Call of the Wild: How We Heal Trauma, Awaken Our Own Power, and Use It for Good
From trauma educator and somatic guide Kimberly Ann Johnson comes a cutting-edge guide for tapping into the wisdom and resilience of the body to rewire the nervous system, heal from trauma, and live fully.
In an increasingly polarized world where trauma is often publicly renegotiated, our nervous systems are on high alert. From skyrocketing rates of depression and anxiety to physical illnesses such as autoimmune diseases and digestive disorders, many women today find themselves living out of alignment with their bodies.
Kimberly Johnson is a somatic practitioner, birth doula, and postpartum educator who specializes in helping women recover from all forms of trauma. In her work, she's seen the same themes play out time and again. In a culture that prioritizes executive function and "mind over matter," many women are suffering from deeply unresolved pain that causes mental and physical stagnation and illness.
In Call of the Wild, Johnson offers an eye-opening look at this epidemic as well as an informative view of the human nervous system and how it responds to difficult events. From the "small t" traumas of getting ghosted, experiencing a fall-out with a close friend, or swerving to avoid a car accident to the "capital T" traumas of sexual assault, an upending natural disaster, or a life-threatening illness--Johnson explains how the nervous system both protects us from immediate harm and creates reverberations that ripple through a lifetime.
In this practical, empowering guide, Johnson shows readers how to metabolize these nervous system responses, allowing everyone to come home to their deepest, most intuitive and whole selves. Following her supportive advice, readers will learn how to move from wholeness, tapping into the innate wisdom of their senses, soothing frayed nerves and reconnecting with their "animal selves."
While we cannot cure the painful cultural rifts inflicting our society, there is a path forward--through our bodies.
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KIMBERLY ANN JOHNSON is the author of the classic early mothering book, The Fourth Trimester, and has spent the past twenty years working with people and their bodies as a sexological bodyworker, somatic experiencing practitioner, yoga teacher, and birth doula. She specializes in helping women heal from birth injuries, gynecological trauma and sexual boundary violations.
"Kimberly is a conduit for deep repair. She changed the course of my healing trajectory through her guidance. Her humanizing approach to trauma makes space for you to gently unpack your wounds and then apply life-changing tools at the dosage that feels right for you. She's brilliant and so is this book." -- Erica Chidi, Co-founder & CEO of LOOM
"Kimberly Johnson is a fresh voice, tracking a deep sense of trust in the physicality of being human. Her directives emerge from an inner knowing that meets eye to eye with our current neuroscience. Call of The Wild is a practical guide for women searching to not only embody their inner jaguar as a source of resiliency but also empower their sense of agency in an emerging new world." -- Liz Koch, author of Stalking Wild Psoas: Embodying Your Core Intelligence
"Kimberly Ann Johnson creates real clarity around the difficult concepts of attachment, boundaries, trauma, and sex. An attuned guide, she makes sense of entanglements, reassuring our nervous systems that we have the tools we need to cut through confusion. Call of the Wild helps us repair and head home with a better understanding of how to be human." -- Dr. Stan Tatkin, Wired for Love and We Do
"Kimberly Johnson's book Call of the Wild is the manifesto of liberation women need at this very moment. She delivers her case for healing from trauma with such sincere passion you can feel her in the pages, and with inarguable, air-tight science. I've shared this book with every single woman I know. The world needs this important book." -- Bethany Saltman, author of Strange Situation: A Mother's Journey Into the Science of Attachment
"Call of the Wild is a generous, comprehensive, and inclusive guide for resolving and healing trauma. This book is an experiential journey, on which Johnson prioritizes safety and personal sovereignty from the beginning, while inviting us to bravely explore new and powerful ways of relating to our bodies, relationships, sexuality, and spirituality. It is a Masterclass on thriving in a human body." -- Jessica Graham, Author of Good Sex: Getting Off without Checking Out
"An enthralling trip through the human nervous system: how it came to be, how it goes astray, and how to get it back on track." -- James Nestor, New York Times bestselling author of Breath: The New Science of A Lost Art
"Kimberly Ann Johnson's clear and inviting guide boldly points us toward the evolution of the field of somatics. Not only does she help each one of us recover from trauma but also to engage our vitality and awaken our sensual aliveness. This wise and accessible extension of Somatic Experiencing (SE) will no doubt shift popular understandings of psychology and trauma to include our bodies, nervous systems, and fundamental life force." -- Dr. Peter A. Levine, PhD, Founder of Somatic Experiencing and author of Waking the Tiger, In an Unspoken Voice, and Trauma and Memory
"Call of the Wild is a massively needed, impeccably articulated, and stunningly approachable teaching on the intricate workings of our nervous systems and how to heal our trauma through our bodies--for good. Big concepts are made digestible. Delicate nuances are made approachable and meaningful. This book is a call to our health, wholeness, and embodiment through reincarnating our most innate and instinctual parts. A critical must-read guidebook for women, by a woman on trauma, sexuality, the nervous system and real sustainable healing."
-- Livia Shapiro MA. Author of The Somatic Therapy Workbook
