Setting Your Heart on Fire: Seven Invitations to Liberate Your Life

by Raphael Cushnir

“To live in accord with love is to set your heart on fire. In the crucible of such an inferno all convention burns away. What’s left is an entirely new kind of existence, one full of passion, presence, and infinite possibility.”This book is a wake-up call from your own heart. It is a roadmap to love--not the romantic, familial or platonic kind, but a love that most of us have rarely tasted. This love exists prior to and apart from any specific type of expression. It is a dynamic, primal force that connects us with the surrounding universe, and provides the key to our deepest and most lasting fulfillment if we can learn to tap into its awesome power. Raphael Cushnir’s own experience has taught him that we often close ourselves to love–that life’s challenges, losses, and disappointments can shut us down emotionally and physically, leaving us stagnant in our work and relationships, and feeling empty and alone. Setting Your Heart on Fire presents his invigorating, step-by-step process for reopening and reawakening your heart and spirit, and for learning to use this ever-present love to blaze through any obstacle you may face. The Seven Invitations in this book will guide you through a courageous assessment of your choices, emotions, behaviors, and beliefs, revolutionizing your approach to stress and adversity, and revealing a brand new way of thinking and being. In accepting the Invitations, you will learn how to let go of harmful thoughts and heal deeply rooted emotional wounds. You will begin to open yourself to love’s creativity and wisdom, struggling less yet achieving more. You will discover how to infuse everyday experiences with a breathtaking sense of joy and wonder. And your relationships - with family, friends, co-workers and romantic partners - will become a vehicle for profound and thrilling change. Each Invitation provides practical, easy-to-grasp examples that allow you to put its teachings immediately into practice. Over time, you will learn to access love in even the most difficult situations, unlocking the door to a fearless, authentic life. When your heart is on fire, the whole world is transformed by its light.

Genres: Self Help, Nonfiction, Personal Development

274 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 8, 2003

Reviews

[Lee Sinclair · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although I had some problems with the second half of this book, this book is worth reading for the content. And the first half, at least, was both informative and well-written, which fortunately coincided with what I was most interested in. In that part, Cushnir talks about the need to feel your emotions, your resistance to feeling negative emotions, and your beliefs that affect your emotions.

The Seven Invitations in this book are:

1. Feel Everything
2. Question Everything
3. Resist Nothing
4. Live Like You’re Dying
5. Live Like You’re Dreaming
6. Love Like You’re Dancing
7. Widen Your World

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars. This was one of my first introductions to concepts of present moment living (or what is called mindfulness). I had opportunity to do a workshop with the author. You might think of his method as mindfulness on steroids. His understanding of emotional presence is masterful, and he's a great writer and communicator.