Here I Am: Using Jewish Spiritual Wisdom to Become More Present, Centered, and Available fo r Life

by Leonard Felder

Overview

During stressful times, it’s easy to get caught up in feeling anxious, tense, foggy, and overloaded. Here, a popular psychologist shares easy-to-use techniques for managing and rebalancing these emotions and helps you to find your calm, strong center. Dr. Leonard Felder draws from his work with clients over the last thirty years, and incorporates traditional Jewish prayers and blessings that have been used for centuries to refocus the mind. The author has a long history of multi-faith counseling and dialogue and has made these stress-management practices resonant with people of all religious backgrounds who are looking for more awareness, clarity, and calmness when faced with stress-related emotions.

In this book you'll learn how to:

   • Regain your equilibrium when you feel pulled in too many directions
   • Outsmart your moody, anxious brain
   • Know when to intervene and when to let go in a situation
   • Respond with wisdom when someone treats you harshly
   • Find inner quiet and peace when you feel agitated
   • And much more

In each chapter, Felder includes examples drawn from his client's experiences and explanations from mind-body psychology and neuroscience to support the effectiveness of this kind of mindfulness practice.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780834827516
Publisher:	Shambhala
Publication date:	08/30/2011
Series:	Trumpeter
Sold by:	Penguin Random House Publisher Services
Format:	eBook
Pages:	192
File size:	321 KB

About the Author

Leonard Felder, PhD, is a licensed psychologist in West Los Angeles who has written twelve books on personal growth that have sold over one million copies. He leads discussions and workshops throughout the country at both synagogues and churches, and numerous interfaith events. He has also appeared on over 200 radio and television programs, including Oprah, The Today Show, CNN, The CBS Early Show, NBC Nightly News, National Public Radio, Canada AM, and BBC London.

Table of Contents

Authors's note ix

Introduction 1

1 A Recentering Method for Any Stressful Moment 9

2 Outsmarting the Anxious, Moody Brain 23

3 Becoming Healthier So You Can Deal with stressful Days 41

4 Discovering When to Intervene and When to Let Go 57

5 Responding with Wisdom When Someone Treats You Harshly 81

6 Being Open to a Hidden Gift in the Most Distressing Moments 99

7 Finding the Quiet, Peaceful Place beneath the Agitation 127

8 Seeing New Possibilities in Each Moment 145

Acknowledgments 159

Notes and Sources 161

About the Author 171

Discussion Guide 173

Editorial Reviews

From almost 30 years of private practice in Los Angeles as a psychologist dealing with thousands of clients, Felder (Seven Prayers That Can Change Your Life) has distilled lessons that he offers in this book. He asserts that individual human problems are largely due to stress and that Jewish spiritual sources offer a way to cope with these challenges, regardless of one’s religious identification or lack thereof. He presents eight “meditation and refocusing techniques” for dealing with stress in the eight chapters of his book, illustrating how to use them with examples drawn from his caseload. Felder deals at length with responding to tragedy and the Jewish spiritual notion that “even this could become for the good.” He cites others on the subject, including the influential rabbi Harold Kushner, and includes his own experience with pain and sadness. Rather unpersuasively, he concludes that “something good” can emerge.Although Felder invites his readers “to debate or respectfully disagree” with his approach, he refers to his techniques as “remedies” that can produce “huge benefits.” His popularity testifies primarily to the pervasiveness of popular psychology with its facile solutions to complex problems rather than to the effectiveness of his methods. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

This book will help people. Dr. Felder finds useful responses to modern problems in ancient wisdom.”—Rabbi Harold Kushner, author of When Bad Things Happen to Good People

“Dr. Leonard Felder has a marvelous talent for illuminating profound wisdom teachings in a way that readers can understand personally and bring into their lives to nurture and deepen their own spiritual practices.”—Rabbi David A. Cooper, author of God Is a Verb  

“I always feel warmly about self-help books that suggest things I’m tempted to try. Leonard Felder’s simple, engaging book on using Jewish spiritual techniques for stress relief falls into that category for me. As a self-help book on stress management for Jews and non-Jews, Felder encourages readers to fill in whatever terms they wish for ‘God’ and ‘soul’ and provides lots of alternatives; but for Jews who are comfortable with these terms, this book offers a double reward—both as a mindful therapeutic practice and as a way of reconnecting to Jewish prayer.”—Reform Judaism magazine

From the Publisher