title: Emotional Alchemy: How the Mind Can Heal the Heart
author:  Tara Bennett-Goleman 
description: "A wonderfully clear, compassionate, and insightful guide to freeing ourselves from difficult emotions."<br />-- Sharon Salzberg, author of <i>Lovingkindness</i><br /><br />"A wonderfully wise book, one that is down to earth and immensely practical. I know I will be using it as a resource in my own life for a long time."<br />-- Susan Griffin, author of <i>A Chorus of Stones</i> and <i>What Her Body Thought</i><br /><br />"May this very important and enticing book find its way into the hearts of readers near and far so that it can perform its mysterious and healing alchemy for the benefit of all. Tara Bennett-Goleman has done a great service in describing in such inspiring and precise ways how meditative practices can liberate us from the patterns of emotional reactions that, unexamined, lead invariably to suffering and harm." <br />-- Jon Kabat-Zinn, author of <i>Wherever You Go There You Are</i> and professor of medicine at University of Massachusetts Medical School<br /><br />"A rare accomplishment, bringing the synthesis of Western psychology and Buddhist mindfulness practice to an entirely new level. Much more than theory, it is a wise and pragmatic guide to emotional freedom. Tara Bennett-Goleman weaves together with consummate skill the wisdom teachings of the East, the latest understandings of cognitive therapy and neuroscience, and the innumerable personal stories that bring all of it to life." <br />-- Joseph Goldstein, author of <i>Insight Meditation</i><br /><br />"Gliding effortlessly from personal reminiscence to the latest in neuroscience, from meditation instruction to the intricacies of cognitive therapy, Tara Bennett-Goleman invites us to be part of her journey. In showing us how to use our minds to heal our emotions, she heals our minds with her heart."<br />-- Mark Epstein, M.D., author of <i>Thoughts Without a Thinker</i> and <i>Going to Pieces Without Falling Apart</i><br /><br />"A very accessible and practical guide to transforming emotions. If you wish to know how your emotional habits can be changed, this book is for you." <br />-- Richard J. Davidson, director, Wisconsin Center for Affective Science and W. M. Keck Laboratory for Functional Brain Imaging and Behavior, University of Wisconsin<br /><br />"A beautiful blend of spiritual wisdom and psychological insight. Based on many years of intensive meditation and experience as a practicing psychotherapist, the author offers guidance that is relevant for anyone who wishes to be free from suffering or to help others on the way. This book is an engaging invitation to bring the art of mindfulness to emotional transformation and well-being."<br />-- Frances Vaughan, author of <i>Shadows of the Sacred</i><br /><br />"<i>Emotional Alchemy</i> is an amazing feast of knowledge of East and West, traditional and current. It shows how everyday emotions can be transmuted as a means of healing. All the principles of the alchemy of mind explained in one book -- a must-read handbook." <br />-- Tulku Thondup, author of <i>Healing and the Mind</i><br /><br />"Written with humor, warmheartedness in lively prose . . . a landmark step forward for us all."<br />-- Naomi Wolf, author of <i>The Beauty Myth</i><br /><br /><br /><i>From the Hardcover edition.</i>
zlib_text: _Leave Me_
  
  A NOVEL
  
  Gayle Forman
  
  ![](Images/image00151.jpeg)
  
  ALGONQUIN BOOKS
  
  OF CHAPEL HILL
  
  2016
  
   _For Willa and Denbele_
  
  Contents
  
   _New York City_
  
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   _Pittsburgh_
  
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   _Acknowledgments_
  
   _About the Author_
  
   _About Algonquin_
  
  New York City
  
  1
  
  Maribeth Klein was working late, waiting to sign off on the final page proofs
  of the December issue, when she had a heart attack.
  
  Those first twinges in her chest, however, were more a heaviness than a pain,
  and she did not immediately think _heart_. She thought indigestion, brought on
  by the plate of greasy Chinese food she’d eaten at her desk the hour before.
  She thought anxiety, brought on by the length of tomorrow’s to-do list. She
  thought irritation, brought o