Christine Caldwell

As a foundation for a contemplative life, the body can both literally and metaphorically help us wake up. A book for contemplative practitioners and people in the helping professions that introduces the importance of somatic awareness, physical self-reflection, and conscious movement practices as a companion to sitting practice. Harnessing both the literal and metaphorical contemplative potency of the principles such as oscillation and balance, which govern the functioning and systems of the body, Bodyfulness provides practical guidance for living an embodied contemplative life. Both theoretical and practical, it will educate the reader about the body's role in consciousness, emotional maturity, connection to others, personal and social transformation, and spirituality. Chapter by chapter, the reader will be introduced to practices that help recover lost physical wisdom of sensation, breath, and movement. Most importantly, Bodyfulness will assist the reader in reclaiming a body-centered contemplative life, one that values both sensation and thought equally, as well as celebrating their interconnected nature.

A timely anthology that explores power, privilege, and oppression and their relationship to marginalized bodies Asserting that the body is the main site of oppression in Western society, the contributors to this pioneering volume explore the complex issue of embodiment and how it relates to social inclusion and marginalization. In a culture where bodies of people who are brown, black, female, transgender, disabled, fat, or queer are often shamed, sexualized, ignored, and oppressed, what does it mean to live in a marginalized body? Through theory, personal narrative, and artistic expression, this anthology explores how power, privilege, oppression, and attempted disembodiment play out on the bodies of disparaged individuals and what happens when the body's expression is stereotyped and stunted. Bringing together a range of voices, this book offers strategies and practices for embodiment and activism and considers what it means to be an embodied ally to anyone experiencing bodily oppression.