THE ALCHEMY OF INNER WORK

A Guide for Turning Illness and Suffering Into True Health and Well-Being

“Alchemical Healing is not meant to be a replacement or even a complement to Western medicine, traditional psychotherapy, or the current symptomatic approach of modern Chinese medicine. Rather, it invites us to leap into a completely different conversation about health. It proposes a new set of values, attitudes, goals, and skills and offers a way to address the nonphysical forms of human distress, the psychic and spiritual imbalances, and dis-ease that are at the root of so much of modern suffering and illness.”

The Alchemy of Inner Work is a manifesto for the emergence of a new view of health and a guidebook for the alchemical adventure of personal inner work that leads to global outer change.

The book is a hands-on workbook for anyone on a path of healing as well as a journey of discovery, a meditation on what it means to live a truly health-filled life. It is an invitation to a new possibility and a reminder of an ancient memory—that we, like Alchemical Healers throughout history, have the capacity to imagine realities into being and to call the healing power of the soul into the world on a daily basis.

Drawing on traditional Chinese medicine, Taoist and European alchemical traditions, Western depth psychology, clinical case studies as well as long years of experience in the alchemy of their own relationship, Lorie and Benjamin offer practical tools that will help you activate your imagination, listen to your body, understand your dreams, and cultivate your own innate potential for health. In the process, you will discover your own inner Alchemical Healer as you transform your impasses, symptoms and resistances—your “lead”—into the “gold” of self-awareness, which is the secret key to true health and well-being.

THE BOOK INCLUDES

A modern-day introduction to the ancient art of alchemy and its relevance to healing now.
Practical tools and skills, including archetypes, dream work, flower essences, essential oils, and “spirit points” for transforming blocks to your personal healing, growth, and self-fulfillment.

A fresh understanding of how your relationship to yourself and to others is a central key to the alchemical model of healing and well-being.
An invitation to reconsider our cultural attitudes toward darkness and death as necessary, fertile, and ultimately life-promoting aspects of the life cycle.

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ENDORSEMENTS

“More pertinent today than ever, Lorie Dechar’s Alchemy of Inner Work skillfully weaves the timeless wisdom of the Tao into a life changing journey, touched with the intimacy of clinical experience. Combining myth, medicine, and magic, the book both comforted and challenged me, as it worked its way into my cells to transform me as only true alchemy can. What a masterpiece!” Author of The Infertility Cure and The Way of the Fertile Soul

Randine Lewis, Ph.D., L.Ac., FABORM

“True health is more than the elimination of symptoms, it is a reconnection of our bodies with our souls and spirits. This understanding is urgently needed in our world. The Alchemy of Inner Work is a magnificent book, a gift for all who seek to transform suffering and disease into well-being and wholeness, for themselves and for others. It is the right book at the right time.” Author of How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci and The Art of Connection

Michael J. Gelb

“If you’re very lucky in life, you’ll discover a wise guide like Lorie Dechar, who will take your hand and lead you on the path of magic and mystery of healing at the level of your soul. With her wealth of knowledge and deeply kind heart, Lorie gives you practical tools and information you can put to immediate use and a true initiation into wholeness. This is a new form of medicine that redefines what healing really means. Lorie has supported powerful change in my own life, and there is no one better equipped to help you transform both your inner and outer worlds. This book will always be an essential resource for you, no matter where you are in your own personal journey.” Author of The Five Element Solution and Clear Home Clear Heart

Jean Haner

“The Alchemy of Inner Work shows the reader, through the author’s transparency and lucid presentation, how notions of soul and subtle body are necessary for the only healing that matters, a return to wholeness. The book vibrates with years of experience, and many lifetimes of engaging the alchemical mystery of the creation of Self that has a body. I highly recommend it to both the general reader and therapist alike.” Author of The Mystery of Human Relationship: Alchemy and the Transformation of the Self

Nathan Schwartz-Salant, Ph.D.

“Lorie Dechar brilliantly illuminates the rich symbolism of Chinese medicine for application to the modern lifestyle. In this extensive guide she blends magic with practical techniques to help people transform illness and manifest their destiny. The Alchemy of Inner Work elegantly explains practical methods that are applicable for both clinicians and non-professionals—highly recommended!” Author of Treating Emotional Trauma with Chinese Medicine and Shamanism in Chinese Medicine

CT Holman