What do you think?
Rate this book
The Intuitive Body: Aikido as a Clairsentient Practice
Intuitive Body draws on the principles of the Japanese martial art aikido and meditation to present a unique method of cultivating awareness, attention, and self-acceptance. Wendy Palmer shows us through basic practice and partner exercises how we can become more aware of the body and trust its wisdom. Palmer introduces exercises from her Conscious Embodiment and Intuition Training program, connecting movement, meditation, and breathing in a daily practice which can help the process of integration, of deepening and unifying ourselves, and learning to deal with our fear and aggression.
160 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 1994
44 people are currently reading
290 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
June 2, 2009
I underlined the whole book.
July 23, 2010
You won't learn a great deal about the practice of Aikido from this book, but you probably can't learn a martial art from a book anyway. What you will learn is a surprising amount about life from someone who has overcome adversity and figured out how to live a balanced and successful life in this complicated place known as the 21st century. It's a beautiful book with lots of wonderful questions in it.
April 5, 2018
In this stunning work, Wendy Palmer lays out a network of thoughts, experiences, and exercises you can try yourself, to come to a deeper understanding of yourself and the role your body plays in who you are and how you experience the world. The book was well worth reading slowly, and this certainly won't be my last pass through it. Although Palmer's experience base draws heavily on her lifelong practice of Aikido, anyone who has a strong base of experience in a martial art will be able to see the parallels in their own tradition.
February 17, 2022
I stumbled across this book more than twenty years ago, and picked it up because I liked the main title, "The Intuitive Body". I didn't read it because I am not and have never been involved with Aikido, and I was nervous that "clairsentient" indicated that it would be too woo-woo. I finally read it, as part of my bookshelf decluttering project, and I'm glad I did. It actually talks very little about Aikido, and never about specific holds or moves. It talks about groundedness, being present in your body, identifying and directing your attention, self in relation to other, that sort of thing. I have not studied Buddhism, but many of the concepts the author touches on sound familiar from my passing familiarity of that subject. There's also some overlap with the more currently popular concept of mindfulness. There's a lot to mull over, and try to practice. There are, admittedly, some chapters that did not resonate so much, but there were more that did. This book gets de-cluttered from the shelf of things I never got around to reading, but instead of being moved to the box of books to send along their way for someone else to discover, it's being moved to the shelf of books I'm actively choosing to keep, because I'd like to go back and read them again later.
November 9, 2021
This is a book based on the non-aggressive Japanese martial art of aikido and the meditation necessary to become more aware of your body and its’ intuitive feelings of awareness of surroundings and self-acceptance regardless of what is happening around you.
The practices and exercises using meditation, intuition and breath work help with integration of learning how to deal with fear, anger and self-destruction. She teaches things she’s learned through her own self-involvement of nurturing and care of self to overcome things she encountered in her own life. Her style is one of questioning and challenging each reader to have courage to face their fears and do it anyway.
One reviewer wrote: “An inspiring guide to exploring embodied movement, energetic meditation, and intuitive knowledge.”
The practices and exercises using meditation, intuition and breath work help with integration of learning how to deal with fear, anger and self-destruction. She teaches things she’s learned through her own self-involvement of nurturing and care of self to overcome things she encountered in her own life. Her style is one of questioning and challenging each reader to have courage to face their fears and do it anyway.
One reviewer wrote: “An inspiring guide to exploring embodied movement, energetic meditation, and intuitive knowledge.”
February 1, 2021
At first glance a disappointing narrative of pseudo existential rambling:
Neither Judo, Aikido, bushido, Jujitsu, Christian nor Buddha, rooted in a past without a future, neither a student nor a master, lost are tenets of O Sensei Morihei Ueshiba san.
Surrounded within a prison of words, and no way out,
words could be enemies or friends, in apology striving without justification, nor patience they kill.
DOA. A fatal faulty mixture of fatal western thinking and eastern martial arts, fused as water and oil in what regrettably separates today as yesterday and tomorrow, as masters of nature, not one with nature nor intuitive artificial.
Neither Judo, Aikido, bushido, Jujitsu, Christian nor Buddha, rooted in a past without a future, neither a student nor a master, lost are tenets of O Sensei Morihei Ueshiba san.
Surrounded within a prison of words, and no way out,
words could be enemies or friends, in apology striving without justification, nor patience they kill.
DOA. A fatal faulty mixture of fatal western thinking and eastern martial arts, fused as water and oil in what regrettably separates today as yesterday and tomorrow, as masters of nature, not one with nature nor intuitive artificial.
January 17, 2019
Эта небольшая по объёму книга настолько насыщена практическими советами и поводами для глубинных размышлений, что её чтение растянулось у меня на несколько месяцев. Сейчас сложно сказат наверняка, но думаю, затронутые в ней вопросы окажут долгосрочное влияние на мою практику и улучшат связь между духовным путём и путём айкидо.
November 1, 2019
Wonderful book! It really makes you think deeply about things. The only drawback was that I found the writing style a bit too formal for my liking. But this book is definitely worth it! She uses lots of examples throughout it and takes you into deeper layers of meaning. I really enjoyed it!
April 26, 2018
Excellent!
Loved this. Such compelling work! She has found the words to my relational experiences. It is positive compassionate, and gives to you step by step.
Loved this. Such compelling work! She has found the words to my relational experiences. It is positive compassionate, and gives to you step by step.
January 17, 2024
“Having dreams and fantasies is great, embodying them is even greater.”
This book to me is all about the slow and consistent process of turning intellectual insights into embodied being and action. I have noticed a trend with my own journey of self discovery, where I can get inspired by a new way of thinking about something, and I feel that the 'aha' intellectual moment was enough to evoke change. This book helps me challenge this perspective and slow down my progress, my goal is sustainable felt change, not moving to the next insight.
For me this book constantly reiterated the importance of putting these insights into practice, that change takes time, to take things slow, and gives me very practical things I can do right now to continue on this journey.
The journey or the path is each person's journey towards wholeness - to feel whole within themselves (body, mind, spirit) and with the external world. Every person has their unique set of barriers that have been put up to limit our ability to connect and feel whole. This book helps give basic guidelines that each individual can adapt and change to better fit their individual journey.
The basic formula that is given, and supported with details and explanations, is this:
1. Practice a consistent 'basic practice' which involves connecting to your breath, energy field and gravity
2. Evoke a quality that you want to have more of in your life
3. Move towards this quality with your actions
4. Continue with curiosity
“The discipline of conscious embodiment allows us to penetrate the movement of the mind beyond our fears and desires.”
Wendy talks about the power of how being embodied allows us to grow towards something that is more aligned, more whole. She encourages a lot of curiosity in a pursuit of wisdom, as well as learning and growing from a grounded state. When we are first grounded in the present, we are able to truly witness and be aware of our fears and move towards them with curiosity.
This book to me is such a gem, and I will come back to it again and again. I took notes the first time around, and am already applying the basic formula of becoming grounded through basic practice, being curious about my fears, and evoking a quality I want to have more of in my life. I'm inspired from this book to take things slow, to enjoy the process and to be curious about my life in a way that is really enriching.
<>
This book to me is all about the slow and consistent process of turning intellectual insights into embodied being and action. I have noticed a trend with my own journey of self discovery, where I can get inspired by a new way of thinking about something, and I feel that the 'aha' intellectual moment was enough to evoke change. This book helps me challenge this perspective and slow down my progress, my goal is sustainable felt change, not moving to the next insight.
For me this book constantly reiterated the importance of putting these insights into practice, that change takes time, to take things slow, and gives me very practical things I can do right now to continue on this journey.
The journey or the path is each person's journey towards wholeness - to feel whole within themselves (body, mind, spirit) and with the external world. Every person has their unique set of barriers that have been put up to limit our ability to connect and feel whole. This book helps give basic guidelines that each individual can adapt and change to better fit their individual journey.
The basic formula that is given, and supported with details and explanations, is this:
1. Practice a consistent 'basic practice' which involves connecting to your breath, energy field and gravity
2. Evoke a quality that you want to have more of in your life
3. Move towards this quality with your actions
4. Continue with curiosity
“The discipline of conscious embodiment allows us to penetrate the movement of the mind beyond our fears and desires.”
Wendy talks about the power of how being embodied allows us to grow towards something that is more aligned, more whole. She encourages a lot of curiosity in a pursuit of wisdom, as well as learning and growing from a grounded state. When we are first grounded in the present, we are able to truly witness and be aware of our fears and move towards them with curiosity.
This book to me is such a gem, and I will come back to it again and again. I took notes the first time around, and am already applying the basic formula of becoming grounded through basic practice, being curious about my fears, and evoking a quality I want to have more of in my life. I'm inspired from this book to take things slow, to enjoy the process and to be curious about my life in a way that is really enriching.
<>
January 16, 2013
Body awareness and integrating the body seemed to be on my yearly agenda last year. I finished 2012 reading this. Wendy Palmer was a good way to end the year. I've learned so much this past year, and have had a number of good teachers. It's now 2013, and I'm in my second reading. It will be a text book for me, I'm sure.
April 28, 2010
Wendy has such a clear way of presenting somatic material, and so many excellent, simple practices to live by. I am going to bring the Intuitive Body to my yoga class and use it as a framework for several weeks as we work through the concepts together. I'm very pleased finally to have read this!
May 18, 2014
This is a fantastic book for any one who wants to get in touch with the wisdom of their own body. I loved the stories that Wendy told from her own life and I greatly enjoyed the martial arts viewpoint on love. A must read for those on the path of self mastery.
December 28, 2020
The Conscious Embodiment practices in this book were interesting. I am not so sure about calling Aikido a "Clairsentient Practice." That might be reaching too far. And, I do not know that much about Aikido yet.
July 5, 2011
I've read this book several times, sometimes in part, sometimes in full. I recommend it to students often. About being present, being in our bodies, being our core selves and our spirits...
November 8, 2010
An inspiring guide to exploring embodied movement, energetic meditation, and intuitive knowledge.
March 23, 2017
Lots of wisdom here about the body, connection meditation and the body and building up courage.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews