Fire in the Soul: A New Psychology of Spiritual Optimism

by Joan Borysenko

The author of the New York Times bestseller Minding the Body, Mending the Mind reveals the power of spiritual a philosophy that sees life crises as opportunities for personal growth and spiritual transformation.

Genres: Spirituality, Psychology, Nonfiction, Self Help

258 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1993

About the author

This distinguished pioneer in integrative medicine is a world-renowned expert in the mind/body connection.

Reviews

[Shawn]

Get cheered up reading the wisdom of the ancients, including popular wits like Jesus, Buddha, Rumi, and Mohammed. First place I read Rumi's stunning stanza:

The breeze at dawn has secrets to tell you
Don't go back to sleep
You must ask for what you really want
Don't go back to sleep
People are walking back and forth
Across the doorsill
Where the two worlds meet
The door is round and open
Don't go back to sleep.

Kinda gives you chills, don't it? Fourteen years later, I remember it--put it that way.
Shawn

[Ellen]

Fire in the Soul: A New Psychology of Spiritual optimism by Joan Borysenko is kind of a New Age-y self-help spiritual book with more self-help/New Age lingo than spiritual insights. But definitely a "feel good" book for me, and a very fast read. Like a nice chat with a good friend. It didn't "change my life" but it felt like a support in remembering ways to live well.

[Ericayo]

This book really was life-changing to me. It allowed me to reclaim a sense of spirituality that I had lost. I reread it periodically, and it remains a favorite.

[ash]

This book rubbed me the wrong way. I don’t really disagree with the author on much. I like the essence of what she has to say, mostly. It’s just that from a certain point onwards I just... did not want to hear from her anymore. I didn’t like all the Jesus talk even though she used extracts that were in essence, deep and thought-evoking. It’s a personal thing of mine; I just do not want to hear about Jesus or Muhammad or anyone in their clique cause the major monotheistic religions piss me off, like, as an entire concept. As I said, it’s personal.
But really, it’s also the fact I think this doesn’t make for a great read if you’re just getting into this whole spiritual thing. Too many angels, too many spirit guides, I’m not ready for those at all.
That being said I like the way she writes. I also had a bunch of ‘aha’ moments. I loved the part about how everything is ‘perfect and pure.’ That was my favorite part.

[jessie]

i wasn’t the biggest fan of her writing but there were many intriguing perceptions and thoughts that i found very insightful. i especially liked the sections about meditation and the way she explained the process.

[Mckinley]

Didn't like this one so much. I found it too much a mash up of so many new age and traditional spiritual and psychological approaches.

[Brooke]

I really like this author and this was one of my favorites.

[Melissa Scheffey]

Excellent introduction to self-forgiveness modalities such as meditation, past life regression & reiki.

[Crystal]

There was a lot of good info in this book, some of which will be helpful for clients. However, overall I felt this book was not very cohesive, and bounced around a lot, which made it difficult to stay involved.

[Todd]

Sidran gave this to me for my birtdhay. Her presentation is thoughtful and interesting

[Mark Yashar]

A bit too new-agey for me. Some good pointers and a reference related to walking mediation. Reasonable though somewhat out-dated reference and bibliography sections.

[Laura]

Exploring your inner self

[Nancy]

top 5 1993

[Lisa]

Reading for Three yogi's book club.