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In this compelling, cutting-edge book,
two generations of science writers explore the exciting science of "body
maps" in the brain -- and how startling new discoveries about the mind-body
connection can change and improve our lives. Why do you still feel fat after
losing weight? What makes video games so addictive? How can "practicing" your
favorite sport in your imagination improve your game? The answers can be found
in body maps.
Just as road maps represent interconnections across landscape, your many body
maps represent all aspects of your bodily self, inside and out. In concert, they
create your physical and emotional awareness and your sense of being as a whole,
feeling self in a larger social world.
Moreover, your body maps are profoundly elastic. Your self doesn't begin and end
with your physical body but extents into the space around you. This space morphs
every time you put on or take off clothes, ride a bike or wield a tool. When you
drive a car, your personal body space grows to envelope it. When you play a
video game, your body maps automatically track and emulate the actions of your
character onscreen. When you watch a scary movie, your body maps put dread in
your stomach and send chills down your spine. If your body maps fall out of
sync, you may have an out-of-body experience or see auras around other people.
The Body Has a Mind of Its Own
explains how you can tap into te power of body maps to do almost anything
better: play tennis, strum a guitar, ride a horse, dance a waltz, empathize with
a friend, raise children, cope with stress.
The story of body maps goes even further, providing a fresh look at causes of
anorexia, bulimia, obsessive plastic surgery, and the notorious golfer's curse
"the yips." It lends insights into culture, language, music, parenting,
emotions, chronic pain, and more.
Filled with illustrations, wonderful anecdotes, and even parlor tricks you can
use to reconfigure your body sense, The Body
Has a Mind of Its Own will change the way you think -- about the way you
think.
pub date: 2007-09-11 | hardcover | 9781400064694 |
