Death Grip on the Pommel: A Warrior's Journey to Grace

John Myerson is a powerful shamanic healer whose patients know him as a calm and protective presence. What they don't realize is the long struggle he's had to overcome an instinctive tendency toward violence and rage. This book tells the story of his work as a warrior, to attack only wisely, to overcome the fear he faced in dealing with himself, and to achieve an evolving understanding of the balance needed in order to love as well as to strike out. As his story unfolds, he shares what he's learned about discipline and recounts the stories of others he's worked with and learned from along the Way. Finally, he tells of facing his own nature and fear that leads to being given what some might call grace. Fascinating as his own story, Death Grip on the Pommel also offers insight and suggestions to others who seek to learn their own nature, both the light and the shadow sides, to achieve balance, and to move toward connection with an energy and Way of Being beyond themselves. John Myerson has given us a gift with this book, Death Grip on the Pommel. In it he traces his own journey from dark warrior to lightness and ultimately to balance and acceptance. This journey is one that we all should--and with Myerson's guidance-can take, even if we start from what he calls the light. The case studies and his personal experience can help us through our own journeys toward acceptance of who and what we are-just as we are. -Sandra Waddock, Galligan Chair of Strategy Professor of Management Boston College Death Grip on the Pommel is the riveting Odyssey of a gifted shaman-warrior-healer learning the power and relationship of warrior energy and loving energy: discovering the balance between Doing (Yang) and Being (Yin); learning how to love and release from a posture of strength, not weakness; refining the path of discipline and realizing how to transcend resistance. This book, illustrated not only by the author's amazing story but also by actual case files, is a gripping read that is bound to keep you fascinated to the end. -Paul Gallagher Author of Drawing Silk: Masters' Secrets for Successful Tai Chi Practice

About the Author :
John G. Myerson, Ph.D., Lic. Ac. Is a graduate of Harvard College, the first class of the New England School of Acupuncture and received his doctorate in Psychology from the Union Institute & University. He practices shamanic healing, Oriental Medicine and psychotherapy. He is one of the founders of the New England School of Acupuncture and was its first President. He has studied, practiced and taught Zen, yoga, Taoist cultivation, martial arts and shamanic practices for almost sixty years. He lives on a horse farm outside of Boston with his wife of over fifty years, four dogs and 18 horses. Jay Thomas, M.A., M.Ed. is a health/wellness coach and shamanic practitioner who leads retreats throughout New England. Jay trained in Harner Shamanic Counseling with the Foundation for Shamanic Studies. He is a board member and presenter for the Society for Shamanic Practices, Northeast Chapter. His complementary training and experience include tarot, body/mind studies, insight and mindfulness meditation, Usui and Shamballa Reiki, Wicca and Ceremonial Magick, and mediumship. Jay has worked with John Myerson since 2009. He lives in Western Massachusetts at the base of a small mountain -- across a river, down a dirt road, beside a stream, nestled in the forest.