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Learning to Breathe: One Woman's Journey of Spirit and Survival
 
 
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Learning to Breathe: One Woman's Journey of Spirit and Survival (Hardcover)

~ (Author)
Key Phrases: Dalai Lama, San Francisco, Mount Kailash (more...)
4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
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Customers buy this book with The Wishing Year: A House, a Man, My Soul A Memoir of Fulfilled Desire by Noelle Oxenhandler

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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Photojournalist Wright has gone to the ends of the earth, including some mountaintops, in a career that has documented the human wonders of the world, especially resilient children and endangered cultures. In this memoir she turns her lens on herself and her own astonishing story. The victim of a horrific bus crash in Laos in 2000, Wright should have died of her grievous injuries. She survived, and in this book retraces the steps of her journey of physical recovery, spiritual development and literal return to the scene of the crash. An Asia enthusiast, the author was led by work and temperament to Buddhism and some of Asia's most compelling Buddhist figures, including Burmese dissident Aung San Suu Kyi and the Dalai Lama, who contributes a foreword. Wright's editors owe this tale of courage and gratitude more respect in the form of harder editing. The author's spiritual insights are fascinating and should have been teased out more. A chapter set in Australia is an interesting but irrelevant sideshow, and chronology is occasionally confusing. This inspiring story deserves a wide audience and better editing. (Aug. 14) ""
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved."


Review

“ Alison Wright is a wonder. I’ve known her for years as an extraordinary photographer and a serious meditator, and I thought I knew her story well. I knew nothing. I didn’t know what a profound writer she also is. Her life is one of a true pilgrim and a seeker of truth. It is a life of exploration, devotion, and transformation by fire. There is muscle and tears here, and the fierce flame of inspiration. She’s the real deal.”
—Richard Gere
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Product Details

  • Hardcover: 288 pages
  • Publisher: Hudson Street Press (August 14, 2008)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1594630461
  • ISBN-13: 978-1594630460
  • Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.3 x 1.2 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.com Sales Rank: #276,927 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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    #26 in  Books > Health, Mind & Body > Psychology & Counseling > Physical Illness & Psychiatry

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More About the Author

Alison Wright
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Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Dalai Lama, San Francisco, Mount Kailash, Udon Thani, Luang Prabang, United States, New Year, New York, Aung San Suu Kyi, Mother Teresa, Thich Nhat Hanh, Vang Vieng, Nobel Peace Prize, Karmapa Lama, Sri Lanka, Ratna Park, Mount Kilimanjaro, Kalu Rinpoche, Pier Hotel, Land Rover, Alison Wright
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Customer Reviews

15 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
4.4 out of 5 stars (15 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars Fact checking, June 1, 2009
This review is from: Learning to Breathe: One Woman's Journey of Spirit and Survival (Hardcover)
I was excited to read this book, having an interest both in adventurous women and Buddhism, however, I have to agree with Publishers Weekly that harder editing would have helped.
I was surprised to read that, during Wright's visit to Wat Pa Ban Tat monastery in Thailand described on pages 93-4, a Thai monk would call Wright a 'bodhisattva.' Thai monks belong to the Theravada tradition that uses the term `bodhisattva' to refer only to the past lives of the Buddha, such as those recounted in the Jataka tales. This is a major distinciton between the Theravada and Mahayana traditions. In the Tibetan Mahahyana tradition, however, that Wright is familiar with, both monastics and lay practitioners are referred to as `bodhisattvas' once they have taken vows to deliver all beings.
Another instance that surprised me occurs on page 209. Wright throws out, "Next stop Uganda, to white-water raft the Zambezi River, in hair-raising class five rapids." The Zambezi certainly doesn't flow anywhere near Uganda. It rises in Zambia about 690 miles southwest of Uganda, and flows south through Angola and Zambia to the border with Zimbabwe, and then east to Mozambique and finally to the Indian Ocean.
Wright is a gifted photgrapher dedicated to humanitarian issues. Her story of determination and courage deserved better editing in general. It is often presented in a style that seemed like a rush from here to there in the pursuit of physical recovery. I wished for more of her insights and development as a Buddhist practitioner, especially on her development of lovingkindness on the path of a bodhisattva.
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4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Powerful and Inspiring! , October 26, 2008
Author Alison Wright's book "Learning to Breathe: One Women's Journey of Spirit and Survival" is more than just a personal story - it speaks of the greater self and our ability to find courage and power within. I was truly touched by reading her inspiring story. She takes what happens to her and moves past the pains and the potential hardships and learns something much greater about her own self.

The reader is taken along on this spiritual journey of discovery. Alison is able to communicate her experiences not only in the physical sense of what was happening but also from a point of view that allows the reader to fully sense what she was feeling and thinking. The real story is her inner journey and that is what makes her work so much more powerful.

I bought this book for my older sister to read as a birthday gift and will gift other women in my life with copies as well. I feel that women need to see and read about strong courageous women; and to me, Alison Wright truly represents what a true hero is. She faced her pain and fears and through her will power and determination she met her future dreams with success.

This book is both inspirational and entertaining and will be hard to put down. I read it though in one sitting because I wanted to know the full story and how she came out. The book earns The American Authors Association's highest book rating of FIVE STARS. This book also gets my personal endorsement and fullest recommendations. This book is no doubt one of the top 10 best inspirational books of the last decade.

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding Book, October 2, 2008
By J. Lummis "Joelle" (Paradise Valley, AZ) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This is a book everyone should read - very inspirational whether you need it or not!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars this story will knock you down to the ground
Feeling a little low, a little defeated, down on your luck? Read this woman's miraculous story of survival and you'll wonder what you were whining about. Read more
Published 18 days ago by see jane read

2.0 out of 5 stars Could have been so much better!
This inspiring memoir could have been so much better if the author or her editor knew how to spell, knew the difference between too and two; knew the difference between whose and... Read more
Published 2 months ago by Carol J. Horky

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent! Hard to put down!
As a photographer, this book really appeals to me but it's much more than a book about a photo-journalist and her travels around the world. Read more
Published 5 months ago by J. Roggow

5.0 out of 5 stars What a great story of survival...and compassion!
This book by Ms. Wright is by far the best story of survival I have read to date. The actual crash is but a small slice of her incredible journey from the road to recovery.
Published 6 months ago by Craig D. Johnson

5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating, Unbelieveable, Beautifully Written
I so enjoyed this book...every second of it and I was so sad when I finished it. I cannot believe that Alison Wright had the strength to get through all she did. Read more
Published 9 months ago by Susan C. Fesus

5.0 out of 5 stars AGONY AND ECSTASY
When photojournalist Alison Wright celebrated the Millenium with champagne and her fun-loving friends in Northern Thailand, she had no premonition that less than two days later... Read more
Published 9 months ago by Elgy Gillespie

4.0 out of 5 stars inspiring reminder of human spirit
I really enjoyed this book. It serves to remind us that we can accomplish so much with the courage and tenacity of our human spirit; thoroughly recommended
Published 11 months ago by Margaret Mears MD

5.0 out of 5 stars A triumph!
Not everyone survived the tragic bus accident that took place on a mountain road in Laos on the second day of the year 2000. Read more
Published 13 months ago by Brad Newsham

4.0 out of 5 stars Learning To Breathe
I had been trying to locate this book after reading the review in the Nat'l Geographic Explorer magazine.I am into chapter 10 and truly enjoying it! Read more
Published 13 months ago by Karen Glicco Torrez

5.0 out of 5 stars An incredible story of survival and deep spiritual connection
Learning to Breathe will knock your socks off! Just as the heroine of the story, photojournalist Alison Wright, manages to survive one terrifying near-death situation she hurtles... Read more
Published 13 months ago by Pam Huling

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