Richard Strozzi-Heckler - Embodying the Mystery: Somatic Wisdom for Emotional, Energetic, and Spiritual Awakening

This is dedicated to Logan and Ronan and to all those who are captured by living the sacred mystery.

Truly, we live with mysteries too marvelous to be understood.

MARY OLIVER

EMBODYING THE MYSTERY

Richard shares his journey through healing, learning, and growth into awareness and appreciation of the sacred interconnected web of life. Part memoir, part inquiry, part transmission, it is a beautiful reflection about living consciously in a human body.

ELIZABETH A. STANLEY, PH.D., PROFESSOR OF SECURITY STUDIES AT GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY AND AUTHOR WIDEN THE WINDOW

Embodying the Mystery is a gift of bone-deep wisdom and spirit springing; youll find yourself celebrating the wonder and possibility of living in a human body. It is the kind of book that only comes out of a life as deeply lived as Richards has beenwonderful to read!

GINNY WHITELAW, AUTHOR OF RESONATE AND FOUNDER AND ROSHI OF THE INSTITUTE FOR ZEN LEADERSHIP

Richard Strozzi-Heckler shares his lifes journey with us with inspiring vulnerability and grace. Story after moving story, exquisitely written, reveals the powerful experiences, personal struggles, and healing practices that have shaped him since childhood. How wonderful, how refreshing it is to read the honest questions he continues to ask, as he offers clear wisdom from a life of deep practice. He encourages us all to dig deep, find the treasure within, practice courageously, and share our gifts with the world.

LINDA HOLIDAY, 7TH DEGREE AIKIDO SHIHAN AND AUTHOR OFJOURNEY TO THE HEART OF AIKIDO

This book is a gift of love from Richard. A true artist of embodied spirituality, he helps us explore every experience and transition as sacred moments to awaken the divine spark within us. This is a heartfelt book of empowering purpose for the soul in times of crisis and transformation.

RICHARD LEIDER, AUTHOR OF THE POWER OF PURPOSE

Do you seek to have a stronger leadership presence? You must become more fully present. Richard Strozzi-Heckler embodies presence, and he generously shares it. This wonderful book traces his fifty-year quest for full presence through the practice of meditation, aikido, and somatics. Embodying the Mystery shows the struggle and growth of one of our great teachers. It will stay with me for years to come.

SALLY HELGESEN, AUTHOR OFTHE FEMALE ADVANTAGE AND COAUTHOR OF HOW WOMEN RISE

Perhaps the most profound and valuable teaching in this book is the importance of being fully present in our bodies in order to reify our spirit. This presence nourishes and enables the spirit to be expressed in our lives in very profound ways. StrozziHeckler came to this path through his macho upbringing in working-class neighborhoods as a military brat, leading him to explore the martial arts, meditation, and somatics. The mastery of aikido allowed him to find the vulnerability of being fully present. And, in so doing, he discovered the spiritual way of the body.

NANCY J. HUTSON, PH.D.,FORMER SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT OF PFIZER GLOBAL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT

There isnt a better teacher for this human moment, amid climate change and pandemic mourning, than Richard Strozzi-Heckler. This book is a guide to awareness and gratitude through seasons of grief and loss. He helps dignify our fear and trains us to live in the mystery of all we dont know.

SAKET SONI, FOUNDER OF RESILIENCE FORCE

What an honor to watch a man who has worked on himself his entire life make his harvest of wisdom. How generous of Richard to share this abundance of insights with us and to share himself so openly through Embodying the Mystery.

ARKAN LUSHWALA, AUTHOR OFTHE TIME OF THE BLACK JAGUAR

In his beautiful prose, Richard shares his personal stories of longing, grief, vulnerability, and 50 years of spiritual practice that took him deeply into the world. Reading it, I found myself welcomed home, invited into the unknown I, too, long for.

STACI K. HAINES, AUTHOR OF THE POLITICS OF TRAUMA AND FOUNDER OF GENERATIONFIVE

Strozzi-Heckler offers us timeless anchors to ground ourselves, adapt, and fully meet our challenges with heartfelt strength and dignity. This life-changing book invites us to pause, take a relaxed breath, and embody our lives to the absolute fullest. Reading this awe-inspiring work will leave you feeling excited and alive. Fortunate are those explorers who venture into Richards doorway of wonder and pragmatic wisdom.

FRED KRAWCHUK, COLONEL (RETIRED), ARMY SPECIAL FORCES

Embodying the Mystery is an eloquently crafted guidebook for exploring human existence. Richards stories illustrate an infectious curiosity and teach that with continued practice my world-changing ideas become reality. This is a deeply empowering book. I had to fully exhale to feel it, to be it.

LISA PICARD, FORMER PRESIDENT AND CEO OF EQ

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

As this book was about the shaping and ripening of a life there are innumerable people who have contributed, in large and small ways, and some whose influence continues to this moment. I thank you all, and if your name is not here, accept my apologies and know that despite the oversight, you are remembered.

Deep bows to my formal spiritual teachers Maharaj Charan Singh, Babaji Gurinder Singh, Chgyam Trungpa Rinpoche, Rina Sircar. Also to Robert Hall, and George Leonard, who were mentors, guides, friends, and scouts on the path ten and twenty years ahead of me who would send reports about what it was like out there on point. Dr. Randolph Stone, Doris Breyer, Magda Proskauer, Al Bauman, and Michael Smith were instrumental in my understanding of somatics. My grandmother, Alba Renstrom, who early on planted seeds of compassion, wisdom, and the power of love in my formative years. Arkan Lushwala and Jaspar Redrobe for opening up their indigenous communities and practices to me. Fernando Flores for opening up new vistas in the area of language and leadership, trust and power. Senseis Mitsugi Saotome, Frank Doran, and Robert Nadeau for their guidance on the aiki way, and the innumerable training partners Ive had over fifty years of mat time.

Many thanks to the Two Rock Aikido, Tamalpais Aikido, Lomi School, and Strozzi Institute communities, as well as the tens of thousands of people Ive worked with for your trust in sharing your intimate reflections and feelings with me. I have learned much from you.

I have much gratitude for my children Tiphani, Django, Wesley, Paloma, Jack, and their children Rain, Jaden, Chance, Ronan, Cameron, and Logan, who have influenced me in so many ways that they dont even know. Know that I love all of you and am thankful to you for how you have enriched my life.

Appreciation and love to Staci K. Haines for her ongoing care, support, and counsel during the writing of this book... and for her partnership. To Soto and Tom Lutes, whom I started with in the teenage years, and whose friendship continues to deepen through all the valleys and peaks. Gratitude to Lisa P. Allen for her keen eye and allegiance to detail in shaping this book. Many thanks to Richard Grossinger for being an extraordinary editor and publisher for forty years and for believing in me and encouraging me to continue writing and sharing my learning with the world.