Reginald Ray is the author of five books and one of the most innovative and experienced meditation teachers in the West, drawing on 38 years of study within the Tibetan tradition and many years of solitary and group retreat practice. He teaches within the meditation lineage of Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche and has taught for many years at Naropa University.

In this erudite work, Ray challenges us "to be awake, to be enlightened . . . to be fully and completely embodied." In his view, we in the West are disembodied and this can be seen in the ways we use, misuse, and exploit our bodies. Part of the problem is that we also are disconnected from our emotions and unable to experience them with openness, trust, or confidence. The result is an emphasis on the mind over the body or what philosopher Ken Wilber calls "brains on a stick."

Ray believes that the somatic practices of Buddhist meditation can help us reclaim our bodies. Our flesh can become our teacher speaking to us through our sensations, feelings, images, and somatic memories. The author examines the value of practicing attention to the body and many of its benefits including the art of letting go, discomfort, dealing with pain, tracking our emotions, the "good news" of chaos, and cultivating the imagination in body work. In a final section, Ray discusses the importance of shadow work of somatic awareness. He concludes that the body is an ideal place of spiritual pilgrimage where we can encounter mystery and depth.