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Real Life

The Journey from Isolation to Openness and Freedom

Audiobook
1 of 3 copies available
1 of 3 copies available

This program is read by the author.
Merging the insights of inspiring voices with her own understanding of mindfulness, New York Times bestselling author Sharon Salzberg shows us how we can recover from the emotional effects of crisis.
When confronted with pain and obstacles, we often shrink back and contract out of fear and disappointment. That can become a way of life.
In Real Life, Sharon Salzberg lets us know it doesn't have to be that way.
When we feel alone, cut off, or trapped, we can let those difficulties steer us onto a path toward an authentic, flourishing life—living in a way that allows us to find the wholeness that lies within. Even when we're alone, a sense of community can accompany us through the stormy times. Our words, hearts, and actions can line up with a larger vision, rather than the smaller views our anxious, fearful thoughts arouse in us.
To live in a less constricted way—with a more spacious, open sense of possibility, creativity, connection, and joy—Salzberg says we need to get real about what's most important, to ask ourselves, "What do I most deeply yearn for?" "What would I benefit from letting go of?" "What do I believe is possible for me?"
We accomplish the journey to expansive freedom (Real Life) through developing tools like mindful awareness, friendship, and a greater sense of purpose/aspiration. We learn to:

  • take some risks with what we dare to imagine
  • take an interest in internal states we might normally try to avoid
  • take an interest in people we might normally try to avoid
    Real Life is about the journey we make when we decide to live the life that speaks to our innermost longing to live free.
    A Macmillan Audio production from Flatiron Books.

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    • Reviews

      • Publisher's Weekly

        January 30, 2023
        In this mixed entry, meditation teacher Salzberg (Real Happiness) suggests ways for readers to free themselves from a fear-driven “contraction” mindset and enter a freeing “expansion” mindset. The state is based in greater mental flexibility, Salzberg explains, and allows “our fundamentally loving hearts uncoil” and move toward compassion and love. To reach it, one can adopt a mindfulness and meditation practice (she draws on Buddhist teachings throughout), or reflect on personal experiences and morals. Salzberg mines examples from friends, spiritual figures, and popular culture: a scene from the movie Encanto, for instance, highlights the importance of love, a key component of the “expansion” mindset (though Salzberg warns against confusing it with “excessive self-sacrifice”). Elsewhere, an overheard comment from Alice Walker speaks to the importance of good-heartedness, and quotes from bell hooks underscore the importance of love as an impetus for positive change. Unfortunately, Salzberg covers too many topics in too cursory a fashion, quickly touching on, among other things, depression, addiction, chronic pain, shame, grief, and EDMR therapy, making for hard-to-follow advice and a sense of narrative disorganization. Those new to Salzberg will find this a tough place to start.

    Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

    Languages

    • English

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