BOOKS

Grief touches each of us at some point during our lives, and we are often unprepared for the emotions that can arise. If you have experienced loss, this comforting guide provides both profound inspiration and practical guidance to help you heal and transform your grief into personal growth and renewal. Within this gentle book, you will find powerful and compassionate wisdom to help you honor your grief and cope with your loss. The simple and effective tips and exercises are ideal for anyone suffering the emotional and physical effects of grief. Compatible with any religious or spiritual orientation, this thoughtful guide will help you create a sanctuary—a special space where you can work through the difficult emotions that accompany loss and begin to heal.

“HONORING GRIEF is a living jewel. Open anywhere and your being lightens up. . . It's more than a grief book because it reminds me to live fully -- it's now a bedside book for me. If I could give it more than 5 stars, I'd give it a 10.”
~Luchy ~Amazon Review

Endorsements

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"If there is one person I'd like to talk to after a loss, it would be Alexandra Kennedy. She offers no platitudes for grief- no one-size-fits-all recipe- just wisdom, kindness, and empathy. Most of all, Kennedy tells us what we all need to hear: We are not alone, and, no, we are not going crazy."
~ Lolly Winston, MFA, author of Good Grief and Happiness Sold Separately

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“This is a gentle, quiet book. Alexandra Kennedy has traveled these pathways; authentic, genuine, heart-shredding grief is a fiercely intimate, intensely private matter, experienced in vastly unpredictable ways. We are thrust against our will into some brand new world, unique for each and every one of us. While she offers gentle suggestions, simple tools, and practices along the way, Kennedy wisely counsels there is ‘no map, no schedule.’ There is tremendous mercy here. We are too often rushed through what must be allowed its time, its season, to ripen, to die, to heal. Kennedy is wise and compassionate, and she refuses to desecrate this holy mystery of loss. Rather, she offers simply to accompany us as we walk a path only we can follow. Kennedy teaches us to trust that Death knows the way to lead us into Life. For us, we can trust that Kennedy knows of what she speaks.”

~Wayne Muller, author of Sabbath and A Life of Being, Having, and Doing Enough

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“A true pioneer in our field, Alexandra Kennedy offers a profoundly clear understanding of what it truly means to heal after a loss in her elegantly simple new book, Honoring Grief. It’s sure to become a classic. For years to come, I'll be sharing this wonderful book with clients, families, friends, and communities besieged by loss.”

~Ken Druck, PhD, grief and resilience coach and author of The Real Rules of Life: Balancing Life's Terms with Your Own

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“We don’t usually think of grief as a healing journey; in fact, most of us would rather not think of grief at all. But Alexandra Kennedy gently, expertly guides the reader into a depth that is neither frightening nor overwhelming, but manageable and critical to one’s true well-being. In Honoring Grief, she has distilled a lifetime of listening and examining to bring forth a sacred practice that allows us to meet grief where we are, be embraced in sanctuary, heal wounds, and renew life with new eyes and a more open heart. With this book’s practices, grief can be a time to break free from the pain of long-held sufferings, and expand our capacity to love and live fully.”

~Beth Witrogen, Pulitzer Prize nominee and author of Caregiving: The Spiritual Journey of Love, Loss, and Renewal

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“Grief is the way that loss heals. In Honoring Grief, Alexandra Kennedy offers us a sanctuary in which to process our losses and find healing. This simple-to-use, step-by-step workbook on the healing of grief can be a nightlight for people in dark times.”

~Rachel Naomi Remen, MD, author of Kitchen Table Wisdom and My Grandfather’s Blessings

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“I loved this book. Honoring Grief provides safety, comfort, and guidance for healing after loss. The format makes it easily accessible to someone experiencing deep chaotic emotions. The text is poetic and beautifully crafted. I would recommend this book to my colleagues and friends. It will become part of my teaching.”

~Janet M. Schreiber, PhD, director of the Grief, Loss, and Trauma certificate program at Southwestern College, Santa Fe, New Mexico

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The loss of someone close to us can shake the very foundations of our lives. We look for ways to rebuild that foundation but our society has little to offer. We hear cliches such as time heals all wounds and you just need to get on with your life. But too often such advice deepens the pain and turmoil we feel. Thankfully, there are alternatives that really can bring us comfort. In The Infinite Thread, Alexandra Kennedy presents remarkable tools that have been helping her clients for over 20 years. She tells how to use our own innate abilities for finding the path through the bewildering experience of loss. From writing letters to creating a sanctuary for the process of recovery, she tells how our creative and intuitive capacities can help us find peace beyond the inner turmoil. Using anecdotes from real-life, she eloquently describes the seven tasks of grieving and offers ways to support partners, friends, and children who are struggling with loss.

• Using imagination to recreate a relationship with a lost loved one in order to heal unresolved issues and regrets
• Creating a simple sanctuary to give form and beauty to the healing process
• Tapping the power of our dreams to rebuild our own lives.
• Learning about ancient, tried and true methods for easing the burdens of grieving
• Finding joy in our daily lives even as we honor our loss.

This book is available from Beyond Words Publishing for $14.95 (1-58270-046-X).

To order by phone, call 1-800-284-9673 or email info@beyondword.com.

Endorsements:

"Alexandra Kennedy engages the threshold of dying and death with such sure gentleness. The lyrical subtlety of her writing veils the grain and grit of its truth. She offers mythology, narrative and empirical data as pathways to the embrace of the dying and the retrieval of grief not as a desert but as a slow garden of remembrance, surprise and unexpected novelty."

~From the foreword by John O'Donohue, Ph.D. and bestselling author of the award-winning "Anam Cara" and "Eternal Echoes"

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"At last! A deeply real and profoundly wise book on healing a life after loss. In a field overcrowded with pop psychology, The Infinite Thread stands out like a lighthouse, beckoning those who travel in the dark to the refuge of a safe harbor. Alexandra Kennedy's book is a must read for anyone who has ever thought their heart could never heal."

~Rachel Naomi Remen, M.D, author of My Grandfather's Blessings and Kitchen Table Wisdom.

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"In The Infinite Thread, Alexandra Kennedy gives us tangible tools and ways to reconcile a relationship with a loved one and how to work through unfinished business. . .This book is an excellent resource guide for healing all our relationships."

~Angeles Arrien, cultural anthropologist and author of The Four-Fold Way and Signs of Life.

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"Alexandra Kennedy has written a groundbreaking book of spiritual and practical wisdom, which explores new uses of the imagination in healing loss. If you ever thought it was too late to express love or forgive someone, try the exercises in this book! This big-hearted book is a gift to us all."

~Gerald Jampolksy, MD, author of Forgiveness.

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"To experience loss is a fact of life. Yet, so many of us simply shut out what causes pain, only to learn over time that this shutting out robs us of our very lives. This book offers a path to healing from the inside out. . . a way not only to comfort but to the joy of regaining our own lives."

~Hal Zina Bennett, author of Write from the Heart.

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". . .this is a book of real psychic weight by an author who herself has earned a national reputation. . . What makes this book so valuable is the clarity with which she provides guidelines to the more remarkable journey of continuing a relationship with someone who has died...This book accomplishes a remarkable task in providing new ways for us to work with the profoundly difficult issues of processing grief, and provides significant new perspectives on this tender issue."

~The Therapist, May/June 2002

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We tend to believe that waking up to our natural state of joyfulness comes with huge claps of thunder or miraculous events. Yet How Did I Miss All This Before? shows that life's magic happens in the most ordinary of moments, if only we are willing to see with fresh eyes. The process of awakening involves being fully present to life as it is right now.

A psychotherapist for more than thirty years, author Alexandra Kennedy has written an intimate account of courageous transformation in the midst of life's common challenges—truly a woman's path of awakening to the Divine. Alexandra's three-decade quest begins with an unusual transcendent experience, unfolds through epiphanies at three sacred Earth sites, and culminates in the discovery that her yearning was always available to be fulfilled right here, in the most ordinary aspects of daily life.

Through the medium of a compelling, multilayered story that is both personal and accessible, How Did I Miss All This Before? offers a unique combination of rich prose, deep professional and personal experience, interactive questioning for readers, and a wealth of references from pioneers of both spirit and psychology. Its message is for everyone wishing to find greater openness to life in each precious moment.

Endorsements

"What a deep underground stream bubbling up in remarkable prose & poetry and the compassion and insight at the heart of the evolution of understanding. . . a fine work indeed!"

~Stephen Levine, author of Gradual Awakening.

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"Truly a sacred book, straight from soul. I felt I was in sacred space all the time I was reading."

~Marion Woodman, author of The Owl Was a Bakers Daughter.

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"In her beautiful language Alexandra shares her unique spiritual journey with us. Her book serves as inspiration, support in the hard times, and the fruits of divine perseverance." 

~Gangaji, author of The Diamond in Your Pocket.

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"Alexandra has written a joyful and refreshing account of a spontaneous enlightenment experience— that most mysterious and fascinating event in consciousness—as well as the not so simple process of how it gets integrated in work and marriage afterward. The Eastern and Western mystical traditions have a happy meeting right here in this book."

~John Tarrant, author of Bring Me The Rhinoceros.

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"Alexandra Kennedy writes a compelling personal story of"awakening" which provides opportunity for deep reflection regarding where one is in his or her own spiritual journey. Thought provoking and inspirational!"

~Angeles Arrien, Ph.D. cultural anthropologist, author of The Second Half of Life: Opening to the Eight Gates of Wisdom.

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"Deep and tender, Alexandra Kennedy's How Did I Miss All This Before? is like a beautifully written life-letter from a wise and beloved friend. She leads us through life's spirals: ecstasy and despair, love and grief, confusion and enlightenment—and fearlessly shows us how we can all become free and fully celebrate every precious moment of our lives."
—Hallie Austen Iglehart, author of The Heart of the Goddess: Art, Myth and Meditations of the World's Sacred Feminine.

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"Alexandra Kennedy is a profoundly capable storyteller with the ability to share her soul's journey in ways so that we are all blessed, informed, and encouraged. I am grateful for her life-long work, and eager to engage with the practices and guidance she offers so generously to assist my soul's journey."
—Christina Baldwin, author of Storycatcher: Making Sense of our Lives through the Power and Practice of Story.

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"A life-changing and important work. My dreams and psyche were immediately opened to transformation from this book's insights, the sheer awe of uncovering the layers that were preventing me from being who I truly am. A deep bow and a joyful high-five to Alexandra!"
—Beth Witrogen, author of Caregiving: The Spiritual Journey of Love, Loss, and Renewal.

To open to everything as it is, and to see how the sacred shines through the most ordinary moments, this is the gift we are offered here. In this jewel-like collection of poems, we experience the magic inherent in the mundane and are left asking ourselves, "how did I miss all this before?" Author and psychotherapist Alexandra Kennedy transports us to the edge of ordinary consciousness. She offers us glimpses into a larger world—the one hiding right here, out in the open, waiting for us to be fully present. Through her eyes, we realize the interconnectedness of all things in a spider’s web, experience the devastating grandeur of a hurricane, revel in the antics of shoes in a department store, and enjoy an extraordinary "ordinary" ride down Main Street. As we read these offerings, we feel the pulse and heartbeat of the mystery that lives in us all, and we taste Alexandra’s view of the essential stillness and joy that is everywhere around us.