Discovering the Body's Wisdom [Paperback]

Mirka Knaster (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 1996

In an attractive, oversized format, enlivened with illustrations, sidebar quotes, personal accounts, techniques to try, and profiles of leaders in the field, Discovering the Body's Wisdom is a basic resource for well-being and natural health.

Body disciplines and therapies have enjoyed phenomenal growth in the past decade, becoming a major alternative to mainstream medicine and traditional psychotherapy. But with more than 100,000 practitioners and dozens of methods available in the United States alone, how can consumers choose the right one for themselves?

Mirka Knaster's richly informative guide provides an overview of the principles and theories underlying the major Eastern and Western body therapies, or "bodyways." It shows readers how to befriend their own bodies, getting back in touch with their internal sources of health and wisdom. It also describes more than 75 individual approaches, answering such questions as: How does each therapy work? What can we expect from one session or a series? What are the reasons for selecting this method? How do we find a qualified practitioner? What, if any, are the "consumer-bewares"?

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

There are so many different kinds of bodywork available these days, many people find it hard to choose. Massage therapist and health writer Mirka Knaster's comprehensive book is a good place to start. She covers just about everything in both the Eastern and Western traditions--from various types of yoga, martial arts, and massage to newer practices such as Rolfing and the Alexander Technique to esoteric movement and touching practices of which most people have never even heard. The one thing all these techniques have in common is that they seek to bring healing and self-discovery through physical practices. "Many people first turn to bodyways because the pain of an injury or chronic condition forces them to seek alternatives," Knaster writes. "The other motivation ... comes from a natural drive toward healthy or optional functioning." Either way, she says, these practices help us overcome our disconnection from our body and our feelings.

It would be hard to overstate how much sheer information is supplied in this book. Not only does Knaster describe each technique and explain what it's supposed to do for you, she gives its history and a brief biography of the inventors, along with addresses and phone numbers for obtaining more information. A chapter on working with a given practitioner helps answer the multitude of questions readers are likely to have: How do you know if he or she is properly trained? How should you feel after a session? What do you do if your relationship with the practitioner seems too intimate or even improper? While anyone looking to get involved with a given technique would do well to find books that discuss it in greater depth, some may find that Discovering the Body's Wisdom already provides everything they need. Either way, it's a fascinating book, and a great reference to keep around.

From Publishers Weekly

If ever a book could have used a subtitle, this is one. An explanatory phrase like "Bodywork Therapies Old and New" would go far to alerting readers to the scope and purpose of this comprehensive consumer guide to the myriad bodywork disciplines currently available. After explaining the purpose of bodywork and the psychological and physical benefits ascribed to it, Knaster, a licensed massage therapist and former Ford Foundation Fellow, suggests how best to choose a therapeutic approach and what to expect from it, and how to find and evaluate bodywork practitioners. Knaster considers Western systems, with their emphasis on structure, function and movement, and Eastern approaches, which emphasize energy, or the life force. Each section concludes with information on training. The margins of the pages are distractingly busy with quotations, which, while relevant, make the necessarily complex explanations more difficult to follow. Long paragraphs set off by shading offer valuable first-person accounts or do-it-yourself exercises by which a reader can sample the practice of a therapy, but these too are interruptive. Despite its design flaws, Knaster's comprehensive study will be of considerable help to those who want to know the differences between the Alexander Technique and the Rosen Method or between Shiatsu and Aikido.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 432 pages
• Publisher: Bantam; 1 edition (June 1, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0553373277
• ISBN-13: 978-0553373271
• Product Dimensions: 7.4 x 1 x 9.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #71,526 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The first real road map into the world of alternative health, April 29, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Discovering the Body's Wisdom (Paperback)

Discovering the Body's Wisdom - A Book Review By Monica Roseberry

When America was a "new" territory being explored by the Europeans, there were the trailblazers, trackers, pioneers, and others who opened the continent up to eventually millions of new residents. Of those original forerunners, the pathfinders and mapmakers were crucial, for without their vision, expertise and labors, new arrivals would have never found their way into the future and promise of uncharted frontiers.

In the world of holistic health, healing, touch therapies and alternative medicine, a vast terrain has been opened, new ground has been taken and diverse grassroots efforts have grown and flourished. However, for others to find or follow the trails blazed by the ancient and modern pioneers in the healing arts, a guide, a map, was needed.

Like Lewis and Clark exploring and charting the new frontier of America, Mirka Knaster, author of the book, Discovering the Body's Wisdom, traveled around the world, studying, researching and cataloging many methods of healing, observing and recording how people view, take care of and heal their bodies. Ms. Knaster's 20 years of experience in the alternative health field culminate in one of the most comprehensive, useful and powerful beacons to help pilot newcomers onto the shores and across the plains to the "new world" of wellness.

For Massage Therapists, Discovering the Body's Wisdom offers many valuable tools, resources and perspectives on our growing and thriving industry. Covering 75 Body/Mind practices that can "relieve pain, reduce stress, and foster health, spiritual growth, and inner peace," this book has something for just about everyone in the massage profession. Three sections comprise the book, beginning with an overview of "Bodyways," a term Ms. Knaster coined to incorporate the many diverse and distinct modalities and processes by which the body is healed.

Part I covers "causes of body difficulties and what advantages you can derive from working with your body." It also discusses critical and often unaddressed issues such as body alienation, how we lost connection with the body, and how we can befriend the body and learn from its wisdom. As Massage Therapists, this section can give you words and ideas to educate your current clients on a deeper level about how to approach their own healing process, as well as to market to prospective clients by educating them on the value of touch and bodyways.

Part II describes "ways of choosing and interacting with a practitioner as well as deciding on which bodyway approach to work with." While this section is designed more for the general public on how to choose a practitioner, we as Massage Therapists can deepen our understanding of the needs of our clients, the benefits of our work, and measure ourselves by standards befitting professionals.

Part III serves as a guide to the individual bodyways, categorizing them according to modalities or approaches that emphasize working with Western Function, Structure and Movement; Eastern Energy and Movement, plus Body/Psyche methods. This section provides Massage Therapists a perspective on the width, depth and history of a tremendous number of bodyways, revoking any arrogance that there are "right" and "wrong" modalities, while relieving frustration that there is a single "magic bullet" out there that can help every client every time. Whether for identifying new directions for professional growth and training, or for referring clients to other practitioners, this section gives an accessible and even experiential understanding of a wide range of bodyways. Extensive resources are cited at the book's conclusion for those who wish to study a bodyway further.

For those in search of a path for healing, Discovering the Body's Wisdom is an authoritative, masterful guide, a vista point to the world of wellness we are just truly discovering, and a place to which hopefully millions will soon arrive.

23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Informative and inspiring guide to body oriented approaches, November 18, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Discovering the Body's Wisdom (Paperback)

I'm often asked by my patients for recommended reading on natural medicine. Below I suggest some excellent reference books for consumers, listed by topic.... Bodywork . "Discovering the Body's Wisdom" by Mirka Knaster. This is an informative and inspiring guide to more than 60 body-oriented approaches--from traditional Eastern disciplines, such as tai chi and yoga, to modern Western techniques, such as Rolding and the Feldenkrais Method. The author--a massage therapist and writer--includes many illustrated exercises to try at home. --Andrew Weil, M.D., "Self Healing" (August 1999)

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great for Self-Treatment or for Professionals, July 14, 2007

By 

Michelle M. Normand "Author, 30 Minute Mandalas" (OHIO, United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Discovering the Body's Wisdom (Paperback)

This book has been crucial in my career as a Mind-Body specialist. I began using some of the techniques on my own back pain before I had even finished the book. At over 400 pages it packs quite a bit of information on a wide variety of mind-body healing processes. I highly recommend it as a reference book for anyone in the fields of massage, physical therapy, reiki, and the like. I wish medical programs would make this book (or Human Kinetics) part of their teaching.