Book recommendations

For me, reading is always a great entrypoint in new disciplines. If that resonates with you too, and you'd like to learn more about the world of somatics, neuroscience, and awareness, here are the books that have been most valuable for me.

Moshe Feldenkrais - Awareness through movement

If you're looking for an introduction to the feldenkrais method, this is it. The first few chapters articulate in extreme synthesis Moshe Feldenkrais some of the theory behind his method. It also contains ten lessons, but I recommend you to find a local practitioner because it's hard to experience lessons on your own at the beginning.

We act in accordance with our self-image. This self-image—which, in turn, governs our every act—is conditioned in varying degree by three factors: heritage, education, and self-education.

Lisa Barrett - How emotions are made

A modern view on emotions. In the past we used to regard emotions as universal reactions to external stimuli, expressed by universal facial expressions. The modern science suggests that emotions are predictions that the mind creates for us to achieve some goal. A fascination read on how you can mistake a flu for infatuation with a student.

Norman Doidge - The brain that changes itself

A survey of all the approaches that use neuroplasticity to heal an array of physical issues. In the past we used to believe that the brain was fixed, and that neurons wouldn't make new connections. Overwhelming evidence shows now that the brain can re-wire itself, learn new patterns, and let go of old ones.

Moshe Feldenkrais - The potent self

The richest book from Moshe Feldenkrais, detailing what he believed made (or failed to make) a man capable of enacting his potency and living life to the fullest. A study of compulsion and spontaneity: what is that you do because you want to, and what because you have no choice but to do so? A constant tandem of mind, culture, and movement patterns.

Potent activity is the one we encounter in well-matured persons. In those planes of life in which our maturity is least developed, we continue acting compulsively; we do (or we do not do) things knowing perfectly well that we want the exact opposite. Impotence thus appears.

Alan Gordon - The way out

Sometimes an injury heals, but the pain stays: the nervous system has learnt to feel pain in a certain area even if there's no impending physical damage to protect from. This exploration of chronic pain explains how these circumstances arise, and how to heal them. You can also read my summary: Overcoming chronic pain.

Blandine Calais-Germain - Anatomy of movement

An anatomy book centered around movement: how different muscles, bones, and ligaments contribute to all the movements we can perform. It explores the body in sections, and details what each muscle and bone is responsible for. All with beautiful drawings. The same author also has books on preparing for birth and the dynamics of breathing.

Jon Kabat-Zinn - Full catastrophe living

The author is one of the people that contributed to bringing the zen culture into the west. He recounts his practice at the stress clinic he founded, where people that have not found relief elsewhere are invited to practice various forms of mindfulness and awareness to recuperate their health.

Stanislas Dehaene - How we learn

A mini, all-encompassing essay on neuroscience. How do children learn, what patterns are most effective, how the brain works, how adults process information.

Oliver Sacks - A leg to stand on

A memoir recounting the story of how the author broke his leg during a hike and, following a neurological damage, lost control of the leg. His quest to gain control of it again, the states of mind he travelled through as he cohabitated with a leg he couldn't feel nor move, and his experience of being a patient in the hands of others.