Book Review: Embodied Self Awakening

     Have you ever considered how living in a patriarchal, racist, capitalist society damages your mental health and separates you from wellness? That is exactly what Nityda Gessel explores in this work, Embodied Self Awakening. The book first explores how we inherently experience pain when moving through the world, and how it creates emptiness within us. We all carry trauma with us and have echoes of pain as a result. Gessel brings in teachings of Buddhism combined with several breathing exercises to center the reader. Then, we delve into neurobiology and, specifically, how the vagus nerve can send our bodies and minds into trauma response. Gessel asks us: What ails us? What exiles us from wellness? Is it childhood trauma, abuse, or something else?

     This book then enters into my personal favorite section regarding the healing of generational trauma. The author delves into how, in America, our land is stolen. Many of our buildings were constructed by enslaved Africans. Everywhere we look, combined with our own experiences, there is generational trauma. This book explores ways to address that, no matter what your role in the liberation of others.

     The book concludes with concrete tips on how we can try to recover from our own trauma by starting within. There are poses one can utilize, breathing exercises, and thought exercises. I highly recommend trying each of these out. I found new ways to calm myself and help my own healing process.

     I found this book to be a fantastic read with lots of useful, practical information. You will learn something new about history, Buddhism, and healing yourself or others. One thing I especially enjoyed was how the illustrations of relaxation poses featured several different bodies and body types, which is something often missing from similar works. This read would be helpful to social workers and social work educators in several facets of the work, and I recommend picking it up.

Reviewed by Libby Trammell, Missouri LCSW, Student Learning Program Manager, Healing Action.