Gracefully You

Actress and dancer Jenna Dewan shares her uplifting message of how to elevate your life and experience beauty every day—perfect for fans of Jessica Alba’s The Honest Life and Kate Hudson’s Pretty Happy. The frustrations and challenges that come with modern living can leave us feeling stressed, overwhelmed, and disconnected. In Gracefully You, Jenna Dewan uses her own deeply personal journey to show you how to find your true voice, connect to your deeper self, and live with grace. From demonstrating how movement is essential to feeling good (whether it’s by going on a nature hike or dancing with your friends) to providing mantras that will help you begin each day with good intentions, Jenna shares clear advice on how you can cultivate happiness in every aspect of your life. Learn how to create a home sanctuary, connect with nature to restore balance, foster healthy relationships of all kinds by establishing physical and spiritual boundaries, and maintain space for your own identity through it all. Filled with stunning photos, Gracefully You is a beautiful, insightful, and powerful vision for anyone who wants to feel better, focus on what’s important, and maintain a sense of balance—all with strength and grace.

Our life span has been on the rise over the last two decades still, that has not enabled most of us to grey gracefully. Hardly, a few make a post-retirement plan for old age happiness. This volume is an outcome of several workshops and post-workshop interactions that the author, Dr Siddhartha Ganguli, had recently conducted through his brain-body management organisation Learning Club, deliberating on these aspects of an individual' life.

In my wildest literary dreams, where I imagine I am a highly acclaimed author, I would love to imagine that if Simone de Beauvoir was an angry twenty-one year old young woman living in Manhattan in 1992 with a passion for boys, Marlboros and Depeche Mode and she lost her father instead of her mother her memoir A Very Easy Death might very well have been titled Gracefully Gone. Gracefully Gone is the fusion of two journals: my father, Matthew L Coppola Sr.'s and mine. My father's journal was written in 1982, two years after his diagnosis and remission with brain cancer. Mine was written in 1990-1991, roughly eight years later, as he began to die. In Gracefully Gone I chronicle my twenty-one year old pursuit of life and all the bitter and amusingly confusing angst that accompanies being twenty-one during the last six months of my father's struggle towards death. In one sense, it is a coming of age tale: from the age of twelve on, I was acutely aware of all things cancer. I was sent to a New England prep school at fifteen to escape all things cancer only to return after graduating NYU in 1990 to all things cancer. During the six pivotal months between the summer of 1990 and January of 1991, not only did I journal my caretaking of my dad but also our profound love story. At its core, for me, Gracefully Gone is very simply a love story: it is my love affair with my dad. I loved, he loved, he died and a bit of me went with him. When thinking about who might be interested in our story I was reminded of an article I read in the Los Angeles Times, (November 19, 2003) about Rebecca Brown who wrote “Excerpts From a Family Medical Dictionary.” (University Of Wisconsin Press, 2003) It is a memoir of her mother's death and according to the LA Times “raises an important question; 'How does one make the death of a beloved parent meaningful to strangers?'” Well, I think I'd like to try and answer that with my own question: how is it not? Everyone I know has either lost or is losing a loved one to cancer. Very few superbly lucky ones have struggled and beaten the cancer monster. The sad fact is in the world we live in today there are no strangers to cancer and there are certainly no strangers to struggle and loss. What I am hoping, what I am counting on, is that my life, my father's life and our story, might be meaningful to strangers; or perhaps, if not meaningful, then at the very least, identifiable, relatable and at times, humorously understandable. Gracefully Gone is not about death, it is about the journey of a family, specifically, the journey of a young girl trying to find her way in the wake of growing up in the looming shadow of cancer. Gracefully Gone is to me the literary version of the magical love song “Unforgettable” by Nat King Cole that his daughter Natalie Cole laid her own track to; it is, very simply, a duet. Perhaps our duet in Gracefully Gone is written as a prayer for all the families, all the children too young to understand and for all the victims of this all too often insurmountable war to know they are not alone. Even though my mother and brother went through the same experience as I, we experienced it very differently. It was as if my father was the LOVEBOAT and we three were on our own separate lifeboats surrounding him, each of us handling our grief privately. Perhaps, if we're really lucky, Gracefully Gone might allow someone a little peace and some comfort knowing that even though they are on their own lifeboats they are in an ocean full of them.

For fans of David Sedaris and Nora Ephron, here is a humorous, irreverent, and poignant look at the gifts, stereotypes, and inevitable challenges of aging, based on the wildly popular New York Times essay from award-winning journalist Steven Petrow. Soon after his 50th birthday, Steven Petrow began assembling a list of “things I won’t do when I get old”—mostly a catalog of all the things he thought his then 70-something year old parents were doing wrong. That list, which included “You won’t have to shout at me that I’m deaf,” and “I won’t blame the family dog for my incontinence,” became the basis of this rousing collection of do’s and don’ts, wills and won’ts that is equal parts hilarious, honest, and practical. The fact is, we don’t want to age the way previous generations did. “Old people” hoard. They bore relatives—and strangers—with tales of their aches and pains. They insist on driving long after they’ve become a danger to others (and themselves). They eat dinner at 4pm. They swear they don’t need a cane or walker (and guess what happens next). They never, ever apologize. But there is another way . . . In Stupid Things I Won’t Do When I Get Old, Petrow candidly addresses the fears, frustrations, and stereotypes that accompany aging. He offers a blueprint for the new old age, and an understanding that aging and illness are not the same. As he writes, “I meant the list to serve as a pointed reminder—to me—to make different choices when I eventually cross the threshold to ‘old.’” Getting older is a privilege. This essential guide reveals how to do it with grace, wisdom, humor, and hope. And without hoarding.

Don’t miss Ami Polonsky’s stunning new novel, World Made of Glass "Tenderly and courageously told, Gracefully Grayson is a small miracle of a book. Its story is so compelling I found myself holding my breath as I read it and so intimate I felt as if what was happening to Grayson was happening to me. Thank you, Ami Polonsky, for creating this memorable character who will open hearts and minds and very possibly be the miracle that changes lives." -James Howe, award-winning and best-selling author of The Misfits What if who you are on the outside doesn't match who you are on the inside? Grayson Sender has been holding onto a secret for what seems like forever: "he" is a girl on the inside, stuck in the wrong gender's body. The weight of this secret is crushing, but sharing it would mean facing ridicule, scorn, rejection, or worse. Despite the risks, Grayson's true self itches to break free. Will new strength from an unexpected friendship and a caring teacher's wisdom be enough to help Grayson step into the spotlight she was born to inhabit? Debut author Ami Polonsky's moving, beautifully-written novel about identity, self-esteem, and friendship shines with the strength of a young person's spirit and the enduring power of acceptance. Praise for Gracefully Grayson "Don't be intimidated when I say that Gracefully Grayson is an important book. (It is.) It's also a brave, exhilarating, heart-stopping, roller-coaster ride of self-discovery that will leave you cheering." -Dean Pitchford, Oscar-winning songwriter and award-winning author of Captain Nobody and Nickel Bay Nick "In this sweet and thoughtful debut, an introverted sixth grader begins to come into her own as a transgender girl. The writing is clear and effortless, with a straightforward plot and likable characters. Grayson is a charming narrator who balances uncertainty with clarity, bravery with anxiety. This title has less obvious and didactic intent than other novels featuring transgender protagonists. A welcome addition to a burgeoning genre." -School Library Journal "Thoughtfully told through Grayson's eyes, the story conveys his angst, hurt, loss, and emerging confidence as he struggles with a whirlwind of emotions. His new friends allow him to find the courage to become who "she" really is, and we are privileged to watch the transformation take place. With great courage, Polonsky's debut novel reminds us with much sensitivity that we are all unique and deserve to become who we are meant to be." -Booklist "Polonsky captures the loneliness of a child resigned to disappear rather than be rejected, and then the courageous risk that child eventually takes to be seen for who she is. The first-person narration successfully positions readers to experience Grayson's confusion, fear, pain, and triumphs as they happen, lending an immediate and intimate feel to the narrative." -Horn Book

THERE REALLY is no trick to making a Graceful Exit. It is all about moving on rather than moving out. The things that happened in our past that we cannot repair we must let go of. In order to make a graceful exit, it is important that you understand what must take place. It is about God's omnipotent grace and antidote forgiveness. You must forgive if you are to develop to your full potential. The forgiveness will heal and free you to break up the fallow ground that has kept you lingering in the past. It will also heal the brokenness of relationships, whether intimate or friendships. This book will discuss and help you recognize those crippling thoughts and behaviors that can hinder you from making your exit.

From Johnnette Benkovic bestselling author and host on the EWTN Global Catholic Network comes these short but powerful daily meditations taken from Scripture and the writings of the saints. Designed as a day-by-day spiritual resource, this book features 365 quotes along with a short meditation to enrich your mind, lift your spirit, and feed your soul.