Dear friends,

From our earliest years, we all acquire blind spots in the way we perceive, feel, and think. Driven by our biology, life experiences, cultural messages, and physical environment, they profoundly affect us throughout our lives.

My friend Kelly Boys just wrote an informative and practical guide that invites us to understand:
– how we get them
– how to bring them to light, and
– how to work with that newfound awareness to improve our lives.

Kelly presents emerging research from many fields of psychology and neuroscience, personal stories, and a wealth of hands-on exercises and practices to help us identify, welcome, and transform our own hidden domains.

Her book is called
The Blind Spot Effect: How To Stop Missing What’s Right In Front Of You

This practical how-to book covers:

• What we miss and how we miss it
• Attentional blink–gaps in our sensory awareness and our astonishing potential to perceive more in each moment
• Decoding your unconscious stories–how they filter the truth and influence you
• Hacking your intuition–why our gut instincts are not always accurate, and ways to get it right more often
• The defended self–uncovering the core beliefs that shape your emotional landscape
• Using moments of crisis to reveal especially elusive blind spots
• Falling in love, “crushing,” cheating, and wholehearted loving–shining a light into the wilderness of intimate relationships
• Three biases that sabotage our judgment and how to counter them
• Self-compassion, welcoming, and vulnerability–keys to clearer self-perception
• Flow states–becoming fully immersed in what you do without the filters that diminish your natural way of perceiving and being
• Seeing yourself as others see you–safely engaging with someone you trust to gain greater self-awareness
• Illuminating the biggest blind spot of all–the illusion of an isolated and separate self, and how to free ourselves from the traps it creates
• Chapter-by-chapter practices–somatic, contemplative, and mindfulness-based–for self-discovery and change

Once we recognize our blind spots, we can’t unsee them. We release ourselves from unnecessary suffering and begin to experience each moment more richly.

With The Blind Spot Effect, you’re invited to illuminate what is right in front of you and within you–for greater wonder, joy, and fulfillment.

Read the book’s endorsements from Rick Hanson, Tara Brach and Sharon Salzberg here.

Sean Fargo

• SHADOW EXERCISE (worksheet)
• WORKING WITH DIFFICULT EMOTIONS (audio from Caroline Jones)
• THE LIGHT & THE DARKNESS (audio from James Baraz)
• PRACTICING WITH DARKNESS (audio from Donald Rothberg)
• FINDING MEANING IN THE DARKNESS (blog post)