Untangling: How You Can Transform What's Impossibly Stuck - Paperback

by Barbara McGavin (Author), Ann Weiser Cornell (Author)

You know those problems in your life that never change, no matter what you try? What if they are actually where your greatest growth and transformation can be found? It turns out that being stuck is not an endpoint, it's a clue. Wherever there is something in your life that is impossible to think, or feel, or do, you are finding the exact spot where the next steps in your life are waiting to unfold.

Untangling(R), a practice that can enable what is hopelessly stuck to untangle itself, was created by two internationally recognized innovators and teachers in the field of inner awareness. They developed the Untangling method to free themselves from their long-term struggles with depression, writer's block, food, and alcohol. What they discovered was that all these issues were fundamentally the same kind of problem: something they called a Tangle.

Tangles are full of Parts. Parts in turmoil, conflict, confusion and despair. And those Parts are patiently waiting for you to become the inner environment where they can transform. Untangling shows you how to enable your Parts to resolve their conflicts, heal their wounds, and release the qualities they have been safeguarding into your whole self again.

In this remarkably clear and engaging book, interwoven with the authors' own stories, you'll learn:

• What a Tangle is and how it got tangled up in the first place
• Why everything you've tried to change your Tangle doesn't work
• Six Patterns of Impossible Stuckness: Hijack, Takeover, Rebellion, Intimidation, Despair, and Longing
• Five Powers of Presence that enable any Tangle to transform

McGavin and Cornell propose the groundbreaking notion that intractable problems hold within themselves everything that is needed to resolve them. They show how Tangles untangle themselves when approached with an open, curious, compassionate awareness.

Untangling is a compelling new way to think about, relate to, and transform the most stuck problems in life. Based on 30 years of teaching, practice, and exploration, Untangling shows you how to create the environment in which impasse can transform into flow.