Top positive review
5.0 out of 5 starsChanged my life and revolutionized how I handle my emotions
Reviewed in the United States on July 4, 2018
This book was everything I’ve needed my entire life. My therapist recommended this book when I hit a low point— I was struggling to find a job and had gained significant weight due to a long history of stress-induced compulsive eating. I had hit rock bottom in terms of self worth. While I had practiced vipassana/insight meditation for years, this book revolutionized how I practice. It taught me to how to welcome my difficult thoughts and feelings into my practice and gain wisdom from them.
I’ve been a very emotional person ever since I was a child. I easily got upset and was constantly sent messages like “Don’t take things so personally” and “Get over it.” Over the years, I learned to suppress my emotions and deny them. I learned maladaptive behaviors like the compulsive eating or lashing out at people after pent up feelings. This book taught me a totally new way to relate to my emotions. I’ve learned to feel them in my body, explore the messages they hold, offer them kindness, and ultimately move past them. Ironically, I never really knew how to “not take things personally” until I read this book. Unlike anything else I have ever encountered, this book gave me the tools I needed to get through life’s hardships and my emotional turbulence.
The writing is also beautiful. Tara Brach artfully shifts between stories about herself and her patients, Buddhist wisdom, excerpts from poems/fables, and advice for her readers. Since I had already been practicing Buddhist meditation for a while, I was already sold on all the Buddhist teachings in the book. I could imagine that a person new to Buddhism might relate to the book differently.
In summary, this book was everything I needed and changed my life. I highly recommend it. I know I will turn back to it for years to come. Thank you Tara for your wisdom.
