Dance Meditation and Zen for the Black Cancer Patient - by Carla Stalling Walter (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

For Blacks and other people of color, finding ways to address suffering organically is key. In these communities, cancer attacks people who often have few resources for dealing with it. In this book, the author provides access to Zen Buddhism and Dance Meditation as valuable supports during cancer treatment. This work provides unencumbered pathways to peace, which aid in changing internal and mental constructs that often prolong the suffering of individuals and communities. Given historical experiences of poor health care and poverty, people in these communities can be reluctant to seek care. This book provides alternative ways of approaching new thought patterns and obtaining reasonable health care services for patients and their loved ones. These practices promote better lives through attentive and skillful action in health and daily living.

Review Quotes

"Dance Meditation and Zen for the Black Cancer Patient is a poignant exploration and meditation on being Black and Buddhist seeking healing and care, confronting all the ways anti-Blackness creates obstacles for Black wellness while opening to the liberatory practices embodied in Zen Buddhism and Dance Dharma as medicines. This work is an important contribution to the growing tradition of Black American Dharma."-Lama Rod Owens, author of The New Saints: From Broken Hearts to Spiritual Warriors

"An inspiring book based on the author's path from young girl to womanhood and the role dance and Zen Buddhism have played along the way. She shares a well-crafted trajectory that illuminates the impact of systemic racism on the emotional, spiritual and physical well-being of Blacks in America. This book offers Black women a guide to curate all aspects of their lives as an act of self-compassion. The author includes a useful and honest account of her own cancer diagnosis and how both dance and her Zen practice have supported her healing. This book is an act of generosity and dedication true to her spiritual practice."-Anne Roise, director of Programs and Online Operations, Spirit Rock Meditation Center

"Carla's journey through life, shaped by cultural, personal, and spiritual experiences, has become a profound expression of the Zen path. She has transformed her struggles, insights, and wisdom into medicine for others, using her life as a vehicle to convey the essence of interconnectedness, compassion, and non-attachment. Through the lens of Zen teachings, she shows how every challenge and triumph, every joy and sorrow, can be turned into a lesson that heals and uplifts not just herself, but those around her."-Eli Brown-Stevenson, Ordained Soto Zen Priest, director of Inclusion and Belonging, San Francisco Zen Center

"Dr. Carla galvanized Zen Buddhism and Dance Dharma through her own experience with a medical death sentence. Her profound suggestion that we can stop the insidious nature of suffering affecting all marginalized peoples and the loathing within those who oppress, brings hope. She enunciates the reality that Buddhist skills are freely available and complimentary to any religious or spiritual lifestyle teaching us all to live Nirvana now. She also includes resources to get us all started on a path of clarity. Dr. Carla's work is a stalwart recommendation for anyone who wants to change their own life's trajectory."-Mary Flynn Boener, MSW, ACSW, BCD, CCS, LCSW, PhD, member of the National Association of Social Workers, member American Board of Clinical Social Work

"Sitting next to Dr. Carla for a monthlong practice period, I came to know her wise, clear heart in the stillness. Learning her life through her words, Dance Meditation and Zen for the Black Cancer Patient invites us to share in her commitments to the dharma and practices of self-compassion. This is a revelation and an invitation to awareness, a must-read for all students of life, of dance, of illness and of healing."-Elena Brower, author and artist of Practice You and Hold Nothing

"This remarkable book...intimate, brave, practical, and beautiful .... opens a path of healing through dance that is sourced in the rich roots of the author's identity as a Black woman and also the roots of Zen. It is about cancer and transformation. It is about life, death, and discovery."-Roshi Joan Halifax, Abbot, Upaya Zen Center

"Whether you are a caregiver, family member or person living with cancer, Carla Walter wants you to find healing for yourself, your community and the world. She found deeper peace through Zen meditation and movement and she invites you to find your own path. Dance Meditation and Zen for the Black Cancer Patient doesn't promise quick fixes or miracle cures. The miracle is that we can all find deeper healing, wherever we are on our journeys. Her work is a gift to anyone with hearts and bodies ready to receive it."-Josina Guess, associate editor for Sojourners magazine and contributor to Bigger Than Bravery: Black Resilience and Reclamation in a Time of Pandemic

About the Author

Carla Stalling Walter is a professional facilitator with the Sacred Dance Guild and has led workshops and retreats on dance meditation across the United States, as well as a two-decade academic career. She received her doctoral degree in dance history and theory from the University of California.