Resources

This is a personal list of resources I have found helpful during my 20+ years of chronic illness.  If anyone has anything they would like to add, please do let me know.

My teacher Jundo and I wrote a piece on establishing a lineage of disabled ancestors and sent it to a few Buddhist magazines.  There was no interest in publishing it so I offer it here.

Books

Aligned, Relaxed and Resilient by Will Johnson
Being Bodies by Lenore Friedman and Susan Moon (eds) especially the first two chapters
Being With Dying by Roshi Joan Halifax
Full Catastrophe Living by Jon Kabat-Zinn
How To Be Sick by Toni Bernhard
How To Live Well With Chronic Pain And Illness by Toni Bernhard
Impact: Accidental Zen (book chapter) by Shosan Victoria Austin in Zen Teachings in Challenging Times
Living Well With Pain And Illness by Vidyamala Burch
Lotus in the Fire by Jim Bedard
Most Intimate by Pat Enkyo O’Hara
No Mud, No Lotus by Thich Nhat Hanh
Radical Acceptance by Tara Brach
This Is Getting Old: Zen Thoughts on Aging with Humor and Dignity by Susan Moon
Training in Compassion by Norman Fischer
Turning Suffering Inside Out by Darlene Cohen
When Things Fall Apart by Pema Chödrön

Blog Posts and Essays

Dancing in the Dark by Zenshin Florence Caplow
Stuck in Slow Motion by Vanessa Zuisei Goddard
Zazen, A Better Way of Experiencing Pain by Gudo Wafu Nishijima


CDs/mp3s

Guided Meditations from Breathworks
Meditating with the Body – Reginald Ray (Sounds True)
Plum Village Meditations – Thich Nhat Hanh (Sounds True)

Audio Talks and Podcasts

Cultivating Mindfulness, Working with Pain (Sally Clough Armstrong)
Dongshan is Unwell (Norman Fischer)
Forgiving the Body (Bruce Kramer in conversation with Krista Tippett)
How to be Sick (Sylvia Boorstein and Toni Bernhard)
How to Live with Chronic Pain and Illness (Sylvia Boorstein and Toni Bernhard)
Living Well with a Chronic Illness Part I  Part II  (Erica Hamilton and myself in conversation with Irina Almgren)
Radical Acceptance and Practicing Radical Acceptance (Tara Brach)
Suffering and Gratitude (Norman Fischer)
This is Not What I Ordered (podcast with psychotherapist Lauren Selfridge, who herself has Multiple Sclerosis)
Transforming Illness Through Love and Letting Go (Susan Bauer-Wu)

Websites

Breathworks (guided meditations for pain and illness)
Toni Bernhard’s Blog

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