Archive for the ‘Health’ Category
Soul Searching, by Sarah Stillman – Begin your journey of self-discovery
Today, teens are facing a world that is progressing faster than ever before, and struggling with the challenges that come with it. More and more, teens need a resource to help them find who they are outside of technology, celebrities, and their peers. Soul Searching: A Girl’s Guide to Finding Herself presents just such a resource. The book seeks to act as a guide for any girl who longs for inspiration over her own insecurities or wants to unearth her passions, love her body, and find direction.
Originally written when the author, Sarah Stillman, was only 16, Soul Searching is a powerful and unique guidebook “for girls searching for their center, their inner voice, for who they want to be.”
Sarah begins the preface of this fully updated edition by sharing a few examples of how the book has impacted girls around the world for the past eleven years:
“Recently, I woke up to an email from a fifteen-year-old girl in Russia who is recovering from a serious eating disorder and struggling to accept her body. A week before that, I got a note from a teenage girl in Beijing, China, who wanted to share a list of her favorite philosophy books, and a month earlier—tucked away like a gem between spam messages for celebrity diet pills and hair removal potions—I received a Facebook message from a girl in Missouri who hoped to brainstorm ways of dealing with hurtful comments from classmates online.”
This guide, written like it came from your sagely older sister, addresses numerous issues facing contemporary teens: from bullying and body image, to exploring philosophy and world religions. Sarah includes quotes from fellow teens for inspiration and various methods to implement self-awareness including mediation, yoga, journaling, and dream interpretation. Plus, many chapters include quizzes or activities for readers to write down their own thoughts, as well as resources for further exploration.
Soul Searching is:
“…the quest to become familiar with our inner voice, to understand it, and to follow it. A lack of internal communication is at the heart of many problems plaguing teenage girls: eating disorders, drug abuse, loneliness, low self-esteem. If we trust ourselves to begin with, it’s much easier to resist negative media image and peer pressure.”
But the exploration of self-discovery doesn’t end with the book. The community that has sprung up around the book and the idea of Soul Searching can now interact and share their personal journeys on Tumblr and Facebook. After all, as Sarah says:
“There’s no such thing as being totally ‘found’…the fun, I think, is in the searching.”
New Year, New You: The Top 10 Books to Help You Ring in the New Year Right!
As the earth completes its annual rotation around the sun, some things come to an end but others begin. For me, the New Year always implies new beginnings, new opportunities, and the chance to create real change in my life. It’s a time when the world collectively takes a moment to reflect, re-center, and reconnect with the life we want.
Here in the Beyond Words office, we’ve been sharing some of our favorite books to help invoke a New You for the New Year. Whether you’re looking to change your body, mind, or soul, we’ve got a book designed just for you.
Here are our top 10 books to help you ring in the New Year right! (more…)
Interview with Mary Hayes Grieco, author of Unconditional Forgiveness, Part Two
Today, we continue our exclusive interview with Mary Hayes Grieco, author of Unconditional Forgiveness.
You’ve worked with such diverse clients, even war veterans. Can you share a particular transformative experience you’ve witnessed?
I guess the most transformative forgiveness work I have been witness to has been the healing of severe sexual abuse: helping a woman to forgive her minister who assaulted her when she worked for him in the church office. She lived in hell about that for seven years, and then emerged free and clear after forgiving it. Shortly afterwards, I was called upon to help a man who had been a perpetrator of sexual abuse. He too was living in hell and in severe depression until he could forgive himself. Their suffering was so profound, on both sides of the story, victim and perpetrator. I learned a lot from seeing this.
Can your techniques be used to forgive our selves as well as others?
Yes. Self-forgiveness is very important, and it relies on the ability to view yourself and your situation from the perspective of spiritual level, a higher level of consciousness, than where your conditional human personality dwells. It is a different technique then the eight steps of forgiving another, and it is very simple and very powerful.
How do you define forgiveness?
Forgiveness is the refreshing experience of releasing an unrealistic expectation that has been causing us to suffer. It is a tool we use to let go of an emotional burden, and it creates a new openness and fresh new vitality inside us.
What if someone has done something terribly wrong? Should we forgive them?
I encourage people to practice “unconditional forgiveness”—live a life in which you forgive everyone and everything, no matter the size or severity of the insult. When we make the decision to forgive someone, we are not saying that what they did is excusable or okay on any level. What we are saying is that even though they did this (bad, wrong, immoral, awful, etc.) thing to us—we choose now to release the painful impact of that wrongdoing upon us, once and for all. Any time we forgive anything, big or small, we are doing it for ourselves—so we don’t have to carry the burden of stress and resentment. So you see, it is even more important to forgive the terrible things so that we can end the big suffering inside us.
Why do your Eight Steps work to get rid of an emotional problem?
The Eight Steps reliably work to get rid of an emotional problem because they address the issue through all the parts of our personality (will, body, emotions, mind), our spiritual nature (energy, body, and soul), our relationship to the other person, and to life itself. Because we address the wound on all levels, there isn’t a need to hold onto it any more, and it completely dissolves. The relief that comes from this letting go is permanent, and all that remains is the learning that took place from this experience—we turn the wound into wisdom!
Learn more about Mary and her Eights Steps to freedom in this exclusive video. Mary’s book, Unconditional Forgiveness, is on sale now.
Interview with Mary Hayes Grieco, author of Unconditional Forgiveness, Part One
Recently, I had the pleasure of interviewing Mary Hayes Grieco, author of Unconditional Forgiveness. Mary Hayes Grieco has taught her powerful method of forgiveness in a wide variety of venues since 1990. With her background in psychology, and her ten years of intensive personal training with Dr. Edith Stauffer PhD, Mary has refined her method of forgiveness, as well as the way it is taught in workshops, making this life-changing process accessible to everyone. This consistently effective program has transformed thousands of lives.
Her new book, Unconditional Forgiveness, offers equal doses of humor, compassion, and clarity, as she walks readers through each of the Eight Steps to Freedom to heal an emotional issue. By following this unique how-to guide, you’ll be bale to hurt less, love more, and experience more peace of mind every day.
My interview with Mary will be featured in two parts here on the blog. Be sure to check back tomorrow for the second half of this exclusive interview.
What makes your book on forgiveness so different than what’s been written in the past?
Most previous books about forgiveness focused heavily on why forgiveness is a good thing to do, but they were not so clear about how to do it. A lot of them were very intellectual and moralistic, and either too religious or lacking a spiritual framework. None of them adequately addressed the importance of honestly expressing the emotions, or drawing on the healing light available in the subtle energy body. Unconditional Forgiveness is the first book that goes into clear detail about a step-by-step method of forgiveness that includes all the levels of our being—physical, emotional, energetic, spiritual. This makes the method powerfully effective and it has brought swift and permanent relief to thousands of people for forty years.
The other difference in this book is its tone—it’s light and accessible and fun to read. It addresses forgiveness issues from the mundane to the catastrophic, in a universal spiritual language, and with both compassion and a sense of humor.
When we think about forgiveness, we automatically think about major transgressions—relationships ending, death, trauma, but what about the minor transgressions like neighbors and coworkers that drive you crazy? Can your techniques help with our everyday challenges?
Most people’s forgiveness concerns play out on the everyday level—frustration with your spouse or kids, little fights with an unreasonable neighbor, dealing with the mistakes of a coworker that make your job more difficult. Some of these scenarios play out every day—day after day—and layers of tension build up around them, making daily life more difficult and less joyful. We have the power to increase the peace in our immediate world, and, if more people live the principle of forgiveness as a daily habit, we will increase the peace on a global level. Every act of forgiveness creates a powerful “ripple effect.”
As the holidays approach, many people dread the inevitable family gatherings. What advice would you give to people suffering this holiday season?
I recommend that if you know you are going to be tense or resentful with someone at the holiday table, you take some time in advance and do some “pre-emptive forgiveness.” Sit down with Unconditional Forgiveness and make a short list of individuals you need to be more accepting of and release your expectations of them ahead of time. See what common ground you share, however small, and find one or two good things about them to focus on when you are in the room with them. Also, make some real choices about what you do and don’t do during the holidays, so you can enjoy some of it exactly on your own terms, and surrender peacefully to the other situations, exactly as they are.
You’ve called the need to forgive a public health issue. Can you talk about that?
Studies show that emotional resentments cause an accumulation of stress in the body, and this can cause disease. Everyone you know is walking around with some unresolved issue or other, and it’s merely because as a society we don’t understand and teach the process of emotional healing. These days, most people agree that you shouldn’t smoke cigarettes, that you need to exercise, drink water, and eat your fruits and vegetables. It’s common public health knowledge. I believe we are on the brink of widely recognizing that forgiveness is a life skill and a good health habit that can be taught, just like we teach reading or driving or good health habits. It will reduce stress-related illness, marital disruption, and violence—because violence has roots in shame, which is a self-forgiveness issue.
Part two of our exclusive interview with Mary Hayes Grieco will be posted here on the Trend Watch blog tomorrow. Stay tune to learn more about Unconditional Forgiveness.
Forgiveness: Key for the Happy Holidays; Guest blog from Mary Hayes Grieco
Forgiveness: Key for the Happy Holidays
By Mary Hayes Grieco, author of Unconditional Forgiveness
It’s time for our annual cultural schizophrenia about the holidays: “This is so fun—I love this! This is so stressful—I hate this!” Together, we carry around our guiding mythic vision of the holiday “glow”—the fragrant house decorated with twinkling lights, piles of glittering gifts under the tree, loving faces gathered around the laden table, Christmas carolers singing cheery songs outside, soft white snowflakes drifting slowly down. The whole family will gather, and everyone will be mellow and grateful and everyone will get along…except, at your house, it doesn’t look like that.
At your house, you act cranky and stressed because you are exhausted from creeping through a traffic jam to a crowded mall after a long day of work. You’ve been trying to pile up the presents under the tree, but it isn’t very fun because your position at work has been cut way back and you already had too much on your credit cards before the holidays began. Your husband was going to help you with some of this shopping, but he is down with the flu, so it’s all on you. You’re blue because one of your grown children isn’t coming home this year and you miss them. Your whole family will get together, but you aren’t looking forward to it because your sister is a control freak when she is the host, and her husband will make everyone tense as he holds forth with his bitter political views. What you really want to do is stay home in your robe and watch a movie by yourself with a good cup of coffee. You resent the expectations of the holiday season, and you feel guilty about your negative attitude. It’s time to actively practice some forgiveness. (more…)
Giving Thanks with the Generosity Package Daily Deal
Thanksgiving is the time of year to give thanks, but we want to encourage you to integrate generosity into you life every day! That’s why we’re offering this excellent Generosity Package, which features two titles to help you be generous everyday, Kathy LeMay‘s The Generosity Plan and Pierre Pradervand‘s The Gentle Art of Blessing, all for the price of one. The Generosity Plan guides readers to discover what inspires them and direct that toward a better world, and The Gentle Art of Blessing helps readers develop a down-to-earth approach to applying spirituality in their everyday life.
In honor of thanksgiving, some of us in the office wanted to share with all of you what we’re thankful for this year. And from everyone here at Beyond Words Publishing, Happy Thanksgiving!! (more…)
Staff Picks: Holiday Stress? Learn how to de-stress in The Next Ten Minutes
Now that Halloween is behind us and we all desperately try to avoid eating all that candy in one sitting we know one thing for certain, the holiday season is upon us. The leaves have changed. Turkeys are arriving in the local grocery store. And we all begin to worry about the many obligations that come with this season. For many in our society, what should be a joyous season has become more of a stress-filled marathon. While this time of year should be about joy, family, and giving thanks it can quickly turn into the opposite. As I was thinking about how I could fend off the inevitable holiday stress and really enjoy the true purpose of the season I stumbled upon The Next Ten Minutes by Andrew Peterson on my bookshelf. Aha! I had it! Easy and dynamic ways to distress, re-center, and seize the moment in only ten minutes.
The brilliance of this book is that it takes all the benefits of meditation and applies it in easy ten minute exercises, many of which I can do while sitting at my desk, cleaning the house, or even running errands. You see, the brilliance behind The Next Ten Minutes is in helping the reader discover the seeds of transformation and meaning in even the most ordinary routines. For example, some of my favorite exercises include Relaxing Your Face, Feeling Your Foot, Throwing Something Away, or simply Waiting. Basically, this book invites readers to move more deeply into the familiar task of ordinary life.
Possibly my favorite thing about this book, though, is the index! Yes, the index. It breaks down all the exercises based on the particular emotion you would like to alleviate. Say your in-laws are about to arrive and you’re feeling anxious. You can simply look up anxious in the index and choose between the exercises listed to help you overcome your anxiety and relax. So simple! So easy! And it only takes ten minutes. I think this book is going to find a permanent place in my purse for the next two months, and maybe beyond. (And I’ll definitely be grabbing a few more copies as gifts to my equally stressed-out family and friends!)
And don’t forget to share your favorite ways to de-stress during the holiday season.
The Week Ahead: Events with The Code, Wild Feminine, A Survival Guide for Landlocked Mermaids, and More!
Wow! It’s a busy week for events at Beyond Words, and we hope you’ll be able to get out and experience the inspiration and knowledge found in our books and DVDs in person. Whether you’re interested in numerology with The Code interested in watching a screening of the film For the Next 7 Generations, we hope you take the opportunity to reach out to the people behind these great titles and expand your wisdom and connection with the world around you.
Happy 4th of July!
As we prepare to break for the long weekend, we here at BWP are celebrating several different pieces of good news. Not only has it finally decided to be summer here in the Northwest (and in my opinion there are few places more beautiful at this time of the year), but we have just gotten news that Nawang Khechog is well on the road to recovery. He has been in Hawaii since his surgery but, hopefully, will be returning home to Boulder this weekend. Thank you to everyone who sent their thoughts and prayers, and I have sent those along to him. Your outpouring of love was incredibly beautiful, and I know it will help him in his recovery.
Also, Karen and Richard just got back from INATS West where they presented the COVR Visionary Awards. We were honored to have three of our products chosen as finalists for the award, but this last weekend, we found out that The Bushman Way of Tracking God was 1st runner up in the Magick/Shamanism book category, Wake Up was 2nd runner up in the Video/DVD category, and The Secret Language of Your Body was 2nd runner up in the Alternative Health/Healing category.
The weather is beautiful, the news is inspirational, and we are about to celebrate our country’s birthday. It is a great day! Happy 4th of July to everyone!
This Earth Day: Adopt a New Paradigm
Three Things That You Can Do to Transform the Planet and Your Life
by Catriona Macgregor, author of Partnering With Nature
The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new lands but seeing with new eyes.
-Marcel Proust
In this age of technological advancements, our connection with Nature has diminished alarmingly. We are becoming strangers in our home–the Earth. We miss the subtle changes in the wind, the calls of birds, the smell of the fragrant ground beneath our feet. We spend more time indoors on computers and TVs, which leaves little time for deep inner journeys or quiet walks in the woods. Yet, who we are and what we are–the very root of our identity–springs from the Earth.
We are suffering from a lack of contact with nature, a nature-deficit that not only leads to ill health, but also gives us a sense that something is missing in our lives. Our children are especially vulnerable. We are witnessing a whole new generation that is growing up “hooked” to an electronic device of one kind or another. According to a 2010 study by the Kaiser Family Foundation, children today are spending practically every waking minute (7.5 hours per day) — except for the time in school — using a smart phone, computer, television or other electronic device”. [1] (more…)
