Finding the Deep River Within: A Woman's Guide to Recovering Balance and Meaning in Everyday Life

by Abby Seixas

Overview

For over two decades, Abby Seixas has taught women how to slow down and reclaim their lives from the tyranny of their to-do lists. Based on the experiences of women whose lives have been transformed by her workshops, this highly anticipated first book presents her comprehensive program to nurture contact with the Deep River Within, the soul-nourishing dimension in each of us that flows beneath the busyness of daily life.  With gentle encouragement, practical guidance, and compelling stories of struggle and success, Finding the Deep River Within details the three preliminary doorways and six core practices for inviting the rich resources of our deeper nature into everyday life.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780787997496
Publisher:	Wiley
Publication date:	09/28/2007
Pages:	256
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Abby Seixas is a psychotherapist specializing in issues of life balance. Her work has been featured in national and local media, including NBC's The Today Show, the Hallmark Channel, O. The Oprah Magazine, Self, Body + Soul, Woman's Day and The Boston Globe. She is the mother of two grown children and lives with her husband near Boston, Massachusetts.

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Table of Contents

Deep River Exercises and Practices.

Acknowledgments.

Introduction.

Part One: Thirsting for the Deep River Realm.

1. The Disease of A-Thousand-Things-To-Do.

2. The Deep River Within.

3. Getting Started.

Part Two: Touching the Deep River: The Practices.

4. Take Time-In.

5. Make Boundaries.

6. Befriend Feelings.

7. Tame Self-Expectations.

8. Practice Presence.

9. Do Something You Love.

Part Three: Keeping the Deep River Flowing.

10. Beyond Self-Care.

Victory Log.

Notes.

Selected Reading.

The Author.

Index.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"Finding the Deep River Within holds the key to lasting health and sustainable joy."
—Christiane Northrup, M.D., author, Mother-Daughter Wisdom, The Wisdom of Menopause, and Women’s Bodies, Women’s Wisdom 

"In Finding the Deep River Within, Abby Seixas gives us a wisdom-filled recipe for living a soulful life. This is a book for Everywoman, at least every woman living in our nonstop, do-it-all culture. There is not a woman I know who wouldn’t benefit from this valuable book."
—Jack Canfield, cocreator of the Chicken Soup for the Soul series; coauthor, The Success Principles: How to Get from Where Your Are to Where You Want to Be

"Finding the Deep River Within is that rarity—a book that is at once poetic and pragmatic. It offers the keys to discovering your inner kingdom—a world that is wise yet lyrical. Abby Seixas is a grounded writer who offers a toolkit that is as deep and calm in experience as the listening heart she urges her readers to discover."
—Julia Cameron, author, The Artist’s Way

"In this beautifully written and profound book, Abby Seixas shows us step- by-step, how to save our own lives. Her wise and simple suggestions and exercises will rekindle the power within you and free you to live your best life. Finding the Deep River Within is about reclaiming your birthright as a living soul and becoming a light to the world. You owe it to yourself and to those who love you to read this book more than once."
—Rachel Naomi Remen, M.D., author, Kitchen Table Wisdom and My Grandfather’s Blessings

"Abby Seixas’ work is a blessing. As a psychotherapist, teacher, speaker, and author, I know how much people need to hear what she has to say. Finding the Deep River Within belongs on the bookshelf of every therapist who works with women—not only to give to clients but also for their own self-care. I am already recommending it to clients and friends."
—Dorothy Firman, Ed.D., LMHC, coauthor, Daughters and Mothers, Making It Work; Chicken Soup for the Mother and Daughter Soul, and the forthcoming Chicken Soup for the Mother and Daughter Soul 2

"Finding the Deep River Within is one of those rare books in which you recognize yourself and what you need from the very first page. Blending wisdom with compassion, inspiration with practical tools, Seixas meets us where we are and gently guides us toward wholeness."
—Rachael Freed, author, Women’s Lives, Women’s Legacies: Passing Your Beliefs and Blessings to Future Generations, and The Women’s Legacies Workbook for the Busy Woman.

"This book is terrific. It reads like a letter from your best friend. It’s smart and helpful without being pedantic. Seixas’ stories inspire us and her six practices give down-to-earth tools for bringing balance and joy into your daily life. You’ll want to share Finding the Deep River Within with your sister, your mother, daughter, aunt, office mate, women friends–all the women in your life and then, make sure you leave it around for the guys to read it too."
—Bob Kriegel, Ph.D. and Marilyn Harris Kriegel, Ph.D., coauthors, The C-Zone: Peak Performance Under Pressure

"Everyone whose life is too busy and who seeks a deeper source of nourishment should read this book.  Both beginners and experienced students of the inner life will savor its timeless and timely wisdom and find practical tools for transforming their lives from the inside out."
—Jeffrey Rossman, Ph.D., director, Behavioral Health, Canyon Ranch, Lenox, Massachusetts

"When things get crazy, and I need to let go, I often use the image of floating on my back, trusting the river, allowing it to take me where it will. Now I have a book to read while floating! Abby Seixas's beautifully written Finding the Deep River Within is a wise and fluid book—as clear as a mountain stream and as deep as the ocean." — Elizabeth Lesser, cofounder of Omega Institute and author of Broken Open: How Difficult Times Can Help Us Grow

Editorial Reviews

"Seixas offers no quick fix or hollow slogans. Rather, she delivers carefully considered, gently explained, and tested tools for simplifying life via small but meaningful steps." —Boston Globe, October 2006

"Psychotherapist Abby Seixas ... won't tell you how to tick more items off your to-do list or find time for more activities. Instead, she counsels women to pare down their lives by learning to say no, quieting their inner perfectionists, and taking alone time every day. Seixas' program is a practical antidote to our culture's obsession with having—and doing—it all."—Ladies Home Journal Online

"If you can wait at a red light without applying makeup or practicing Italian verbs with a CD, this book is not for you. For the rest of us, Seixas has a message: Slow down!" —Brandeis University Magazine

From the Publisher

Between family, professional work, housework, working out, e-mail and the simple essentials like bathing, eating and even sleeping, there is always too much to do. Readers who identify with the above and lament their lack of time will find themselves engrossed within the first few pages of this spiritual self-help title, as Seixas describes with candor and personal experience the unhappy life situation so many women face today. A psychotherapist by profession and founder of Deep River seminars, Seixas outlines the steps for slowing down in today's world by drawing from case studies in her work, outlining the basic spiritual principles of her seminars and providing a range of helpful, easy exercises for readers to practice. Getting to the spiritual within is not easy in a culture that favors multitasking, endless activity and the pressure to strive for perfection, but Seixas advocates what she calls "dropping down" as key to this process, which involves "moving from a more outward focus at the surface of our lives, to a more inward focus deep within ourselves." Seixas's accessible prose and the slow, lasting journey she advocates are welcome in light of the many self-help books that teach us to snatch moments of rest while still keeping on the go, go, go. (Sept.) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

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