Awake Where You Are: The Art of Embodied Awareness

by Martin Aylward

The body is of course integral to meditation, but there are only a few books that focus this specifically on the body and the meditative experience. Awake Where You Are addresses that need, and additionally integrates psychological concepts, which provides a more familiar entry point for people less familiar with Buddhism.

“Embodied awareness is the way back home—intimacy with where and how we are right now, with what is happening and how we are meeting it. My intention is to lead you into the heart of your life. Inside your body, where everything happens—within a quality of listening rather than knowledge, of feeling rather than reaction. This meditative practice is radically transformative.”
—Martin Aylward

Pulled around by desires and distractions, we’re so easily disconnected from ourselves.

Life is happening right in front of us, and within us—but still, we manage to miss so much of it.

Awake Where You Are provides the antidote, inviting us to go deep into our own bodies, to inhabit our sensory experience carefully; to learn the art of living from the inside out, and in the process to find ease, clarity, and an authentic, unshakeable freedom.

The practices in the book literally bring us back into our skin, where we can reconnect with a more rich, meaningful, and peaceful life. Aylward writes with sophisticated subtlety, as well as the heart-opening simplicity and clarity born of deep experience.

And this book is more than a meditation guide—it’s a guide to living an embodied life. You’ll learn about the following areas and
- Understanding and liberating our primal human drives. Aylward explains how the three primary drives—survival, sexual, and social—function within us, and how we can engage their energy to explore, understand, and liberate them.
- Integrating psychological understanding with meditative practice. Awake Where You Are goes beyond the broad brushstrokes of Buddhist psychology, inviting the reader into an exploration of their own particular psychological history and conditioning.
- Investigating the nuances of love. Readers will learn to see the classical Buddhist heart qualities, or brahmaviharas (loving-kindness, compassion, appreciative joy, and equanimity) as distinct flavors of love, and as the natural resting places of a free heart.

“Martin is a marvelous teacher and offers us the refreshing wisdom of an embodied life.”
— Jack Kornfield , author of No Time Like the Present

Genres: Buddhism, Nonfiction, Spirituality, Self Help, Meditation

232 pages, Paperback

Published November 2, 2021

Reviews

[Unleash The Knowledge · Rating 5 out of 5]

Life is happening right in front of us, and within us—but still, we manage to miss so much of it.

Have you ever been asked, are you living or just existing?

I have come to learn that a majority of us are just existing.

Going through the motions of life. Doing what we believe is the right thing to do. Following the plan society set for us. Not appreciating the present. Planning for the unforeseen future but still always putting fun trips off for “next month or next year.”

Does this sound like you?

If so, Martin Aylward is the man you need to meet and his book: Awake Where You Are should be your next read.

Martin believes in embodied awareness and I totally agree with him.

There is far more to life than just living through the motions and simply existing.

Dive into this book to awaken who you truly are and begin living this one precious life to the fullest as that is what you deserve!

Also, if you are a fan of the works: Awareness by Anthony de Mello, Jack Kornfield, Tara Brach, or practice mindfulness, then you will love Martin’s book: Awake Where You Are!

[Willa Baker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awake Where you Are is an accessible and profound guidebook for spiritual seekers...highly recommended! Martin's many years of authentic practice have led him back to the body, where mindfulness, freedom and joy are found. With humor and anecdotes from his life, Martin shows us that we too can find the path right where we live. Martin is the real deal, a modern day wisdom yogi whose teachings demonstrate an authentic depth of spiritual practice that is hard to find these days.

[Jen]

DNF 50%. More of a memoir/anecdotal… not a bad read, just not quite what I expected/am looking for right now.

[Jeffrey Spitz Cohan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this book, grew weary of it, then ended up loving it again.

I took the subtitle at its word: "The art of embodied awareness."

This made sense. From what I've seen, this is Martin Aylward's specialty. Embodiment.

The first third of the book delivered, in spades. Aylward gets you out of your head and into your body -- specifically the area right below your navel -- as a vehicle for presence.

The book then opened up to a more generalized approach to psychological well-being. I wanted more embodiment.

Ultimately, I came to appreciate this book in its entirety. Aylward doesn't pigeon-hole himself, nor should he. He has a lot of wisdom to offer about our approach to everyday life.

[Karli Sherwinter · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really took my time with this book. It is densely filled with ideas about who we are as humans and how we live in a world primarily out of touch with our physicality and reality in general. He offers many reflection questions throughout to help deepen the experience of the book. On page 201, Aylward writes, “You can try to keep yourself safe and comfortable - and be run over by a bus tomorrow. Or you can do it lights up your heart and calls you with what seems the deepest and truest and most full of meaning, and see what happens along the way.” I have always felt that sentiment internally. Trying to live fully, without the attachment to the fear of death, is always a challenge.

[tpei · Rating 5 out of 5]

Martin has a unique voice that does a wonderful job showing us that what we are looking for, what we most fundamentally need, cannot be found somewhere out there but only right here with us. With a wonderful blend of buddhism, wisdom, practical exercises, humor and personal anecdotes Martin reminds us to be attentive to what is going on inside us in order to find our own unique way to freedom.

[Rafaella · Rating 4 out of 5]

So many thoughtful gems about self, humility, and freedom that stirred deep reflection and revelations I'll carry forever.

[yenni m · Rating 4 out of 5]

I nearly strayed away from this one a few personal stories for repeated, then I got over my personal judgements and appreciated his thoughts and experiences.