Emotional Alchemy
-
- £9.99
-
- £9.99
Publisher Description
Alchemists sought to transform lead into gold. This book shows how we similarly all have the natural ability to turn the lead of our confused minds into the gold of insightful clarity. Tara Bennett shows how we can learn to see ourselves as we really are and thus learn to disengage from those emotional patterns that undermine our lives. Drawing on the latest research into cognitive science and neuroscience with ancient principles of Buddhist psychology, this profound yet very practical book shows how practicing mindfulness can heal the very heart of our being.
'A wise and practical guide to emotional freedom' Joseph Goldstein, author of Insight Meditation
'A wonderfully clear, compassionate and insightful guide to freeing ourselves from difficult emotions' Sharon Salzberg, author of LovingKindness'
Written with humour [and] warmheartedness in lively prose -' Naomi Wolf, author of The Beauty Myth
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
"We all desire happiness and do not want suffering." The Dalai Lama introduces Bennett-Goleman's first book with this trademark refrain, adding the deceptively simple Buddhist truth that much suffering is caused by our "disturbing emotions." Bennett-Goleman, a psychotherapist and longtime student of Buddhist meditation, draws on decades of experience to elucidate how the Buddhist practices of nonjudgmental awareness or mindfulness and the cultivation of compassion can unclasp the grip of the most addictive and deeply entrenched emotional patterns. What sets Bennett-Goleman's work apart from other contributions to the emerging field of Buddhist-oriented psychotherapy is her particular expertise in "schema therapy," which applies the consciousness of thought patterns that characterizes cognitive therapy to the deep-seated emotional habits that are formed in childhood. Thus she shows readers how our habitual fears and defenses get triggered again and again in our relationships, mechanically perpetuating old pain and obscuring reality. The author offers anecdotes from her clinical work and from workshops she conducts with her husband, Daniel Goleman, author of the megabestseller Emotional Intelligence. While Bennett-Goleman will undoubtedly benefit from the huge interest in her husband's book and from the burgeoning market for applied Buddhist wisdom in general, her distinct power flows from her sincerity. She is not given to neat formulations, yet her stories have the persuasiveness of experience, of transformation drop by drop. "In Western psychology it is often said that one needs a strong ego," writes Bennett-Goleman. "But in the Buddhist sense what we need is strong confidence." Many readers will trust the path that she forges here.
