Your Body Knows The Answer

A manual for Mindful Focusing, a new integration of Eastern and Western techniques for accessing your inherent wisdom.Ever come up against one of those moments when life requires a response—and you feel clueless? We all have. But there’s good news: you have all the wisdom you need to respond to any situation, even the "impossible" ones. It’s a matter of tuning in to your felt sense: that subtle physical sensation that lives somewhere between your conscious and subconscious mind and that can be accessed through Focusing, the well-known method developed by the psychologist Eugene Gendlin. David Rome’s technique of Mindful Focusing unites Gendlin’s method with Buddhist mindfulness practices to provide a wonderfully effective method for accessing your inherent answer to any question—and for responding honestly and creatively to the world around you.

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Sample Book Insights: #1 Negative capability is the ability to be in uncertainties, mysteries, doubts, and without any irritable reaching after fact and reason. It is crucial to the creative process and equally important in contemplative practices like meditation. #2 The GAP exercise is a preparation step to finding the felt sense. It involves focusing your attention on your base, your seat, where your body is supported by whatever you are sitting on. Then, bring your attention to the head region, and experience the quality of presence. Finally, extend your grounded aware presence to include the environment around you. #3 We are going to explore the felt sense, which is a vague, subtle, and unclear experience that is found by bringing a particular quality of attention to a particular zone of bodily experience. Grounded aware presence and friendly attending are the inner skills that allow us to access this zone. #4 The felt sense is similar to the Magic Eye picture. You stare at something in a special way, and a form begins to emerge. It may not be a kangaroo or a pretzel, but it will have specific qualities of shape, form, or texture that can be noticed and felt.

The classic guide to a powerful technique that can increase your mindfulness and lead to personal transformation Based on groundbreaking research conducted at the University of Chicago, the focusing technique has gained widespread popularity and scholarly acclaim. It consists of six easy-to-master steps that identify and change the way thoughts and emotions are held within the body. Focusing can be done virtually anywhere, at any time, and an entire “session” can take no longer than ten minutes, but its effects can be felt immediately–in the relief of bodily tension and psychological stress, as well as in dramatic shifts in understanding and insight. In this highly accessible guide, Dr. Eugene Gendlin, the award-winning psychologist who developed the focusing technique, explains the basic principles behind focusing and offers simple step-by-step instructions on how to utilize this powerful tool for tapping into greater self-awareness and inner wisdom. As you learn to develop your natural ability to “focus,” you’ll find yourself more in sync with both mind and body, filled with greater self-assurance, and better equipped to make the positive changes necessary to improve and enhance every aspect of your life.

Originally published by Viking Penguin, 2014.

I simply cannot praise the book enough! The prose is positively brilliant. It is full of sparkling gems of insight and astonishing, concise yet profound formulations. The nature passages remind me of Annie Dillard. It is truly a remarkable achievement! Miranda Shaw, Ph.D., Professor of Religion, University of Richmond

This book is dedicated to bringing you the pearls of "physical body wisdom" distilled into an easy-to-follow formula. From cover to cover, Caroline Sutherland takes you on an "edge-of-the-seat" journey into understanding the terrain of the physical, emotional, and spiritual components of vibrant health. Weaving her compelling story as a medical intuitive into fascinating case histories; and topics such as menopause, children, the elderly, and more, Caroline explains how to "hone" your instincts and demystify your physical body processes. If you’ve ever wondered why you gain weight, retain fluid, feel jittery, get headaches, have joint stiffness, or lack energy—and want to know what to do about it—then this book is the key to finding out the truth of your own health equation.

My name is Amber Reynolds. There are three things you should know about me: 1. I’m in a coma. 2. My husband doesn’t love me anymore. 3. Sometimes I lie. Amber wakes up in a hospital. She can’t move. She can’t speak. She can’t open her eyes. She can hear everyone around her, but they have no idea. Amber doesn’t remember what happened, but she has a suspicion her husband had something to do with it. Alternating between her paralyzed present, the week before her accident, and a series of childhood diaries from twenty years ago, this brilliant psychological thriller asks: Is something really a lie if you believe it's the truth?

Is it possible to actually slow down the aging process? Health educator and medical intuitive Caroline Sutherland says yes; and when you look at this vital, energetic woman who’s in her mid-60s, you can tell she has a few secrets that are worth sharing. This is a book that certainly comes along at the right time: With much of the population moving into retirement age, and billions of dollars being spent annually on vitamins and anti-aging therapies, men and women are eagerly seeking healthy approaches during their later years. Men and women are often wary about what might befall them as the numbers tick away. Fortunately, Caroline has answers for the chronic degenerative breakdown that leads to mobility issues, decrease in hearing and vision, osteoporosis, and arthritis—not to mention memory loss. With her expert wisdom and sparkling sense of humor, Caroline covers the four components of a vibrant-aging program, showing in the process that the body has a phenomenal capacity to repair.