Download or read book The Woman With the Elephant Heart A Journey of Healing and Self Discovery written by Deborah Friedson and published by Lulu.com. This book was released on 2017-02-15 with total page 47 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Are you a woman in search of a warm volume offering inspiration for self-healing and reflection and an invitation to pause and feel? In The Woman with the Elephant Heart, author Deborah Friedson provides just that. Through uplifting statements and observations, she tells the story of her personal journey to self-discovery and healing, a path that might be walked by any woman-an individual trek that too many women feel they are walking alone. This inspirational guide, featuring original paintings, presents encouraging and motivating text extending validation and support to women on journeys of self-healing. "This is a deeply spiritual book that would appeal to anyone open to learning about themselves. Deborah Friedson has captured the myriad of emotions and reactions that we all experience in our life's journey. It is a wonderful book that has you discovering new thoughts each time you open it." -Dr. Joanne Porter, Pediatric Oncologist/Hematologist

Download or read book The Tao of Equus written by Linda Kohanov and published by New World Library. This book was released on 2007 with total page 381 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An equine therapist shares the story of a spiritual awakening she experienced with her black mare, Rasa, which led her to investigate the metaphysical and scientific aspects of the human-horse bond.

Download or read book Swimming with Elephants written by Sarah Bamford Seidelmann and published by Conari Press. This book was released on 2017-10-01 with total page 306 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: After two decades in the study and practice of medicine, Sarah Seidelmann took a three month sabbatical to search for a way to feel good again. Having witnessed human suffering early in her career and within her own family, she longed for a way to address more than just the physical needs of her patients and to live in a lighter, more conscious way. Swimming with Elephants tells the eccentric, sometimes poignant, and occasionally hilarious experience of a working mother undergoing a bewildering vocational shift from physician to shamanic healer. During that tumultuous period of answering her call, Sarah met an elephant who would become an important spirit companion on her journey, had bones thrown for her by a shaman in South Africa, and traveled to India for an ancient Hindu pilgrimage, where she received the blessing she had been longing for. Ultimately, she discovered an entirely different way of healing, one that she had always aspired to, and that enabled her to help those who are suffering.

Download or read book Dancing with Elephants written by Jarem Sawatsky and published by . This book was released on 2017-03-06 with total page 222 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Based on the popular blog of the same name, Dancing With Elephants includes insightful interviews with chronic disease experts Toni Bernhard, Lucy Kalanithi, and Patch Adams. Sawatsky's landmark book provides support that only a fellow traveler down this road can offer. If you like touching stories, mindful wisdom, and a touch of irreverent humor, then you'll love Sawatsky's life-changing book.

Download or read book Gods in Shackles written by Sangita Iyer and published by Hay House, Inc. This book was released on 2022-02-08 with total page 306 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: With a foreword by Jane Goodall, this moving memoir follows a successful journalist and filmmaker who felt like something was missing in her life as she finds her purpose in advocacy for the Asian elephants in her childhood home town of Kerala, India. "The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated." - Mahatma Gandhi Elephants are self-aware, conscious beings. They can feel and grieve the loss of both elephants and humans. But despite all empathy that elephants shower on humans, we continue to inflict pain and suffering on these caring, sentient beings. In 2013 Sangita Iyer visited her childhood home of Kerala, India. Over 700 Asian elephants live in Kerala, owned by individuals and temples that force them to perform in lengthy, crowded, noisy festivals, abusing and shackling these animals they claim to revere for tourists and money. When Sangita found herself in the presence of these divine creatures and witnessed their suffering first hand, she felt a deep connection to their pain. She too had been shackled and broken for too long-to her patriarchal upbringing in India, to the many "me too" moments in her work life that were swept under the rug, to the silence. Now she would speak out for the elephants and for herself. And she would heal alongside them. This sparked the creation of her award winning documentary of the same name and a new purpose in this life for both Sangita and the elephants.

Download or read book Journey to Joyful written by Dashama Konah Gordon and published by North Atlantic Books. This book was released on 2011-09-06 with total page 226 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this uplifting guide packed with health tips, dietary recommendations, and inspirational affirmations, Dashama introduces her own brand of yoga for self-transformation. The book introduces Pranashama Yoga, developed by Dashama as a combination of arts that works with the physical and spiritual energy of the body. Pranashama Yoga draws on various styles of yoga (Vinyasa, Ashtanga, Kundalini, Anusara, and Power), martial arts (T’ai Chi, Qigong), and Thai yoga therapy. Dashama includes clear explanations of the yoga philosophy underlying her program and shares her own journey to her present success as a leading yoga teacher. Tackling the problem of addiction and its impact on family and individual happiness, Dashama presents alternative visions of healing and mental peace through the time-tested, drug-free path of yoga. She concludes the book with useful exercises to help students on their own journeys to joyful living: self-assessment writing assignments, quizzes, and a four-stage diet and weight-loss program that incorporates yogic breathing and positive-thinking exercises. Illustrated throughout with black and white photographs, Journey to Joyful is designed for readers interested in yoga, natural food, weight loss, and positive thinking.

Download or read book Will I Ever be Good Enough written by Karyl McBride and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2008 with total page 275 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The first book specifically for daughters suffering from the emotional abuse of selfish, self-involved mothers,Will I Ever Be Good Enough?provides the expert assistance you need in order to overcome this debilitating history and reclaim your life for yourself. Drawing on over two decades of experience as a therapist specializing in women's psychology and health, psychotherapist Dr. Karyl McBride helpsyou recognize the widespread effects of this maternal emotional abuse and guides you as you create an individualized program for self-protection, resolution, and complete recovery.An estimated 1.5 million American women have narcissistic personality disorder, which makes them so insecure and overbearing, insensitive and domineering that they can psychologically damage their daughters for life. Daughters of narcissistic mothers learn that maternal love is not unconditional, and that it is given only when they behave in accordance with their mothers' often unreasonable expectations and whims. As adults, these daughters consequently have difficulty overcoming their insecurities and feelings of inadequacy, disappointment, sadness, and emotional emptiness. They may also have a terrible fear of abandonment that leads them to form unhealthy love relationships, as well as a tendency to perfectionism and unrelenting self-criticism, or to self-sabotage and frustration.Herself the recovering daughter of a narcissistic mother, Dr. McBride includes her personal struggle, which adds a profound level of authority to her work, along with the perspectives of the hundreds of suffering daughters she's interviewed over the years. Their stories of how maternal abuse has manifested in their lives -- as well as how they have successfully overcome its effects -- show you that you're not alone and that you can take back your life and have the controlyouwant.Dr. McBride's step-by-step program will enable you to:(1) Recognize your own experience with maternal narcissism and its effects on all aspects of your life (2) Discover how you have internalized verbal and nonverbal messages from your mother and how these have translated into a strong desire to overachieve or a tendency to self-sabotage (3) Construct a step-by-step program to reclaim your life and enhance your sense of self, a process that includes creating a psychological separation from your mother and breaking the legacy of abuse. You will also learn how not to repeat your mother's mistakes with your own daughter.Warm and sympathetic, filled with the examples of women who have established healthy boundaries with their hurtful mothers,Will I Ever Be Good Enough?encourages and inspires you as it aids your recovery.

Download or read book Bowing to Elephants written by Mag Dimond and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2019-09-17 with total page 254 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Bowing to Elephants, a woman seeking love and authenticity comes to understand herself as a citizen of the world through decades of wandering the globe. During her travels she sees herself more clearly as she gazes into the feathery eyes of a 14,000-pound African elephant and looks for answers to old questions in Vietnam and the tragically ravaged landscape of Cambodia. Bowing to Elephants is a travel memoir with a twist―the story of an unloved rich girl from San Francisco who becomes a travel junkie, searching for herself in the world to avoid the tragic fate of her narcissistic, alcoholic mother. Haunted by images of childhood loneliness and the need to learn about her world, Dimond journeys to far-flung places―into the perfumed chaos of India, the nostalgic, damp streets of Paris, the gray, watery world of Venice in the winter, the reverent and silent mountains of Bhutan, and the gold temples of Burma. In the end, she accepts the death of the mother she never really had―and finds peace and her authentic self in the refuge of Buddhist practice.

Download or read book Cathedral of the Wild written by Boyd Varty and published by Random House. This book was released on 2014-03-11 with total page 322 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “This is a gorgeous, lyrical, hilarious, important book. . . . Read this and you may find yourself instinctively beginning to heal old wounds: in yourself, in others, and just maybe in the cathedral of the wild that is our true home.”—Martha Beck, author of Finding Your Own North Star Boyd Varty had an unconventional upbringing. He grew up on Londolozi Game Reserve in South Africa, a place where man and nature strive for balance, where perils exist alongside wonders. Founded more than eighty years ago as a hunting ground, Londolozi was transformed into a nature reserve beginning in 1973 by Varty’s father and uncle, visionaries of the restoration movement. But it wasn’t just a sanctuary for the animals; it was also a place for ravaged land to flourish again and for the human spirit to be restored. When Nelson Mandela was released after twenty-seven years of imprisonment, he came to the reserve to recover. Cathedral of the Wild is Varty’s memoir of his life in this exquisite and vast refuge. At Londolozi, Varty gained the confidence that emerges from living in Africa. “We came out strong and largely unafraid of life,” he writes, “with the full knowledge of its dangers.” It was there that young Boyd and his equally adventurous sister learned to track animals, raised leopard and lion cubs, followed their larger-than-life uncle on his many adventures filming wildlife, and became one with the land. Varty survived a harrowing black mamba encounter, a debilitating bout with malaria, even a vicious crocodile attack, but his biggest challenge was a personal crisis of purpose. An intense spiritual quest takes him across the globe and back again—to reconnect with nature and “rediscover the track.” Cathedral of the Wild is a story of transformation that inspires a great appreciation for the beauty and order of the natural world. With conviction, hope, and humor, Varty makes a passionate claim for the power of the wild to restore the human spirit. Praise for Cathedral of the Wild “Extremely touching . . . a book about growth and hope.”—The New York Times “It made me cry with its hard-won truths about human and animal nature. . . . Both funny and deeply moving, this book belongs on the shelf of everyone who seeks healing in wilderness.”—BookPage

Download or read book Kaya s Heart Song written by Diwa Tharan Sanders and published by . This book was released on 2018 with total page 40 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Let me tell you a secret--if you have a heart song, anything is possible. Even magic " Kaya is looking for her heart song--the song that happy hearts sing. Her search takes her on a journey deep into the jungle where a broken down carousel waits for a very special song to make it turn again.

Download or read book Unbinding the Heart written by Agapi Stassinopoulos and published by Hay House, Inc. This book was released on 2012-02-01 with total page 217 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Unbinding the Heart, author, speaker, and Huffington Post regular Agapi Stassinopoulos invites readers on an inspiring journey of inner exploration to reconnect with their true selves. Born in Greece, a country that celebrates life, Agapi learned the essential truths of happiness through the examples of wisdom, caring, playfulness, and generosity she saw all around her, starting with her own mother. She came to realize that everyone is born with an open heart, but that we quickly learn to put conditions on our happiness-comparing ourselves to others, casting judgment, doubting ourselves, allowing fear or entitlement or self-righteousness to take hold-and slowly our hearts begin to close. We isolate ourselves, feeling alone, disconnected, and unheard; and in doing so we immobilize our spirit, stifle our authentic expression, and cut off our joy. As she went on, Agapi, like so many of us, came under the soul-constricting influences of the larger world. In her struggle to find her place and her voice, trying to balance the acting career she dreamed of with the spiritual life she longed for, she discovered a path that was uniquely hers. Unbinding the Heart shows how she found her way home to herself. In 32 personal, heartfelt stories full of insight and humor, Agapi takes us from her mother's bountiful kitchen, where the seeds of fearless living were planted, to the London classical stage, to an epiphany on a New York City bus-and inspires readers with the confidence to let go of the beliefs that bind them and come to a deeper understanding of life and love.

Download or read book Unbreak My Heart written by Nicole Jacquelyn and published by Forever. This book was released on 2016-06-07 with total page 255 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A "heartbreaking, heartwarming" (Heidi McLaughlin, New York Times bestselling author) love story that asks the question: what do you do when your soul mate marries your best friend? If you're Kate Evans, you keep your friend Rachel, bond with her kids, and bury your feelings for her husband. The fact that Shane's in the military and away for long periods helps-but when tragedy strikes, everything changes. After Rachel, pregnant with her fourth child, dies in a car accident and the baby miraculously survives, Kate upends her entire life to share parenting duties. Then on the first anniversary of Rachel's death, Kate and Shane take comfort in each other in a night that they both soon regret. Shane's been angry for a year, and now he feels guilty too - for sleeping with his wife's best friend and liking it . . . liking her. Kate's ability to read him like a book may have once sent Shane running, but their lives are forever entwined and they are growing closer. Now with Shane deployed for seven months, Kate is on her own and struggling with being a single parent. Shane is loving and supportive from thousands of miles away, but his homecoming brings a betrayal Kate never saw coming. So Kate's only choice is to fight for the future she deserves - with or without Shane. . .

Download or read book Elephant Girl written by Jane Devin and published by CreateSpace. This book was released on 2011 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Written in three distinct voices-child, teen and adult-Jane Devin takes readers on an intimate, imaginative and often harrowing life journey. Born unwanted and raised without love, the child-author invents a rich inner life to see her through years of trauma. Leaving home at 16, the teen-author struggles to find happiness and a sense of place in a world that feels confusing and unfamiliar. Then, years after stumbling into an adulthood mired in tragedy and broken dreams, the woman-author finds herself at a crossroads. The choice she ultimately makes is as stunning as it is brave.Told in unflinching and often lyrical prose, Elephant Girl goes beyond a singular life story to speak of powerful, universal truths and the ability of the human spirit to redeem itself. From the soul of a broken child and the heart of a resilient woman comes a story about turning imagination into possibility and scars into art. - Rosie O'Donnell, Talk Show Host In a culture of bootstraps and bromides, it has become unfashionable to talk about the long-term effects of child abuse and being raised without love or nurture. Unlike psychologist Harry Harlowe's infamous experiments with monkeys and maternal deprivation - where all his subjects ended up abnormal or dead from what has been termed "emotional anorexia" -abused children are supposed to be more resilient. In fact, a significant number of people insist that child abuse isn't really that big of a deal and that such children will eventually enter into adulthood with the same knowledge and tools as those who were not abused, or at least be able to gain them quickly and easily. Less acknowledged is the fact that there can be long-term and even lifelong physical, social and emotional consequences of child abuse. Oftentimes, the one affected doesn't even realize what those consequences are until well into adulthood. High anxiety, hyper-vigilance, thwarted sexuality and brain damage that went undiagnosed until the age of 46 were just some of the after-effects experienced by the author of Elephant Girl: A Human Story. The story of Precious ends with her teenage years. Jeannette Walls concludes Glass Castles as a college student. In A Child Called It, Dave Pelzer is removed from his abusive home by age 12 and eventually finds a loving foster family. In contrast, Elephant Girl: A Human Story is about what happens when there is no clear path to follow, no outside guidance and no dramatic rescue-when the only life-saving graces are imagination, self-determination and, ultimately, an undefeatable sense of hope. This is not an easy story to read. Those who enjoy reading about miracles or quick solutions will surely be disappointed. Those looking to cast blame or buoy their belief that they could have done better will find plenty of ammunition. However, those who are willing to see beyond the convenience and labels of bootstraps and bromides - who believe that human experiences are diverse and complex - will find much to relate to in this rarely told story.

Download or read book Year of the Elephant written by Barbara Parmenter and published by University of Texas Press. This book was released on 2009-09-15 with total page 172 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Includes glossary and interview with the author.

Download or read book Elephant Summer written by Douglas Jackson Channell and published by CreateSpace. This book was released on 2010-07-11 with total page 152 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Elephant Summer is a contemporary look at an age-old problem (Elephant Conservation) through the eyes of three best friends from GeorgeAnn, Texas. Taylor Jackson, Jackie Cooper and Smiley O'Dell visit an uncle in Kenya for the summer and become interested in the elephants in the Amboseli region, and intimately involved with one particular elephant family led by an old matriarch they call Sweety Pie. "We had left our small town of GeorgeAnn, Texas, to spend the summer with my Uncle Keeno in the jungles of Kenya. As an archeologist, it was his job to explore the region for clues of pre-historic man. For Jackie, Smiley, and me, it was just supposed to be a lot of fun. Now we were running for our lives, our legs pumping up and down like pistons, my heart pounding in my chest like cannon-fire." The three friends join two elephant researchers on their day to day sojourns into the bush and across the savannas to learn all they can about the elephants they are falling in love with...and their complicated and endless array of problems. Authors' Note: Culling has been a means of elephant population control in various areas of Africa for over fifty years. However, Kenya has recently stopped the practice of culling and currently prohibits culling as a means of elephant population management. Nevertheless, the act of culling as a manner of elephant population control is still practiced within other countries of the African continent. Hopefully, other countries in Africa will soon follow Kenya's lead and prohibit culling as a means of wildlife management, within their own boundaries as well.

Download or read book Finding Venerable Mother written by Cindy Rasicot and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2020-05-12 with total page 233 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When Cindy moves to Thailand with her husband and teenage son, she finds herself strangely adrift in a foreign culture, unprepared for the challenges she encounters there. On an impulse she signs up for a conference where she unexpectedly meets a Thai Buddhist nun, Venerable Dhammananda Bhikkhuni, who leads her on a spiritual journey from which there is no turning back. Along the way she discovers the beauty of the Thai people and culture. This soulful and engaging memoir is the story of one woman’s journey of physical, emotional, and spiritual healing through her connection to a loving Buddhist teacher who fully accepts and nurtures her in a way her own mother never did. Finding Venerable Mother is a testimony to the power of faith, forgiveness, and love.

Download or read book To Love and Let Go written by Rachel Brathen and published by Gallery Books. This book was released on 2019-09-17 with total page 336 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “Rachel beautifully illustrates that loving fiercely and grieving deeply are often two halves of the same whole. Her story will break you down and lift you up.” —Glennon Doyle, author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Love Warrior and founder of Together Rising While on her way to teach a yoga retreat in March 2014, Rachel Brathen collapses at an airport, brought to her knees by excruciating stomach pains. She is rushed to the hospital on the tiny island of Bonaire, and hours later forced to undergo surgery. When she wakes up from anesthesia, her boyfriend is weeping at her bedside. While Rachel was struck down with seemingly mysterious pain, her best friend, Andrea, sustained fatal injuries as a result of a car accident. Rachel and Andrea had a magical friendship. Though they looked nothing alike—one girl tall, blond, and Swedish, the other short, brunette, and Colombian—everyone called them gemelas: twins. Over the three years following Andrea’s death, at what might appear from the outside to be the happiest time—with her engagement to the man she loves and a blossoming career that takes her all over the world—Rachel faces a series of trials that have the potential to define her life. Unresolved grief and trauma from her childhood make the weight of her sadness unbearable. At each turn, she is confronted again and again with a choice: Will she lose it all, succumb to grief, and grasp for control that’s beyond her reach? Or can she move through the loss and let go? When Rachel and her husband conceive a child, pregnancy becomes a time to heal and an opportunity to be reborn herself. As she recounts this transformative period, Rachel shares her hard-won wisdom about life and death, love and fear, what it means to be a mother and a daughter, and how to become someone who walks through the fire of adversity with the never-ending practice of loving hard and letting go.