Through Darkness into Light

The intention of this book is to help people heal and move through their emotional pain to a place of better balance and peace. The author, Ann Yates, has done this by sharing both the darkness and light of her emotional experiences and journey in her poems and writings about mindfulness. She hopes her poems offer understanding and validation to others who struggle with similar experiences and feelings. Often, people are reluctant to talk about the deep darkness they feel, but once they do, the light can start coming in. That is the pattern of the author’s poems, which has created the title of this book. Ann hopes her mindfulness writings will also support working with the deep darkness. Mindfulness can seem overwhelming, yet it doesn’t have to be complex or require a lot of time to learn. Instead, the author focuses on a very simple mindfulness approach she developed called PACT, which stands for Pause, Accept/Acknowledge, Choose, and Therapy. It is free, always available, does not require special equipment or professionals (the therapy is actually something a person can do on his or her own), and is easy to learn and remember. The more the author uses PACT and the more she discusses its use with others, the more she sees how powerful and beneficial it is. She also discusses other simple and mindful approaches to work with emotional distress.