The embodied path Telling the story of your body for healing and wholeness

This contemplative outing by yoga teacher Roscher (12 Tiny Things) argues that the stories humans tell about their bodies can be restorative. She shares accounts of individuals who have lived through bodily crises, beginning with her own story about breaking her arm in a gymnastics accident when she was in eighth grade. She remembers that her self-pity turned to gratitude after a doctor explained how close she had come to having her arm amputated, changing the story she told herself about the incident. "Body stories" help process trauma, give lives meaning, and trouble the mind/body distinction, she contends. Roscher tells the stories of such ordinary people as Kevin, who faced sudden kidney failure when he was a 21-year-old college student, and Rebecca, who has used a wheelchair since she was seven and became a lawyer to call attention to the need for inclusive infrastructure. Reflection questions encourage readers to contemplate their relationship with their body, asking, "When was a time you did not feel at home in your body?" and "What has your body lost?" The narratives thoughtfully probe the relationship between the self and the body, as well as the role that stories themselves play in shaping how one understands disability. Soulful and wise, this meditative volume illuminates. (Dec.)

Roscher (Play Like a Girl) shares the story of her body in its varied iterations--from broken to transcendent--and weaves her personal narrative together with the stories of other bodies in an effort to textually transform embodied experiences into meaningful reflections and representations of identity. The book draws on the scholarship of activists like Audre Lorde and bell hooks, as well as the more recent surge of political, philosophical, and personal body writing produced since 2020 by scholars and activists striving to reclaim bodies during a time of fragmentation, isolation, dehumanization, and more. Roscher has crafted a collection interspersed with journal-style prompts and space for reflection designed to slow readers down so they can take stock of where their bodies were and are in time and space. Much like Rachel Ricketts's Do Better and Sebene Selassie's You Belong, this book encourages readers to resist disembodiment. At times, the author seems to veer away from the activist history of embodiment and focuses on a gentler, safer modality of self-care. VERDICT Overall, this is a book that encourages compassion and kindness for all bodies, which isn't ever a bad thing.--Emily Bowles