…And how doing so just might change the world.
(Or at least how I attempt to explain this belief in the foreword to this beautiful new book.)
Our world is crying out for healing. All a person needs to do is look around to see the massive amount of pain living inside people and being played out in the world. As the saying goes, hurt people hurt people. And so I wonder what could happen if we changed that maxim, ever so slightly – Healed people heal people. The power of healing one’s own heart cannot be denied in its importance in living a life with purpose. Further than the self, the magnitude of the force that unleashes into the world – a ripple effect with limitless touchpoints and beneficiaries – when a single human chooses to embark on a journey of self-discovery and healing is immeasurable.
When an individual tries to navigate this human condition with deep pain lodged in the heart, they may find it nearly impossible to move forward, to feel life is in flow, or to believe they are worthy of a good life at all. We can wonder what is wrong with us, and then attempt to eradicate that worry and shame and everything in between with a whole host of distractions. Many of us end up leading lives that gradually become unrecognizable from the one we set out on. And then it becomes time to work our way back to square one, to realize our true nature, to know our inherent worth.
Because worthy we are. Every last one of us. And the story we’ve been told, the one that some of us keep on repeat in our minds, like a broken record, the story that says we are not worthy, is false. It’s a fictional story, and one that doesn’t serve us in any way, shape, or form. It is a story that sends so many of us on a constant search, a chase, a pursuit of attaining an elusive place called peace or validation or pure love for oneself.
We search in a myriad of ways – through work, achievements, accolades, social status, etc. We want that external validation – the yes, you matter. Yes, you have earned your space on this earth. You are enough. But for some of us, life’s circumstances have us unable to believe we are enough. And for the sensitives among us, the ones whose hearts and souls know there’s more than this, those who long to be reunited with the Love of the Universe, well – for some of us, life becomes so painful we try to numb it in any way we can.
At this point, dear reader, is where healing becomes the work. Where melting into the Love of the Universe becomes the highest form of achievement. When we must make the decision to put ourselves first, to honor our bodies, minds, and spirits with self-acceptance, care, and determination to live the life we dream for ourselves. Reaching this state of grace, both for oneself and then for all, takes courage. It takes commitment. Deciding to stand up and face the dark night of the soul is not for the faint of heart. It can be a lonely journey, this quest for a meaningful life. And so, while everyone’s journey will be different, it can be incredibly helpful to have a guide who has walked the path before you. The challenges along the road are many, so having a traveling companion becomes essential.
And here is why you are holding this very book in your hands. Train the Mind, Heal the Heart is here to be your companion, your reference guide to step into the life you were born to lead.
If you are holding this book in your hand, you’ve probably decided something about your life needs to change. Rest assured you’ve found the right guide, both the book and the heart leader who wrote it, the incredible woman who lived it.
Anyone who knows Amanda knows her to be filled to the brim with loving kindness, so much that it overflows to everyone she meets. She is a talented healer, a brilliant mind, a shining soul in human form. Her story is authentic and real, raw and vulnerable. It’s the story of the collapse of a life that was never meant for her and the commitment to create an exceptional one.
Amanda has grit, strength and resilience. She’s also wise, intuitive, and gentle. The combination of these characteristics make her an unstoppable force, a teacher who leads by example, a person who operates from a place of complete integrity. She can share both her experience and then a practice to overcome each specific obstacle with clarity and non-judgment.
If you know there’s more to life than ‘this’ – If you yearn to free your mind from the intrusive thoughts that keep you imprisoned, if you want your body to embrace its own wisdom and strength and you believe your spirit deserves peace, look no further. Let Amanda be your guide on this radical, brave, limitless journey. She’s walked it, she’s transformed herself, and she can show you to your highest potential until you reach a place where you feel it on your own.
Amanda’s words are raw, heartfelt, and genuine. The path described within these words is one few will embark on. Only the bravest will try. And it’s a story even fewer would be brave enough to share. But she does. Amanda shares her heartbreak, pain, and lived experience of renewal in service to humanity and to the force of love that runs through us all. Amanda brings that force of love forward into focus as the healing balm that can propel each of us forward. Her story is filled with inspiration, with a vulnerability that serves a higher purpose.
She manages to weave the spiritual with the practical in a way that offers any searching soul a resonance for their own calibration. She shows us the structure healing can take, as well as the examination of and unwinding of the structures that do not serve our higher good. Some people will need to add structure to their lives to achieve their goals, and some areas of life may require less structure and more acceptance of present circumstances for a life devoted to love. For some of us, the greatest shift in life occurs when we suddenly know God isn’t an external force watching your every move with a judgemental gaze, but that God lives inside our own hearts, always available to us. Amanda provides the template for that shift to occur through specific meditation practices designed to open each of us to the flow of God’s love.
Each of us deserves a life filled with meaning, one that allows us to wake each day with enthusiasm and gratitude, an existence that feels like we are, in fact, enough. This beautiful work of the soul, this guidebook for the massive inner and outer transformation it takes to get there, is a gift for us all. May you be happy, May you be free. And may it be for us all.
With deep gratitude to Amanda for her light and her work in this world, I now have the honor of leaving you to begin the first step on the way to the life you desire. Train the Mind Heal the Heart is the book so many have been searching for. Healed people heal people and so the cycle continues. May this book and it’s messages enter your heart and make space for healing. And then may you share your light with the world.
Congratulations, Amanda, on your wonderful accomplishment – the world is better with this book in it!
