MARYA S. GENDRON Licensed Massage Therapist
Oregon license # 15220
Who hath put wisdom
in the inward parts?
Or who hath given
understanding
to the heart?
- Job
Below are some of my favorite books on embodiment and health:
Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy by Michael Shea
A 500-page tome covering a broad range of topics related to health, vitality, and wellness from the perspectives of embrology, buddhism, osteopathy, and Jungian psychology. The biodynamic approach looks to fluid, tissue, organ, and structural formations during the first few weeks of life to gain greater understanding of the organism as a whole.
Bodymind by Ken Dychtwald
Looks at experiments in Mind/Body awareness
during the first stages of the Human Potential movement at Esalen in the 70's.
Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism,
by Trungpa Rinpoche A
truly pragmatic book that gives lucid and humorous insights into
the ego's attempts to appropriate the spiritual quest for its own
goals. Along the way, numerous nuggets of luminous intelligence
are shared on the subjects of self-love, compassion, identifying
as a deity, the mentality of wealth from which true compassion springs,
and metaphysical elucidations on the nature of form, space, and the
continuum of life.
Embodying the Movement of Life by Bonnie Gintis An Osteopath's insights into fluid dynamics, embryology, and movement. Dr. Gintis had significant scoliosis that was partially resolved through craniosacral work. She is also a student of Emilie Conrad, developer of Continuum movement. See "Life On Land" below.
Energy Medicine,
by Donna Eagan A great book by
massage therapist and intuitive, Donna Eagan, that shares practical
ways she has learned over the years to boost energy, immunity, and
general wellbeing through a fusion of asian modalities, acupoints,
keltic grid work, and intuitive imagery.
Energy Medicine in Therapeutics & Human Performance
by James Oschmann
Provides a solid scientific framework through which to view energy
medicine. Fairly dry reading, but chock-full of relevant research.
Job's Body Deane Juhan Technical while still accessable to anyone interested in learning more about the body, this book gives a fresh and grounded perspective on the power of touch and the science behind the effectiveness of bodywork.
Healing
with Whole Foods: Chinese Medicine and Modern Nutrition
by Paul Pichford An
immensely invaluable book to have around the house as a reference.
Clear description of the principles behind Oriental medicine and
how to better understand the properties of food for use in the ultimate
preventive care - food as medicine. Also explores nutritional perspectives on
fairly serious or difficult-to-treat ailments such as AIDS and Candidiasis.
Backed with sound scientific research. Very user-friendly. A tome
worth owning. Intro
to Tantra by Lama Yeshe An excellent introduction to Tantra, or how to fully utilize and transform
desire into creative, compassionate energy within the continuum:
"Instead of viewing pleasure and desire as something to be
avoided at all costs, Tantra recognized the powerful energy aroused
by our desires to be an indispensable resource for the spiritual
path." Basic Buddhist concepts, such as the nature of emptiness and the
self-luminous cognition of the universe, are explained within the
context of the Bodhisattva path - dedicating one's life to the liberation
of others.
Life on Land
by Emilie Conrad
Autobiography of the developer of Continuum movement. Emilie's story is an engaging account of her journey to freedom through movement, first as a dancer in Haiti in the 50's, then later as developer of a movement style based off of embryological fluid dynamics. The discoveries she makes through movement eventually lead her to collaborations with Dr.Valerie Hunt of the UCLA Kinesiology Labs, where she later learns to help patients with spinal paralysis through her unique approach to movement.
Molecules
of Emotion: the Science Behind Mind/Body Medicine
by Candace Pert "Pert, once a chief of brain chemistry
at the NIH, freely intermingles vibrant stories of her professional
and personal life with her theories about neuropeptides. In the
early 1970s, she had a key role in discovering the brain's opiate
receptors. An interesting read on the sexual politics of scientific
achievement. She also traces her own evolution from competitive
bench scientist to explorer of personal healing modalities."
Space, Time, & Medicine
by Larry Dossey
This book explores the different ways that cultures view time
and the startling correlations and differences in disease between
cultures with linear vs. cyclical notions of time. Dossey gives
simplified examples of quantum physic's discoveries of the holographic
universe and relativity and proposes that Western medicine can benefit
greatly from these newer, revolutionary views of space and time
and their implications for health.
