Coming Full Circle: One Woman’S Journey Through Spiritual Crisis


Book Description

Her journey of recovery from bipolar disorder and her insights are described in this book, an autobiography of Carol Noyes. When Carol went through mid-life crisis in the spring of 2006 her world was turned upside-down. Carol was able to wean herself off drugs, after over four years on psychiatric medications. She found natural alternatives that effectively helped her to recover and to lead a productive life. Carol believes that the current medical paradigm is inadequate and often unable to help individuals to heal and to bounce back. Carol nearly died from a combination of the swine flu and lithium poisoning. Her descent to the bottom of the metaphorical well provided the impetus for her to research non-drug therapies. These therapies, along with faith, hope, and courage, brought Carol back to a peaceful life. Carol recounts her life and investigates the factors that precipitated imbalance. She writes about her extraordinary experiences during expanded states of consciousness. She also delves into the world of symbols and mythologies, describing how they became poignant for her. Carol calls her experience a time of spiritual awakening; a time of developing self-esteem, learning to love herself, and finding her true purpose. She hopes that her insights will help others going through spiritual crisis. Those interested in humanistic psychology, personal growth, and spirituality may find this book fascinating.




Coming Full Circle


Book Description

What happens when a Jewish girl raised in a secular home discovers Christianity on her search for spirituality and then after 17 years in Christian leadership realizes that most of what she believed was a lie? What happens when she embraces Orthodox Judaism but is not initially accepted by the community and perseveres anyway? This is the captivating story of Penina Taylor's spiritual journey which brought her through Evangelical Christianity, Messianic Judaism and finally to a revelation that turned her world upside down, eventually leading her to embrace the faith of her forefathers. A story that is at times more unbelievable than fiction, Coming Full Circle is a book that you just won't want to put down.




Bipolar Faith


Book Description

Overcome with mental anguish, Monica A. Coleman's great-grandfather had his two young sons pull the chair out from beneath him when he hanged himself. That noose remained tied to a rafter in the shed, where it hung above the heads of his eight children who played there for years to come. As it had for generations before her, a heaviness hung over Monica throughout her young life. As an adult, this rising star in the academy saw career successes often fueled by the modulated highs of undiagnosed Bipolar II Disorder, as she hid deep depression that even her doctors skimmed past in disbelief. Serendipitous encounters with Black intellectuals like Henry Louis Gates Jr., Angela Davis, and Renita Weems were countered by long nights of stark loneliness. Only as Coleman began to face her illness was she able to live honestly and faithfully in the world. And in the process, she discovered a new and liberating vision of God. Written in crackling prose, Monica's spiritual autobiography examines her long dance with trauma, depression, and the threat of death in light of the legacies of slavery, war, sharecropping, poverty, and alcoholism that masked her family history of mental illness for generations.




The Dance of the Dissident Daughter


Book Description

"I was amazed to find that I had no idea how to unfold my spiritual life in a feminine way. I was surprised, and, in fact, a little terrified, when I found myself in the middle of a feminist spiritual reawakening." ––Sue Monk Kidd For years, Sue Monk Kidd was a conventionally religious woman. Then, in the late 1980s, Kidd experienced an unexpected awakening, and began a journey toward a feminine spirituality. With the exceptional storytelling skills that have helped make her name, author of When the Heart Waits tells her very personal story of the fear, anger, healing, and freedom she experienced on the path toward the wholeness that many women have lost in the church. From a jarring encounter with sexism in a suburban drugstore, to monastery retreats and to rituals in the caves of Crete, she reveals a new level of feminine spiritual consciousness for all women– one that retains a meaningful connection with the "deep song of Christianity," embraces the sacredness of ordinary women's experience, and has the power to transform in the most positive ways every fundamental relationship in a woman's life– her marriage, her career, and her religion. This Plus edition paperback includes a recent interview with the author conducted by the book's editor Michael Maudlin.







50 Dates in 50 States


Book Description

50 Dates in 50 States tells of how Melanie, a workaholic, hits rock bottom after the death of her soul-mate and remembers a formula she created and used previously to achieve positive change. She follows the formula on a journey that changes her life. Along the way she quits her job, sells her house, travels the United States dating fifty men in fifty states, and eventually falls in love again...in the most unexpected place. Through its original format, you can also learn how to build the life of your dreams by following the formula that is detailed throughout. 50 Dates in 50 States is instructive as well as inspirational and encourages you to follow your dreams as life is not a rehearsal.




Perfect Chaos


Book Description

The Johnsons were a close and loving family living in the Seattle area - two parents, two incomes, two bright and accomplished daughters. They led busy lives filled with music lessons, college preparation, career demands, and laughter around the dinner table. Then the younger daughter, Linea, started experiencing crippling bouts of suicidal depression. Multiple trips to the psych ward resulted in a diagnosis of bipolar disorder, and it took many trial runs of drugs and ultimately electroshock therapy to bring Linea back. But her family never gave up on her. And Linea never stopped trying to find her way back to them. Perfect Chaos is the story of a mother and daughter's journey through mental illness towards hope. From initial worrying symptoms to long sleepless nights to cross-country flights and the slow understanding and rebuilding of trust, Perfect Chaos tells Linea and Cinda's harrowing and inspiring story, of an illness that they conquer together every day. It is the story of a daughter's courage, a mother's faith, and the love that carried them through the darkest times.




Mend the Gap


Book Description

You are having what could be diagnosed as an insane experience, but you know, deep down, that it's actually more real than the façade you are trying to maintain to 'fit in' with what society suggests is normal. Are you really the only one, and can you continue to live a lie? When Katie Mottram, a mental health practitioner whose mother suffered from severe depression, found herself having a breakdown, she suddenly realised that the system in which she worked was getting it all wrong. Nobody could have envisioned the miraculous destination to which her distress would lead her. When you've read Katie's story and her amazing insights, you will: * Understand the messages contained in your emotions * Find out what lies beneath your fears * Discover how you have access to everything your soul desires * Realise that your dream life is not out of reach * Gain the confidence to live as your authentic self. As a consequence of her own spiritual crisis, Katie is now a development group member of the UK Spiritual Crisis Network, and is working to gain recognition for this very natural phenomenon within mainstream psychiatry. She is also involved with an innovative mental health pilot study aiming to 'normalise' mental distress and transform policy within the UK and beyond. Katie is based in Norfolk, England, and can be contacted at: twitter.com/SynchronizeYou




Broken Open


Book Description

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • This inspiring guide to healing and growth illuminates the richness and potential of every life, even in the face of loss and adversity—now updated with additional toolbox materials and a new preface by the author In the more than twenty-five years since she co-founded Omega Institute—now the world’s largest center for spiritual retreat and personal growth—Elizabeth Lesser has been an intimate witness to the ways in which people weather change and transition. In a beautifully crafted blend of moving stories, humorous insights, practical guidance, and personal memoir, she offers tools to help us make the choice we all face in times of challenge: Will we be broken down and defeated, or broken open and transformed? Lesser shares tales of ordinary people who have risen from the ashes of illness, divorce, loss of a job or a loved one—stronger, wiser, and more in touch with their purpose and passion. And she draws on the world’s great spiritual and psychological traditions to support us as we too learn to break open and blossom into who we were meant to be.




Fumbling


Book Description

Egan describes her journey from grief to faith in this candid, spiritually profound account of her pilgrimage on the Camino de Santiago, the medieval pilgrim route through Northern Spain. A story of overcoming anger and sadness and finding joy and redemption, "Fumbling" illuminates the power of grief to enhance our relationship with God.