Learning to Breathe: One Woman's Journey of Spirit and Survival

I enjoyed her story, her journeys and insights. Her conclusions of why we are here, how we can respond to tragedy and the need to stay in the now are all right on. However, the countless accounts of experiencing her own trauma and as a voyeur to others misfortunes seems almost too overwhelming to fathom and can make for a difficult read in the sense of , "oh no, what now." Not sure how she could have tempered her life experiences for the reader, but maybe realize we don't have to know every detail and wish there was more of a focus on the lessons from the hardships rather than the pain.

I enjoyed learning about Alison’s near death experience. Although it wasn’t easy, she made it through, what must be, one of the most difficult experiences to go through in life. Brava Alison for what you have accomplished in your recovery. Most people probably would not have found the strength to do what you did.

I'm glad I read this book. It's not what I thought it would be about but I'm glad I read it. This woman's amazing recovery is inspirational for anyone needing hope in times of great difficulty.Having said that I was waiting for a bit more philosophical perspective and a little less self-promotion. This story is tragic and I don't discredit that by any means. My feeling is that as a reader I was looking for more spirituality on the journey. Sometimes the book feels like a "look what I've done" and less a story of where she is going.I applaud Alison's courage, determination and hope. And I am impressed that her meditation practice helped her to live, for without that she would not have survived at all.

Learning to Breathe is quite a read on one woman’s incredible journey from a near life ending experience. It is a great timeline of amazing determination on the will to survive. The patience to over come extreme challenges and finding the calm to reach a rewarding horizon...Miss Wright’s story is not just of near tragedy, but one that takes the reader into the world of Photo Journalism. A world that comes with great adventure, challenges, and rewards from helping people a cross the world…Alison Wright is a true inspiration to all that follow her in all of her works. The world is a much better place with her in it and we should all feel fortunate that her passion carries on…One can only hope that more literary works from her career are being planned. There is much to share and I know this reader looks forward to it...

When photojournalist Alison Wright celebrated the Millenium with champagne and her fun-loving friends in Northern Thailand, she had no premonition that less than two days later she would be lying torn, broken, bleeding, and close to death on the side of a road in Laos. This book is about her almost accidental survival from a horrific bus accident, her struggle to win her way back to life, and her eventual return to the high-flying career that took her all over the world, from the North Pole to the South, the bottom of the ocean to Tibet, and always with her camera to record the essential message of what it means to be human. Her book is a compulsive read, interweaving the glamorous episodes of her life as a National Geographic and UNICEF photographer -- meeting Richard Gere, the Dalai Lama, Aung San Suu Kyi and other world leaders -- with the painstaking business of her recovery. Every step of the way we feel we are with her, unable to put her book down, taking it in with a single gulp -- from the frightened Laotian boy doctor trying to stitch up her lacerated arm with an upholstery needle and thread, to the diffcult tests she put herself through afterwards, some of them impossibly brave. Our attention is a given, our admiration is wholehearted. Like her many friends, we can only wonder what she is made of? What drives a person to defy every threat and toss eight out of her nine lives away in order to bring back pictures of humankind that may make the world care just a little more? We can only guess, in this profoundly personal account, by glimpsing the world through her own eyes. The spiritual side of her voyage is present -- she is a committed Buddhist and a meditator -- but it is personal courage that dominates the book. I will give copies to the people I know will enjoy it and only wish that perhaps it had some more of her photographs -- there are certainly some good ones -- and that another, fuller edition lies ahead and gets the attention it truly deserves.

Very quick summary.The woman starts living (has a strong life.). Makes photos. Learns dignity, meditation and breathing.When she has a life changing moment, we can learn through her. In the end, she has more gratitude than anyone can imagine. The real gift is moment to moment mutual beauty discovered with people, places and within.

Very interesting story, enjoyed the book so much that after reading a friend's copy I bought this one. It is an easy and quick read, inspirational without being sappy.

A tale of unimaginable courage and fortitude.Author, Alison Wright, details her journey from near death to recovery and how she achieved that through a combination of inner spiritual strength and a vast support network that included family, friends and and the compassion of strangers.If you want your spirits lifted, if you want to have your faith in humankind rekindled - this is a must-read.Set your mind and soul back to its factory-defaults.

So inspiring and powerful.