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Scott Stoner
Aug/2014, 176 Pages, PAPER, 6 x 9
ISBN-13: 9780819229403
• Structured holistic wellness program for individuals and groups based on a highly successful retreat model developed by priest-psychotherapist
• Builds on the national network of Living Compass workshops, presentations, publications, and more
• Each chapter includes questions for reflection, preview first chapter here.
If Barbara Brown Taylor and Steven Covey ever wrote a book together, this might be the book! Living Compass is a church-based faith and wellness program designed for individuals and small groups. Readers engage in a 10-week, self-guided wellness retreat, consisting of daily ten-minute readings, plus questions that guide the user to make small, meaningful action steps designed for getting “your life, your relationships, and your work headed in a new direction,” according to the author.
The purpose of the book is to help both individuals and congregations come to see and experience a deeper connection between Christian spirituality and wellness. The book is designed as a self-guided retreat that can be done privately or in small groups in a person’s home or congregation. This book helps people live well with all their heart, soul, strength, and mind by addressing eight specific areas of wellness: Spirituality, Rest & Play, Care for the Body, Stress Resiliency, Vocation, Organization, Handling Emotions, and Relationships. Readers will complete a self-assessment on each of these areas of wellness and will learn how to create FAITH steps to enhance their overall wellness and life balance.
Scott Stoner is the founder of the Living Compass faith and wellness ministry and also serves as the director of the Nicholas Center of the Diocese of Chicago. As an Episcopal priest, pastoral counselor, licensed marriage and family therapist, spiritual director, and retreat leader for over thirty years, he has facilitated more than 45,000 hours of individual and family wellness conversations, plus led hundreds of retreats. He lives in Shorewood, Wisconsin.
Click here for Your Living Compass Self-Assessment Tool downloadable PDF.
If you find yourself walking around in an unfamiliar city or airport, at some point you will probably want to find a map to help orient yourself. When you find that map, the first thing you will most likely look for is the “You Are Here” dot on the map. Once you know where you are, then you can figure out where you want to go and how best to get there. Navigational software in cars and cell phones work the same way. They begin by showing us our “current location” and then offer us directions to our destination from that previously established “current location.”
This Living Compass Self-Assessment Tool will provide you with a similar “You Are Here” or “current location” for your life right now. It is a very present day snapshot of your state of balance, wholeness and wellness. If you completed this assessment three months ago your results might have been very different than today. And likewise, your results three months from right now would probably be different as well.
Another way to think about your self-assessment is that it simply shows you what you have been paying attention to the most in your life. Whatever we pay attention to is what will grow in life. Think of your life as a garden. The parts of the garden that you have been watering the most are thriving; the parts you have not been watering are probably a little wilted right now.
This downloadable PDF provides the self-assessments in each of the eight areas of wellness that Your Living Compass addresses. You can download and print this free resource for your personal use. The self-assessments are also available on the Living Compass website,and on our Living Well With Living Compass App. You may prefer using one of those options if you do not want to write on the pages of this book. You are also welcome to photocopy the self-assessment pages for your own personal use.
"This is not only just what we need for this moment in the life of the church, this is what our entire culture needs to hear about bringing balance, health, and wholeness to our lives. I turyly believe Scott Stoner could be the next Dr. Phil. Read this book. It will change your life."
—Courtney Coward, Associate Dean and Director, The Beecken Center, The School of Theology, University of the South
"The Rev. Scott Stoner leans on ‘a living compass’ as a metaphor for gauging the liveliness of our faith and pointing us toward an abundant and meaningful life. His accessible stories, insightful wisdom, and practical steps to wellness provide clear direction for enthusiastic well-being and steadfast faith.”
—William Craddock Managing Director and Senior Vice-President of CPG Education and Wellness Group
“To be both well and faithful in trying times like these—to live and act with singleness of heart—demands both resilience and grace. Both these qualities can be found in full measure in Scott Stoner's Your Living Compass. Spiritually grounded and psychologically informed, Stoner provides a down-to-earth and deeply compassionate guide to spiritual and emotional wholeness for anyone who seeks to reconnect heart to mind and soul to strength.”
—Roger Ferlo President, Bexley Seabury Seminary Federation
“Here's a GPS for the hopelessly stressed. In this uber-practical how-to manual, seasoned trail guide Scott Stoner shows us how to step back, reflect, and regain our bearings. Many lives have been changed by Your Living Compass—you may be next.”
—Chris Yaw Founder, ChurchNext.tv
“Your Living Compass de Scott Stoner es una valiosa guía para conectar las áreas más importantes de nuestra vida. Cuando nos damos cuenta en que punto de nuestra jornada vital nos encontramos, tenemos la oportunidad de replantear nuestra ruta a seguir, y las orientaciones que ofrece Scott Stoner en su libro son de gran ayuda para alcanzar la meta de una vida saludable en todos sus aspectos. / Your Living Compass from Scott Stoner is a valuable guide to connect the most important areas of our life. When we know in what point we are in our journey, we have the opportunity to rethink our route, and the guidelines provided by Scott Stoner in his book are of great help to achieve the goal of a healthy life in all its aspects.”
—Rev. Alvaro Araica, Associate for Hispanic Ministry, Episcopal Diocese of Chicago