True Belonging , livre ebook

New Harbinger Publications - Jeffrey Brantley

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86 pages

English

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Assertiveness

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Publié par	New Harbinger Publications
Date de parution	01 janvier 0001
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781608824717
Langue	English

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0678€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

Extrait

“Curl up with this delicious book. Savor it. Taste the exercises. In a world where we so often find ourselves alienated, disconnected from others and even from ourselves, it can help you reconnect and heal.”
—Thomas Bien, PhD, author of The Buddha’s Way of Happiness and Mindful Recovery
“Perhaps one of the most important topics of our time. True Belonging shows us how to connect with what truly matters.”
—Elisha Goldstein, PhD, coauthor of A Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Workbook
“In clear, straightforward language—and with unmistakable caring— True Belonging shows ways to break through partial truths, mistaken beliefs, and shoddy storylines that mire us in loneliness. On the other side lies a cheerful appreciation of the ‘whole truth’ of who we really are.”
—Barry Boyce, editor of The Mindfulness Revolution and www.mindful.org
“ True Belonging is a true gift. This book is for anyone who wants to connect more deeply and compassionately with themselves, with others, and with the great web of life to which we all belong. No need to wait another moment—follow the practical guidance offered in True Belonging and open your heart now.”
—Diane Reibel, PhD, is director of the Mindfulness Institute at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital and coauthor of Teaching Mindfulness
“Whether you already know and cherish a sense of true belonging in this world and would dive more deeply into it or are someone who longs for its embrace, this lovely guidebook to personal transformation will greatly contribute to your life. It offers a true path from isolation and loneliness. You will find here a loving and thoughtful weave of wisdom and compassion, gentle, caring guidance, and many simple yet profound meditations that can awaken in you a deep sense of connectedness in the family of all things.”
—Steve Flowers, MS, MFT, author of The Mindful Path through Shyness , coauthor of Living With Your Heart Wide Open , and director of the mindfulness-based stress reduction clinic at Enloe Medical Center in Chico, CA
“Jeffery Brantley and Wendy Millstine’s True Belonging is a gift! This book offers a pathway of connection and interconnection into all of life. Read this book, work these practices, and feel the loving embrace of the universe. You have not been forsaken!”
—Bob Stahl, PhD, mindfulness-based stress reduction teacher in northern California, adjunct senior teacher at the Center for Mindfulness at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, and coauthor of A Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Workbook and Living With Your Heart Wide Open
“The real you is centered, confident, connected, and inspired. Feel it! Read True Belonging . I love this book!”
—Jill Spiegel, author of How To Talk To Anyone About Anything!
“Isolation and loneliness are quite debilitating states of being that can result in difficulties in mental and physical health. Brantley and Millstine offer mindfulness-based skills and insights that can dramatically improve one’s quality of life through connecting with others and cultivating happiness.”
—Gina M. Biegel, MA, LMFT, psychotherapist, mindfulness-based stress reduction researcher and teacher, and author of The Stress Reduction Workbook for Teens

Publisher’s Note
This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information in regard to the subject matter covered. It is sold with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering psychological, financial, legal, or other professional services. If expert assistance or counseling is needed, the services of a competent professional should be sought.
Distributed in Canada by Raincoast Books
The poem “Tasting Mindfulness” from Coming to Our Senses: Healing Ourselves and the World through Mindfulness by Jon Kabat-Zinn, Ph.D, copyright © 2005 Jon Kabat-Zinn, Ph.D. Reprinted by permission of Hyperion. All rights reserved.
The poem “Meditation on the Moment” by Mary Kendall used by permission of the author.
The poem “John” by April Hutchinson used by permission of the author.
Copyright © 2011 by Jeffrey Brantley and Wendy Millstine
New Harbinger Publications, Inc.
5674 Shattuck Avenue
Oakland, CA 94609
www.newharbinger.com
Cover design by Amy Shoup; Text design by Michele Waters-Kermes;
Acquired by Tesilya Hanauer; Edited by Brady Kahn
epub ISBN: 9781608824714
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data on file
All Rights Reserved.
This book is dedicated to everyone in our world who feels lost, alone, and hopeless. May you live with peace and ease. May you remember and recover your place in the family of all living things. —J.B.
To my ancestors, whose sacred spirits live within me and connect me to the spiraling cosmos and this marvelous web of life. —W.M.
Contents
introduction
the foundation
part 1 connecting with yourself: practices for deepening awareness
1 It’s Like This, in You—“Yes!”
2 “Not Me, Not Me”
3 Caring for Your Pain
4 Nourishing Your Hunger for Connection
5 The Gift of Forgiveness
6 Calm Body, Quiet Mind, Steady Attention
7 “Ah, This Grand Body of Mine!”
8 A Value-Driven Life
9 Path to Joy
10 Opening into Awareness
part 2 connecting with others: practices for understanding and caring
11 Remembering the Animals
12 A Fingerprint of Love
13 The Source of All Life
14 Fall in Love with Life
15 Belonging to the Natural World
16 A World of Smiles
17 “We-ness”
18 “Stop and Stay with Me”
19 Containers for Connection
20 Dissolve the Boundary
21 There Is Always Silence
part 3 taking mindful and compassionate action in the world
22 Practicing Peace
23 Sending Goodwill
24 Listening Anew
25 “How Can I Help?”
26 For Those in Need
27 Global Network for Love
28 Your Beautiful Place
29 The World in a Bite
30 Mindfully Present, No Matter What
31 Helping Hands
32 River of Abundance
references
introduction
It is often said that we human beings are more alike than we are different.
Not only are we similar in the most basic ways, beginning with our DNA, but we all live our lives in a constantly unfolding present moment—where we are deeply interconnected and interdependent, relying literally breath-by-breath upon physical, emotional, and social exchanges and networks for our very existence and for the fabric of our lives.
Yet, ironically, one of the ways we are most similar is that each of us—given the right conditions—can easily fall victim to a painful, incomplete, and distorting self-view of isolation and disconnection. Such a view is dominated by beliefs and feelings—deeply held—that we are somehow different from those around us or that we are not truly related, or important, to others or that, sadly, we do not belong in this life. In other words, we often get caught in confusion and suffer because of mistaken beliefs about ourselves and about our circumstances.
It could be an extraordinary and beautiful act of good will, self-care, and generosity to learn how to recognize and correct your inaccurate and painful views and feelings of isolation and separation when they arise. It could be a life-changing gift to yourself and to others to learn how to embrace, dwell, rejoice, and act from larger perspectives and experiences of ease and belonging—ones nurtured by your inherent human kindness, intelligence, and compassion.
Who This Book Is For and What It Offers
Have you ever felt isolated or alone? Have you ever suffered, believing that you had become disconnected and were no longer a part of things? Did those feelings of separateness carry with them painful emotions or plunge you into moments of despair or hopelessness?
Most likely, yes! Who has not felt such things? It is part of the suffering that comes with being human.
And, yet, what if you didn’t have to be so vulnerable to painful feelings of disconnection or isolation? What if you could learn to remember—and rest more often and more deeply in—the experience of interconnection and the feeling of belonging?
If you have ever felt disconnected or lonely and you long for richer relationships and a deeper sense of connection, this book is for you. A goal of this book is to offer comfort and inspiration. More importantly, this book's goal is to become a resource for liberation and the discovery of new possibilities and joy for anyone trapped in the perception that they are somehow absolutely alone, isolated, or excluded.
Feeling Separated from the Rest
Have you ever wondered what keeps you from connecting more authentically and deeply in each moment—with yourself, with another, or with the flow of your life? Are you ever curious about the obstacles blocking you from more experiences of deep joy and unwavering contentment and belonging? For some insight into these questions, it’s necessary to look at the inner world, where feelings like joy and contentment, or disconnection and loneliness, live.
In this inner world of thoughts, feelings, and bodily sensations, you can feel uncomfortably isolated and alone at any time as your life story unfolds. In addition, painful events—such as physical separation, the end of a relationship, the death of a loved one or pet, serious illness, a struggle with addiction, or simply the challenges of living with some deeply personal characteristic like shyness or anxiety—can evoke more thoughts and feelings of disconnection and separation.
Who among us has not been affected by one or more of these challenges in our lives? The experience of loss and vulnerability that we all share is yet another way in which we humans are more alike than we are different.
The demands and challenges of living inevitably call forth thoughts, feelings, and actions every day. These experiences and feelings are also being recorded—as they happen—by the amazing intelligence we have as humans. Later, when something evokes them, or if we remember them on purpose, they can return to the present moment as mind-and-body memories, even if they happened long ago.
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