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Discovering the Body's Wisdom

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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.

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)

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.

This product is a must read for practitioner and client. It is filled with information to ask a practitioner before getting any type of bodywork. Information such as education, years experience, licensing, and so on. It also provides hints to receiving the best massage, reflexology, and other treatment for stress relief and health. For the practitoner it educates on ambience, dress, professionalism, and safety to insure a good experinece for the client. As a reflexologist, I found the scenarios presented humorous and helpful. I wanted to know how to enhance my practice through brochures, definitions of various types of body work for my position as a Delaware Board Massage/Bodywork member to use as we review law and make changes. It has great descriptions as to what each body wisdom/work is which helps all concerned. I highly recommend this book even though it has been around for a while, it is very informative.

I purchased this book from a metaphysical book store when I was a preteen simply because the cover intrigued me. I have used it as a reference throughout my college experience as a dance major, counseling major, and now in grad school as a body psychotherapy major. Very helpful basic "road map" (as another reviewer mentioned) to go back to.

This book is great for a beginner in the field of Somatics and Body/Mind Education. It gives you a sampling of what is going on in the world to help you explore your own body/mind experience.

One of Knaster's ethical principles for therapists is to "not offer services beyond their . . area of competence", yet she readily presents her personal experiences as American psychological fact. This book may be a good read for young teenage girls seeking guidance, or for women who consider themselves victims of the 'physical repression of American education'. An 'intro to basic psychology' book would be less biased and do more good.

She does a good job of covering many types of massage, altho some very lightly (e.g. lymphatic massage in 2 pages) and some with less competence (e.g. distorted view of holistic healing). Do not expect to learn any of the techniques here; it is just an overview. Caution for men: If this book had a version intended for guys, it could be shortened by 200 pages.