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Learning to Breathe : My Journey With Mental Illness
Everyday Life, Spiritual Growth, The Inner JourneyIt begins slowly, so slowly that I hardly notice at first. My chest tightens and my heart begins to beat a fraction faster. I try to draw breath, but instead I choke on oxygen I can't inhale. As I realise that I can't breathe, the panic wraps itself around my mind. I can't make myself draw a breath. Rachael was aged just six when she had her first suicidal thought. Over the next decade, life would become increasingly fraught with depression and self-harm, and her outlook only bleaker. Before her eighteenth birthday, Rachael would twice try to take her own life. And yet amidst this darkness, a flicker of faith lived on. This is Rachael's story of her journey into, and out of, the darkness of depression. With unflinching realism and complete honesty, she shows us what it looks like to live with mental illness, and how God can find us and rescue us even in the most desperate of places.£9.99 -
Acquainted with the Night: An Exploration of Spirituality and Depression
Everyday Life, Spiritual Direction, Spiritual Growth, The Inner JourneyDepression is pandemic today; as the demands of modern life prove too much for many adults, it has also clawed its way into the minds and souls of our young people, so that it is not unusual to hear that teenagers, or even children, are taking anti-depressants, sometimes committing suicide. The aim of this book is to illustrate that depression is often a spiritual malaise that can be "treated" by spiritual measures. Award-winning author, Robert Waldron explores the common causes and symptoms of depression, and in so doing underscores the Socratic ideal of "the unexamined life is not worth living." When depressives take their depression seriously, they see that they are living superficially and understand that there is a deeper kind of living available: it is this realization that leads them into a spiritual dimension. Indeed the cure for much depression lies within the Christian message of mercy, forgiveness, compassion, acceptance and love. Using Jungian theory on spirituality as a foundation, Acquainted With The Night goes on to explore the scrutiny and expression famous Christians have given to their individual acquaintance and struggle with darkness, these include: Gerard Manley Hopkins, T.S. Eliot, Henri Nouwen, Philip Toynbee, Thomas Merton, Mother Teresa of Calcutta, and Loran Hurnscot.£12.99 -
The Other Side of Chaos : Breaking through when life is breaking down
Everyday Life, Leadership, Spiritual Direction, Spiritual Growth, The Inner JourneyYour children have left home, you have lost your job, you have had to move to a strange town, your partner has died ... Every life is filled with changes and transitions. In The Other Side of Chaos, the popular writer and speaker Margaret Silf takes us on a journey through the pitfalls and the opportunities of change. Transitions may be awkward and uncomfortable, but they also put into places where new life can flourish. Silf invites us to embrace the inevitability of upheaval, and shows us how the leaving of our comfort zone can become an invitation to set ourselves free. Through stories and examples and down-to earth tips, she shows us how we can live our transitions constructively and creatively. `We will discover what new growth may be sprouting in our lives only if we risk the journey that takes us, like reluctant time travellers, hurtling through the uncharted universe of change.'£9.99 -
Prayers for OCD : Understanding and healing
Everyday Life, Leadership, Spiritual Growth, The Inner JourneyObsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is not well understood by most people. It is sometimes the subject of jokes. To those who suffer it, it is definitely no laughing matter. It can jeopardise your job, your relationships and gives you no peace of mind. This book seeks to shed light on the condition, both for those who have it and for others. Its pages explore different aspects of the condition and its treatment. Each one is accompanied by a prayer. The book is divided into two sections. Part A is for those with OCD, Part B for family, friends and the wider community. When praying for someone, you may wish to insert their name, or the pronoun he or she. There is a list of resources at the end, and pages for your own prayers. Half the royalties from this book will go to OCD-UK.£5.99 -
I Thought There Would be Cake: navigating the ups and downs of adult life
Everyday Life, Leadership, Spiritual Growth, The Inner JourneyEVER THOUGHT LIFE ISN'T TURNING OUT QUITE AS YOU EXPECTED? Growing up, Katharine Welby-Roberts imagined that being an adult was one big party. But depression, anxiety and crippling self-doubt led her to alienate herself from others. To replay events and encounters as nightmares, occasionally, to be unable to leave the house. Aware of the cacophony of voices in her head, Katharine invites us to join her as she journeys to the depths of her soul. Here, with instinctive honesty and humour, she confronts the parts of her story that hinder her most.As she charts a course that offers ways of coping with everyday issues, we are encouraged to embrace our own self-worth. To recognise the value of our existence. To let ourselves be loved. Exactly as we are. -
Walking in Valleys of Darkness : A Benedictine Journey through Troubled Times
Leadership, Scripture & Prayer, Spiritual Growth, The Inner Journey, Traditional MonasticismTrusting in the Lord and his benevolence is easy when life is going well - not so easy when life seems difficult. Yet, walking through what the author calls 'valleys of darkness' can bring us opportunities for insight and grace we might not experience when we are walking through good times. Benedictine monk Fr. Albert Holtz invites the reader to walk with him through five periods of pain and difficulty in his own life, including being diagnosed with cancer and dealing with the death of his brother. In a series of twenty-four meditations, the author shows how insights behind such New Testament words such as courage, compassion, and trust, became a source of practical help and spiritual strength for him during those difficult times. His down-to-earth reflections can do the same for anyone trying to understand how the mystery of Christ's passion, death and resurrection can help us cope with, and even profit from, life's inevitable struggles and sufferings.£9.00 -
Dashed Hopes : When Our Best-Laid Plans Fall Apart
Everyday Life, Scripture & Prayer, Spiritual Growth, The Inner JourneyWhere do we turn when our hopes are dashed, when we look at best-laid plans and see only shattered dreams? With fresh perspectives on Jeremiah's plans for "a future of hope," Jesus' agony in the garden, and Isaiah's promise of "a way in the wilderness," Laura Kelly Fanucci offers hope for those wondering what comes next when life feels broken.£4.99 -
Lessons from a Hospital Bed: A Spiritual Tonic for Anyone Facing Illness and Recovery
Everyday Life, Spiritual Growth, The Inner JourneyJohn Piper shares ten beliefs he brought with him to hospital, and ten lessons from his hospital bed.With deep pastoral insight, practical wisdom and sensitivity, he encourages others in hospital to look beyond their circumstances. This can be a deeply meaningful time in which to draw from God's wisdom, trust him and rest in his love.£4.99 -
The Circle of Peace: an antidote to distress
Everyday Life, Spiritual Growth, The Inner JourneyA much-needed book which gives people - Christians in particular - permission to love themselves as they should. Written by a chartered psychologist and a priest with a distinguished teaching and pastoral ministry, this book offers an encouraging hand to those who want to experiment with making beneficial changes in their life, especially those bothered by anxiety, depression, low self-esteem or feelings of helplessness. Full of reassuring and engaging stories. Includes practical exercises throughout to enable people to understand where discomfort originates and to discover ways forward. The Church is very good at inviting or challenging people to love their neighbours - it is not so strong on encouraging us to love ourselves. This book illuminates the healing truth that encountering the love of God sets us free to live as we were intended to live - loving ourselves and those around us. Through Bible passages, stories and exercises, the authors encourage us to throw off the sense of apprehension that bothers so many, and to enjoy living to the full in God's exhilarating company.£10.99 -
Peace of Heart: reflections on choices in daily life
Everyday Life, The Inner JourneyHow can we achieve peace of mind? We can only experience true peace of mind when we have true peace of soul: when we are in right relationship with God, our neighbour, and our deepest self. The meditations in this little book explore how small practices and daily choices can foster true peace of soul. Small enough to slip into a purse or coat pocket, these books fit easily into everyday routines.£5.95 -
15 Days of Prayer with Saint Clare of Assisi
Daily Readings, Saints & Mystics, Scripture & Prayer, The Inner JourneyTo enter into a relationship with Clare of Assisi for fifteen days is to race along carried by the momentum of a woman burning with love. What a paradox: the cloister of Saint Damian - closed in upon itself - opens to the infinite. Clare, a pilgrim of the interior adventure, always re-directs her readers onto the road towards the Lord. The loving kenosis of Christ captivates her and incites her to a Passover, brisk as a dance step, on the path of happiness. The love that fills Clare with life springs forth like a fountain in her heart. This is one of several books we stock in the "15 Days of Prayer" series, providing direction from foundational spiritual figures. Each volume in the series contains: * A brief biography of the saint or spiritual leader introduced in that volume, a guide to creating a format for prayer and retreat, 15 meditations sessions with focus points and reflection guides.£9.95 -
Where Prayer Flourishes
Desert Monasticism, Influences & Suggested Reading, Scripture & Prayer, The Inner JourneyThomas Merton is one of the most influential spiritual figures of the twentieth century. A Trappist monk, he was also a bestselling writer whose works are regarded as spiritual classics. Originally published under the title The Climate of Monastic Prayer, Where Prayer Flourishes is his final work. It is full of accessible and practical teaching for anyone that wants to explore prayer to its full dimensions. Merton argues that prayer flourishes best in the desert. Here, he shows how to find the desert in the midst of the busy world. Where Prayer Flourishes will open a treasury of teaching about prayer to a wider audience.£10.99