How to Be Sick ─ A Buddhist-Inspired Guide for the Chronically Ill and Their Caregivers

This life-affirming, instructive and thoroughly inspiring book is a must-read for anyone who is?or who might one day be?sick. And it can also be the perfect gift of guidance, encouragement, and uplifting inspiration to family, friends, and loved ones struggling with the many terrifying or disheartening life changes that come so close on the heels of a diagnosis of a chronic condition or even life-threatening illness.

The author?who became ill while a university law professor in the prime of her career?tells the reader how she got sick and, to her and her partner’s bewilderment, stayed that way. Toni had been a longtime meditator, going on long meditation retreats and spending many hours rigorously practicing, but soon discovered that she simply could no longer engage in those difficult and taxing forms. She had to learn ways to make ?being sick” the heart of her spiritual practice?and through truly learning how to be sick, she learned how, even with many physical and energetic limitations, to live a life of equanimity, compassion, and joy. And whether we ourselves are sick now or not, we can learn these vital arts of living well from How to Be Sick.

Toni Bernhard received a J.D. from the University of California, Davis where she taught law for 22 years until forced to retire due to the illness she writes about in How to Be Sick. From 1992-1998, she served as the law school's Dean of Students. At the time she became ill, she had a longstanding Buddhist practice and co-led a weekly meditation group with her husband Tony. They live in Davis, CA with their hound dog, Rusty.