Brave Healer Productions Releases Heart Matters, Poetry and Essays for Rediscovering Our Shared Humanity

BETHESDA, Md., Sept. 20, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- What is it about poetry that moves people in a way that ordinary prose cannot? How can poetry wake readers up one layer at a time, shifting their awareness toward a greater understanding of the human condition, making them more compassionate, loving and tender? Heart Matters: A Poetic Revolution of Truth, Healing, and Belonging, a new book from Brave Healer Productions, answers those questions, according to publisher Laura Di Franco who announced the release of its first poetry book.

Written by Shahmeen Sadiq, a Toronto-based poet, certified master coach and leadership expert, Heart Matters also serves as a memoir for Sadiq, who grew up as a little girl of color tormented because she was different, a young woman who felt invisible but as an adult blossomed into a fierce, honest and compassionate leader.

This poem, Enter the Sacred, which appears in the book was inspired by a favorite place:

Come into the garden

And put your burden down.

We have made this place for you

With a canopy of majestic trees, a symphony of birdsong

and the peacefulness of your sentient siblings

So that you can remember who you are, who you've always been

and that you never walked alone.

Come, rest now.

Let the gentle breeze caress your soul as

the sun recharges your spirit and

the earth renews your foundation.

Have you forgotten that we are here?

That happens from time to time.

No matter.

Just hear our whisper in the leaves:

You can always return

No need for forgiveness

This is your home

Praise for Heart Matters

"Heart Matters is a collection of poems and essays revealing a fierce and loving alternative to the frenetic busyness we all know. … The author, Shahmeen Sadiq, writes as an emissary between the Divine and the Earth. … Her work is both transcendent and pragmatic."— Dan Holden, author, Lost Between Lives: Finding YOUR Light When the World Goes Dark 

"Heart Matters is a gorgeous tapestry of poems and essays. Shahmeen Sadiq offers a rare look into the depth of our shared humanity. As Sadiq writes, 'One doesn't need dark skin' to know what it is to feel invisible. Journey with her to a place of authentic presence and move closer to your fierce, compassionate heart." — Dr. Ranjini George, author of Through My Mother's Window

"Her story will inspire others to reach beyond themselves to find themselves, and the fierce voice to 'say out loud what our experience really is.'" — Mel Dowdy, author Night Weavers: Poetic Meditations on Resiliency 

About the Author

As the founder of Anjali Leadership Inc., master certified leadership coach Shahmeen Sadiq has been guiding the development of insurance, government, consulting, health care, education, banking, hospitality, and faith organization leaders for more than 15 years. She is an adjunct at the University of Notre Dame and was the first female faculty member of The Leadership Circle. During her 11-year association with that circle, she certified and mentored nearly a thousand coaches. During the pandemic, she created the Power Pause, a daily gathering for people who want to turn inward through a unique blend of meditation, mindfulness, self-awareness and leadership. She is a former skydiving instructor who no longer jumps out of airplanes for fun but continues to help others work through their fears. Heart Matters is her first book.

Contact: Laura Di Franco, (703) 915-3653; www.BraveHealer.com

SOURCE Laura Di Franco