Body Aware
Rediscover Your Mind-Body Connection, Stop Feeling Stuck, and Improve Your Mental Health with Simple Movement Practices
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5.0 • 1 Rating
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- $10.99
Publisher Description
An at-home mindful movement practice--cultivate resilience, dispel emotional blockages, and live your best life with the power of movement.
When we talk about movement, most of us think “exercise.” But the way we move our bodies--how we walk, roll, dance, stretch, connect, and take up space--is about so much more than physical fitness. Our movements impact our mental and emotional health...and when we change the way we move, we can change the way we live.
Licensed clinical professional counselor and board-certified dance and movement therapist Erica Hornthal--aka “The Therapist Who Moves You”--takes readers on a step-by-step journey, showing how a mindful movement practice can:
Help ease symptoms of depressionBuild a greater sense of connection and intimacy with loved onesSlow down thoughts to lessen anxiety and panicImpact how--and what--we feelReaders will learn to identify where they physically hold their emotions; understand and interpret their body’s unique language; explore bodily sensations; identify emotional blockages; and upgrade harmful thought cycles to patterns that instead foster resilience, emotional regulation, and productivity. With a chapter on disability and movement diversity, Hornthal’s guide begins to move dance therapy to a more inclusive, non-prescriptive space, helping each of us discover the kind of movement that works best for us.
Broken into three sections, “How You Move,” “How Movement is a Catalyst for Change,” and “Transforming Your Life Through Movement,” Body Aware is a revelatory transformational practice and an easy-to-use introduction to the mind-body power of intentional movement.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
This enjoyable guide by dance therapist Hornthal (My Body Talks) explores the healing powers of movement. Drawing on personal anecdotes and client stories from her practice, the author examines the mind-body connection and provides exercises to foster it and improve mental health. Hornthal recounts how she started dancing at a young age and used it to cope with such major life changes as moving across the country while in high school and later when entering college. She also tells how movement therapy has helped her clients—including a woman with Parkinson's disease who showed significant improvement in dexterity after attending the author's dance therapy—positing that "working on connectivities in the body fosters connection in the brain." Hornthal provides exercises to strengthen the mind-body connection, suggesting, for instance, that readers stand in a doorway with their feet against the sides of the frame and then "play with the space" to foster self-awareness. She also addresses movement in neurodiverse people and those with disabilities, urging readers to "try movement from a different perspective," whatever that may mean for their bodies. Her compassionate tone and inclusive approach make for a rewarding manual. Insightful and sensitive, this will delight the mindfulness crowd.
Customer Reviews
Changed me from start to finish!
I received this book free in a Goodreads giveaway and it was a perfect fit!
WARNING: this book will start impacting you at chapter 1 (see below for my personal experience)! Erica writes in a way that immediately changes your perception and enhances your body awareness that goes much deeper than just noticing sensations. We can’t connect to our emotions or change out mindset until we understand our personal body’s vocabulary. “The body holds answers to questions that the mind doesn’t even know how to ask all you have to do is listen.”
Erica includes “body aware breaks” throughout each chapter which really helped me to pause & slow down my urge to consume this information. Each chapter also includes takeaways to summarize main points. I was truly impressed with the amount of practical tips this book provides. This is not a book that you just read once but one that can & should be revisited.
If you are somebody like me (nonfiction junkie) who enjoys reading books on healing, trauma, and the body than this MUST be added to your list. I feel like this book really puts into practice and gives the reader techniques that pair nicely with, “The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma by Bessel van der Kolk”
*Some examples of changes I noticed in myself initially were:
-my reading slowed down & I enjoyed how I felt when choosing quality over quantity.
-I began to notice how poor positioning had an effect on my mood.
-I became aware of how rushed I am during my daily routine for no reason. When I Practiced slowing down my movements my mood improved & mind settled (especially before bed).
-I am starting to listen to my body more & implementing more movement breaks when my energy runs low or focus needs a shift.