The Wakeful Body

Praise

“This remarkable book brings the body into clear focus as a medium of awakening.”—Roshi Joan Halifax, abbot, Upaya Zen Center
 
“The Wakeful Body is a wisdom treasure bringing forth the insights, life stories, hidden teachings, and practice pathways on how to tend the ‘agriculture of the soul,’ including knots, entanglements, and uprooting embodied suffering toward liberation and integration. Lama Willa’s experience and collection of teachings on the power of flow, dance, and movement practices in Tibetan Buddhist traditions is a rare treasure offered by a pioneering teacher with great benefit to all. Emaho! A classic is born for future generations.”—Shiva Rea, founder of Samudra Global School of Living Yoga and author of Tending the Heart Fire
 
“In a most refreshing way, Lama Willa invites us to wake up to the wisdom of our bodies. Her skillful and practical guidance, informed by years of deep practice in yoga and Tibetan Buddhist meditation, literally moves us in new ways to be embodied and get out of our heads. The Wakeful Body is a treasure of a book filled with countless gems to nourish and ground. It will be a trusted resource for years to come that I will return to time and time again.”—Susan Bauer-Wu, PhD, RN, president of the Mind & Life Institute and author of Leaves Falling Gently
 
“The Wakeful Body is a gift to the world and cements Willa Blythe Baker as one of our strongest and most convincing voices of a deeply somatic approach to Buddhist practice. Baker persuasively theorizes that meditation is misconceived as something we do with our mind. Far more profitable is an exploration of bodily experience, and this shift in focus from mind to body changes everything for the aspiring meditator. Filled with anecdotes from her life, we follow her journey of awakening as she enters as a young novitiate on the path and emerges as one of the most important teachers of our time.”—Will Johnson, author of The Posture of Meditation and Breathing through the Whole Body
 
“The human body is a sacred form full of potential. This book lays out rich and practical guidance to utilize it as a doorway to healing and spiritual awakening.”—Anam Thubten, author of Choosing Compassion
 
“A beautifully written expression of devotion to the body as teacher—wherein one can clearly feel the depth and authenticity of the author’s exploration and practice.”—Elizabeth Mattis Namgyel, author of The Logic of Faith