This book captures the essence of Charlotte Selver’s practice of Sensory Awareness like no other publication. It is an invitation to experience life firsthand again, as we did when we were children. In a culture where we have grown accustomed to accumulating knowledge from teachers and experts, it is rare to find a book that actually invites us to trust our own senses again. It is the authors’ intent to give back to the reader authority over his or her own experience and learning processes. Much of the book focuses on reviving the senses in order to open the mind and body to direct learning. The book imitates an actual Sensory Awareness class, involving the reader as a student, guiding him or her along a journey with and through the senses to a way of living that is in accordance with the natural functioning of the human organism in its environment. The range of explorations include a renewed connection to the support of the earth as a foundation for trust; the central role of gravity for our health and for finding orientation in life; a study of breathing that promotes health and vitality; and connecting and interacting with other people. A handbook to a more genuine and connected way of living, the work is also a beautifully crafted account of Sensory Awareness, showing these profound teachers at work with their students and with the reader.

Although the practice of Sensory Awareness, the rediscovery of experiencing, is nonverbal, its essence can be distilled from the tape-recorded words of its seminal teacher, Charlotte Selver, in response to her students’ actions and questions during her classes. This book is a lovingly selected and skillfully edited compilation of excerpts of more than two decades of Charlotte Selver’s profound teachings, colorful sayings, and rich insights, arranged topically. They represent the heart of her teaching. Using only her own words, the text of each experiment feels like Charlotte Selver herself speaking not only to her class but to the reader. The reader is invited to try out some of the suggested experiments.

A guided tour through the body’s innate healing powers Many of us have learned to ignore, deny, or even mistrust the wise messages our bodies give us. The result is that when trauma strikes, a time when we need every aspect of our beings to master the challenge, we may find ourselves disconnected from our greatest strengths. Suzanne Scurlock-Durana, who has spent thirty years studying the gifts of the body and teaching thousands how to reclaim them, began to recognize this strength, which she likens to a GPS, when she herself experienced a life-threatening trauma. Here she walks readers through different areas of the body, revealing the wisdom they hold and how to reconnect with that wisdom. As she shows in this warm, compassionate book, the body’s abilities are always available; we must simply reconnect with them.

There is an emergent movement of scientists and scholars working on somatic awareness, interoception and embodiment. This work cuts across studies of neurophysiology, somatic anthropology, contemplative practice, and mind-body medicine. Key questions include: How is body awareness cultivated? What role does interoception play for emotion and cognition in healthy adults and children as well as in different psychopathologies? What are the neurophysiological effects of this cultivation in practices such as Yoga, mindfulness meditation, Tai Chi and other embodied contemplative practices? What categories from other traditions might be useful as we explore embodiment? Does the cultivation of body awareness within contemplative practice offer a tool for coping with suffering from conditions, such as pain, addiction, and dysregulated emotion? This emergent field of research into somatic awareness and associated interoceptive processes, however, faces many obstacles. The principle obstacle lies in our 400-year Cartesian tradition that views sensory perception as epiphenomenal to cognition. The segregation of perception and cognition has enabled a broad program of cognitive science research, but may have also prevented researchers from developing paradigms for understanding how interoceptive awareness of sensations from inside the body influences cognition. The cognitive representation of interoceptive signals may play an active role in facilitating therapeutic transformation, e.g. by altering context in which cognitive appraisals of well-being occur. This topic has ramifications into disparate research fields: What is the role of interoceptive awareness in conscious presence? How do we distinguish between adaptive and maladaptive somatic awareness? How do we best measure somatic awareness? What are the consequences of dysregulated somatic/interoceptive awareness on cognition, emotion, and behavior? The complexity of these questions calls for the creative integration of perspectives and findings from related but often disparate research areas including clinical research, neuroscience, cognitive psychology, anthropology, religious/contemplative studies and philosophy.

A practical, user-friendly guide for women seeking focus and calm in the midst of life's storms. Overwhelmed by the demands of family, work, and multiple responsibilities, many women find themselves feeling scattered, and distracted. In this eye-opening book, co-founder and CEO of the Mindsight Institute, Caroline Welch takes readers on a mindfulness journey to help them de-stress and cultivate inner peace. According to Welch, you do not need countless hours sitting in silence to be more present in your life--the key is to practice mindfulness wherever you are and whenever you can. The Gift of Presence guides readers in developing four innate capacities we all possess that will allow us to become more resilient and centered in our lives--even when life is throwing all that it has at us: Presence: the ability to remain firmly in the present moment; to be fully aware of what's happening as it's happening. Purpose: the personal meaning that gets us going and gives direction to our lives. Pivoting: an openness to change that allows you to switch direction if that is what is needed. Pacing: the awareness that it is impossible to do everything we want or need to do all at once; the ability to take life one step at a time. This life-changing book reveals that you already hold in your hands the keys to a more harmonious life--you simply need to look within.