Authors: Diane Dreher
ISBN-13: 9780688166298, ISBN-10: 0688166296
Format: Paperback
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Date Published: April 1999
Edition: (Non-applicable)
Diane Dreher, Ph.D., is the author of The Tao of Inner Peace, The Tao of Womanhood, and The Tao of Personal Leadership. She holds a Ph.D. in English from UCLA, with credentials in spiritual counseling and holistic health. Diane leads workshops on balance and personal growth nationwide. She teaches Renaissance literature and creative writing at Santa Clara University and cultivates her garden at home in the San Francisco Bay Area.
The Tao of Womanhood is for every woman who is searching for both external power and internal peace. It's for the woman who wants to be tough but nice, who wants to take care of things and everyone else but needs to be reminded to look after herself, who feels pulled in too many directions and yearns to live a full, balanced life. It's for the woman who wants to be a strong, proactive leader at work and at home, and lead a life of harmony and inner peace.
A spiritual resource that combines the wisdom of the Tao Te Ching with straightforward advice and illuminating anecdotes, The Tao of Womanhood is a prescriptive, practical road map. Using Taoist principles, teacher and spiritualist Dreher explains how any woman can learn to incorporate calm into her busy modern life by learning how to
- Say "no" without feeling guilty
- Respond without being frantic or reactive
- Seize opportunities
- Summon the strength to change
- Clear the space necessary for continual growth transformation
Calm and reassuring, The Tao of Womanhood imparts the invigorating message to all women whether stay-at-home moms or corporate executives that leading a balanced and fulfilling life does not mean surrendering peace of mind.
Although Dreher often combines obvious statements with sappy prose, e.g., "As you trace the patterns in these pages, you'll find yourself in some of them," her soothing book will give the reader many good ideas and helpful hints about balancing her life. What sets this book apart from other self-help efforts is the combination of Eastern and Western ideas. An instructor in literature and creative writing at Santa Clara University and author of The Tao of Inner Peace (HarperCollins, 1991), Dreher uses terms from the Tao such as misogi ("rituals of order"), ahisma ("compassion"), yohaku ("contemplation"), and musubi ("honoring your own energies with those around you") to clarify her ideas. She follows each chapter with practical pointers for greater power and peace, ways to take action using the ideas presented. For instance, to develop courage, Dreher suggests that the reader study the life of a woman she admires by reading a biography about her and answering a list of questions. Both informative and encouraging, these pointers are probably the most useful aspect of this book. With a helpful glossary of terms; recommended for public libraries.Barbara O'Hara, Free Lib. of Philadelphia
Acknowledgments | ||
Illustrations | ||
Introduction | 1 | |
Pt. I | The Yin of Inner Peace | 13 |
Ch. 1 | The Lesson of Oneness | 15 |
Ch. 2 | The Lesson of Centering | 29 |
Ch. 3 | The Lesson of Compassion | 51 |
Ch. 4 | The Lesson of Simplicity | 73 |
Ch. 5 | The Lesson of Natural Cycles | 95 |
Pt. II | The Yang of Personal Power | 113 |
Ch. 6 | The Lesson of Timing | 115 |
Ch. 7 | The Lesson of Courage | 133 |
Ch. 8 | The Lesson of Strength | 149 |
Ch. 9 | The Lesson of Agency | 169 |
Ch. 10 | The Lesson of Harmony | 195 |
Glossary | 221 | |
Notes | 226 |