I cannot say enough wonderful things about this book. If you have a body, you need it. I'm actually in the process of figuring out how to order it in bulk so I can give it away (just my luck, it's the publisher with which I have a 40% lifetime discount!), so hang tight because there could be a copy coming your way. Owens speaks to people who have chronic pain, who have been physically or sexually abused, who have body image issues, who fear intimacy, who are afraid to rest. It is a book for everyone. I am going to try to restrain myself from sharing too many quotes because I also have a story about how I applied what I learned from the book.
the body is so powerful, and at its best so very good, that it forms and shapes our views of ourselves, others and God. Our bodies are an integral part of ourselves and tell us what we most deeply believe - even when our minds and hearts are feeling otherwise
The grace of it all is the same grace that God offers when I'm in my most self-destructive wounded places - the very weakness we feel in our image of ourselves is the place God will meet us most deeply. The way toward a healthy body image isn't by ignoring our desire to be thin or muscular or shapely, but by stepping in closer to them. Every time we think 'fat' when passing by a mirror is an opportunity to notice and attend to our own sense of loneliness and inadequacy, a place that God's love and presence can meet us if we'll open the door.
When we've trained ourselves to mistrust the desires of our bodies, we've cut ourselves off from some deeply important sources of information about how we're doing - our emotions are primarily, physiological, after all - an we're able to access the reality of what's going on inside our souls.
Being at home in your own skin means that you're willing to develop a sensitivity to an awareness of the messages of your own body.
Awareness of our senses helps us to delight in the glory of the world around us and to consciously respond to our place in that world, our place in relationship to God.
to be physically present, no matter our emotion or spiritual state is to insist on the power of the incarnation to heal us and make us whole
And now a story. In the book, Tara talks about how you can use consensual, appropriate physical touch as a means of communicating and transmitting redemptive healing. I am NOT instinctively a toucher, but I decided to be more aware of how my body might relate to other bodies. Last night, my competitive team was working really hard on their beam routine, and I could see one of the girls just totally losing it. She looked defeated. At one point, when we were starting over for maybe the 20th time, she said she wanted a nap. I told her we had to keep moving forward, but that if it would make her feel better, I could give her a hug. Her whole face lit up and we hugged and I told the group that if they were ever feeling discouraged or frustrated or just needed a minute they could get a hug. The whole group just softened, and then they came back refreshed and even stronger. It was seriously beautiful.
Put this one on your must-read list asap.
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