What do you think?
Rate this book
The Final Gift of the Beloved: Her Disappearance-13 Days
If you could leave your true love one final gift, what would it be? This intense, moment-by-moment chronicle begins with the officer's words, "She is deceased." For the next thirteen days following the fatal automobile accident of his wife, renowned thought-leader Dr. Seana Lowe Steffen, the author draws on nearly forty years of study and training with gurus and meditation teachers to discover ecstatic love, save fractured relationships, and glimpse a greater arc and purpose for being alive. The Final Gift of the Her Disappearance--13 Days is the story of one man's sudden, astonishing brush with devastation and the Divine under the most heartbreaking of circumstances. A love story disguised as a tragedy, Steffen weaves extraordinarily poignant and powerful experiences with honesty and revelations that will change lives. Along with intense pain and emotion, prepare yourself for great beauty and transcendent insight, for nothing is as it appears .
242 pages, Paperback
Published May 7, 2020
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
September 2, 2020
An almost biographical tale, this story is a mix of presenting Barron Steffen’s grieving process with his spiritual beliefs and habits.
Read full review in the 2020 September issue of InD'tale Magazine.
Read full review in the 2020 September issue of InD'tale Magazine.
June 14, 2020
One might expect the story of the sudden death of one’s beloved young wife to have some emotional impact, but this is a giant, searing meteor across the night sky. It is clear that Barron has long kept a written diary of his inner life, for his prose is powerful and assured, and gob-smackingly honest. You don’t have to believe what he believes, or even see what he describes, to be awakened to the anguish and ecstasy of our whole, shared human condition. 13 Days is a tour de force that makes one weep for its fearless vulnerability. Take a deep breath, feel your own inner self, and read it. IF you have the love and courage, which are all we need when the chips are down.
Lawrence Blair, Bali, June 2020
Lawrence Blair, Bali, June 2020
June 7, 2020
“What a journey, what a ride.
I am teary eyed and can’t stop reading. Chapter 18 begins and I’m so disappointed there are so few pages left.”
I am teary eyed and can’t stop reading. Chapter 18 begins and I’m so disappointed there are so few pages left.”
February 3, 2021
Barron Steffen, Author
The Final Gift Of The Beloved
The Yoga of Mindset Press, ISBN 978-1-951947-34-8
Non-Fiction –death, grief, letting go, self-help, yoga, meditation, heartbreak
227 pages
February 2021 Review for Bookpleasures
Reviewer-Michelle Kaye Malsbury, BSBM, MM
Review
Barron Steffen, author of The Final Gift Of The Beloved, is himself a widower. (2020, back cover) Before founding The Yoga Mindset he taught elementary school, surfed, studied yoga and spirituality, and was an Italian pop singer. Such a varied background has grounded him in his teaching at The Yoga Mindset where he is a proponent of mastering your thoughts so they do not master you.
The book is divvied up into thirteen (13) days and moves between the present and the future. It opens with him at a meditation conference where he receives a phone call from the police telling him that his wife has been in a fatal car crash. Can anyone ever be prepared for that moment? He is naturally devastated and operating on sheer adrenalin. He gets out of his car and somehow completes his classes. He desperately tries to find homeostasis and something to give him hope that this is all some kind of sad mistake.
His yoga training has prepared him to quiet his mind and look inward. Can he? In this moment he says “I tried to gather myself inwardly. It felt like I was no longer in my physical body, and I absolutely knew why. I was at the pujari on the day of my beloved’s death.” (2020, p.23)
A friend from Italy called one day inviting him to an Ashram in India. He went. He stayed for forty (40) days. He says “The most truthful thing I can say is that something of life-changing significance happened to me there, and in the wake of the court’s decision I was wide open to it. It was almost as if I were a freshly plowed field, and razed to the ground by the judge’s verdict, whatever new seed was sewn met no obstacle, since nothing else was present to compete for sunlight and water.” (2020, p.30)
On day two he wakes to be reminded that his wife’s death was not a bad dream, but a reality that he will live with for the rest of his life. He tried meditation and found it rather unfulfilling for the first time in a long while.
As the days move onward and he plans for her final swan song he finds inner peace by taking the words of his Swamiji. To which he adds, “That very thing that had crushed me, the disappearance of my beloved, had now become my guide.” (2020, p.80)
One of the most important take aways from this book is the advice from his Swamiji. “Slow down, listen, be here now.” (2020, p.83) I have actually been practicing a bit of this myself and it has helped to calm me down and become grounded.
The Final Gift Of The Beloved
The Yoga of Mindset Press, ISBN 978-1-951947-34-8
Non-Fiction –death, grief, letting go, self-help, yoga, meditation, heartbreak
227 pages
February 2021 Review for Bookpleasures
Reviewer-Michelle Kaye Malsbury, BSBM, MM
Review
Barron Steffen, author of The Final Gift Of The Beloved, is himself a widower. (2020, back cover) Before founding The Yoga Mindset he taught elementary school, surfed, studied yoga and spirituality, and was an Italian pop singer. Such a varied background has grounded him in his teaching at The Yoga Mindset where he is a proponent of mastering your thoughts so they do not master you.
The book is divvied up into thirteen (13) days and moves between the present and the future. It opens with him at a meditation conference where he receives a phone call from the police telling him that his wife has been in a fatal car crash. Can anyone ever be prepared for that moment? He is naturally devastated and operating on sheer adrenalin. He gets out of his car and somehow completes his classes. He desperately tries to find homeostasis and something to give him hope that this is all some kind of sad mistake.
His yoga training has prepared him to quiet his mind and look inward. Can he? In this moment he says “I tried to gather myself inwardly. It felt like I was no longer in my physical body, and I absolutely knew why. I was at the pujari on the day of my beloved’s death.” (2020, p.23)
A friend from Italy called one day inviting him to an Ashram in India. He went. He stayed for forty (40) days. He says “The most truthful thing I can say is that something of life-changing significance happened to me there, and in the wake of the court’s decision I was wide open to it. It was almost as if I were a freshly plowed field, and razed to the ground by the judge’s verdict, whatever new seed was sewn met no obstacle, since nothing else was present to compete for sunlight and water.” (2020, p.30)
On day two he wakes to be reminded that his wife’s death was not a bad dream, but a reality that he will live with for the rest of his life. He tried meditation and found it rather unfulfilling for the first time in a long while.
As the days move onward and he plans for her final swan song he finds inner peace by taking the words of his Swamiji. To which he adds, “That very thing that had crushed me, the disappearance of my beloved, had now become my guide.” (2020, p.80)
One of the most important take aways from this book is the advice from his Swamiji. “Slow down, listen, be here now.” (2020, p.83) I have actually been practicing a bit of this myself and it has helped to calm me down and become grounded.
July 23, 2020
I really wanted to like this book but I just couldn't get my mind into it. If I were into gurus and meditation, maybe I would have enjoyed it more. But I really skipped through many of the pages.
* I received an ARC from Netgalley and the author. It was my choice to read and review.
* I received an ARC from Netgalley and the author. It was my choice to read and review.
September 7, 2020
An interesting take on grief and loss. One man's experience in dealing with his wife's death.
My Review
My Review
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews