How did you come to write In Her Power?

In Her Power draws on over thirty years of my experience supporting women. I have been able to have a unique impact on them as a result of the life lessons I’ve learned in overcoming my own struggles with destructive overeating and depression.

The world today is in a desperate place and I believe that the connective power of women can unify rather than destroy nations. That’s why it was so important for me to write this book now and to have more women stand in their power.

What makes your book so different than what’s been written in the past?

My company Creative Expansions, Inc. has been in existence for over a decade and through various forms of media — television specials, one of the premier websites for career women WomenWorking.com, and speaking engagements — I’ve had access to a huge network of women. The book is filled with their experiences as well as my own. Through these stories, in addition to reflections and exercises, readers are asked to go deeper and explore what has been blocking them from fully expressing their power. The book deals with nine aspects of a woman’s power and the veils or false beliefs that get in the way. It also introduces the three Spiritual Power Muscles: Connective, Creative and Courageous.

The Dalai Lama prophesized that “the world will be saved by the Western woman,” and yet despite incredible advances, the majority of women still feel they have not accessed their full potential. Why do you believe that is?

Often we’re locked into false beliefs that don’t allow us to access our full potential and keep us stuck. We’re not thinking big enough about ourselves. The way out is to know that we are bigger than that and to listen to our inner truth, our intuition. We need to break habits that are based upon false beliefs and courageously move into areas that may feel uncomfortable. For many of us, it’s stepping outside our comfort zone to experience our power and magnificence.

Women are routinely faced with the difficult task of balancing their career with their desire for family. What advice would you give women struggling to “have it all” in today’s world?

There’s no such thing as balance. It’s more about navigating between work and life every day and doing it very imperfectly, as Ellen Galinsky of Families and Work Institute has said. I think it’s particularly useful for women to share what works for them and to be open with each other about how difficult it is. The problem begins when we feel isolated, stressed, and try to tackle it alone. We simply can’t clone ourselves into 150 different people. But if we’re engaged in communicating with other women who are going through the same struggle, we pick up tips on how to make it easier for us.

Can you share with readers one of the biggest challenges you faced in your path to success? How did you overcome that challenge?

Suffering from a food addiction, I was 50 pounds heavier over 30 years ago and ready to jump out of a window of my apartment. I didn’t see any hope in things being different. In my desperation I reached out for help and got it from a group of people who had knowledge about how not to hurt themselves with food. I realized that I needed to have more spiritual grounding if I was going to stop overeating for all the wrong reasons. I discovered a higher purpose for my life — to help women realize their authentic power and claim their voice and unique abilities. I started my company, Creative Expansions, Inc. with this mission.

 Helene Lerner’s new book, In Her Power, is available now.

The Code Author Tour 2012

Barnes & Noble, Las Vegas, NV

January 29, 2:00-4:00 pm

Psychic Eye Book Shop, Las Vegas, NV

January 30, 6:00-8:00 pm

Mystic Journey Bookstore, Venice, CA

February 9, 7:00-9:00 pm

Awakenings Center for Conscious Living, Laguna Hills, CA

February 10, 7:00 pm

The Crystal Voyage, Tacoma, WA

February 16, 6:00-8:00 pm

East West Bookshop, Seattle, WA

February 17, 3:00-6:00 pm

New Renaissance Book Store, Portland, OR

February 18, 6:00-8:30 pm

Healing Spaces and Sacred Waters, Portland, OR

February 19, time TBD

For more details on these and more events, please go here.

Knowing what you know now, what single piece of advice would you give your 16-year-old self?

Looking back, I definitely blush to realize how totally fixated I was (and often still am) on the idea of “achievement” – on setting certain kinds of goals and accomplishing them as a way of measuring self-worth. I now suspect that it’s equally important to learn how to live with discomfort; not everything can be fixed and tied up with a tidy bow, and maybe it’s ok to thrash around sometimes, have no idea what you’re doing, and lack the answers entirely.  In fact, the humility that comes from messing up seems like a big part of what makes us able to connect with other people and to live more generously, I think.  It’s probably harder to have empathy if you haven’t been knocked low sometimes and admitted it to yourself.  There are some things I’ve done in the past decade that made me feel totally incompetent.  But I’d like to think those things were – and will continue to be – useful in bringing me back down to size and encouraging me to be aware of all of the privileges I’ve had in my life thus far, and all of the other possible perspectives.

Who is/was your biggest inspiration or hero?

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about whistleblowers – people who stand up in environments where there’s some sort of injustice going on and decide to speak out about it, despite the obvious risk to themselves.  I’ve worked on a few stories about whistleblowers lately, in a variety of contexts; many of these people never get the fame or glory associated with other social justice advocates, but their sacrifices are huge and definitely make me feel inspired.

What’s your perfect relaxation playlist?

I’m still a big Joni Mitchell fan.  Right now I’m also loving Laura Marling, Patti Smith (relaxing isn’t exactly the word…), Gillian Welch, and my creative-genius friend Geo Wyeth (plus his band Jive Grave).

Flash Questions:

These questions are designed to be answered in a flash, ideally in less than 5 seconds each! Don’t overthink it. Just give us the first answer that comes to mind. This is supposed to be fun! Ready. Set. Go!

What is your favorite candle or fragrance?  Lavender. Or anything that smells like dessert: vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg.

What was your favorite book growing up? I thought Pippi Longstocking was brilliant, and I still do.

Chocolate or Vanilla? Let’s go chocolate.

If we ran into you on the street, what song are we most likely to hear you humming? “How Come You Never Go There,” by Feist, has been in my head all week.  And lately, for some weird reason, I wake up with Nintendo songs in my head – like the theme from Super Mario Brothers.  Why, I really don’t know; maybe it’s because when I have insomnia, I sometimes try to work through old-school Super Mario levels in my head and remember the different songs associated with each scenario: the under-water song, the castle song, etc.

If you were trapped on a desert island, what book would you bring? I’d pick something by Walt Whitman, or, more likely, How to Escape if Trapped on a Desert Island.

What’s your guilty pleasure?  I like infinitely clicking on various links when I’m supposed to be working on some piece of writing, and then justifying it to myself as “research”; it’s amazing how much time can be squandered this way, watching YouTube videos of cats dancing the conga, etc.

Mac or PC? Mac all the way. Although I’ve been encouraging fellow Mac users to listen to Mike Daisey’s podcasted play about his journey to a Mac factory in Shenzhen, China: http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/454/mr-daisey-and-the-apple-factory

What was your favorite childhood toy? It’s simple, but I loved my soccer ball.

If you had a super power, what would it be?  Zapping people with more compassion and thoughtfulness (self included) – like a “De-Selfish-ification” machine.

In part one of our three part interview, Sarah discusses the origins of Soul Searching and some of the outcomes she hopes the book will achieve. You can learn more by joining the Soul Searching community on Tumblr and Facebook where you can share your own Soul Searching journey

How did you first decide to write Soul Searching?

More than anything, I wrote Soul Searching out of frustration. When I first decided to start working on the book, I was frustrated that most of the reading material available for teen girls assumed that they’d only be interested in boy bands and lip-gloss.  I was frustrated, too, that most of the books about female adolescence focused on the various traumas that can afflict girls during that period: eating disorders, depression, drug addiction, and more.  The sort of book I wanted to read – but couldn’t seem to find on shelves – was about how girls could actually take some control over their own lives and contribute to their communities: a book that took girls seriously as change agents in their homes, schools, and world.  So, that was the book I sat down to write, naïve as it sounds.  Luckily, I was oblivious to the many reasons I wasn’t qualified to do so, the most obvious being my age. I just started doing research on the topics I cared about – meditation, yoga, really basic philosophy stuff on “the good life” – and talking to other girls about the things they thought were important or interesting. That’s how the project got started.

What’s changed for girls between the time you wrote the book at age 16 and today? How have the challenges facing girls evolved?

So much!  One obvious difference is that I never had to worry about all of the various social networking tools teens now have at their disposal to take gossip and bullying to new creative heights. I didn’t have a Facebook wall, or a Tumblr account, or even a cell phone back then. I barely had a functioning email address.  Of course, the pre-social-networking days also meant that there were fewer ways for girls to connect with each other outside of their immediate communities, and fewer ways to find resources that might be helpful to them.

The Internet, in that respect, has been both a huge blessing and a serious curse.  Without it, I think a lot of girls around the world would be living much more isolated, disconnected lives.  But they also wouldn’t have to stress about the 1,001 ways in which online technologies complicate an already-difficult phase of their growing up. Somehow, for instance, online harassment seems a lot scarier to me than the mean notes my classmates scribbled in the back of science textbooks when I was in middle school.  And while some young women are given a lot of support when it comes to handling the challenges of a hyper-networked world, a lot of girls have to figure out how to deal with all of this stuff on their own.  That’s definitely not easy.  But my guess is that being a teen girl was never easy.  I don’t imagine our grandmas or great-grandmas had a much simpler time of it.

What do you see is the biggest challenge facing teens today? What advice would you give to help?

I think it can be hard to stand up for yourself and the things you want or need when you’re faced with so many conflicting messages about the things you’re supposed to want or need: whether it’s a particular brand of clothes or a particular kind of crush or a different body/ethnicity/personality/family/life. I think one thing I’ve learned from other girls who’ve made it through tough times is that it means a lot to find an ally – somebody who you can trust to listen to you and have your back.  You just need one: a loyal friend; a teacher who believes in your talents; a godparent or an older sibling who you can turn to for advice.  Then share what you’re facing with them.  It’s pretty tough to navigate this time of life on your own, whether you’re just dealing with small, day-to-day frustrations like a friend’s betrayal at school, or huge, scary challenges like dating violence or a family health crisis.  If you can’t find a person you trust, find something that brings you comfort until you do – an after-school sport that you can throw yourself into, a coffee shop or a community center where you feel comfortable, a band whose songs you want to play on repeat over and over again.

What sort of reception have you had for the book? In the new introduction, you mention that you’ve corresponded with readers from around the world — how has that impacted you?

I’ve learned an awesome, unbelievable amount from the girls around the world who’ve written me about the book.  For one thing, it’s confirmed the hope that led me to write Soul Searching in the first place: girls really do care about the “big things” in life, and they want their big ideas to be taken seriously.  I’ve also been humbled to hear about the challenges some girls are up against – both girls here in the U.S., who’ve often reached out because they’re trying to be brave amidst a lot of stress and chaos in their families, and girls elsewhere in the world, who increasingly turn to the Internet as a resource for solving problems that they would have otherwise faced alone.  It’s been cool to hear about the creative visions many of these girls have – for starting their own companies some day, for instance, or writing their own books.  But it’s often been equally inspiring to hear about the really simple, day-to-day things that girls want to vent: the courage they mustered to stand up to someone in their lives who was hurting them, for instance.

What’s the top thing you hope readers take away from your book?

I hope they’ll feel empowered to try new things, regardless of their “coolness” factor, and also realize that it’s OK to feel lost.  It’s normal to flounder around.  Everyone – seriously, everyone, from the popular girl in your class who’s always rolling her eyes at everyone to the President of the United States – feels insecure sometimes.  It just goes with the territory of being human.  What the book is about is realizing that there are concrete tools that can help us all get through the tough spots, feel more comfortable within ourselves, and feel like we’re a part of something larger – something that has meaning and real rewards.

By Anthony Silard

Author of The Connection

If the truth carries intelligent people away, let them go;
the faster the better.

—  Swami Vivekananda

The greatest gift you can offer to the world is to be your authentic Self. Not authentic in the sense of, “I’ll become an open book, let it all hang out, and express myself for the sake of expressing myself.” Authentic meaning: “I’ll express myself with purpose.” As you learn to speak up more about how you truly feel, some people will stray from the more genuine version of you. Not appealing? Consider the alternative: keeping them by the side of someone you no longer recognize. You always have the choice to speak assertively about what really matters to you or remain silent and let others have their way. Make a commitment to become more genuine and honest with others about what you value and you will find that your relationships become more fulfilling and your life more meaningful as others remove their kid gloves and learn how to relate to the real you.

As you practice voicing what you truly want, there will come a day when you catch a brief glimpse of the tremendous potential for self-realization lurking within you brought out by the simple act of finding the right words to express your deeper thoughts and feelings. While asserting yourself courts more risk (once your ideas are acted upon, more fingers will point toward you if they don’t bear fruit) it is precisely these daily risks that demonstrate and build your capacity—most importantly, to you; and then to others—to create the relationships, family, company, team, or initiative you desire. This week, practice speaking up about what’s important to you with someone with whom you feel comfortable and have a healthy relationship. Then gradually apply your assertiveness skills in more challenging conversations.

Anthony Silard’s new book, The Connection, is available now.

Your passion is the one thing you offer the world that can never be duplicated, outsourced, or silenced.

With soaring unemployment rates, many people now find themselves without a job or with employment that is unsatisfying, tenuous, or even in conflict with their values. In these difficult times, some of us may not feel like we have the freedom to pursue what we truly want in our lives. But I say now is the perfect time to pursue your passion, refocus on your deepest values, and then live it.

The Connection, from Anthony Silard, offers a clear guide to discovering your passion and integrating it into your professional and private life. Tony Silard offers dozens of simple strategies to help anyone:

• Build a career that aligns with your values.
• Create a holistic view of success.
• Transform your dreams to goals, and your goals to reality.
• Bring purpose to every aspect of your life.

Now is the time to build a foundation for change, and, ultimately, the skills to cultivate a truly authentic life.

Read an excerpt here.

Beyond Words always strives to honor our relationship to you, our readers. For us, you’re not customers, you’re our partners in transformation. With that in mind we wanted to learn a bit more about each of you and how we can better create the product(s) you would like to see. Please take a moment to fill out this very short survey, and to thank you, you’ll receive a promo code to receive 50% off your next purchase at BeyondWord.com when you complete the survey.

Thank you for your continued support, and please feel free to leave any additional suggestions in the comments below.

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.”

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!

1  Unconditional Forgiveness by Mary Hayes Grieco

We couldn’t come up with a better New Year’s resolution than Unconditional Forgiveness. What better way is there to clear the cobwebs, put the past in the past, and truly begin anew? This book is a must have for anyone who is looking to heal old wounds, wipe away scars, and truly move forward. This New Year, begin to live your life with purpose by following these Eight Steps to Freedom.

2  Wild Feminine by Tami Lynn Kent

Want to feel restored, rejuvenated, and renewed? Want to embrace and reconnect your sacred feminine? This New Year, pick of Wild Feminine and learn about Tami Kent’s unique, holistic approach to reclaiming the power, spirit, and joy of the female body and its connection to creative energy flow. Create a new you by learning to care and nourish yourself.

3  Secret Language of Your Body by Inna Segal

While many of us focus on changing our external lives during the New Year, we can also look to changing the internal. This comprehensive guide to understanding the messages of the body reveals the underlying energetic causes of more than 300 symptoms and medical conditions. This powerful handbook explores nearly every conceivable part of the human body, delving deeply into the possible reasons for problems and offering unique, step-by-step methods to return the body to its natural state of health.

4  The Truth About Beauty by Kat James

Time takes it’s toll on our bodies and our beauty. And many of us make resolutions to change something about our outer selves. This revolutionary guide peels away the layers of conventional body and beauty wisdom to uncover the crucial missing information needed for real transformation. Nationally renowned beauty and holistic health expert Kat James reveals the life-altering secrets she discovered after more than a decade of self-destructive living, and an eating disorder that almost took her life. The perfect book for anyone looking to reveal their true beauty this year.

5  Soul Searching by Sarah Stillman

New Year’s resolutions aren’t just for adults. Teens also take this time to think about things they wish they could change about themselves and their lives. Soul Searching provides the perfect guide for girls (and boys) looking for meaning and self-empowerment in their lives. Through fun quizzes, insightful exercises, and provocative statistics, Sarah Stillman (who wrote the book at 16) guides young women through the complex maze between adolescence and adulthood.

6  Unclutter Your Life by Katherine Gibson

One of our favorite books, we bring this one out every year when it comes to thinking about the New Year. What better way to renew your life by beginning with renewing the space around you? Written in a lively and entertaining manner, the book combines expert perspectives with stories and insights of ordinary people to help readers learn to let go of any possession they no longer really use or want; tackle difficult clutter issues such as what to do with gifts, heirlooms, paper, books, and clothing; attack invisible clutter with action and clarity; and make more room in their lives for beauty, spontaneity, and adventure.

7  The Gabriel Method by Jon Gabriel

While some of us look to make small changes in our life, others are seeking a total transformation. For those, we suggest picking up The Gabriel Method. Author Jon Gabriel uses his own remarkable transformation—from 409 pounds to 184 pounds—to show the solution to changing the inner belief systems that keep our bodies from thin. By adding back in the nutrients our bodies crave, and learning how to really listen to ourselves, you can switch your self-destructive patterns to ones filled with health, joy, and a new, slim body.

8  Most Good, Least Harm by Zoe Weil

With more and more news covering the changes to our planet, many of us are looking for New Year’s resolutions that will help us be part of the solution, not the problem. Most Good, Least Harm offers a simple approach to all the challenges that confront our world today, and the people, animals, and ecosystems that are affected.

9  Thriving After Divorce by Tonja Evetts Weimer

For some, the New Year might be bringing some life altering changes and challenges. One of which could be the end of a significant relationship. In Thriving After Divorce, author and relationship coach Tonja Weimer offers a grounded approach to growing through the challenging life transitions that arise from the breaking of one of our most defining partnerships. Weimer’s book guides you in this major transition and will help you define your new self in the New Year.

10  Raising Everyday Heroes by Elisa Medhus, MD

For the new parent, this book brings help and guidance to the many questions surrounding how to be a great parent. Written for parents, teachers, counselors, and everyone else involved with raising children, this book emphasizes the need for kids to learn how to make smart decisions in the face of today’s permissive culture and strong peer pressure. This book offers easy techniques for raising responsible, self-reliant children and transforming yourself as a parent.

Check out our Full List of title to help you create a New You for the New Year!

Because you’re never too young to find yourself, change the world, or get involved, Beyond Words Publishing is excited to announce the launch of a new line of books and oracle decks created solely to inspire children and teens.

Beyond Words is committed to reaching young people of all backgrounds, helping them to become confident, inspired, and happy individuals. To this goal, we’ve partnered with Simon & Schuster’s children’s imprint, Aladdin, as well as their teen imprint, Simon Pulse. This, combined with our twenty-five years of experience publishing inspiring books, e-books, videos, and new media, will allow us to provide countless young people with tools to transform the spirit, mind, body, and planet.

With a deep respect and admiration for the unique wisdom and viewpoint of young people, Beyond Words incorporates their voices and experiences in all of our new offerings in the children’s and teen line. Look for updates on old classics, such as Girls Who Rocked the World and Better Than a Lemonade Stand: Small Business Ideas for Kids, as well as our first in a series of oracle decks, Oracle of Shadows & Light: Wisdom for Misfits, Mystics, Seekers, and Wanderers, a dark and beautiful deck that teens will love and return to again and again.

Beyond Words’ new line will launch on January 3, 2012 with an updated edition of Soul Searching: A Girl’s Guide to Finding Herself. This exciting book goes beyond the hottest reality shows and fashion trends to offer healthy, empowering outlets for young women. Author Sarah Stillman first wrote Soul Searching at 16 and went on to become an Oxford PhD, Yale Fellow, and war correspondent for The New Yorker.

Because wisdom is ageless and the spirit is endless, Beyond Words seeks to inspire without limit. We invite you to explore our updated catalog with new inclusions for those of all ages, backgrounds, and beliefs.

Follow us on this exciting new endeavor by visit our new Teen Facebook page, via Twitter, or on Tumblr.