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Published by Wisdom Publications
Distributed by Simon & Schuster
Table of Contents
About The Book
The body is of course integral to meditation, but there are only a few books that focus this specifically on the body and the meditative experience. Awake Where You Are addresses that need, and additionally integrates psychological concepts, which provides a more familiar entry point for people less familiar with Buddhism.
“Embodied awareness is the way back home—intimacy with where and how we are right now, with what is happening and how we are meeting it. My intention is to lead you into the heart of your life. Inside your body, where everything happens—within a quality of listening rather than knowledge, of feeling rather than reaction. This meditative practice is radically transformative.”
—Martin Aylward
Pulled around by desires and distractions, we’re so easily disconnected from ourselves.
Life is happening right in front of us, and within us—but still, we manage to miss so much of it.
Awake Where You Are provides the antidote, inviting us to go deep into our own bodies, to inhabit our sensory experience carefully; to learn the art of living from the inside out, and in the process to find ease, clarity, and an authentic, unshakeable freedom.
The practices in the book literally bring us back into our skin, where we can reconnect with a more rich, meaningful, and peaceful life. Aylward writes with sophisticated subtlety, as well as the heart-opening simplicity and clarity born of deep experience.
And this book is more than a meditation guide—it’s a guide to living an embodied life. You’ll learn about the following areas and practices:
- Understanding and liberating our primal human drives. Aylward explains how the three primary drives—survival, sexual, and social—function within us, and how we can engage their energy to explore, understand, and liberate them.
- Integrating psychological understanding with meditative practice. Awake Where You Are goes beyond the broad brushstrokes of Buddhist psychology, inviting the reader into an exploration of their own particular psychological history and conditioning.
- Investigating the nuances of love. Readers will learn to see the classical Buddhist heart qualities, or brahmaviharas (loving-kindness, compassion, appreciative joy, and equanimity) as distinct flavors of love, and as the natural resting places of a free heart.
“Martin is a marvelous teacher and offers us the refreshing wisdom of an embodied life.”
—Jack Kornfield, author of No Time Like the Present
“Embodied awareness is the way back home—intimacy with where and how we are right now, with what is happening and how we are meeting it. My intention is to lead you into the heart of your life. Inside your body, where everything happens—within a quality of listening rather than knowledge, of feeling rather than reaction. This meditative practice is radically transformative.”
—Martin Aylward
Pulled around by desires and distractions, we’re so easily disconnected from ourselves.
Life is happening right in front of us, and within us—but still, we manage to miss so much of it.
Awake Where You Are provides the antidote, inviting us to go deep into our own bodies, to inhabit our sensory experience carefully; to learn the art of living from the inside out, and in the process to find ease, clarity, and an authentic, unshakeable freedom.
The practices in the book literally bring us back into our skin, where we can reconnect with a more rich, meaningful, and peaceful life. Aylward writes with sophisticated subtlety, as well as the heart-opening simplicity and clarity born of deep experience.
And this book is more than a meditation guide—it’s a guide to living an embodied life. You’ll learn about the following areas and practices:
- Understanding and liberating our primal human drives. Aylward explains how the three primary drives—survival, sexual, and social—function within us, and how we can engage their energy to explore, understand, and liberate them.
- Integrating psychological understanding with meditative practice. Awake Where You Are goes beyond the broad brushstrokes of Buddhist psychology, inviting the reader into an exploration of their own particular psychological history and conditioning.
- Investigating the nuances of love. Readers will learn to see the classical Buddhist heart qualities, or brahmaviharas (loving-kindness, compassion, appreciative joy, and equanimity) as distinct flavors of love, and as the natural resting places of a free heart.
“Martin is a marvelous teacher and offers us the refreshing wisdom of an embodied life.”
—Jack Kornfield, author of No Time Like the Present
Product Details
- Publisher: Wisdom Publications (November 2, 2021)
- Length: 232 pages
- ISBN13: 9781614298045
Raves and Reviews
“In the introduction to Awake Where You Are, Martin Aylward tells the reader that this is not another book about ‘how to meditate,’ and that is very true. He writes with honesty, insight, and experience to offer us a guidebook to awareness of the body, connection to the body, and deep acceptance no matter the state of that body.”
– Sharon Salzberg, author of Real Change
“All that we cherish—love, creativity, wisdom, and aliveness—becomes available when we are fully grounded in our bodies. In Awake Where You Are, Martin Aylward offers his profound wisdom for how we become disconnected and the timeless practices that lead us home to embodied presence.”
– Tara Brach, author of Radical Acceptance and Radical Compassion
“This beautiful and subtle book illuminates and grounds us in the truth that meditation and the practice of loving awareness are an ‘in-the-body’ experience.”
– Frank Ostaseski, author of The Five Invitations
“Awake Where You Are is a marvelous offering for anyone who is on the path of embodied living. Martin is a jewel of a teacher and friend, and his book is a beautiful afternoon listening to a dear companion. This book is a treasure.”
– Sensei Koshin Paley Ellison, Zen teacher and author of Wholehearted
“In Awake Where You Are Martin Aylward has skillfully weaved together two mutually supportive themes—learning to live a life of embodied presence and knowing a freedom without limits. Martin draws upon a wealth of first-hand experience and knowledge, especially his extended periods in the East and his depth of understanding of the Buddha’s teachings. ‘Body’ serves as a key concept throughout the book—whether that is the physical body, sexuality, embodied presence, the psychological body, or the body of love. These themes keep the reader grounded. The warm tone and depth of exploration ensure the reader stays focused on the significance of the content. I have a simple message: Buy the book. Read it. Apply its principles. Engaging, insightful, and uplifting, Awake Where You Are reveals the depth and expanse of a spiritual life.”
– Christopher Titmuss, author of The Buddha of Love
“Like the author, Awake Where You Are pulsates with visceral aliveness and a wide-open view that can create shifts in perspective by mere proximity. Rich with stories and reflections, this highly approachable yet detailed Buddhist book offers a path of awakening through ‘an intimacy with all of life.’ Martin expertly encourages us to melt mere understanding into a holistic body/mind/spirit experience of natural freedom. This book beautifully integrates the temporal with the sublime, the seen with the unseen worlds in such a way as to leave the reader genuinely aligned with the prospect of being ‘free to die with one’s heart wide open, whenever that time comes.’”
– Sarah Powers, author of Insight Yoga and Lit From Within
“I’ll be recommending this as the key textbook for all my embodiment students from now on.”
– Mark Walsh, founder of Embodiment Unlimited and author of Embodiment
"Martin is a marvelous teacher and offers us the refreshing wisdom of an embodied life."
– Jack Kornfield, author of No Time Like the Present
“Fresh, original, and insightful, Martin’s writing, both clear and incisive, will help any reader discover how to live a free, awake, embodied life. It is both a delightful and refreshing study on embodied awareness and an invaluable contribution to the field of mindfulness. If you were to have only one book on the body, I highly recommend you read this one.”
– Mark Coleman, author of Make Peace with Your Mind
“Martin Aylward goes straight to the heart, giving us a multitude of useful ways to explore a deeply embodied meditative practice.”
– Martine Batchelor, author of Let Go
“Without pressure or dogma, and with a gentle and wise approach, Martin Aylward guides us through a deep and expansive practice that, far from being removed from the world, shows us how to move through our lives with more clarity and presence.”
– Emilie Veyretout, Le Figaro
Resources and Downloads
High Resolution Images
- Book Cover Image (jpg): Awake Where You Are eBook 9781614298045
