I sat, this morning, with my left hand resting on the cover of a book that I've owned for just over a week, thinking about how best to describe it.
Living Deeply: The Art and Science of Transformation in Everyday Life is the result of a ten-year long research project from one of our long-time partners, the Institute Of Noetic Sciences, and is being released as part of their summer membership drive.
In 1997 (I know. It feels like yesterday...;) a team of researchers began a study on the process of personal transformation. They collected stories of deep shifts in awareness, from those that occured during devastating crises, to experiences that were relatively mundane. They invited over fifty renowned scholars to take part in detailed research interviews. And they sought the threads that connected these stories.
The result is a rich and refreshing book that's unique, and wonderful, in the way it doesn't prescribe another program for change, but pushes open the door to more questions, and more possibilities, and provides (or did for me!) a deep sense both that there is room in the world for each of us to explore our own personal paths, and that it's crucial that we trust ourselves to do so.
The book is available on Amazon, but the best way to get a copy (in my opinion!) is to
sign up as a member in IONS' Shift in Action campaign drive, which we're proud to be supporting. IONS offers a
trial month for only $1; when you sign up, you'll be mailed a copy of the the book, as well as Living Deeply Practice CD, the 2008 Shift Report, invitations to weekly teleseminars, and a list of other benefits that you can
read about here.
To my mind, the most important of these is knowing that you'll be supporting (and becoming a part of) a deeply important research project. (But that's just me: your favorite benefit might be the Peter Russell download or the Charles Tart mindfulness workshop.)
So with that, I'll cross my fingers that you feel curious enough to go check out IONS and
sign up for the Shift in Action membership program (again, the book alone is more than worth it). With any luck we'll both end up on one of their teleseminars soon. :)
Thank you thank you thank you for reading, and for continuing to trust in your own unfolding path...
Siona 
