jiastar's Full Review: Frederic Brussat and Mary Ann Brussat - Spiritual ...
I purchased Spiritual Rx off of the bargain books area of my local Barnes and Noble's local Mega-store a couple of months ago and only recently got around to reading it.
The book can be best summed up in a quote included in the cover pages:
"Anything you do every day can open into the deepest spiritual place, which is freedom" -- Coleman Barks
The Brussats have written a book with the goal of encouraging each of us to make room in our lives for Spirit, for the Sacred. They have done this by exploring over 3 dozen practices which, if integrated into our daily activities, will give us the gift of a spiritual life.
They have divided their book into 37 chapters, each devoted to a particular practice. Each chapter shines a spotlight on books, movies, music, and even art which complement the lesson at hand. Additionally, each chapter also gives activities and exercises which allow the reader to explore these spiritual practices as a way to better themselves and their life.
Spiritual Rx is written for the masses. It is meant to be accessible to anyone regardless of religion affiliation, or lack thereof. At the same time it unflinchingly draws inspiration from various religions: Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, Islam, etc. You will find various faiths quoted and highlighted within these pages.
The practices covered are Attention, Beauty, Being Present, Compassion, Connections, Devotion, Enthusiasm, Faith, Forgiveness, Grace, Gratitude, Hope, Hospitality,
Imagination, Joy, Justice, Kindness, Listening, Love, Meaning, Nurturing, Openness, Peace, Play, Questing, Reverence, Shadow, Silence, Teachers, Transformation, Unity, Vision, Wonder, X (the mystery), Yearning, You, Zeal. Each chapter is filled with literally dozens of things you can do to encourage spirituality in your own life.
The exercises include general activities such as :
reflecting on various quotes
making use of affirmations
imagery exercises
journal prompts
The authors also make more specific recommendations including:
reading the works of Thich Nhat Hanh
reading Walt Whitman's "Song of Myself"
explore haiku
go on a fast
What makes this book unique among other books in the self-help genre is that, aside from listing these 37 practices and holding them up as positive, the Brussats step back and allow us to explore that particular trait on our own.
What we come away with after using their suggestions will be our own, unique experience. And that, after all, is what the Brussats are encouraging from the beginning.
I truly recommend this book for anyone who wants to make room in their life for the Divine, or anyone who simply wants to be a better person. Almost everyone can read this book and come away with something they can add to their life to improve it.
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