Befriending Your Demons

Discover the Hidden Strength in the Very Feelings You’re Trying to Avoid or Disown  Rage. Addiction. Anxiety. Depression. Fear. All of these and more are what Lama Tsultrim Allione refers to as our “demons”—those parts of our inner being that disrupt every aspect of life when they arise. But are they really our enemies? According to Lama Tsultrim, intrusive and unpleasant inner states are not only unavoidable aspects of life but also potential allies. In the Befriending Your Demons audio program, Lama Tsultrim offers a five-part process for turning toward your demons rather than suppressing or running away from them. Lama Tsultrim’s program begins with a simple starting point: everyone has an emotional “shadow”—those aspects of our inner lives that embarrass, frighten, or shame us. However, simply disowning or ignoring elements of the shadow only exacerbates their root causes. Befriending Your Demons provides a method for recognizing how your thoughts and emotions develop, shows the repeated patterns they create, and offers on-the-spot tools for transforming this cycle of suffering. In this way, when these disowned emotions arise, you can work with and feel them fully without also becoming hooked into spirals of negativity, and find the hidden strength within them. Here, you will learn: A five-step process for working with disowned emotions without also becoming hooked into spirals of negativity Why the practice of “tending your demons” can yield surprising physical results Detailed examinations of the shamanic and Buddhist roots of these practices How to “map” your demons and understand how they interconnect Why working with your demons can be an especially potent gateway to spiritual awakening Lama Tsultrim also provides guided exercises for doing the five steps in our daily lives through art and regular practice. With Befriending Your Demons, you too can learn how to embrace even your most intense emotions as sources of energy and resilience.