4 out of 4 stars
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The LGBTQ Meditation Journal by Christopher Stone and Mary Sheldon is a short book of about 90 pages that includes meditation exercises meant to help those in or affected by the LGBTQ community. Topics include healthy self-love, pride in your identity, self-acceptance, acceptance of others, and inner peace. All of these topics can be difficult for the LGBTQ community, considering how much hatred and discrimination they experience just living their lives. This book focuses on spreading love and compassion even in difficult circumstances.
I would not recommend this book to very religious people that do not have an open mind. However, the message of the book is to not show hatred or project fear on Christianity and the Bible. In this way, it encourages open-mindedness and an accepting worldview, even if you are not awarded the same courtesy by others.
My favorite meditation is the one addressing how your spirit is a perfect creation and that all ‘physical’ aspects of you such as how you look and your sexuality are just a part of your outer covering and do not matter to the spirit. At our essence, we are who we are, and that’s okay. I think that this mindset is helpful for everyone as the acceptance of self is the key to happiness. This is very relevant to those in the LGBTQ community as many of them are told that they should be different than they are. My second favorite is picturing love enveloping someone spewing hateful words at you. I think that this is a very healing exercise and will help the reader stay calm in a real-life situation. Some meditation exercises are for family members or friends of an LGBTQ person and they cover a wide range of situations.
Even though each exercise focuses on a common theme, they have some variety to them. I think that the authors do well addressing important internal struggles in the community and how to mentally resolve them. I did not find any grammatical or spelling errors. The only critique I have is the book’s focus on the Bible. Even though this is a cause for opposition to the LGBTQ lifestyle, especially in the United States, I think that it would be interesting if it briefly addressed other religions as well.
I rate The LGBTQ Meditation Journal 4 out of 4 stars, because I cannot think of much for the authors to improve on. I think that the book is well written, and provides some healing meditations for those in the LGBTQ community, family, and friends. It encourages inner peace and rejection of anger and feelings of unworthiness, and we could all use a little of that, LGBTQ or not.
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The LGBTQ Meditation Journal
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