Body, Spirit, and Democracy
Body, Spirit, and Democracy Books
Product Description
Body, Spirit and Democracy addresses how can we, of different ethical values, spiritual commitments, and ethnic backgrounds, work together to make a more humane world. The unique perspective on this common concern is from the author’s lifetime of work within the family of body-therapies, exercise and movement disciplines that emerged in Northern Europe and the United States during the middle of the 19th Century. In the spirit of 12-step meetings and Native American circles, the author tells a number of tales of his and others’ journeys, which illustrate how the most seemingly abstract spiritual notions about life are distilled from dense bodily experience. By connecting the flesh of tales with the abstractions of spiritual and philosophical viewpoints, the author situates himself among the many activists, intellectuals, artists, and religious workers who are working towards accustoming people to embracing spiritual diversity as more healing than the monistic alternatives.
Buy Cheap Body, Spirit, and Democracy Online
Related posts:
- The Beginner’s Guide to Mind, Body and Spirit
- Acupuncture: Energy Balancing for Body, Mind and Spirit
- Body-Centered Psychotherapy: The Hakomi Method : The Integrated Use of Mindfulness, Nonviolence and the Body
- The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down
- Aromatherapy for the Soul: Healing the Spirit with Fragrance and Essential Oils
Dr. Johnson writes that academic, formal, broadcast languages are not conducive to writing about the fleshy territories where he has conducted his expeditions. These expeditions lead us into the realm of the body in an attempt to listen to the tales it has to tell. His own tale started at age four when he started having chronic back problems. This early stigma was one of the key events that led him to studying gesture, movement, and posture. His Roman Catholic upbringing encouraged domination of the body to elevate the spirit. His curiosity as to why the two had to be separated led him to the study and do of Somatics. This book is a chronicle of his journey to reconnect body and spirit. It also gives an fascinating look at some of the practitioners who are the roots of the Somatics movement. Unlike some books that address the issues of tender intelligence and embodiment, this one is not heavy-handed in either scientific or religious language and metaphors. Dr. Johnson writes with an honesty that reminds us that this is a private accounting, not a sales-hype for a lifestyle adjustment. He mixes poetry, reverie, and scholary text into a tale that is a pleasure to read. I reckon that it would fascinate to anyone who is interested in the study of language, movement, and the psychology of the body. I also urge it to educators who need encouragement in their struggles to keep “movement” alive in our school systems for it validates movement as a learning style. Although well footnoted, I wanted to have a reference section included so that the works cited may possibly be simpler to access.
Rating: 4 / 5