About the author
Michael Jason Sherman is an author, professional counselor and workshop leader. Since 2012, he has been teaching his clients and students from all over the world to experience the healing power of the road as a method of personal healing and transformation.
In his book, THE ZEN OF SOLO TRAVEL: A JOURNEY FROM ANXIETY TO ENLIGHTENMENT, Michael shares with us his story of a life-changing solo journey to Japan, where he moved through dark issues surrounding his childhood, mental illness, addiction, fatherhood, marital conflict, and his identity as a man in this world.
THE ZEN OF SOLO TRAVEL is really two books in one, as each chapter of this spiritual memoir is introduced by a thought provoking passage about what it means to be a "solo traveler" - both as a person seeking redemption, clarity and wisdom by going somewhere by themselves, but also as a metaphor for the emotional journey that we all must take in our lives.
As an author, Michael draws stylistically from the Beat Generation of poets and other road-worthy writers such as Jack Kerouac and Hunter S. Thompson. He puts his best and most vulnerable foot forward in sharing his personal journey to Japan with exciting, breathtaking and often hilarious writing, squeezing every inch of exhilarating learning and experience of this solo journey into a searing, comic masterpiece.
The publication of the book led to the development of an healing integration process within the realm of professional counseling practice. In sharing the insights of the book with those he worked with, he began helping people to take to the road and leave everything (and everyone) behind for a little while. The work began in the New York / New Jersey area, but the journeys went farther. Some took short trips away from home, others took to the air and traveled to other parts of the US and the world, all seeking a kind of inner knowing about their desire to create change that was eluding them in the confines of their daily lives and relationship patterns.
Not only did these people experience extraordinary breakthroughs during their private adventures somewhere out there, but many of them returned feeling empowered and ready to make significant life changes, such as leaving a partner or a job, starting a new business or artistic practice, or simply enjoying a renewed and integrated relationship with oneself.
As a counselor and teacher, Michael draws from his background in martial arts, as well as his extensive spiritual study and life lived abroad in places such as Europe and the Middle East, to convey meaning about how to work with healing momentum --- the kind of inner wisdom that comes to us through the practice of solo travel as a way to continually reconnect to nature and who we really are. As an author, he has a way of creating meaning out of the tiniest details that awaken our minds and warm our souls.
"I learned to Solo Travel through Michael. Since then, I live a life with no regrets. This book will inspire you to do the same. You'll keep moving back to it." - Kerry Potter, Radio Show Host / WRCR New York.
Michael works with individuals, couples, professional leaders, conferences and groups from around the world. He teaches ongoing online workshops, including his SOLO TRAVEL AWAKENING intensives, which teach people how to design their own healing and transformational solo journey. His counseling, consulting and training focuses on helping us to understand our patterns of negative emotional reactivity, and how to move through them into a new level of well-being in life and work.
You can learn more about Michael and his work at his website: www.MichaelJasonSherman.com.
Thanks for reading.
And always remember to keep it moving......