Joy : the surrender to the body and to life

Dr. Alexander Lowen believes that the key to personal change is contact with the body. This book rests on the idea that joy is a natural state, a positive feeling of the body, possible only through surrender to the body by listening to its wisdom and what it communicates. The book reviews the essentials of bioenergetic therapy in the light of other therapeutic approaches, and teaches how to surrender to joy by using bioenergetic principles. It discusses aggression, disappointment, sexual abuse, the fear of dying and issues of spirituality as it attemps to make joy a more common experience.

JoyPreface 1. Joy The Freedom from Guilt Feeling the Life of the Body 2. The Surrender to the Body The Surrender of the Narcissistic Ego Grounding and Reality 3. Crying: The Releasing Emotion 4. The Resistance to Crying I Won't Break Down The Surrender of the Will: Despair 5. Anger: The Healing Emotion 6. Love: The Fulfilling Emotion The Surrender to Love Mature Love 7. The Betrayal of Love 8. Sexual Abuse 9. Fear: The Paralyzing Emotion 10. The Fear of Death 11. Passion, Sex, and Joy 12. Passion and the Spirit The Surrender to God The Dancing Spirit