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Heartwork: The Path of Self-Compassion-9 Practices for Opening the Heart
Nine simple mindfulness practices anyone can use to generate compassion--toward oneself, others, and the world--and to live from that place of intelligent kindness in the face of life's difficulties.
Compassion is the urge to understand and alleviate the suffering of another being. And if that being happens to be you , then the technique called self-compassion can be the greatest of blessings—for the compassion you learn to apply to yourself naturally extends to all the other people in your life. With the nine simple mindfulness practices she presents here, Radhule Weininger provides a step-by-step course in self-compassion. Using stories drawn from her own life and those of others she shows that, with the right intention and practice, we can all deepen our capacity to respond skillfully to our own suffering and thus to that of others and our world.
Compassion is the urge to understand and alleviate the suffering of another being. And if that being happens to be you , then the technique called self-compassion can be the greatest of blessings—for the compassion you learn to apply to yourself naturally extends to all the other people in your life. With the nine simple mindfulness practices she presents here, Radhule Weininger provides a step-by-step course in self-compassion. Using stories drawn from her own life and those of others she shows that, with the right intention and practice, we can all deepen our capacity to respond skillfully to our own suffering and thus to that of others and our world.
- GenresPsychologySpirituality
272 pages, Paperback
Published July 4, 2017
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
August 3, 2017
I received this book for free through Goodreads Giveaways. As always, an honest review.
Heartwork: The Path to Self - Compassion by Radhule Weininger is good but not phenomenal. The book setup is short chapters that detail the author’s life lessons and stories as they pertain the topic of each chapter. Each chapter ends with relevant journal exercise. Keep in mind, you will need a separate notebook to write in for journaling. Heartwork reads more like a book, than a workbook. I loved the journal topics. They were spot on. By using these prompts I’ve had some great insight and emotional breakthroughs, when I was journaling. I’m definitely going to keep using these journal exercises as prompts in my usual journaling. But on the other hand, I didn’t really connect with her story. Other people might, but my thoughts are more neutral about it. The book is fine, but not something that personally resonates with me like the journal exercises did.
The book also discusses compassion a lot. The compassion you extend to yourself affects how you treat other people. This really resonated with me, because if I’m feeling good about myself I usually treat other people better. Overall it leans more towards spiritual experiences, guides, journeys, and crossroads from a Buddhist perspective. As someone who doesn’t know much about Buddhism, I was a little lost at some points. I originally thought the book was going to be more from a traditional mental health perspective, not that this is bad, just know what you’re reading and what best fits your needs.
In general I highly recommend the journal exercises in Heartwork. If you’re looking for a book about self compassion from a Buddhist perspective, then it’s probably for you. While it has some crossover with typical mental health treatment, I’m probably going to stick with books & workbooks that follow the more traditional route since those tend to resonate & help me more.
Heartwork: The Path to Self - Compassion by Radhule Weininger is good but not phenomenal. The book setup is short chapters that detail the author’s life lessons and stories as they pertain the topic of each chapter. Each chapter ends with relevant journal exercise. Keep in mind, you will need a separate notebook to write in for journaling. Heartwork reads more like a book, than a workbook. I loved the journal topics. They were spot on. By using these prompts I’ve had some great insight and emotional breakthroughs, when I was journaling. I’m definitely going to keep using these journal exercises as prompts in my usual journaling. But on the other hand, I didn’t really connect with her story. Other people might, but my thoughts are more neutral about it. The book is fine, but not something that personally resonates with me like the journal exercises did.
The book also discusses compassion a lot. The compassion you extend to yourself affects how you treat other people. This really resonated with me, because if I’m feeling good about myself I usually treat other people better. Overall it leans more towards spiritual experiences, guides, journeys, and crossroads from a Buddhist perspective. As someone who doesn’t know much about Buddhism, I was a little lost at some points. I originally thought the book was going to be more from a traditional mental health perspective, not that this is bad, just know what you’re reading and what best fits your needs.
In general I highly recommend the journal exercises in Heartwork. If you’re looking for a book about self compassion from a Buddhist perspective, then it’s probably for you. While it has some crossover with typical mental health treatment, I’m probably going to stick with books & workbooks that follow the more traditional route since those tend to resonate & help me more.
November 30, 2017
This very engaging book teaches us how to use specific meditation practices to open our hearts and ease our specific types of suffering. Meditations including basic mindfulness practice, self-compassion, compassion for others, and forgiveness are all addressed in a step-by-step instruction on creating your own meditations with intention. She teaches us how to "write" our own practical meditations with compassion for our own personal trauma and experiences. The practices create a healing of the heart that has changed my perspective on myself, the people in my life, and the way I experience the world.
Radhule is warm and engaging as she tells her story of her childhood traumas after being placed in an orphanage as in infant and then growing up in post-war Germany with her Catholic family. Her story draws us in telling how she stumbled into a monastery in Shri Lanka where she first learned about meditation, her journey discovering Buddhism and how it shaped her life today as a clinical psychologist and meditation teacher. She is raw and honest, unafraid to expose her deepest self with the reader. The stories along the way, as well as a section with 9 personal stories, prove to be examples of how people not only ended their suffering but enriched their lives and relationships giving us hope and courage to practice the meditations in our own lives.
Thoroughly understandable and enjoyable reading. This is a book I will go back to over and over whenever my heart needs healing from what is disturbing me.
Radhule is warm and engaging as she tells her story of her childhood traumas after being placed in an orphanage as in infant and then growing up in post-war Germany with her Catholic family. Her story draws us in telling how she stumbled into a monastery in Shri Lanka where she first learned about meditation, her journey discovering Buddhism and how it shaped her life today as a clinical psychologist and meditation teacher. She is raw and honest, unafraid to expose her deepest self with the reader. The stories along the way, as well as a section with 9 personal stories, prove to be examples of how people not only ended their suffering but enriched their lives and relationships giving us hope and courage to practice the meditations in our own lives.
Thoroughly understandable and enjoyable reading. This is a book I will go back to over and over whenever my heart needs healing from what is disturbing me.
March 7, 2022
Compassionate account of the author's own life struggles as well as those of her clients along with mindfulness strategies that helped them through their suffering to greater clarity and peace. Engaging stories as well as clear and powerful mindfulness strategies to help readers develop greater compassion for ourselves and others.
June 15, 2020
We all need a little healing. Completing all the exercises will be a labor of love. Something to work on the rest of my life.
February 2, 2023
Excellent book on applying the practice of loving-kindness to yourself and others.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews