IN A NEW LIGHT
Be the Self you Truly Are
- Anna Hayward
SEEING YOURSELF IN A NEW LIGHT offers help to anyone who seeks to change their understanding of themselves and others for the better. Finding the positive, understanding what learning really is and releasing self-doubt are all part of this approach. It raises our awareness of our relationships to others and why we manifest the emotional states we do. It does this against a background of love and spirituality, suggesting that the principle of love is a divine law which always works for good and for healing, however difficult the road we travel may seem.
The point of the book is to bring the reader greater understanding of human nature, relationships, defensiveness and fears. It would show that there is a way of approaching these that is in keeping with spiritual teaching as well as with the psychological approach. It seeks to demonstrate what love means around such concepts as the psyche and emotional development, and seeks to answer such questions as ‘Why do I behave as I do?’, ‘Why is there a split between what I seem to understand, and what I can put into practice?’, ‘What does control of my emotions mean?’, ‘Why do I find things repeating themselves in my life?
This is also a book for workers in the field, but it is revolutionary in its approach to people. Part of the approach is not to separate out client and the counsellor in quite the same way as many systems do, but sees the counselling approach as, at least ‘two intelligences working together’ (a phrase from Re-evaluation Co-counselling).
SEEING YOURSELF IN A NEW LIGHT is a book is for anyone who wants to understand themselves better, and to grow as an emotionally intelligent being. It is written for those who wish to integrate spiritual philosohy with earthly emotion and thought, and it supports those who wish to develop the way they function both as a unique individual, and in healthy relationships with others.
Polair Self-Help
Body, Mind & Spirit
£8.99/Paper
176 Pages
198 x 129mm
June 2011
978-1-905398-24-9
Buy In A New Light GBP
Buy In A New Light USD
Available for Kindle from Amazon, or as an eBook isbn 9781905398430
Reviews
IN A NEW LIGHT
A practical book encouraging the reader to go beneath the veil of personality. It explains the structure of the mind, how to deal with emotional experiences and master the power of thought. Intelligence is defined as the ability to respond creatively and appropriately in the moment. Throughout the book there are small boxes called New Light, giving the reader exercises and helping expand their view of the self while at the same time assuming that we are basically good in our natural state. The author comes from the White Eagle tradition, hence the emphasis on healing. There are also useful checklists and summaries, reminding us in the words of Marianne Williamson that we are ‘powerful beyond measure’.
Scientific and Medical Network
In a New Light ~ Be the Self you Truly ARE by Anna Hayward
Anna is a rich person and this is a rich book! She has been a practising counsellor for over thirty years and explored various disciplines: Transcendental Meditation, Hatha Yoga, Theravada Buddhism and Christianity. For many decades Anna has been involved with the teachings of White Eagle and she particularly enjoys the healing element of those teachings. She brings all these things and more to her book.
Anna hopes this book will give the reader a new and positive light in which to view him or herself. For my own part, I found this to be true. The book is full of helpful tools to help peel away frustrating emotions like anxiety, guilt and anger which obstruct the Light and prevent us from standing in our own strength. This is not simply a 'feel good' book but a book which reveals a depth of understanding and kindness, born from many years of the author’s practice of what she preaches. Each chapter is an exploration rather than a dogmatic statement. Anna covers a whole gamut of life experience with chapters addressing depression, fear, the nature of the mind and mindsets, overcoming negative habit patterns through creating space and therefore choice, staying still, how we respond and self belief. There are also unexpected chapters, like Liberating the Voice which I enjoyed. Anna shows us how reconnection with our voices is a powerful way of regaining our integrity, strength and confidence.
There are many helpful exercises which can be identified easily because they appear in boxes throughout the book ,eg. 'Focus on one positive thought, and see how, if you can keep the attention, that thought changes how you feel. The defensive self will be relaxing.'
At the end of the book Anna concludes that 'we are powerful beyond belief' which dovetails nicely with the text by Marianne Williamson quoted at the beginning of the book: 'Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.'
There is a helpful checklist of useful skills and practices at the end of the book. These include searching questions, strategies for when we feel we have hurt someone and helpful pointers for facilitating groups.
It is clear that we are more than we think we are – we are spiritual beings with all that implies! This book has a worthy purpose in moving us closer to the Self we truly are. Anna believes we can be people 'without walls'. The book goes a long way towards revealing some of those walls and finding a way through. Personally I feel that there could be a second book extending this psychological approach into the more spiritual – perhaps exploring how meditation, contemplation and ritual can reveal the nature of soul and allow the Light to shine through.
About the Author
ANNA HAYWARD was born in Southampton and has a background in Re-evaluation CoCounselling. She has an MA (Ed.) in the areas of psychology and philosophy of education. She is an Iyengar-qualified yoga teacher and is now employed full-time at the White Eagle Lodge in Liss, Hampshire.