A heartfelt guide for meeting difficult times with mindfulness, compassion, and courage—from a psychotherapist and Buddhist practitioner who learned from her own crisis.
Features explorations of the three types of fear and practices to transform into opportunities for personal growth.This heartfelt guide transforms challenging times into surmountable journeys that we can emerge from by learning how to work with—rather than against—fear. Drawing from traditional Buddhist teachings on the
bardo, a Tibetan word most often associated with the period between death and rebirth, Buddhist practitioner Susan Gillis Chapman offers guidance for those times when life seems to turn upside down. Amidst such difficulties—whether it’s navigating the end of a relationship, a health scare, or other unexpected challenges—the fearful mind tends to panic. But Chapman, informed by her years working as psychotherapist, skillfully intercepts our uncertainty to show how we can let go of assumptions and allow something new to be reborn.
Using personal examples from her own bardo crisis—navigating a cancer diagnosis during the pandemic—and offering contemplative prompts for inner-reflection and meditation practices throughout, she demystifies the main kinds of fear people experience and reveals how to meet them with love. This powerful resource will help restore equilibrium when life feels chaotic, and what’s more, uncover truly transformative opportunities for personal growth in even the most difficult circumstances.
"Nourishing the Roots draws from traditional Buddhist teachings on the bardo, a Tibetan word most often associated with the period between death and rebirth. The author likens the bardo to abrupt episodes in our lives when things seem to turn upside down. These "in between" turning points can force us to let go of our assumptions about the future and allow something new to be reborn. They're a time of not-knowing, when our fearful mind scrambles to make sense of our experience. Susan Gillis Chapman guides the reader through this groundlessness by offering contemplative practices to meet fear with love. She shows how it's possible for our personal bardo crises to restore the bridges that connect us and increase our sense of shared humanity during difficult times. Readers will learn how their experiences that are marked by fear and anxiety can actually be opportunities for personal transformation"--
