Tamara Gerlach describes her book, Cultivating Radiance, as a “guide to self-care from the inside out.” And it’s a fair assessment. The book contains page after page of wisdom, comfort, and guidance, sharp humor and empathetic insight. Unlike a lot of books in this genre, it is not aimed or slanted toward a particular gender. Gerlach has created a book that speaks to the common human experience, in a voice that seems far older than her 44 years.
“I think it’s more important to start on yourself from the inside,” she said recently. “No matter how many times you go to the spa, if you don’t feel good on the inside, nothing will change.”
With chapters like “Letting Go of What Dims Our Light,” “Cultivating Playfulness,” “Living With an Open Heart,” and “Become an Olympic Learner,” the book challenges, teases, soothes and guides the reader through various layers of being, from beliefs to attitude, passion and self-care. Each chapter ends with a discovery question, an activity, a perspective of gratitude, and a mantra. It is a hands-on manual for living each day.
And how did this very busy Martinez resident come to write a book, given that she also runs a ranch, is a life coach, owns a gym, and is managing two kids in a college and a full time relationship?
“I wrote it to plant seeds,” she said. “I’ve been a life coach for 11 years, and I noticed there was just this epidemic of people forgetting to take care of themselves, because they were so busy taking care of everyone else.”
She had a speaking engagement in January in which her coach asked her to write a 60-page book as part of the program.
“I felt like that’s what I was supposed to do, so I just kept writing,” she said. “I interviewed people, and I used my personal experience.”
This is a book, she said, “for people who are curious about living a more connected life, feeling more connected with everything and everyone. Where a lot of us suffer is when we feel disconnected, alone and afraid.”
This is a book that tends to get read again and again, to stay open somewhere nearby, to be consulted like an old and trusted friend.
“Cultivating Radiance” is available at Amazon.com, and at in downtown Martinez.
