Alchemy of the Heart: Transform Turmoil into Peace through Emotional Integration / Michael Brown

When the heart is allowed to work its alchemy, we discover that we can transmute our pain into peace, our grief into joy, and our anger into serenity. Alchemy of the Heart shows that transformation happens differently from how we expect. Our tendency is to avoid experiences we think of as negative, to shy away from situations that may be painful, and to suppress our real feelings. The heart can only come to our aid if, instead of running from what we dislike, we become fully present with what we are experiencing. Alchemy of the Heart explains that when we accept the unacceptable instead of pushing it away, we discover that the flip side of psychological pain is personal growth — and that our pain is simply our healing wanting to break through.