Toni Bernhard is the acclaimed author of How To Be Sick: A Buddhist-Inspired Guide for the Chronically Ill and Their Caregivers which made S&P's Best Spiritual Books of 2010 list and How To Wake Up: A Buddhist-Inspired Guide to Navigating Joy and Sorrow. She fell ill on a trip to Paris in 2001 with what the doctors initially diagnosed as an acute viral infection. She has not recovered and has become a regular contributor to Psychology Today online with her blog "Turning Straw into Gold." Bernard has been studying and practicing Buddhism since 1992.

This healing and helpful resource was written for those with chronic diseases, those who watch over them, and those who wish to understand what it is like to "live a life upside down." For openers, Bernhard offers some tips for coping with a chronic illness:

  • Do not get bent out of shape worrying how others view your medical condition.
  • Do not be upset when people do not respond as you'd like.
  • Do not get too caught up in always thinking positively
  • Do not put your pre-illness life on a pedestal

Other skills to help you handle pain each day are developing the ability to say "no" when you need to do so, tapping into the healing power of patience, and giving up your old habit of complaining and cultivating kindness instead. With brio and energy to spare, Bernhard shows how mindfulness can ease physical and mental suffering. This practice is also good to go for breaking free of stressful thinking patterns and surviving a bad mood with grace.

Those who suffer mightily from their chronic disease will appreciate the section on "Special Challenges" where Bernhard covers invisibility, working with your doctor, what to do when you and the ones you love are in conflict, getting the sleep you need, and taking care of caregivers. Equally enlightening are suggestions for enjoying the life you have by slowing down and savoring your experiences, by not falling into the quicksand of envy through comparing yourself with others, and by taking time to appreciate the wondrousness of the body.