An experiential guide to using your body as the focus of contemplative practice• Presents more than 50 physical self-explorations that invite you to transform your sensory experience, expand your awareness, and practice embodied presence • Integrates movement theory, neuroscience, fascia research, and personal story to examine the structural foundation of the human body in motion and in stillness • Includes streaming audio and video links for each practice Integrating movement theory, philosophy, neuroscience, fascia research, polyvagal theory, and personal story, Mary Bond teaches you to unlock your body's inner guidance?its somatic wisdom. She reveals how the human body organizes and expresses movement through perception, looking in depth at the role of the fascial system as the preeminent organ of the mind-body connection. She also explains the process of internal perception, or "interoception," the body-mind's ability to identify, access, understand, and respond appropriately to its internal signals. Offering an experiential understanding of the structural foundation of the human body in motion and in stillness, Bond presents more than 50 self-explorations that allow you to transform your sensory experience, expand your awareness, and make embodiment?your own complex body?the focus of contemplative practice. The author also includes links to audio and video instructions for each practice. Inviting you to awaken to the grace and wisdom of your body as a personal mandala that is always available for meditative focus, the author shows how conscious embodiment can help us not only improve our posture but also become more perceptive and more humane beings.

Foreword by Thomas MyersPreface Introduction: What Is a Body Mandala? PART 1 Orienting 1 Fascia: Organ of Embodiment 2 Grounding Your Experience 3 Sensing Space 4 Moving in Space PART 2 Deepening 5 Exercises for Interoception6 Healthy Breathing 7 Embodying Structure 8 Sentient Foundations9 Your Spine Is Not a Column10 Tensegrity Tower 11 The Lid on Your SpinePART 3 Practicing12 Embodying Tensegrity in Motion 13 Embodying Tensegrity in Stillness 14 Everyday EmbodimentEpilogueAcknowledgmentsGlossaryNotes Bibliography Index About the Author