Recommended Reading The Ten Things to Do When Your Life Falls Apart Daphne Kingma This is one of those books you should have by your bed-side table. Every page delivers hope and extends an invitation to heal. The Language of Emotions Karla McLaren If you have never truly examined your emotions and what they mean, this book is an amazing road map for understanding the intricate web of feelings that reside in your body. Learning to embrace rather than resist these delicate messengers of the soul will enhance your journey and speed your healing. Ensouling Language Stephen Harrod Buhner Although this is a book about writing, it is truly a beautiful essay about being alive. Even if you have no aspirations to be a published author, Mr. Buhner will inspire you to live from the inside out. Meditation My yoga and meditation practices are very unstructured. The practice of yoga is not about being a pretzel or going to a fancy studio, it is simply finding your way home to your own body and befriending it at long last. After spending a lifetime at odds with every part of my physical self, it is truly a miracle to me that I am comfortable in my own skin. I attribute this to planting my feet on a yoga mat. I don’t believe meditation has to be complicated. It is simply another element in your healing toolbox. I think of it as harnessing the incredible mental technology that we were all born with. At its core, it is regarding our “self” with tender curiosity and constantly returning to the quiet space behind the chatterbox. I have fleeting moments of being there and I believe you can too. I am no master, only a traveller, right along side the rest of humanity. Aware, Awake and Alive Eliott Dacher Dr. Dacher is a wise and compassionate soul. His book offers an insightful and instructional look at the practice of meditation. He is also available for one-on-one sessions, which help take the mystery out of trying to sit alone with your mind. Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself Dr. Joe Dispenza This book explains the science of building a new mindset. Fascinating and easy to read, I also highly recommend the guided meditation from his website. Breathwork I wish I had discovered the power of the breath long ago. I feel like I have missed out on a lifetime of healing magic. It seems there are as many different kinds of breath work as forms of yoga and I have only worked with a few trained breath healers. I will share what I find here, but mostly, I hope to inspire you to connect, in your own personal way, with the amazing resource you have within you, at this very moment. Just Breathe. Learning to breathe on purpose is powerful way to change your relationship with your inner world. Yoga The Promise Mark Whitwell Yoga has been an integral part of my healing and I can’t say enough about the simplicity of what this book offers. Although I have found tremendous solace on a yoga mat in the middle of a room of sweaty people I never quite mastered the principle of connecting the breath with the movement. Mark Whitwell removes the mystery and delivers a simple and profound way to practice. I had the good fortune to meet him and he is as straight-forward and delightful as his writing. Writing I write to discover who I am and what I know: It is a way of unearthing myself. I always find solutions and insights when I put pen to the paper. Although I have always written in a journal, it is only after going through this experience that I began to let my writing escape out into the open and onto this blog. I hope it will inspire healing and connection. Jennifer Louden’s Writers Retreat If you have a hankering to write or to just be in the presence of a beautiful healing being, Jen offers retreats that will feed your soul and change your life. Inspiration I don’t think of healing as a passive process. It is a declaration and it can be a messy business. There are those quiet, majestic moments: the realization of how far you have come or the laughter of your child in the next room that unexpectedly propel you to realms of unbridled joy. But there can also be the call to action, requiring raw courage, a leap of faith, and a willingness to stand in the unknown. Creativity is like that. We begin with an idea or vision and the physical manifestation is entirely different. The important part is allowing the process to guide you. It is standing in the middle of your life embracing its entirety and letting your heart lead you to the goodness. I will share any inspiration I find along the way. Letting your creative genius out to play is a lovely way to explore grief and loss and it immensely expands the potential for healing. Tut.com Educational Advocacy To assist you in navigating the complex nuances of assistance available to your child at a time of crisis I highly recommend an Educational Advocate.