Are you trying to find love – and beginning to suspect you’re not looking in the right place? This wise, hip guide gives you a new map for the journey to happiness in relationships of all kinds, starting in your own heart. Told from the alternating vantage points of authors Meggan Watterson and Lodro Rinzler, How to Love Yourself (and Sometimes Other People) reminds us that love isn’t something we have to earn. All of us are deeply and intrinsically worthy of love – not only the love we hope to receive from others, but the love we give to ourselves – and this book offers the insight and practical tools we need to stay firmly grounded in self-love as we ride out the natural (and often stormy) cycles of relationships. Meggan and Lodro’s unique perspectives as teachers and scholars of Christian mysticism and Buddhism respectively make for a rich and lively dialogue that draws on wisdom sources like the Gospel of Mary Magdalene and the Four Noble Truths, along with funny, revealing stories from their own love lives and their deep friendship with each other. You’ll find guidance for embracing single life, dating with an open heart, and thriving in lasting love; meditations and practices for calm abiding, "disciplined hope," and connecting to the source of love within you; and tips on everything from sex, self-worth, and nourishing friendships to navigating breakups and learning to truly love yourself. Ultimately, you’ll be able to see your ideal partner in a new light – not as someone who "completes" you, but as someone who mirrors back to you your own wholeness.

Tackling relationships, career, and family issues, John Kim, LMFT, thinks of himself as a life-styledesigner, not a therapist. His radical new approach, that he sometimes calls “self-help in a shot glass” is easy, real, and to the point. He helps people make changes to their lives so that personal growth happens organically, just by living. Let’s face it, therapy is a luxury. Few of us have the time or money to devote to going to an office every week. With anecdotes illustrating principles in action (in relatable and sometimes irreverent fashion) and stand-alone practices and exercises, Kim gives readers the tools and directions to focus on what's right with them instead of what's wrong. When John Kim was going through the end of a relationship, he began blogging as The Angry Therapist, documenting his personal journey post-divorce. Traditional therapists avoid transparency, but Kim preferred the language of "me too" as opposed to "you should." He blogged about his own shortcomings, revelations, views on relationships, and the world. He spoke a different therapeutic language —open, raw, and at times subversive — and people responded. The Angry Therapist blog, that inspired this book, has been featured in The Atlantic Monthly and on NPR.

Jill Sherer Murray lived in a dead-end relationship into her forties before she finally let it go. She was like millions of women who struggle with whether to stay in a loveless marriage, a bad relationship, or give up on dating altogether, believing love isn’t in the cards. You may be struggling with a similar decision yourself. Perhaps you’re terrified of being single, and yet you don’t truly feel you’re living the life you want. With warmth and honesty, Murray shows you how letting go—of feeling stuck, afraid, and alone, and of believing what you’ve got is all you deserve—can free you from a life that isn’t serving you. She knows this is true, because she did it herself—and ultimately attracted the love and life she wanted. Through her story, other women’s stories, surprising facts and statistics, and helpful exercises, Big Wild Love will show you the way back to the self you’ve lost. It will put you on the path to change and teach you that, wherever you are, it’s never too late to start anew and find the Big Wild Love you deserve.

Severing a cherished relationship is one of the most painful experiences in life—and cutting those emotional ties to a loved one can feel almost like ending an addiction. Up till now, people recovering from other problems were able to get real help—like AA and rehab—while those struggling in the aftermath of traumatic breaks dealt with platitudes and friends insisting they should "get over it already." But now Exaholics Anonymous treats getting over an ex like kicking a chemical habit. Written by counselor and therapist Dr. Lisa Bobby, Exaholics offers meaningful support and advice to anyone trapped in the obsessive pain of a broken, or dying, attachment. She helps the brokenhearted heal, showing them, on a deep level, how to develop a conceptual framework for their experience, understand the emotional processes at work inside themselves, find the path to recovery, and free themselves of shame, injured ego, and remorse. In-depth case studies of others' journeys will illuminate the way to future happiness.

How to Love Yourself (and Sometimes Other People) is a smart, hip guide for spiritual seekers who want to experience more love and stability in all forms of relationships. Told from the unique vantage points of authors Meggan Watterson and Lodro Rinzler, this book explores staying anchored in the foundation of self-love as you navigate the natural (and often stormy) cycle of a relationship. Their dual perspectives as teachers and scholars of Christian mysticism and Buddhism make for a rich and fascinating dialogue that covers everything from sex, self-worth, falling in (and out of) love, deep friendships, to breakups—and how to maintain an open heart through it all. At its core, this book is about learning to love yourself no matter what. Meggan and Lodro suggest that you are worthy of love, both self-love and the love of others. They aren’t experts on how to get that man or lady to fall in love with you, nor are they experts on how to have "the perfect relationship." They are spiritual teachers who know that relationships have a life of their own, and can speak to the human element of what it means to experience them fully. In the process, they share deeply personal, revealing, honest anecdotes and spiritual practices to assist you with the inevitable ebbs and flow of love in all its manifestations.

This book is for women who criticize themselves and are often unhappy with themselves. It is a collection of valuable practical pieces of advice. Use the "magical recipes" that have already helped dozens of women to start loving themselves. If you don't love yourself, you're not satisfied with yourself and the results of your life up to that point. When you compare yourself with someone else over and over, you feel disappointed. When you criticize your every action, you're always unhappy. Your reflection in the mirror doesn't create positive feelings, but rather becomes another source of negativity. Sometimes you may truly believe that you are the biggest loser ever. You often ignore your own needs and desires. You lack love. If you're single, you strive to attract your soul mate and hope that with his coming you will feel loved. At the same time, you think that there may be no one who could love you. If you have a partner, his love is not enough. You live with a feeling of not being loved, appreciated, or respected enough. You blame yourself constantly for any mistakes that have happened in your past. "How could I have screwed things up so much?!" - you angrily think. Not loving yourself is not only an internal and invisible process, but it affects your life, too. How does low self-esteem affect your relationships? Well, your partner behaves in such a way that he is not afraid of losing you. He may promise (and quickly forget), he may insult you, cheat on you, and still pretend that all is fine. He may even hit you. This behavior doesn't cause any active resistance from your side though. Of course, you may complain about him but most likely, you tend to tolerate the behavior. Your self-esteem is too low and his dignity is too high. In this case you're afraid to lose "your tormentor" and you live with the dead-end belief that you will meet no one better. People with low self-esteem are prone to explicit and implicit jealousy attacks. With a certain periodicity you'll be jealous of your partner's past relationships, casual small talks, and his colleagues. Coming up with a reason for suspicion is not a big deal for you, you're good at this. Stupid jealousy is what hinders the healthy relationships. As for the girls who are not in relationships, the low self-esteem is not less destructive. It may be hard to believe that there will be a man who can fall in love with you with all his heart! Sometimes a girl doesn't allow relationships with a man to develop, believing that he is too good for her. With similar actions (or inactions) you simply push a new boyfriend away "give" him a more worthy, in your opinion, woman. Lack of self-love pushes you to conquer the men. You don't believe that the members of the opposite sex may be interested in you. Therefore, as soon as you meet an attractive man, you start to run after him and show an excessive interest. This most likely will lead to nothing and may scare this man. Your low self-esteem may also affect your career success. Sometimes, you may be afraid of sharing your own opinion and thus block any opportunities. You seem to be no one special, and therefore, your results have little or no value. This is why you choose to sit quietly and not stick out! If you created something, you would definitely be showered with a wave of criticism! Lack of self-love makes you less demanding in regards to income as well. This is why you may work in a low paying job and earn less than you serve. Your life strategy is to tolerate poor working conditions and a bad attitude of your manager. Your self-esteem cannot but affect your quality of life. It's enough to look around and note the conditions in which you live. You may put an equals sign between self-love and everything that surrounds you. After all, your surroundings are just a reflection of your inner self-attitude. Increase your self-esteem and your life will improve.

Most of us know that loving ourselves would be a good idea, but we have no clue what that really means. Self-love feels too vast, too esoteric, and frankly like something you should keep under wraps. This breakthrough book on self-love changes all that by taking you beyond the idea of loving, valuing, and caring for yourself into daring acts that will help you experience it. Christine Arylo provides practical, fun ways to explore and embody the ten branches of self-love every day and in every part of your life. Reading this book is like receiving permission to treat yourself as a best friend would. Imagine having the power to: * Give to yourself first, without guilt * Shower yourself with loving words instead of criticism and comparison * Go for your dreams with conviction and courage * Choose the situations and relationships that make you happiest * Discover and explore your deepest thoughts and desires — and act on them

An Invitation From Gay HendricksI am thrilled and delighted to offer to you the new edition of Learning To Love Yourself. Revisiting and rewriting the book has been a pleasure from beginning to end. With its new elements, the book comes alive in a whole new way.Looking back over more than three decades to the moment of its conception, I can now see how writing this book changed my life in every way.I first wrote it as an act of love, to share an experience that feels as if it's still transforming me in my very cells. It was my hope that telling about the experience could inspire the same profound life-changes in others. The many thousands of letters, emails and spoken appreciations I've received since then let me know that my hope came true.The experience described in the book revealed the living mystery of love to me, allowing me to feel its sweet power for the first time. Because I suddenly knew what real love felt like, I was able to break free of my pattern of painful relationships with women. Ultimately it helped me find my way to Kathlyn, the love of my life and my wife for the past quarter-century.The new edition is ideal for giving to loved ones (including yourself!) who are on the journey to forgiving, accepting and loving themselves. It tells you how I came to an acceptance and unconditional love of even the most difficult-to-love parts of myself.My fondest wish is that you use it for exactly the same purpose, with exactly the same result.

According to the author, it is necessary for readers to get rid of toxic self-defeating messages and choose positive changes. The author shows new perspectives to develop a higher self-worth to finally learn how to love.