Published by Hay House
RRP £10.99 Hay House Price £8.79
How to Heal a Grieving Heart - the title itself filled me with hope for a manual of some sort of how to actually heal your grieving heart. I was eager to get my hands on this book because I have been involved with helping loved ones attempt to heal their grieving heart through mediumship for the past 9 years. I've received countless emails from people who are suffering from losing a loved one, some even feeling that they can no longer go on. When you have someone coming to you for help, comfort, advice and communication from their loved ones, it really does humble you, I am honoured to be able to help these people, I can almost feel their pain and the stories they relay to me are so heart wrenching at times it's all I can do to try and not cry with them!
For this reason I was sincerely hoping that one of my favourite new thought authors and spiritual teachers would have provided me with guidance, and also a book I could recommend to all these people. Sadly I don't believe the title of this book matches it's contents. Let me explain;
This book contains beautiful imagery of butterflies - a favourite being of mine which has since as far back as I can remember has always represented a loved one in spirit/heaven. The colours are divine, and almost each page contains a paragraph of comforting words and some comforting advice. I didn't agree with some of the advice based on my own experiences of loss and grief, and thinking back to when Mum and I were dealing with the loss of my Father, I can only honestly say that some of the paragraphs of comfort in this book would have possibly either pushed me over the edge or made me feel anger, despair and other related grieving emotions all at once.
Just because your loved has moved to the higher dimension does not mean he or she has forgotten about you and is uninterested in your life.
For example, the passage about keeping on top of your nutrition and making sure you are eating correctly I fully agree with in part. It really is important that when you are dealing with a loss of a loved one that you keep your energy up and eat correctly - although I know from personal experience the last thing you care about is whether you are healthy or not. But what really kind of got me miffed was when the passage continued to recommend going shopping for organic produce in health food stores. The last thing I ever wanted to do when dealing with the loss of my Father, Aunt, Uncle, Nan etc was think about going to a health food shop and ensure my produce was organic! It was a tough time to even get to the fridge and eat anything at all. Cooking was tough - having to change cooking for 3 to cooking for 2 was really really emotional and even still today it becomes tough going to the supermarket and seeing foods my Father used to love that we no longer have to buy.
Your loved one does see you and visits you frequently in your dreams, when you need help, and while you are engaged in activities that you two once shared.
There was a lot of repetitive messages too in my opinion that was simply re-written or simplified or added to. There must have been about 3-4 messages about doing some sort of memorial for a loved one. Yes this is a brilliant idea, but you only have to mention it once! We may be grieving but ...
Life is change, and change is life. it is through change that we are able to clearly measure where we have come from, where we currently are, and where we wish to go.
I believe that had this book been called; Healing Messages : Words of Comfort through Grief, then it may have probably met the expectations, because this book doesn't in my opinion tell you "HOW TO HEAL A GRIEVING HEART". We all react to grief in our own unique way and no one feels the same emotions or feelings, that is one thing both the book and I can agree on. The book does contain lovely messages of upliftment for when you are remembering a loved one and are already in a stronger more healed place.
There is no such thing as death. Death is very much an illusion. A soul can never be harmed, and nothing can put out the light of your being.
I am slightly torn between this book because it has it's good points and it's not so good points and I do feel slightly uneasy by not providing a positive review. However I'm not going to praise a book up on a topic that I am so passionate about, something that I am actually involved in when in my opinion and the standards I've set aren't met. In all honesty when I receive an email from someone who is at the deepest most painful stage of their grief, I wouldn't recommend this book to them. From my experience of the questions my clients ask me about their loved ones regarding death and grief, well, the answers aren't in this book. However if you like reading short inspiring passages to comfort you when you are at the later stage of your grief, or even 2-3 years after losing a loved one, and you want some advice on how to get on with life, then maybe this book is for you. If you are at the early stages of grief, I would recommend a bereavement counsellor, and listening to your inner voice and feelings - what do you want to do right now, cry? do it. Scream? do it. Stay in bed for a week? do it. Only you know how to heal your grief, we can only advise you on things we've found to be helpful. As with anything, take what makes sense to you, what feels right to you, what feels comfortable with you at that time, and leave everything else.
The memories you and your loved one created in life now live on in your heart for all time. Memories stay with you forever; they can never go away! They are always there for you to enjoy, so remember and relive those wonderful, happy and unique moments you shared.
This was one review that I was at first looking forward to writing, but then after reading it I wasn't so enthusiastic, which in itself saddened me. I have always been a huge fan of Doreen's work, and have every title that she has ever written, and each one holds a memory of the time in my life when I read it. Sadly, this book really felt like a huge disappointment to me. I can only hope that the "Talking to Heaven" Mediumship Oracle Cards will be a double spectacular to make up for it.
**You can view an extract of this book on Hay House UK's website which I highly recommend so that you can make your own mind up before purchasing**
All written content on this blog is the work of © Dawn Brierley, Life Coach, Intuitive Angel Therapist, Tarot Lover & Mentor
.jpg)
No comments