Heart Medicine: How to Stop Painful Patterns and Find Peace and Freedom--at Last

Description

Find freedom from life's painful recurring patterns in 12 simple steps, with guided practices of self-compassion, mindfulness, and embodiment. Do you ever feel trapped by experiencing challenging feelings over and over again--sometimes without realizing it? Or do you find yourself thinking "Why is this happening to me again?" or "Why do I always feel this way?" You're not alone. With Heart Medicine, you can learn to identify your emotional and behavioral patterns through the lens of loving awareness--without self-judgment or blame, learning to hold yourself as you would a dear friend, with space and grace. Radhule Weininger draws on decades of experience as a therapist and meditation teacher to help readers understand the trauma behind their patterns, then offers twelve simple steps to work toward healing. Each chapter includes short practices so readers can begin to put the book's concepts to work for transformation in their own lives. With Heart Medicine you can finally be equipped with the tools to break through the patterns that hold you back and begin to live with more freedom, confidence, and peace. And that's good medicine, indeed.

RADHULE WEININGER, MD, PHD, is a clinical psychologist, psychotherapist, and meditation teacher. She leads weekly and monthly meditation groups in Santa Barbara and leads retreats in both the United States and internationally at La Casa de Maria Retreat Center, Spirit Rock, Insight LA, the Esalen Institute, the Garrison Institute, and she is the author of Heartwork- The Path of Self-Compassion.

"Skillful medicine, tender and honest, full of truly helpful practices to heal deep, long-lasting pains."-Jack Kornfield, author of A Path with Heart "In Heart Medicine, Radhule Weininger offers a path toward freedom from our trauma-based, recurring, painful patterns of reacting to problems in self-defeating ways. Forged during forty-plus years of study and practice of Buddhism and Western psychology, this pathway illuminates how obstacles triggered by trauma can become growth opportunities when held with awareness and understanding. Utilizing the twelve steps toward healing and examples of people on their personal journeys, Radhule's book is a welcome addition to the healing trauma canon."- Sharon Salzberg, author of Real Change "This book is a manual for hearts-all of ours-that carry long-standing painful patterns going all the way back to early life. Radhule Weininger shows us how our old and recent burdens can become stepping stones to wholeness and happiness. The practices are simple and yet deeply moving. I see Radhule Weininger as a bodhisattva of heart-healing, and in this new book we get to join her on that path."-David Richo, author of Triggers "Heart Medicine deftly and uniquely weaves psychological understanding and profound meditative techniques into a seamless web. This revolutionary book is an insightful and compassionate guide on our journey toward deeper healing and awakening."-Diana Winston, Director of Mindfulness Education at UCLA's Mindful Awareness Research Center, author of The Little Book of Being "In Heart Medicine, Radhule Weininger has written a wise and profoundly compassionate book. Through her inspiring life journey, deep meditative experience, and insightful work with clients, Radhule has crafted a work of great healing potential. The personal stories of great struggles and growing understanding open our hearts, and the many meditative exercises and instructions map a pragmatic path to greater peace and kindness in our lives. Highly recommended."-Joseph Goldstein, author of Mindfulness "Heart Medicine is a beautiful invitation to discover and heal the persistent patterns that create suffering in our lives. Radhule reminds us that when we touch what is painful with awareness, the armoring around our heart melts and frees us to reconnect with our full aliveness, wisdom, and love."-Tara Brach, author of Radical Compassion "The wisdom and stories that Radhule Weininger has culled from her own work sit comfortably here with the deep insights that come for her own meditation practice and the practical skills that Buddhism offers to overcome our recurring painful patterns. We can only be grateful that, like the Buddha himself, she too is devoted to showing others the way beyond suffering."-Fr. Cyprian Consiglio, OSB Cam., author of Prayer in the Cave of the Heart "Heart Medicine is a loving invitation to embark on and embrace a psychospiritual path of liberation from our psychological complexes. It goes to the epicenter of the psychological distress we suffer in our lives-those knots of emotional distress that recur over decades without relief. As a Buddhist teacher and a highly knowledgeable and skilled psychotherapist, Radhule Weininger insightfully blends psychodynamic understandings with carefully crafted meditations to help us break free from our complexes into a deeper sense of interdependence and service."-Mary Watkins, author of Mutual Accompaniment and the Creation of the Commons "Radhule Weininger's empathetic and graceful book Heart Medicine is designed to help audiences break their harmful habits. . . . With a professional tone and persistent positivity, Weininger draws on real-life examples to build wisdom, inspire courage, and envision change, helping to make Heart Medicine a mental health book that imparts healing and peace."-Foreword Reviews