Abstract

In Mindful Movement, exercise physiologist, somatic therapist, dance educator and advocate Martha Eddy uses original interviews, case studies and practice-led research to define the origins of a new holistic field – somatic movement education and therapy­ – and its impact on fitness, ecology, politics, health, education and performance. The book reveals the role dance has played in informing and inspiring the historical and cultural narrative of somatic arts – approaches to consciousness based in the awareness of the soma, the living body. Providing an overview of the antecedents and recent advances in somatic study and with contributions by diverse experts, Eddy highlights the role of Asian movement, the European physical culture movement as well as the language of neuroscience and their relationship to the performing arts, and female perspectives in developing somatic movement, somatic dance, social somatics, somatic fitness, somatic dance and spirituality, and ecosomatics. Mindful Movement unpacks and helps to popularize awareness of both the body and the mind.
Martha Eddy is a Registered Somatic Movement Therapist, Teacher of Body-Mind Centering and Certified Movement Analyst with a doctorate in Movement Science, on the faculty at Empire State College, SUNY, and Princeton University. She is the founder of the non-profit organization Moving for Life as well as the somatic movement therapy training Dynamic Embodiment. 
Mindful Movement: The Evolution of the Somatic Arts and Conscious Action is Martha Eddy's masterfully researched book that traces the complex spider web of somatic influences on American - and European -contemporary dance, particularly in higher education. This is a dense (as in nutrient-rich) read - the bibliography alone is worth the price of the book, with many valuable citations to keep any researcher busy for quite some time. I can easily imagine this volume being required reading in university dance departments worldwide.
Jamie McHugh