A Book to Transform Your LIfe

Mindfulness and The Art of Choice: Transform Your Life
By Dr. Karen Sherman
www.ChoiceRelationships.com
Self-help
ISBN: 978-1-932690-51-4

Reviewed by Tina Avon for Front Street Reviews
4/5 stars

I am a believer that the best healers are those who have have been through their own nightmares and have come out stronger.

This certainly describes Karen Sherman, who by her own admission, grew up in a highly dysfunctional home only to become a very discontented and restless adult. However, one day, she made the conscious choice of changing her life and became a much happier and well-rounded person and she has written this book in the hopes that she can pass along some of the experiences she has lived over the years both as a therapist, but more imporantly as a person who has 'been there'.

Sherman's basic theory is that we are all a product of our own environment and that most of who we are today was created in our childhood. In fact, she argues that this is where most of our emotions, thoughts and coping patterns are established and that we will continue to return to these sources again and again when we need to unless we can reprogram these negative patterns. As a matter of fact we will become so good at it that it will become second nature to us (she calls it auto-pilot). However, what once served us as children, may no longer be helpful to us as adults and may, in fact, be the major cause of much of our discontent.

One of the important aspects of this particular book and what sets it apart from many others is the term that Sherman uses - Art of Choice. The author believes that we all have a choice in how we live our lives and that we can choose to change something if we wish to. Of course, its not quite as simple as that and Sherman explains, in practical and helpful chapters, the step by step process that we must be willing to go through to get to a much healthier and happier place.

I liked this book. It was quite short, but extremely well written and informative. Sherman does not speak down to us and neither does she use lots of scientific and technical terms to explain the processes. At the end of each chapter, we find specific exercises that we are encouraged to complete.

This type of book needs to be read over and over again as I believe I will pick up some new information everytime I read it.

I was extremely encouraged by this book - I like the concept that we can change our patterns, that we can re-program our way of thinking, feeling and reacting in order to find a what we are looking for.


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The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, founder of Authors' Coalition (www.authorscoalitionandredenginepress.com). It is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews and reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've loved. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page.

Step-by-Step Guide Can Transform Your LIfe

Mindfulness and The Art of Choice: Transform Your Life
Karen H. Sherman, Ph.D.
www.ChoiceRelationships.com
Self-help
ISBN: 978-1-932690-51-4
Loving Healing Press (2008)

Reviewed by Leslie Heidle for Rebeccas Reads (3/08)

“Mindfulness and the Art of Choice” offers insight into the cyclic emotional and behavioral patterns so many people encounter. Dr. Karen Sherman’s step-by-step guide gives readers the opportunity to explore their pasts, govern their present and embody their future.

Dr. Sherman has been a therapist for twenty years, conducts workshops, and speaks regularly around the country. In “Mindfulness and the Art of Choice,” she uses not only her knowledge and education to delve into the world of habitual and reactionary dysfunction, but offers first-hand experience in unhealthy emotional responses and how she used the tools included in the book to break old habits and create a life of mindful choice. “There is, I discovered, a way to approach life so that you feel a sense of being prepared, of being ready, of being grounded. This self-confident approach is generated from within. It comes from being in touch, being connected, with your self. Through this self-awareness, you will be able to deal with whatever comes your way.”

Dr. Sherman addresses the issue of fear when facing change and why so many people stay mired in prosaic and uninspired lives. “Another benefit of not making changes is that you feel like you are in control—you know the outcome. Your risk factor is minimized. Furthermore, functioning in this manner releases you from your responsibility. If you’re not all you can be, you can easily blame it on your past—something that happened to you, or something you didn’t get.”

What sets “Mindfulness and the Art of Choice” apart from many self-help manuals is Sherman’s awareness that people are a sum of their life experiences. Wanting to forget an abusive childhood or a traumatic encounter does not make the memory just go away. “Many people are not comfortable with the negative or painful feelings and go to great lengths trying not to feel them. Often there are attempts at using different distractions—anything from keeping busy all the time to using alcohol or drugs. The end result is a disconnection from oneself.” Learning to acknowledge the impact of the experience by being aware of old patterns, noticing the physical reactions in the body and observing your own behavior will allow a person to actively make changes and begin to build a more rewarding life.

Due to the fallible nature of human beings, unhealthy patterns are repeated from one generation to the next with pain and dysfunction handed down like family heirlooms. As adults, we many times unconsciously make the decision to hold onto these past pains and regrets. “You can never take away the past. The past is still something that has happened to you. And you cannot change your past. But what you have changed, what you have taken control over is how much of a slave you have been to your past.” In “Mindfulness and the Art of Choice: Transform Your Life,” Dr. Karen Sherman offers a guidebook of choices that can help lead the reader to a happier, more fulfilled life that reflects the person within.

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The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, founder of Authors' Coalition (www.authorscoalitionandredenginepress.com). It is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love--and that includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews and reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page.