Discover your calm, balanced center within
Learn how meditation changes your brain for the better
Practice meditation, breathing exercises, and evidence-based mindfulness
Foster your creativity
Improve your relationships
Many people with bipolar disorder lead productive and happy lives, and you can too. If you are bipolar, you may face certain psychological challenges like mood imbalances, periods of severe depression, and manic episodes. If you would like to supplement your medical treatment to help you better manage your symptoms and find your personal sense of balance, this is your guide.
Tao, a Chinese word meaning "the way," is a metaphysical concept for understanding the universe as a circular flow of energy. Drawing on a combination of ancient wisdeom, psychology, and neuroscience, this book will help you balance your emotions and reconnect with the serence center within.
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Introduction
Part I: Fundamental Principles and Facts
Chapter 1: Looking Through the Lens of Tao
Chapter 2: All About Bipolar Disorder
Chapter 3: How Meditation Can Change Your Brain
Part II: Learning Meditation
Chapter 4: Warming up to Meditation
Chapter 5: Focus on Breathing: The Gateway to Moods
Chapter 6: Open Focus: Developing Mindful Awareness
Chapter 7: No Focus: Clearing Your Mind
Part III: Easing Your Moods, Fulfilling Your Talents
Chapter 8: The Way Out of Stress
Chapter 9: Moderate Your Depression
Chapter 10: Harmonize Your Mania
Chapter 11: Balance Your Relationships Chapter
12: Nurture Your Potential
Recommended Reading
References
ADVANCED ACCLAIM FOR THE TAO OF BIPOLAR
"Annellen and Alex Simpkins have produced another great book that represents their lifelong commitment to helping people using unique resources...This step-by-step guide of systematic meditation techniques is designed for people diagnosed with bipolar disorder. The reader learns to enter into a different mental state that permits both relaxation and alertness, where once there was only mania or despair."
--Michele Ritterman, PhD author of The Tao of a Woman and Using Hypnosis in Family Therapy
"The deep message the conveys is: Nurture your potential by committing yourself to doing meditations. Find healthy daily routines of waking and sleeping, balance your moods to harmonize your relationships, and become what you want to become, trusting in the power of both Tao and nature...Even though the book is mainly directed to persons with bipolar disorder, it is also helpful for any therapist. The book nurtures the mind, body, and spirit of every reader, satisfies the need for sound knowledge, and gives the pleasure of reading a well-written book enriched by metaphors and cases."
--Consuelo Casula, psychologist, psychotherapist, and the president-elect of the Europeacn Society of Hypnosis
"Throughout this helpful, holistic, clear, and cogent book the experienced authors skillfully depict both the bipolar condition and the many therapeutic ways its symptoms may be alleviated. Compassionately reassuring the sufferer, the Simpkins encourage an attitude of non-judgmental awareness accomplished by meditation and breathing exercises to follow each day. ..This book will be of great help to any who read it and apply it to their lives."
--Tasha Halpert, author of Heartwings: Love Notes for a Joyous Life
The Simpkins have written a wonderful book. It begins with a solid foundation of ancient Eastern phiolosophy integrated with modern Western science and a clear description of bipolar disorder. The benefits of a variety of meditations are described and clear guidelines are offered to match these with the individual symptoms that different people experience. Simple, easy-to-follow exercises are offered throughout the book so each reader can experience their own process, leading to sustained improvements. This is a wonderful book and will be appreciated by many people suffering from bipolar disorder. I recommend it enthusiastically."
--Robert McMeilly, MBBS, an international teacher of Ericksonian approaches to psychotherapy and hypnosis.
"The Tao of Bipolar is a how-to guide to clearing your mind, easing your moods, and developing your talents. I'm pleased to have this powerful resource to offer to my patients. The Simpkins offer you the tools you need to gain a high level of awareness and control over your bipolar symptoms. Their easy explanations and practical meditation exercises will help you develop powerful, life-changing habits."
--Ashley Bavis Bush, LCSW, author of Shortcuts to Inner Peace and Transcending Loss
"A true self-help book. The authors expertly guide the reader through a description of bipolar disorder and teach, step-by-step, how to meditate to increase the ability to manage the mood swings that go with bipolar disorder. A great introduction for anyone considering treatment, and a thoughtful addition to talk and medication therapies."
--Tanya H. Hess, PhD, director of training at Coaching into Care, Philadelphia VA Medical Center
"A wonderfully well-written book integrating ancient philosophy of Tao and modern neuroscience for self-help with bipolar disorder."
--Kathryn and Ernest Rossi, authors of the video e-book Creating New Consciousness in Everyday Life