Joan Borysenko does a remarkable job of integrating her psychological training, her experiences at Harvard's wellness clinic, and her own spiritual realization to make the different paths to becoming a Mystic clear to the reader. She also shows why our paths differ, thus making the reader more accepting of other people on different paths. She even includes suggestions for people on each path so that we may avoid common pitfals and misperceptions. I recommend this book to anyone who is honestly willing to learn about mysticism and Spirituality.

Much of what J. Borysenko writes is, for me, too "out there" to be accessible (e.g., her chapter on past lives). However, much of what is written here is also extraordinarily helpful to those of us seeking practical steps toward creating a more compassionate relationship with ourselves and with others. If you can read this book with a view to skipping over the more fantastic claims and discussions, then I suspect you will find some profoundly excellent guidance.

Insightful book which does an excellent job of teaching spiritual optimism. I particularly enjoyed the chaper on meditation and the mind. Book also contains an excellent resource list as well.

This book is correctly named. It is an excellent book for those who find themselves feeling sad, depressed or just out of sorts and they can't seem to figure out why. It is helpful for looking at our own shadows and dealing with them in an effective and healing manner.

Beth Moran really lets you into her soul and explains how to get in touch with your body and with what is really going on in your life. She lets you see how emotions effect your body and how you are holding on to past hurts.

Beth Moran's advice is an insightful, carefully filtered balance of scientific study, personal experience and validated alternative theory. Her wit, deep commitment to the caring profession, and passion for sharing her gift of healing is wonderfully presented and makes for an inspirational read for all!

On side 1 of this cassette Dr Borysenko relates her spiritual awakening and examines the concept of angels in the mystical traditions of Judaism, Zoroastrianism and Christianity, as well as phenomenological evidence. She also discusses the near-death experience. The side is concluded with a discussion of the 4 archangels and their qualities: Uriel (Light of God), Michael (Likeness of God), Rafael (Healer of God) and Gabriel (Strength of God). On side 2 is a guided meditation where the listener is first relaxed, a prayer is offered and the 4 archangels are then invoked in turn. The harp and choir create a beautiful musical ambience. Repeated listening to this side of the tape brings about a refreshing feeling of serenity and rejuvenation. The more psychically aware one is, the stronger will be the feeling of angelic presences around you.

My sister was visiting me, and I gave her my personal stereo and headphones, and the healing meditation on side 2 to listen to. When she was 15 she had a leg injury from a motorcycle accident. At 50 years old the leg pain still bothered her. The tape caused the pain's energy to exit through her foot -that was 2 years ago- and she has been pain free ever since. Now she tells everyone about it. I hope Joan sees this as I've wanted her to know. THANKS SO MUCH Joan!!!!

Joan Borysenko puts the tenets and practices of A Course In Miracles into a handy, consise, daily-use guide. I try to read it every morning along with my regular devotional and the little book with the powerful words sets the stage perfectly. This multi-disciplinary primer offers practical applications and meditations along with calendar-appropriate suggestions for spiritual practice. I recommend it to anyone who wants a blueprint for devotional work.

I love being inspired each morning by the selection for the day from this great book, plus Alan Cohen's Deep Breath of Life, and Daily Word from Unity. Joan goes deep to lift you up, with seed thoughts and suggested meditation and prayer practices for the day. If your life needs a lift now and then, I highly recommend this pocket book of daily miracles...and the other two too!

I saw a short TV program about this author and wrote down her name because I was so impressed with the work she was doing in prisons, helping inmates see a better way to live their lives. Do I know if it really helped the inmates? No, but I do believe that the information in this book can help many people get over the hurts they have suffered in the past and move on with their lives. Anger keeps us tied to the past and impossible wishes. Forgiveness allows us to look at the past, learn from it, and then make changes in our OWN lives so that we can be happy. I've just reread the chapter on 'forgiving your parents'. One of the best exercises in the whole book is to imagine all the wrongs your parents did you, to list off all the times they embarrassed you or let you down, and to tell them what you truely needed from them....and then to realize that they did their best. That neither you nor they can change the past, and to forgive them for not giving you what you needed and then MOVE ON! I think this is a great book and this is the second copy I've bought because somebody stole the first one....but I forgive them. :-)

I read this book about three years ago. I was desperate for some help after my divorce. I found the book by browsing through the U of Chicago book store. As soon as I had read the book, even as I was reading, I felt better. The book gave me permission to stop hating. I had expected or at least hoped that it would help me get over the anger and hatred I felt towards my exhusband, but it went beyond that. It led me to what now seems like an obvious solution, to forgive myself. I gave this book to my brother after his divorce, and now my new love needs it to help him forgive his ex-wife. The premise may seem implausible and simplistic, but it works and I really can't think of anything else that can. Possibly years of therapy. It is well worth the price. Good Luck!

It has been about 3 years since I read this book. I was desperate for some help after my divorce. I found the book by browsing through the U of Chicago book store. After I read the book, I felt as though a weight had been lifted off my shoulders, as though I had been given permission to not hate anymore. I expected or hoped that the book would help me get over my anger and hatred towards my ex-husband, but it went much further. I was led to what now seems like the most obvious solution, to forgive myself for all the mistakes I had made. I gave the book to my brother when he was divorced and now I am buying it for my new love, who desperately needs to forgive his ex-wife. It seems like a simplistic premise, but that is the beauty, it is simple and it does work. Nothing else will.

If you're stressed out or overwhelmed, I highly recommend this book. It gives you simple, workable solutions that make a HUGE difference.

Only criticism is that parts of it are a bit too "new age-y", but overall, it's very good.

When I first starting reading this book, I was like "thats my book, thats my life that she is writing about" I loved her writing and examples and stories that she told from other people's experiences. I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in people's behaviors and everyday life.

I read this book at a very low point in my life, with depression and a variety of physical symptoms related to anxiety. This practical, straightforward book helped me gain some control of racing, negative thoughts (Borysenko calls this type of thinking "awfulizing"). Borysenko's rationale includes the fact that your body can actually help your mind to calm down. She provides simple, gentle stretching/breathing to help this happen. For me, it was most valuable to realize that even if my thoughts/intellect seemed beyond my control, my physiology is the same as all humans. Therefore, breathing/stretching has to affect my body/mind the same way as it does other humans. I kept the book on hand for bad moments, and I found that using the exercises helped me to bypass the downward spiraling thoughts and begin to get centered. She includes theory, psychology, and spirituality which supports the intellect as well. I still needed help after I found this book, but it absolutely put me on a safer, stronger path. I have loaned this book several times, to others in need. There are so many books out there, it's overwhelming. This one is worth it.

I was asked to read this book as part of a Masters of Science program. It is one of the worst books I have ever been exposed to. Borysenko is a feminist, trying desperately to sound otherwise. She tries to fill the book with a few interesting points about the growth cycle of a woman, but not enough to save it. I almost feel sorry for her. Any way don't waste your money or your time on this book

If you are a woman, or have a woman in your life (mother, wife, daughter, etc.), you should read this book. In other words, whoever you are, you should read this book. It's accessable and easy to read, but packed so full of information and new ideas that even if you disagree with half the book, the other half will open your eyes.

Dr. Borysenko is a scientist, with strong interests in health, spirituality, mind-body interaction, and the role of women in our society. This book synthesizes those ideas into a fascinating whole. It's definitely pitched to the layman (layperson?) rather than to scientists, and presents a broad range of ideas in an accessible and entertaining manner.

Borysenko's goal is to describe the physical and mental changes women undergo in their lives, and to outline a positive way to view each of the phases in a woman's life - childhood, adolescence, adulthood, and maturity. She synthesizes a tremendous amount of science and wisdom to do it, discussing everything from genetics and cell division to Lakota Sioux attitudes towards menstruation. Few readers are likely to agree with everything Borysenko writes, but her ability to take disparate information and combine it is sure to give every reader some new insights into women's physical and mental development, and ways in which women can craft their role in life.

Borysenko introduces most chapters with the ongoing story of a hypothetical character, "Julia", as she matures through each of Borysenko's stages of life. As some of the other reviewers have pointed out, Julia seems to be an idealized verion of Dr. Borysenko herself, an upper-middle class white American with strong interests in womens' development. While this may alienate some readers, I think it's worth sticking with the book. Again, the book is so full of information, presented so well, that a reader may find herself uninterest in Julia but interested in Borysenko's advice on mediation, or on hormonal vs. lifestyle therapy for menapause, or by her information on cultural body image standards in the U.S., or by any of a hundred other things.

Borysenko provides enough scientific detail to educate the reader and support her arguments, but does not get so bogged down with neuroanatomy and biology that we get lost or bored. She offers insightful interpretations of biological and psychological research while weaving in stories and making the information come to life. This is a thought-provoking book that challenges the many assumptions about femininity and, instead of trying to make women more like men, celebrates the differences between the two sexes. Inspiring work that made me proud of my feminine characteristics.

Though certainly old information recast in a more practical language fairly accessible to nearly any reader, Boryshenko's treatment of the different roads to a mystical understanding of the divine has never been more honestly and openly discussed than in her little book. Clear, readable, and accurate, the paths to enlightenment, inspiration, and understanding are well lit -- encouraging the reader to try one or several on for size. Highly recommended. As a therapist, I use her format to help clients find a way to understand spirituality as the ultimate search for meaning and purpose. As a seeker, I find her clarity refreshing in my own search.

While not earth-shaking with any great new insights, I found this little guide book a practical source of information to help people new to spiritual thinking understand that each of us has a mystical path that we are naturally called to follow. I particularly found her suggestions for increasing personal commitment to each path very practical and workable. She succeeds at stripping a sometimes complicated subject down to it's beautifully bare and totally applicable substance. We are all mystics unaware, this book helps us to see the mystical nature of lives and the path that is ours to follow. As a Unity minister I intend to use this material in a seven-week series to empower my congregation to discover their true spiritual path.

I enjoyed listening to this audio cassette - it's from a meditation conference where Joan is speaking to an audience. Joan is articulate and has a pleasant voice. After a being away from meditation for sometime, I bought this tape to inspire me to get back into it and it has helped me achieve my goal. I recommend this tape for the meditation newbie or the person, like myself, who wants to get back into meditation after stopping for a while.