Learning to Breathe

My Yearlong Quest to Bring Calm to My Life

Nonfiction, Religion & Spirituality, New Age, Meditation, Health & Well Being, Psychology, Biography & Memoir
Cover of the book Learning to Breathe by Priscilla Warner, Atria Books
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Priscilla Warner ISBN: 9781439181096
Publisher: Atria Books Publication: September 20, 2011
Imprint: Atria Books Language: English
Author: Priscilla Warner
ISBN: 9781439181096
Publisher: Atria Books
Publication: September 20, 2011
Imprint: Atria Books
Language: English

Priscilla Warner has had a great life: a supportive husband, a flourishing marriage, two loving sons, and a bestselling book, The Faith Club. Despite all her good fortune and success, she suffers from anxiety and panic attacks so debilitating that they leave her unable to breathe. She’s tried self-medicating—in high school, with a hidden flask of vodka—and later, with prescription medications—daily doses of Klonopin with a dark-chocolate chaser. After forty years of hyperventilating, and an overwhelming panic attack that’s the ultimate wake-up call, Warner’s mantra becomes “Neurotic, Heal Thyself.” A spirited New Yorker, she sets out to find her inner Tibetan monk by meditating every day, aiming to rewire her brain and her body and mend her frayed nerves. On this winding path from panic to peace, with its hairpin emotional curves and breathtaking drops, she also delves into a wide range of spiritual and alternative health practices, some serious and some . . . not so much.

Warner tries spiritual chanting, meditative painting, immersion in a Jewish ritual bath, and quasi-hallucinogenic Ayurvedic oil treatments. She encounters mystical rabbis who teach her Kabbalistic lessons, attends silent retreats with compassionate Buddhist mentors, and gains insights from the spiritual leaders, healers, and therapists she meets. Meditating in malls instead of monasteries, Warner becomes a monk in a minivan and calms down long enough to examine her colorful, sometimes frightening family history in a new light, ultimately making peace with her past. And she receives corroboration that she’s healing from a neuroscientist who scans her brain for signs of progress and change.

Written with lively wit and humor, Learning to Breathe is a serious attempt to heal from a painful condition. It’s also a life raft of compassion and hope for people similarly adrift or secretly fearful, as well as an entertaining and inspiring guidebook for anyone facing daily challenges large and small, anyone who is also longing for a sense of peace, self-acceptance, and understanding.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Priscilla Warner has had a great life: a supportive husband, a flourishing marriage, two loving sons, and a bestselling book, The Faith Club. Despite all her good fortune and success, she suffers from anxiety and panic attacks so debilitating that they leave her unable to breathe. She’s tried self-medicating—in high school, with a hidden flask of vodka—and later, with prescription medications—daily doses of Klonopin with a dark-chocolate chaser. After forty years of hyperventilating, and an overwhelming panic attack that’s the ultimate wake-up call, Warner’s mantra becomes “Neurotic, Heal Thyself.” A spirited New Yorker, she sets out to find her inner Tibetan monk by meditating every day, aiming to rewire her brain and her body and mend her frayed nerves. On this winding path from panic to peace, with its hairpin emotional curves and breathtaking drops, she also delves into a wide range of spiritual and alternative health practices, some serious and some . . . not so much.

Warner tries spiritual chanting, meditative painting, immersion in a Jewish ritual bath, and quasi-hallucinogenic Ayurvedic oil treatments. She encounters mystical rabbis who teach her Kabbalistic lessons, attends silent retreats with compassionate Buddhist mentors, and gains insights from the spiritual leaders, healers, and therapists she meets. Meditating in malls instead of monasteries, Warner becomes a monk in a minivan and calms down long enough to examine her colorful, sometimes frightening family history in a new light, ultimately making peace with her past. And she receives corroboration that she’s healing from a neuroscientist who scans her brain for signs of progress and change.

Written with lively wit and humor, Learning to Breathe is a serious attempt to heal from a painful condition. It’s also a life raft of compassion and hope for people similarly adrift or secretly fearful, as well as an entertaining and inspiring guidebook for anyone facing daily challenges large and small, anyone who is also longing for a sense of peace, self-acceptance, and understanding.

More books from Atria Books

Cover of the book The Whole Truth by Priscilla Warner
Cover of the book The Salt House by Priscilla Warner
Cover of the book The Dirty Red Reader's Companion by Priscilla Warner
Cover of the book Addicted to Danger by Priscilla Warner
Cover of the book How to Buy a Home by Priscilla Warner
Cover of the book Bob Honey Who Just Do Stuff by Priscilla Warner
Cover of the book The Rabbit Effect by Priscilla Warner
Cover of the book Sensuality by Priscilla Warner
Cover of the book Sniper Elite: One-Way Trip by Priscilla Warner
Cover of the book Before the Devil Knows You're Dead by Priscilla Warner
Cover of the book The Painted Kiss by Priscilla Warner
Cover of the book Olympic Pride, American Prejudice by Priscilla Warner
Cover of the book What Set Me Free (The Story That Inspired the Major Motion Picture Brian Banks) by Priscilla Warner
Cover of the book Across a Hundred Mountains by Priscilla Warner
Cover of the book The Promised World by Priscilla Warner
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy