Publisher Description

Imagine for a moment that you had no pressures in your life-no problems to fix, no deadlines to meet, no struggles to overcome. Do you feel that sense of spacious relief? It's not an illusion, teaches Mary O'Malley. It really is possible to live with that profound openness all the time, even while tending to your everyday tasks and obligations. In What's in the Way Is the Way, Mary offers practical guidance for meeting all of your experience with an abiding sense of ease, trust, and peace of mind.This accessible book is divided into ten phases, featuring inspiring wisdom and step-by-step exercises to heal the core beliefs that keep you stuck. With each chapter, Mary invites you to come into the present and see yourself and your circumstances in a different way-unclouded by preconceptions, struggle, or fear. Join her on this illuminating journey to discover:. How fear controls our lives-untangling the conditioning that keeps us from trusting our complete experience. The healing power of curiosity-a natural way to meet our lives without needing to change or judge anything. Trusting what happens even when we feel threatened, ashamed, or afraid. Why we become more active, engaged, and effective when we stop "doing" life and start being fully present for our lives. Remembering exercises-simple, powerful practices for reconnecting with our natural state of curiosity, trust and love"No object, person, or experience will ever bring you the deep and lasting peace that comes from simply being open to life," writes Mary. With What's in the Way Is the Way, this renowned teacher brings you a powerful guide for turning your obstacles into your greatest allies and teachers-and showing up for your life with all your vulnerability, passion, and magnificent perfection.

Author Biography

Mary O'Malley is an author, counselor, and acknowledged leader in the field of awakening. Through her writing and teaching, she empowers people to work with the difficulties of life in a way that enhances their capacity for joy. For more, visit maryomalley.com.

Review

"Awakening is powerful medicine. A book to live with, learn from, and treasure." --Christiane Northrup, MD, Ob/Gyn physician and author of Women's Bodies, Women's Wisdom and The Wisdom of Menopause "These teachings open you to mystery; they bring freedom, joy, and ease." --Jack Kornfield, founder of Spirit Rock Meditation Center and author of A Path With Heart "Buddha said you could look the whole world over and never find anyone more deserving of love than yourself. Mary O'Malley awakens us again and again to the startling wonder of what lies beyond our workable hindrances, the liberation of our luminous nature." --Stephen Levine, author of A Year to Live "This is the most no-nonsense, grounded, accessible spirituality you will ever come across. I love Mary's teachings. They are simple and practical yet awesomely profound, and offer hope to those in even the darkest places. Her message is medicine for the world." --Jeff Foster, author of The Deepest Acceptance "This beautiful book is filled with heart wisdom. Mary O'Malley's teachings are simple, deep, and profoundly transforming . . . they will guide you in letting go and trusting life." --Tara Brach, PhD, author of Radical Acceptance "Down-to-earth and joyful! Mary's words offer a healing path for all who wish to travel away from self-limiting views toward freedom of heart." --Sharon Salzberg, cofounder of the Insight Meditation Society and author of Real Happiness "Reading a book is one thing. Being joyously changed while reading it, right there, on the spot . . . is another. Mary O'Malley does that, repeatedly, and with lan and deep wisdom. She glides you into a consciousness that is alert, realistic, and transformative. Her teaching is direct and full of felt life, quietly guiding you away from disturbing emotions and drifting thoughts of oppression. Her gift to the reader is immeasurable because it is so present and full of the eternal presence." --David Silver, TV director/writer and cofounder of Mindpod Network "Mary's book is a laser-like guide for people of all stages in life treading the path of self-inquiry. In plain-spoken words, Mary gives the reader a challenge to change our perspective from ego-based to soul from which we can transform fear into love." --Raghu Markus, executive director of Love Serve Remember Foundation and cofounder of Mindpod Network "I love Mary's style. It's obvious that her words come from an honest heart--one that has known both rapture and heartbreak. Mary has learned to live in a way that's open to life. This book shares in a very clear and concise way how you too can learn to use what's in the way as the way to your own personal freedom." --Chris Grosso, author of Indie Spiritualist and Everything Mind "It is a sincere relief to read a book that so clearly demystifies the precise things which I have been working on lately. With What's in the Way Is the Way, Mary O'Malley has scripted a pathway through confusion into the light of our own consciousness. It is chock full of signposts and refuses to allow you to remain lost. This is a book that everyone should read, particularly those whose lives have been touched by addiction (and that is everyone)." --Tommy Rosen, author of Recovery 2.0 "Mary's work is fantastic and so important in helping people on the path to both personal freedom and more wisdom on the planet. Mary's new book brings a vital focus to the intelligence of the heart, to the power of breath and to the awakening of the human spirit." --Grant Soosalu, author of Avoiding the Enemies to HAPPINESS and mBraining "The title of Mary O'Malley's book, What's in the Way Is the Way, says it all. It's a mantra we can repeat. By opening her book to any page, we are reminded of our 'cloud banks of struggle' and how we can gracefully move out of the struggle and the confines of our limited perceptions. It's a book to take wherever you go." --Andrea Adler, author of The Science of Spiritual Marketing and Pushing Upward "In reading the book and doing the work, I felt as though a thousand pieces became a workable and digestible whole. It is brilliant in its simplicity and unparalleled in its ability to touch that soft spot we all have, the one that says me and my life matter, and we are in this together and not alone." --Lorraine Hurley, MD, host of Uncommon Awareness on Dreamvisions 7 Radio Network "Mary once again offers a gentle clarity that invites us to embrace ourselves and our circumstances, our experiences and our dreams. She invites us to undertake this journey not with willfulness, but willingness. Mary is truly a treasure, the pearl of great and rare value." --Jeff Renner, chief meteorologist, KING 5 News in Seattle "Humans today are being asked to make a profound leap in consciousness. We are the first generation in 200,000 years to know that the universe is not just a space filled with various objects, but is in fact an ongoing creative process. No longer can we think of ourselves as separate individuals trapped in a tiny world. We are in fact a wave of creative energy that has been traveling for 14 billion years. With her new book, What's in the Way Is the Way, Mary O'Malley has created a process where each of us can enter into this deep truth of ourselves. By following her lead--by learning to dwell in our deep nature as a daily practice--we come to feel that joy of astonishment that accompanies every great awakening of love." --Brian Thomas Swimme, California Institute of Integral Studies "This book is a powerful resource for anyone seeking peace, well-being, and freedom from internal struggle." --Jon Gabriel, author and founder of The Gabriel Method, A Mind-Body Approach to Weight Loss "Mary O'Malley has developed a wonderful process to let go of struggle and become more fully alive. She teaches us to use compassionate curiosity to bring insight to the healing of whatever is getting in our way." --Marci Shimoff, author of Happy for No Reason and Chicken Soup for the Woman's Soul "I love the title of Mary's book, What's in the Way Is the Way; it says it all. Her wisdom about gentleness and compassion, especially with ourselves, is so essential to take in. We all have a contribution to make to the evolution of peace and healing for our world and--as so many great teachers have said--it needs to start with ourselves. Mary O'Malley offers a timeless teaching. Now, may we each live it to the best of our ability." --Richard Moss, author of The Mandala of Being and Inside-Out Healing "Mary O'Malley's amazing book is testimony that our most trying challenges bear with them the seeds of our most inspiring triumphs!" --Al Cole, CBS radio host of the nationally syndicated talk show People of Distinction, and author of The Spirit of Romance "I am just in awe of Mary's work. Mary transforms our everyday challenges into something sacred. Her insights into what it means to be truly human touched my heart so deeply. I think Mary O'Malley is the freshest voice of truth out there today." --Ann Louise Gittleman, PhD, health expert and author of The Fat Flush Plan "Mary offers a graceful and skillful communication, a quality of responsiveness that is seasoned and not commonly seen." --Jerry Katz, founder of and host of Nonduality Talk Radio "Out of the plentiful garden of books out there on spirituality that get too heady or are not experiential enough to really help people, this rare gem is different. I love how Mary adds just the right combination of explanation and instruction." --Scott Kiloby, author and founder of The Kiloby Center for Recovery "A gentle, loving guide to a happier and more peaceful life. Everyone can benefit from the wise words in this book." --Joseph Goldstein, author of Mindfulness: A Practical Guide to Awakening "Mary O'Malley's book shares meaningful information and wisdom. I know from my experience that she speaks the truth, and her guidance can make a significant difference in how we manage our journey through life." --Bernie Siegel, MD, author of 365 Prescriptions for the Soul and The Art of Healing "I consider Mary O'Malley to be one of the most extraordinary teachers of our time. No one is more adept at showing us how to turn life's most difficult moments into life's greatest gifts. Her deep compassion, uncommon awareness, and crystal-clear insight make anything she writes a treasure." --Neale Donald Walsch, author of Conversations with God "In a world where we are pathologically encouraged to dismiss aspects of our authentic experience, this book is deeply welcome. With beautiful hearticulation, Mary O'Malley invites us to give voice to that which has been buried, illuminating pathways for transformation that are desperately needed in this mad world. An invitation to presence. An invitation to inclusivity. The wholly holy. This book comforts me." --Jeff Brown, author of Soulshaping and Ascending with Both Feet on the Ground "I loved Mary's message--for me, born with an overdose of curiosity, it gives new meaning and usefulness to the word!" --Elisabet Sahtouris, PhD, evolutionary biologist and futurist "Mary O'Malley is a genuine master, a sensible, plain-speaking exemplar of spiritual awakening and illuminated guidance. Every word in this book rings true. I loved it." --Mark Matousek, author of Sex Death Enlightenment and When You're Falling, Dive

Long Description

Imagine for a moment that you had no pressures in your life no problems to fix, no deadlines to meet, no struggles to overcome. Do you feel that sense of spacious relief? It s not an illusion, teaches Mary O Malley. It really is possible to live with that profound openness all the time, even while tending to your everyday tasks and obligations. In What s in the Way Is the Way , Mary offers practical guidance for meeting all of your experience with an abiding sense of ease, trust, and peace of mind. This accessible book is divided into ten phases, featuring inspiring wisdom and step-by-step exercises to heal the core beliefs that keep you stuck. With each chapter, Mary invites you to come into the present and see yourself and your circumstances in a different way unclouded by preconceptions, struggle, or fear. Join her on this illuminating journey to discover: How fear controls our lives untangling the conditioning that keeps us from trusting our complete experience The healing power of curiosity a natural way to meet our lives without needing to change or judge anything Trusting what happens even when we feel threatened, ashamed, or afraid Why we become more active, engaged, and effective when we stop doing life and start being fully present for our lives Remembering exercises simple, powerful practices for reconnecting with our natural state of curiosity, trust and love No object, person, or experience will ever bring you the deep and lasting peace that comes from simply being open to life, writes Mary. With What s in the Way Is the Way, this renowned teacher brings you a powerful guide for turning your obstacles into your greatest allies and teachers and showing up for your life with all your vulnerability, passion, and magnificent perfection."

Review Quote

"Awakening is powerful medicine. A book to live with, learn from, and treasure." --Christiane Northrup, MD, Ob/Gyn physician and author of Women''s Bodies, Women''s Wisdom and The Wisdom of Menopause "These teachings open you to mystery; they bring freedom, joy, and ease." --Jack Kornfield, founder of Spirit Rock Meditation Center and author of A Path With Heart "Buddha said you could look the whole world over and never find anyone more deserving of love than yourself. Mary O''Malley awakens us again and again to the startling wonder of what lies beyond our workable hindrances, the liberation of our luminous nature." --Stephen Levine, author of A Year to Live "This is the most no-nonsense, grounded, accessible spirituality you will ever come across. I love Mary''s teachings. They are simple and practical yet awesomely profound, and offer hope to those in even the darkest places. Her message is medicine for the world." --Jeff Foster, author of The Deepest Acceptance "This beautiful book is filled with heart wisdom. Mary O''Malley''s teachings are simple, deep, and profoundly transforming . . . they will guide you in letting go and trusting life." --Tara Brach, PhD, author of Radical Acceptance "Down-to-earth and joyful! Mary''s words offer a healing path for all who wish to travel away from self-limiting views toward freedom of heart." --Sharon Salzberg, cofounder of the Insight Meditation Society and author of Real Happiness "Reading a book is one thing. Being joyously changed while reading it, right there, on the spot . . . is another. Mary O''Malley does that, repeatedly, and with

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