Bodyfulness: Somatic Practices for Presence, Empowerment, and Waking Up in This Life

by Christine Caldwell

A somatic counselor offers tools for developing a deeper, more awakened relationship with your body through sensation, breath, and movement As a foundation for a contemplative life, the body can both literally and metaphorically help us wake up. Breathing, sensing, and moving—the ways we know our body—carry tremendous contemplative potential, and yet, we so often move through our days unaware of or in conflict with our physical selves.   In Bodyfulness, renowned somatic counselor Christine Caldwell offers a practical guide for living an embodied contemplative life, embracing whatever body we are in. Each chapter offers insights and practices that help us recover our lost physical wisdom—to integrate our bodies with mindfulness, to deal with emotions, and to develop attuned relationships. Bodyfulness inspires us to reclaim a body-centered contemplative life and challenges us to harness our potential to effect social and personal transformation in this body now.

Genres: Nonfiction, Self Help, Psychology, Bodies, Personal Growth, Mental Health, Meditation

296 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 13, 2018

Reviews

[Rochelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have been a bodyworker and yoga teacher for many years. This book is the one resource that feels like it truly speaks to all humans. Dr. Caldwell is an amazing writer. I highly recommend this book for teachers and practitioners as a resource for accessible practices for themselves and clients/students. This point of view is the missing piece of awakening.

[Linsey Stevens · Rating 5 out of 5]

A selection from Iphelia.com’s Editor’s Bookshelf review: If you have a body, this book is for you.

Okay—maybe truisms don’t charm you. Of course you have a body. Right now your eyes scan these words and more likely than not, your finger is hovering over a mouse, trackpad, or smartphone screen.

But often when we think of reading, learning new things, digesting information, and deciding, for example, whether or not to buy and read a book, we imagine that we’re operating from a place that’s all in our heads.

Christine Caldwell, founder and former director of the Somatic Counseling Program at Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado, invites us not only to think differently about this, but to be differently in Bodyfulness: Somatic Practices for Presence, Empowerment, and Waking Up in This Life.

Caldwell’s astute and well-researched writing is inviting without being patronizing. Her voice is appealing and soothing while remaining educational. As a humanities kid who never earned the opportunity to take a class like anatomy and physiology, I was grateful for her presentation of the basics, but could still image someone far more learned in science—my sister, for example, who’s studying to become a PA, or my godbrother, who is a pre-med student—benefitting tremendously from her work as well.

Bodyfulness offers the reader both a rich taxonomy and actionable advice (in the form of Chapter Practices) inspired by Caldwell’s experience as a somatic therapist—a practitioner who guides her clients/patients in mind-body exercises and physical techniques to address dis-ease.

While this is one of the few books I’ve ever read that I’d recommend to anyone, it will be of special interest to those who live with body image issues, chronic illness or pain, or sensory processing sensitivities, as well as those who are interested in bodywork, yoga, meditation, and activism (Caldwell devotes a great deal of thought to the ways in which bodies are marginalized, oppressed, and made wrong, and how embodied activism can challenge extant power structures). Like Iphelia, Bodyfulness also reminds us to honor the importance of early childhood experiences, creativity, and play.

[Victoria Wachowiak · Rating 2 out of 5]

nie jest to zła książka, ale mocno biologiczna i osobiście oczekiwałam czegoś innego

[Literary Redhead · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Bodyfulness: Somatic Practices for Presence, Empowerment, and Waking Up in This Life” by Christine Caldwell presents a foundation for a contemplative life through breathing, sensing, and moving. The author, a renowned somatic counselor, offers a practical guide with insights and practices to integrate our bodies with mindfulness, deal with emotions, and build authentic connections with others. With a reclaimed body centeredness, says the author, we can more effectively harness our potential for positive social and personal transformation. 5/5

Pub Date 13 Nov 2018

Thanks to Shambhala Publications, Inc. and NetGalley for the review copy. Opinions are fully mine.

#Bodyfulness #NetGalley

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is fantastic! As a therapist who works with somatics to help people work through trauma and other concerns, I appreciate how actionable this book is. Caldwell provides numerous specific exercises to help create a mindfulness of the body. It is truly everything that Ellen Langer's "The Mindful Body" was not.

[Kristen]

Very good, and very deep. I missed so much. I will revisit this someday. Great takeaways.

[Amanda Ball · Rating 5 out of 5]

YUPP I knew I'd love this one! Will 10000% need to re-read time and time again

[Amanda Nio · Rating 5 out of 5]

I hope this email finds you well! I wanted to share my thoughts on the latest book I've read as part of my goal to read one book a month. This month's choice was "Bodyfulness" by Christine Caldwell, and it turned out to be an enlightening experience.

"Bodyfulness" is an easy yet informative read, perfectly tailored for anyone, whether you're new to understanding the body systems or you're already in the field of education. The prompts and chapter practices are crafted simply enough to invite self-reflection, making it accessible for a wide audience.

The book is structured into three distinct parts: principles, application, and enlightenment of bodyfulness, where Caldwell also addresses the various factors that can harm such practices. Each section is clear and descriptive, allowing readers to seamlessly follow along.

I see myself returning to this book in the future for a refreshing reminder of bodyful practices. It’s a beautiful journey that intrigues the mind while engaging the body—from cellular generation to even the minute touches we often overlook.

If you're looking for an insightful read that encourages self-awareness and holistic practices, I highly recommend "Bodyfulness."

I especially love this affirmation found in the reflection...
We oscillate.
We balance.
We inter-are.
We repeat things and we change things.
We associate. (More than explain)
We breathe, move, sense and relate.
We narrate our stories.
We practice.

Embedded practice.

"Reflection without action changes nothing.

[Lori · Rating 5 out of 5]

The last chapter of the book (Chapter 10: The Enlightened Body) pulls together the lessons of the book to explore “what our watery body does that we can make use of in order to be ore awake and happier, as whatever body we are.” The practices that end this chapter, and the book, are among the most creative, as they ask you to incorporate all you’ve learned and take them out on your own.

Three appendixes, a notes section, and a more lengthy section titled “Additional Notes and References” add ballast to the book and give interested readers a wealth of resources to explore. I enjoyed reading that last section on its own, for itself. The bibliography of books and articles could be used to build your own library for additional understanding.

This is one of the best books I’ve read in the last year, and I will recommend it to anyone who meditates, or has a yoga practice, or wants to supplement their therapy – or, for that matter, anyone who is interested in the political implications of our cultural approach to bodies. As I consider everyone I know, I can’t think of a single person who wouldn’t find it interesting and useful.

[Crystal · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this books to be educational. Almost all the body memes I run across on social media make fun of our "meat suits" and other terms we use to disconnect with our physical bodies. This book discusses the importance of reconnection to our physical self, something that goes beyond awareness. It discusses how our body holds onto our past, both good and bad, and how we can work through those past build bodily automations to release trauma.
The exercised in this book are very gentle and are primarily there to reconnect us with our bodies. Some are quiet, some are playful. There was only one activity that I could see associate with my past trauma that I might bring a professional in for.
Overall I thought this book was good. Nothing too life changing, but awareness overall was the intent.

[Edie]

I read this based on the recommendation of a retreat speaker. I am holding off on rating it until I read it again because I feel like I missed something the first time through. I admire and trust the person who suggested the book so I am fairly confident the issue is mine, I just wasn't in the right headspace to absorb and process the content. I am interested enough in the topic to put this one back on the TBR pile and try again.

[Nicole · Rating 5 out of 5]

It feels very useful to have the language of calling myself a bodyfulness activist. I loved the metaphors and concepts within this book and what that can make room for with regard to my leadership and social justice work. I know I’ll come back to this text again and again.

[Dee Dubin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good discussion of how the body is where it all starts. The body even leads the mind. Exercises on how to become more aware and attuned.

[Emilie · Rating 4 out of 5]

SPL book bingo: on your shelf

[Meg · Rating 5 out of 5]

an engaging, fun, and insightful book on embracing and loving the body through movement and awareness

[V · Rating 4 out of 5]

enjoyed this - some great exercises that I'll be revisiting!