The Wisdom of Your Body

October 18, 2021
Psychologist McBride (Mothers, Daughters, and Body Image) encourages readers to escape from damaged or harmful societal messages about their bodies in this insightful guide to being “embodied” in this “mysterious journey we each take from birth to death.” Weaving in research and anecdotes from her professional life, such as her experiences with an eating disorder and a life-threatening car accident, she draws on the work of fellow psychologist Niva Piran to describe a sense of “disconnection from our body.” She explores the phenomenon as it pertains to stress and trauma; appearance and image; feelings or emotions; pain, illness, and injury; sensuality and sexually; and spirituality, and in the context of the impacts of colonization, racism, sexism, and patriarchy, which she argues take their toll by making the implication that “you are less valuable in this society because of your body.” The advice to become “embodied” can be felt as either “liberation or ache” depending on the reader’s personal history, but the goal is a state of being completely present and connected to one’s self and others, with thought and physical exercises suggested to get there. McBride’s tone is gentle and instructive, displaying her amazement at how the body is made and of what it is capable. The result is an intelligent consideration on what and how to be “in” oneself in the world. Agent: Angela Scheff, Ferebee Literary Agency.