Books on embodied training (my company’s specialty) are somewhat of a paradox as this is a highly experiential and by definition embodied area! They can however be useful on a number of fronts and having never seen a list of recommended titles I thought I’d put one together. This is of course a subjective list, I’ve tried not to be too biased towards my own teachers but there is some of that and I may be missing some. Please add more and reviews in comments.
My top four embodied books for business people new to this area are in pink.
Most Accessible Embodied Books
An Unused Intelligence, Andy Bryner and Dawna Markowa – Relates to the body to modern leadership theories
Breakfast Essays: Brief Writings on Body Awareness and Life (e-book), Paul Linden – Digestible stories about embodiment
The Intuitive Body, Wendy Palmer – A nice introduction to embodied work from an aikido master. Californian, but in a good way.
Move to Greatness, Ginny Whitelaw and Betsy Wetzig – A clear embodied typology with a business focus
Best Theoretical Embodied Books
The Leadership Dojo, Richard Strozzi Heckler – This is a concise and learned introduction to embodied leadership by the person I regard as the world leader in embodied learning with businesses
How the Body Shapes How We Think, Rolf Pfeiufer and Josh Bongard – An up to date book on embodied cognition and computer science – not light reading
Somatic Psychology, Linda Hartley – Clear concepts form the world of dance and dance-movement therapy
Trauma and The Body, Ogden et al – Trauma focus but an extremely learned and grounded appraisal of the whole embodied arena.
Laban For All, Newlove and Dalby – Accessible theory from the dance master
Integral Life Practice – Wilber et al – Not all about embodiment but provides a wider context and an excellent chapter on practice. See also Leonard’s ILP book.
Best Embodied Exercises
Embodied Peacemaking (e-book) Paul Linden – While the title stresses one area of his work this is easily the best illustrated and clearest book giving a wide variety of embodied exercises. It is as near to a text book as there is.
Retooling on the Run, Stuart Heller and David Surrenda – Clear diagrams and accessible models.
Best Embodied Spirituality Books
The Body, Paramananda – small simple guide to embodied Buddhist practice.
Touching Enlightenment: Finding Realization in the Body, Reginald Ray – A more in depth Buddhist book
Best Embodied Trauma Books
Winning is Healing (e-book), Paul Linden – Well illustrated and brings humour to a dark subject. The man’s a hero
Healing Trauma, Peter Levine – An accessible how to from the most famous man in the field, more practical than his classic Waking The Tiger.
Babbette Rothschild’s and Bessel van Der Kolk are also worth a read.
Classic Embodied Books
The Anatomy of Change, Richard Strozzi Heckler – Introduced many fundamental embodied concepts.
BodyMind, Ken Dychtwald – A classic on the body-mind split
Discovering the Body’s Wisdom, Mirka Knaster – Surveys a huge range of embodied disciplines
Focusing, Eugine Gendlin – Find out what your body is saying
Your Body Speaks it’s Mind, Stanley Kellerman – One of the founding fathers of the field.
The Use of The Self, FM Alexander
Job’s Body: A Handbook for Bodywork – Deane Juhan – Classic text relating bodywork to anatomy
The works of Moshe Feldenkrais, Ida Rolf and Thomas Hannah are also in this category as founding fathers and Freud’s student Wilhelm Reich who can be called the grandfather if this work.
Miscellaneous Embodied Books Worth a Mention
In Search of the Warrior Spirit, Richard Strozzi Heckler – Chronicles Richard’s experience teaching awareness disciplines to the Green Berets. Quite a tale.
The Future of The Body, Michael Murphy – Huge survey of the body, especially the outer possibilities and more esoteric practices.
Body-Centred Psychotherapy – The Hakomi Method, Ron Kurtz – Recommended for therapists
Smart Moves – Why learning is not all in your head, Carla Hannaford – Recommended for those in training and education
What the Body Wants ,Cynthia Winton-Henry and Phil Porter – Good book on the body and play as is:
Hopping Home Backwards, Penny Greenland
Last but not least, the one I’m writing on the body and leadership – extracts freely available online.
Thanks to Mark Shagra and Jnanagarbha for their help with this, we’ve all cost each other A LOT on Amazon!
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If you have enjoyed this video you may like to take a look at:
- 7 Essential Embodied Tools for Leadership, Training and HR
- The Body and Leadership
- Embodied Coaching and Leadership
If your organisation is looking at leaderhip training in the workplace then call us on (+44) (0) 1273 906828.
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neosize
Nice stuff, thank you!
Mark
Alexander Lowen was suggested on Twitter