The first chapter of the upcoming book, What Sustains Me, is now ready and available for free download as a formatted PDF (it looks best on a tablet such as the iPad, but can be read on any computer— or you can print it if you'd like). Several of the authors in this collaborative project are SE™ practitioners. This includes the editor, Serge Prengel (an SEP in New York City) and the author of the first chapter, Inge Sengelmann (an SEP in Florida and Colorado).
The topic of “what sustains me” could be described as a spiritual quest. But editor Serge Prengel is consciously avoiding this phrase because it can be misleading. For quite a few people, he says, a “spiritual” quest conveys a search for outside resources, beyond the realm of the physical world. Such a definition would exclude experiences that involve inner resources.
The book's focus is on describing what we experience, as opposed to the philosophical or religious terms under which these experiences are usually framed. In their contributions, authors like Sengelmann are not describing a specific path, a “right way” to do things, or a “correct” narrative of how it all works out. To the contrary, each author will be coming at the topic from different approaches and belief systems, including agnostic and atheist perspectives.
The key word here is experience. Prengel says that he hopes that, by talking in terms of experiences rather than beliefs, we can find a bridge whereby people who come from different traditions or beliefs can be nourished by each other's experiences.
Each chapter in What Sustains Me will be written by a different author in a personal and experiential manner. Each contribution will stand on its own, released independently. When all chapters are ready, the book will be published conventionally and as an e-book.
You can download the first chapter, as well as follow the progress of this project at WhatSustainsMe.com. As this is part of a work-in-progress that will encompass many other perspectives, we would love to hear your thoughts or similar experiences.
Inge Sengelmann is a clinical psychotherapist licensed in Florida and Colorado, a Somatic Experiencing® practitioner, and a registered yoga teacher focusing her practice on the treatment of traumatic stress and eating disorders. She considers herself a mind-body-spirit specialist who believes in the power of creative choice and conscious embodiment. Weaving ancient and modern wisdom, Inge integrates the latest developments in the field of neuroscience with yoga practices to help people embody their lives in a fulfilling way. She was a founding member of Miami's first intensively-trained Dialectical Behavior Therapy consultation team. Inge has completed a ParaYoga Master Training and has been initiated into the Himalayan Tantric lineage of Sri Vidya. She has taught workshops locally, nationally and internationally on the topic of eating disorders, somatic psychotherapy, and integrative mind-body-spirit healing, and is writing a book about embodiment as a path to healing from eating disorders and trauma.