Finding Serenity in the Age of Anxiety

I was suffering from horrible insomonia after having my daughter and thought it was the after effects of having a new baby. I stumbled upon this book I realized that I was suffering from major anxiety in all aspects of my life. This book helped me to understand my anxiety and what it was doing to me and the people in my life. It also helped me realize that the insomonia was a window to understanding my anxiety in a deeper way that has put me on the hardest but most wonderful spirtual journey I have ever been on. The book has so many examples of people who are also suffering from anxiety-the clear explainations that the author describes really made me feel more aware of what was going on in my life. I think anybody who is willing to take a good look at their life and the anxiety that is in it -and who wants to make a change should get this book! It changed my life!

This book is very well-researched and rich in its advice. Many self-help books take one good idea and restate that one idea multiple times--you know the kind you can skim/read in an hour. Mr. Gerzon's book thoughtfully develops a context for anxiety, depression and worry that helps to understand where they come from and how they are clues to improving our lives. The book has many practical techniques for converting our "toxic" anxiety into personal growth and change. I found that the book had new ideas in every chapter and wove mythology, psychology and religious principles into a very complete model of the proper role for anxiety in our lives. Highly recommended!

I found this book extremely helpful in dealing with and better understanding myself and my lifelong issues with anxiety. Though I read this book two years ago, I continue to use its techniques often to better respond to situations that make me extremely anxious. Highly recommended!

Through solid research and well-written prose, the author has written a practical, accessible, inspirational resource for those interested in personal growth. I have read many "self-help" books, but none that so deftly combined spirituality, psychology, philosophy, mythology... in such a seamless way to convey the wisdom of the author. I am not going to read all these sources, but I'm glad he has - to give me a practical framework (and exercises) to quell my destructive anxieties and grow through my spiritual anxieties. A unique approach that affects me every day, and I hope is improving the quality of my life. I e-mailed all my friends about it!

Having been through a difficult mid-life transition the past year, I have read all kinds of things as I've sought to find serenity and acceptance within the reality of my life situation. This book has been extremely helpful in providing a practical framework from which to courageously live through my deepest fears and anxieties while giving me the courage to trust the natural process of grieving and healing that I have so frequently found myself stuck in. Gerzon believes that "toxic anxiety," and all the negative inner talk that keeps us fixated there is really a signpost of underlying "natural and sacred anxiety;" and that, rather than places to be avoided, experiencing anxiety as spiritual healing place that we surrender to instead of fleeing from. That in fact our greatest gifts can come from the places in which we have been wounded most deeply. This book has helped me gain a perspective on my life and difficulties and has helped me to accept that life's greatest treasures are often found in the seemingly darkest and most painful of times and places.