My parents, Kannammal and Muthuswamy, made the life I have possible. Without their dedication to my growth throughout my life, it is hard to imagine how this book could be here. I therefore dedicate this book to them, in gratitude.
I express my gratitude to those on whose shoulders the practice of embodying emotion stands, many of whom are named in the introduction as important influences in my professional development.
Of thousands the world over to whom I am deeply indebted for this life of mine, some have engraved deeper imprints on my soul. Richard Auger, my Jungian analyst for over twenty-five years, has been more of a caring father than a therapist. Cécile Ziemons, my love, companion, wife, anchor, harbor, catalyst, and critic, and an award-winning writer, has been a constant support throughout the writing of this book. Cécile, I love you!
I am also grateful to my maternal uncle Jegadeesan, in whose love I found the support to live through early separations from my mother; my paternal uncle Ramaswamy, who admired and supported my interest in reading and predicted that I would write a book one day; Alice Matthews, my class teacher in the seventh grade, who gave me much-needed confidence through a timely reflection of my academic ability, in the English-language boarding school I joined in the sixth grade with hardly any knowledge of English; Mr. Murugesan, my headmaster in the Tamil-language village school, who helped me to prepare for boarding school during lunch breaks; and dear friend Ron Doctor, who has given me much personal and professional support over the years.
One of the blessings of this life of mine is the opportunity to interact on a deep level with people from so many different cultures on every continent, form close friendships, and realize how similar we all are as human beings. I would like to express my love and appreciation to all of them and thank them for letting me into their hearts and lives and making my life so rich.
I would also like to express my gratitude to my publisher, North Atlantic Books, a nonprofit organization that embodies sincerity, heart, and soul through every individual I have had the pleasure of working with there: Tim McKee, the publisher, who patiently worked with me to arrive at a contract and introduced me to my excellent developmental editor; Shayna Keyles, the acquisitions editor, who went beyond the call of duty to offer me valuable editing suggestions, chapter by chapter; Lisbeth White, my developmental editor, who not only made the book much better but also made me a much better writer in the process; Brent Winter, whose meticulous and informed copyediting made the book even better; and Trisha Peck, the production editor, for helping me move through the many complexities involved from manuscript submission to publication.
I would like to thank my colleague and friend Maggie Kline for taking the time to offer very valuable comments. And last, but not least, two special thanks are in order. Louise Peyrot, the manager of my organization Integral Somatic Psychology, LLC, single-handedly manages almost all organizational activities to give me the time to write. Louise, I cannot thank you enough for all that you do for me and the organization, with such professionalism, kindness, compassion, and spirit of service! And Robert Gussenhoven, who plays multiple roles for us, including business consulting and website design, with such ability and ease—I thank you also for taking care of the art in the book.