Hi ATS Friends.

For our April 16 gathering, I will be leading the group through another i-Rest session, with the focus on calming anxiety and restless sleep.  It will include bodysensing, breathwork, and working with anxious thoughts or worries.  As always, let me know if you plan to come.

I am excited about our May 21 gathering!  Author and Buddhist meditation teacher Toni Bernhard will discuss her latest book: How to Live Well with Chronic Pain and Illness: A Mindful Guide. Toni lives in Davis and is a nationally acclaimed author. She has had a longterm chronic illness and is a longtime Buddhist practitioner and meditation teacher.  Her blog, “Turning Straw into Gold, is hosted on the Psychology Today website.  Toni wrote two highly acclaimed books previously: How To Be Sick:A Buddhist Inspired Guide for the Chronically Ill and their Caregivers, and How to Wake Up. We are very fortunate to have her living and writing in our local area (Davis).

Toni has spoken to our group in the past, and her personal story as well as how she has used Buddhist teachings to cope with her own long term chronic illness are very inspiring! Please consider inviting family and friends.  I am planning to invite some fellow therapists.

There has been a lot of praise for Toni’s latest book.  For example, Alex Lickerman, who wrote The Undefeated Mind, has written about Toni’s book, “No other author I know has written as accurately and insightfully about living with chronic illness as Toni Bernhard.”  Author Kristen Neff wrote, “This wise and profound book will help transform your experience into one of great compassion, equanimity and joy.”

The vast majority of us will be living with chronic illness and/or pain at some point in our lives. And we all know people who do.  So I hope you’ll come to glean more wisdom about how to be with ourselves and others who struggle with illness and pain.

During our June 18 gathering we will discuss Michael Singer’s book, The Untethered Soul.

At our March meeting, we discussed his book, The Surrender Experiment, which we all enjoyed very much.

Anyone and everyone is welcome to attend our group gatherings, which usually occur the 3rd Saturday of each month.  I hope you can join us!

Namaste,

Deborah