The Ark Within: Volume II Exer

"The Ark Within is an excellent guide to remedy inner conflict. It can be read again and again to support ever-deeper levels of insight as life brings us new challenges. It will help many people understand themselves and heal so much unnecessary suffering in their lives."
Richard Moss, M.D.

A progressive series of exercises for those ready to do the work of inner reconciliation.

Built on the transformative practice of Voice Dialogue (Hal and Sidra Stone) and over three decades of facilitation and counseling by author Adelheid Oesch, this exercise manual hands you the concrete tools to meet, befriend, and heal the parts of yourself that the rational mind cannot reach alone: the inner child, the inner critic, the suffering selves.

Each exercise can be done in solitude or with a partner, in a short session or in a long contemplative afternoon. They build on each other in a progressive arc, from the first invitation to listen inward, to the most tender practice of all: holding hands with our selves and one another before we die.

Inside you will find:

• Guided protocols for dialoguing with your inner family of selves
• Somatic exercises that root awareness in the breath and the body
• Meditative practices drawn from Christian, Buddhist, and Jungian traditions
• A Magical First Aid Kit of ten loving gestures and ten affirmations for the moments when an inner storm takes hold
• Insights into the bonding patterns at work in couples and parent-child relationships
• A final exercise on preparing the heart for the passage of dying, written with the tenderness of someone who has accompanied her own father through it

Used alongside The Ark Within Volume I (the narrative tale that frames this work), or as a stand-alone practice for therapists, counselors, and serious seekers, this manual is one of the most generous and grounded resources you will find on the work of inner healing.

Praised by Hal and Sidra Stone (creators of Voice Dialogue), Richard Moss, M.D., Hedy Schleifer, M.A. LMHC, and prefaced by Marie de Hennezel, author of Intimate Death.