Embracing the Body – Finding God in Our Flesh and Bone

Foreword Reviews' 18th Annual INDIEFAB Book of the Year for Body, Mind and Spirit2015 Readers' Choice Awards Honorable MentionOur bodies teach us about God, and God communicates to us through our bodies. Our bodies are more good than we can possibly imagine them to be. And yet at times we may struggle with feelings of shame and guilt or even pride in regard to our bodies. What is God trying to do through our skin and bones?In Embracing the Body spiritual director Tara Owens invites you to listen to your thoughts about your body in a way that draws you closer to God, calling you to explore how your spirituality is intimately tied to your physicality. Using exercises for reflection at the end of each chapter, she guides you to see your body not as an inconvenience but as a place where you can meet the Holy in a new way—a place to embrace God's glorious intention.

"Owens, a certified spiritual director and senior editor for Conversations Journal, addresses the disconnect most of us, and our churches, experience between ourselves and the physical world around us, even though it is in the body that heaven actively meets earth. Through a gentle, compassionate exploration of our thoughts and feelings about our bodies, enhanced with exercises for reflection, Owens helps us to learn what it means to be at home in our own skin and sensitive to the body's innate wisdom.", "With tender words and emotional depth, Owens offers a sacred space to ponder the fears of our bodies and how the subtle and overt messages we receive from church and society numb us to the murmurs from God that reverberate through our flesh and bones. . . . What does it mean to be at home in your skin? Step into Embracing the Body to continue your own healing towards an embodied faith.", "Tara Owen's book . . . presents a compelling vision of what an integrated self—a self no longer divided into pure spirit and problematic body—looks and feels like. . . . Embracing the Body provides a heartfelt, accessible introduction to the many ways we can begin to bring body and spirit back together, figure out what our bodies have to do with our faith and embrace the remarkable implications of a God who took on human flesh.", "Our bodies have been the cause of much shame and guilt, as well as false pride—yet they have much to teach us about divinity. Owens unpacks this thesis by examining themes such as fear and impulse, celebration and connectivity. The Canadian author . . . has a strong command of biblical and liturgical theology, and she directs that skill in penetrating and healing ways. Incarnation and resurrection—God in Jesus, both human and divine—are at the core of our understanding of being Christian. We can rejoice in both carnality and divinity, and this book helps us explore that more deeply."

Tara M. Owens is senior editor for Conversations Journal. Owens also provides spiritual direction through Anam Cara Ministries and is a part-time instructor for the Benedictine Spiritual Formation Program at Benet Hill Monastery. She lives with her husband, Bryan, and their daughter in Colorado Springs.