiden kanten van het leven te accepteren en te stoppen met streven naar een onrealistisch ideaal wat ons de bitterzoete realiteit van de werkelijkheid laat ontkennen. Trauma is een opening naar een wereld voorbij de perfecte gezonde zelf. Ziekte komt met een sensitiviteit en compassie die je voorbij het standaard heteronormatieve verhaal van de samenleving laten kijken. Gezond zijn in een zieke wereld kan ook een blindheid zijn. Het is okay om niet okay te zijn.
Wat een boek.
October 5, 2025
Woven bookmark that a student gifted me that is weirdly the exact same colors as this book cover
4.5
I found this book very beautifully written and full of nature, which I love. There's no reason why it's not 5 stars except for the je ne sais quoi fact that I didn't feel pulled to read it and finish it quickly, which is a bummer for a book club book.
4.5
I found this book very beautifully written and full of nature, which I love. There's no reason why it's not 5 stars except for the je ne sais quoi fact that I didn't feel pulled to read it and finish it quickly, which is a bummer for a book club book.
July 2, 2025
so gorgeous, so smart, and full of so so much heart
May 27, 2025
"How can we be well inside of an Earth we are actively harming? And if we are well at the material expense of ecosystems, is that really health?"
April 6, 2025
I cannot begin to describe the beauty within, impact from, and belonging I felt in this book. This is one of my favourite books of all time. I had to limit my reading per day of this, as that is how much I feel invigorated by it, felt less alone, and inspired. Provoking so much thought in me at all times, the beauty that Sophie shares and embodies is like nothing I’ve ever seen or experienced. Through her writing, she has given me a gift ,and allowed me to also step into curiosity, exploration, play , flowstate with my writing and beliefs , navigating the depths of everything slowly rising from the soil within me. I’ve recommended to some of my providers who see me and potential patients of theirs , navigating trauma and chronic illness. Recently discovered from someone I stumbled upon and connected with, within the Gifted community, and I am so grateful 🥲. Now one of my top favourite writers, people, and poets . I am so incredibly deeply moved by her prose and sorry for her continuous suffering. Sophie is a gift, taking the elusive , indescribable , and embodying it viscerally and physically (for those who can’t) and then translating it into words for the rest of those who do not have to embody it.
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April 12, 2025Book Review: The Body Is a Doorway: A Memoir: A Journey Beyond Healing, Hope, and the Human by Sophie Strand
In The Body Is a Doorway: A Memoir: A Journey Beyond Healing, Hope, and the Human, Sophie Strand presents a deeply personal and lyrical exploration of her experiences with chronic illness, trauma, and the quest for healing. This memoir not only chronicles her own journey but also invites readers to reconsider the connections between body, mind, and spirit, emphasizing the importance of vulnerability and the transformative power of storytelling.
Content Overview
Strand’s memoir is structured as an introspective narrative, weaving together reflections on her physical ailments with broader themes of hope, resilience, and the human experience. At the core of her writing is the idea that the body serves as a “doorway” to understanding deeper truths about oneself and the world. Throughout the book, she navigates the complexities of living with chronic pain and illness, illustrating how these experiences have shaped her identity and informed her worldview.
The narrative is enriched by a mix of poetic language, vivid imagery, and philosophical insights, which together create a tapestry that reflects both personal struggles and universal themes. Strand invites readers to explore the concept of the body not merely as a site of suffering but as a gateway to discovery, connection, and healing.
Thematic Exploration
Several key themes emerge throughout The Body Is a Doorway:
The Body as a Site of Knowledge: Strand emphasizes the importance of listening to the body as a source of wisdom. She argues that pain and discomfort can reveal deeper insights about one’s emotional and spiritual state, encouraging readers to cultivate a more embodied awareness.
Trauma and Healing: The memoir addresses the lasting impacts of trauma, illustrating how past experiences influence present realities. Strand’s reflections on her journey through healing reveal the complexities and setbacks inherent in recovery, emphasizing that healing is not a linear process.
Intersection of Nature and Self: Strand draws connections between her personal experiences and the natural world, suggesting that our bodies and environments are intertwined. Through her poetic descriptions, she advocates for a more holistic understanding of health that includes ecological awareness.
Vulnerability and Connection: A significant aspect of the memoir is the exploration of vulnerability as a strength. Strand illustrates how sharing her story fosters connection with others, dismantling the isolation that often accompanies chronic illness and trauma.
Spirituality and Exploration of the Human Condition: Strand incorporates spiritual reflections that invite readers to consider existential questions about life, suffering, and purpose. Her writing encourages a contemplative approach to understanding what it means to be human in the face of adversity.
Style and Accessibility
Strand’s writing is evocative and poetic, making complex concepts accessible to a wide audience. Her blend of narrative storytelling with philosophical inquiry creates an engaging reading experience. The use of rich imagery and metaphors not only enhances her reflections but also invites readers to connect emotionally with her journey. This accessibility, combined with the depth of her insights, makes the book suitable for both general readers and those interested in themes of wellness, trauma, and personal growth.
Practical Implications
The Body Is a Doorway serves as a valuable resource for individuals navigating their own experiences with chronic illness, trauma, or emotional struggle. Strand’s emphasis on the importance of listening to one’s body and embracing vulnerability offers practical guidance for readers seeking healing and connection. Additionally, healthcare professionals and therapists may find the memoir’s insights beneficial for fostering empathy and understanding in their practices.
Conclusion
Sophie Strand’s The Body Is a Doorway: A Memoir: A Journey Beyond Healing, Hope, and the Human is a profound testament to the resilience of the human spirit. Through her candid exploration of illness, trauma, and healing, Strand invites readers to embrace their own vulnerabilities and recognize the transformative potential of their experiences. This memoir is not only a poignant reflection on personal suffering but also a compelling call to honor the body as a source of knowledge and connection, making it an essential read for anyone seeking to understand the intricate relationship between body, mind, and spirit.
In The Body Is a Doorway: A Memoir: A Journey Beyond Healing, Hope, and the Human, Sophie Strand presents a deeply personal and lyrical exploration of her experiences with chronic illness, trauma, and the quest for healing. This memoir not only chronicles her own journey but also invites readers to reconsider the connections between body, mind, and spirit, emphasizing the importance of vulnerability and the transformative power of storytelling.
Content Overview
Strand’s memoir is structured as an introspective narrative, weaving together reflections on her physical ailments with broader themes of hope, resilience, and the human experience. At the core of her writing is the idea that the body serves as a “doorway” to understanding deeper truths about oneself and the world. Throughout the book, she navigates the complexities of living with chronic pain and illness, illustrating how these experiences have shaped her identity and informed her worldview.
The narrative is enriched by a mix of poetic language, vivid imagery, and philosophical insights, which together create a tapestry that reflects both personal struggles and universal themes. Strand invites readers to explore the concept of the body not merely as a site of suffering but as a gateway to discovery, connection, and healing.
Thematic Exploration
Several key themes emerge throughout The Body Is a Doorway:
The Body as a Site of Knowledge: Strand emphasizes the importance of listening to the body as a source of wisdom. She argues that pain and discomfort can reveal deeper insights about one’s emotional and spiritual state, encouraging readers to cultivate a more embodied awareness.
Trauma and Healing: The memoir addresses the lasting impacts of trauma, illustrating how past experiences influence present realities. Strand’s reflections on her journey through healing reveal the complexities and setbacks inherent in recovery, emphasizing that healing is not a linear process.
Intersection of Nature and Self: Strand draws connections between her personal experiences and the natural world, suggesting that our bodies and environments are intertwined. Through her poetic descriptions, she advocates for a more holistic understanding of health that includes ecological awareness.
Vulnerability and Connection: A significant aspect of the memoir is the exploration of vulnerability as a strength. Strand illustrates how sharing her story fosters connection with others, dismantling the isolation that often accompanies chronic illness and trauma.
Spirituality and Exploration of the Human Condition: Strand incorporates spiritual reflections that invite readers to consider existential questions about life, suffering, and purpose. Her writing encourages a contemplative approach to understanding what it means to be human in the face of adversity.
Style and Accessibility
Strand’s writing is evocative and poetic, making complex concepts accessible to a wide audience. Her blend of narrative storytelling with philosophical inquiry creates an engaging reading experience. The use of rich imagery and metaphors not only enhances her reflections but also invites readers to connect emotionally with her journey. This accessibility, combined with the depth of her insights, makes the book suitable for both general readers and those interested in themes of wellness, trauma, and personal growth.
Practical Implications
The Body Is a Doorway serves as a valuable resource for individuals navigating their own experiences with chronic illness, trauma, or emotional struggle. Strand’s emphasis on the importance of listening to one’s body and embracing vulnerability offers practical guidance for readers seeking healing and connection. Additionally, healthcare professionals and therapists may find the memoir’s insights beneficial for fostering empathy and understanding in their practices.
Conclusion
Sophie Strand’s The Body Is a Doorway: A Memoir: A Journey Beyond Healing, Hope, and the Human is a profound testament to the resilience of the human spirit. Through her candid exploration of illness, trauma, and healing, Strand invites readers to embrace their own vulnerabilities and recognize the transformative potential of their experiences. This memoir is not only a poignant reflection on personal suffering but also a compelling call to honor the body as a source of knowledge and connection, making it an essential read for anyone seeking to understand the intricate relationship between body, mind, and spirit.
June 10, 2025
Phenomenal book. A rare gem of deep embodied and lived wisdom. There is nothing 'new agey' or religious about this book. In fact it might be the most grounded and human book I have ever read. Not to mention how well read and researched Strand is– she draws on science and myth in a beautiful dance that compliments her lived experiences and add richness and depth. I feel like this might be one of the most important books I have ever read, not just as someone with a rare disease, but as a human. This is a human book, authentic down to the bone. Strand's lyrical and poetic way of writing is so vivid and sensory that I can almost taste and feel the landscapes she writes about. There is no romanticisation of pain or trauma, in fact there is deep honesty of struggle, of shame and of longing to be better, while also illuminating invisible modern traps of 'trauma healing', that can be likened to a fervent religious seeking of of puryfing sin. This book is important. Not everything might be easily digestible to everyone– it goes against the modern paradigm of the individual and blows open a whole new world of interconnection that we know deep down we all long for and belong to. Recognition of nature as ourselves is not a new age concept, it is the truth that has lived within our ancestors and still lives within indigenous communities all around the world that are holding these truths together by the threads of their beings. Well done Sophie, this is a life changing piece of work.
August 11, 2025
This one is a thinker… very repetitive and heavy-handed with borrowing from other work. Overall writing style wasn’t for me and it took me like 6 months to get through. But glad that this kind of theorization around illness, nature, trauma, and health exists — the passage about Strand imagining who she would be without being sick stood out to me in particular/resonated with themes I have reflected on
March 17, 2025
My deepest empathy goes out to Sophie as someone in the chronic illness boat. This memoir sheds light on the deepest of struggles we face - her unfiltered vulnerability is undoubtedly saving lives as I write this review. May we all show sympathy/empathy without pity, in sickness and in health.
September 2, 2025
Really took everything inside of me to finish this book. I really wanted to like it. But it came off as really fake-deep performative, super whiney, and very long winded. I never imagined that I would be sick of hearing about an author’s illness in a memoir about their illness, but the way she talked about it just made me want to skip the whole book all together. I never could understand how she kept talking about being such an avid runner, but also she was always unable to eat, lying on the floor vomiting, her neck unable to support her head? Maybe I needed more details about this in order to put these two aspects of her together. And finally, god! I could not stand any discussion of her novel about Jesus and Mary.
I don’t know. I love memoir, but I loathed this entire thing. The first chapter was my favorite. I kept wanting her to come back to this voice, this way of thinking, this way of telling her story… but the book just meandered through things I found less and less interesting with each page.
I don’t know. I love memoir, but I loathed this entire thing. The first chapter was my favorite. I kept wanting her to come back to this voice, this way of thinking, this way of telling her story… but the book just meandered through things I found less and less interesting with each page.
July 16, 2025
No doubt that Sophie Strand is a poet, it comes through in every word of this evocative and tender memoir about her journey of living with chronic illness. I so appreciate the frustration and confusion and disappointment of not knowing what is wrong and being turned away, being misdiagnosed, of feeling like you are crazy. Lived through it with one child with POTS and myself recently with autoimmune. Strand walks us through her journey from her teen years struggling to find answers for why she felt so sick and at times crazy to making sense of her eventual diagnosis. She seeks solace in nature and finds deep connection between her body and the workings of nature. Her lyrical prose and analogies make for a beautiful investigation of what it is to live in a body like hers. This won't be the chronic illness book for everyone but I found it touching and whimsical, very honest and fresh perspective. An interesting read for sure.
May 30, 2025
I really appreciate the perspective and the concepts explored in these essays very much, but there are some redundant passages and sections that would benefit from a tighter edit
May 25, 2025
1.5 rounded down to 1. The score is bc some of the straight up, less flowery info about plants and animals was interesting. The nature descriptions in this book kind of reminded me of one of my favorite songs, Emily, by Joanna Newsome. But instead of gorgeous and lyrical the writing here was just so overwrought. I skimmed MUCH of the book and still it was SO SO LONG. Also, the way the author talked about getting super sick so so many times made me wonder how did she not die? How was she able to live alone?
April 30, 2025
I certainly had to develop a relationship with the author of curiosity and listening to her lyrical, rambling journey into issues around the body and the mind.
It was quite painful and non-linear, however, because I enjoy philosophy and ecology, I appreciated some of her ranting and ramblings around how our bodies mirror the natural world.
as far as her relationship with illness, I found chapter 20 really insightful, but don’t expect there to be any resolution throughout the book. I kept looking for the cure, and that isn’t the point. In fact, if that’s what this book is about, the ramblings of what I started to see as mental dysfunction embodied in physical dysfunction.
We are all partially crazy and the idea of the golden enlightenment of health and wellness just makes us more ill.
Embracing whatever circumstances, our body is in and relaxing into the universe and building our relationship with nature seems to be the core of the book.
I can’t say that it was a pleasant experience and I sat with judgement through a lot of it. Her ego is a bit much. I do think she is a great writer, but also really needs some help in editing.
In general, I’m glad I did read the book, but I wouldn’t recommend it to people without a discussion ahead of time around the overly-intellectualized tone and manic state of her mind being pretty discursive.
It was quite painful and non-linear, however, because I enjoy philosophy and ecology, I appreciated some of her ranting and ramblings around how our bodies mirror the natural world.
as far as her relationship with illness, I found chapter 20 really insightful, but don’t expect there to be any resolution throughout the book. I kept looking for the cure, and that isn’t the point. In fact, if that’s what this book is about, the ramblings of what I started to see as mental dysfunction embodied in physical dysfunction.
We are all partially crazy and the idea of the golden enlightenment of health and wellness just makes us more ill.
Embracing whatever circumstances, our body is in and relaxing into the universe and building our relationship with nature seems to be the core of the book.
I can’t say that it was a pleasant experience and I sat with judgement through a lot of it. Her ego is a bit much. I do think she is a great writer, but also really needs some help in editing.
In general, I’m glad I did read the book, but I wouldn’t recommend it to people without a discussion ahead of time around the overly-intellectualized tone and manic state of her mind being pretty discursive.
April 30, 2025
A sweet spot for me of ecofeminism, psychology/spirituality, and reckoning with chronic illness. This is one of the most rooted-in-place (the Hudson Valley) books I think I've ever read. The writing is stunning. The material is tough, in that healing does not resolve nicely into redemption, and should we be so focused on the individual and her responsibility to purify and heal herself in isolation?
I'm excited to read more Sophie Strand. I also loved and recommend her conversations with Báyò Akómoláfé (like from Science and Non-Duality). The title is a call out to The Body Keeps the Score, so let that draw you in too.
I'm excited to read more Sophie Strand. I also loved and recommend her conversations with Báyò Akómoláfé (like from Science and Non-Duality). The title is a call out to The Body Keeps the Score, so let that draw you in too.
March 17, 2025
Beautifully Attentively Flowing River
How to share the loving attention to the minute and cosmic connections to this living universe from the doorway of our vast natural life sensing body and in this both perilous and brilliant moment as our norms drive the 6th extinction on earth. She does this so amazingly, I'm so grateful for her loving gift that felt personally handed to me in her own voice and the printed page. Thank you, Sophie, for sharing your perspectives with all us and helping us open our hearts wider to a bigger living world.
How to share the loving attention to the minute and cosmic connections to this living universe from the doorway of our vast natural life sensing body and in this both perilous and brilliant moment as our norms drive the 6th extinction on earth. She does this so amazingly, I'm so grateful for her loving gift that felt personally handed to me in her own voice and the printed page. Thank you, Sophie, for sharing your perspectives with all us and helping us open our hearts wider to a bigger living world.
March 18, 2025
Breaking through the illusion of our separateness, Sophie Strand weaves her body, and ours along with her, into the natural world, into the ecosystems that we are part of in way that is the most compelling love story ever told. Bravely facing her own chronic illness, she challenges all of us, healthy or not, to examine our relationship to the living world around us and expand our being beyond the edges of our skin. Lyrically and gorgeously written, I couldn’t put it down. Sophie guides us beyond healing, and into Life.
May 10, 2025
I really enjoyed reading this book. It's beautifully written, and embodies communion with the more-than-human world with the body and healing processes as a portal. I found myself flagging, underlining, and really savoring each chapter. Recommended for anyone who enjoys memoir and concepts of ecological identity.
October 25, 2024
Sophie Strand senses and understands in ways more whole, more alive, than most writers I have encountered in my decades as an avid reader. She brings this full beingness to all her work and this book is a standout.
The Body Is A Doorway has widened and deepened the way I see my own health challenges. Here's a passage from one of the closing chapters:
Here's another quote to give you a sense of her work:
I am grateful for Sophie and all she brings to our awareness.
The Body Is A Doorway has widened and deepened the way I see my own health challenges. Here's a passage from one of the closing chapters:
"How can we be well inside of an Earth we are actively harming?.. I want to suggest that we are all haunted. Not by flashbacks and memories. But by an imaginary idea of wholeness. By the idea that there is a normal body that renders our body deviant. That there is another version of us -- a healthy version... That we must spend our every waking hour, our hard-earned money, our dedicated spiritual and physical focus, striving toward this other us...
For so long I'd viewed comfort and relaxation and ease as the goals that medical and psychological treatment were supposed to provide... I learned that we were supposed to create safe spaces and healthy boundaries...
Trauma does not belong to an individual. It is a web. It is not an object that can be removed. Your body's innate ability to dance with harm and with discomfort is not always a problem. It is a relational tactic. A nonconsensual opening to both the good and the bad, the human and the nonhuman. .. I finally stopped defending the doorway of my own body. .Let it in. The love. The wonder. The pain. The uncertainty."
Here's another quote to give you a sense of her work:
"Every story, like every human body, is an ecosystem of other stories: the virus author that 'taught' us mammals how to develop wombs, the ancient ecological pressures that molded us into multicellularity, our pulsing microbiome, our fungi-dusted skin, our metabolic reciprocity with every substance we breathe and drink and eat. Every recombinatory miracle of genetics gave birth not to an individual on a hero's journey, but to a biodiversity of competing and converging aliveness."
I am grateful for Sophie and all she brings to our awareness.
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