Charlotte Selver belongs with voices like Alexander, Feldenkrais, and Elsa Gindler as a pioneer who explored the positive impact of the body on brain function. Waking Up is a collection of conversations written down by Littlefield and Roche from classes that Selver taught. She never took the time to write her own book, but this one suffices to communicate some of her core ideas. The bulk of Selver's work happened before science caught up with her. Her guru-like approach requires the patience of experience, and a willingness to get on the mat and listen. The core premise of the book, that allowing our sensory awareness to occupy a larger part of our working memory, and that by doing so, we will open ourselves to the world in new, exciting ways, has significant support from the neuroscience community. That people struggle to accomplish these goals attests to the continued importance of voices like Selver's today. For performance artists, focusing on sensory awareness can make enormous differences to learning, and sustainable practice. By drawing our attention to sensory intelligence, Selver reminds us that our conscious minds, the so-called "higher order" thinking, represents only a small portion of brain function, and that by attempting to rely solely on the conscious mind for understanding leads to unhappiness and inefficiency. |