A collection of personal essays, revelatory poems, and meditation practices, You Are the Pendulum: Poems and Practices for an Unsettling World deeply contemplates community, nature, and the sacred, spiritual world.
This book offers creative ways to tread through and reconnect to our Selves in the face of the stress of society. As our lives shift, this book serves as an invitation to rediscover what is innate through a unique alchemy of breath practice, mindfulness, and self-reflection.
“May this book disrupt practices that are no longer serving you. May this book dismantle samskaras, old ways of thinking and being, and old habits. May this book open, uplift, dive into shadow, reveal, and move you further toward your Self. May you arrive at the recognition that you are the pendulum.”
“Pamela has written an intimate book of poetry describing what it feels like to be a black woman in America. She brings to the surface themes that many women of color can relate to. This could also be an introduction for the rest of us to better understand the experience of being in the body and mind of another woman. While reading the poems, one can feel the exhaustion that comes from everyday living as a woman of color. There is a tenderness that emerges straight from the heart, and one cannot help but feel empathy while sitting with the poetry.”
Amy Wheeler, Ph.D., C-IAYT
Founder of Optimal State
“Pamela Stokes Eggleston has written a sensitive, contemplative, accessible book that can help many people who struggle with self-understanding and self-care in a society still in many ways bruised by recent history. With beautiful poetry and lucid instructions for engaging meditatively, Pam creates a blueprint for spiritual and personal practice. My personal favorite creates connections between celebrating one’s birth, the earth, and creativity (art)! I hope you find your favorite.”
Kathy Roth-Douquet
Author & CEO of Blue Star Families
“Pamela shares her raw authentic voice with emotions that range and rages in the unsettling collective energy that speaks about identity race, dis-ease, decisiveness, deception… the seemingly distortion and dysfunction of our lives on this planet from all the lies and fake news we have consumed-and that Gaia is burning. Burning towards a New Earth as she speaks of a BIGGER blissful healing mission using breath, contemplation, and artful wise words.”
“Pamela invites us to commune with and make the Self more available to the animal and plant kingdoms, she shares how they are the guideposts to our collective health when dominant culture will try to tell us otherwise. We truly only save ourselves; we show up and shine our unique Light the best we can; settling every breath as the pendulum swings! Yes, You ARE the Pendulum!”
Michele Spencer, Army Retired Colonel, LMT, E-RYT 500,
Author of B.A.G.H.D.A.D. Yoga and
Brixton’s Rainbow My Light Body: A Journey with the Chakras
“You are the Pendulum is a beautiful guide to navigating the ebbs and flows of life, allowing spaciousness to unfold and connection and joy to rise.”
Tracee Stanley, Bestselling Author of Radiant Rest and The Luminous Self
“Pamela’s words are evocative and raw, rooted in her experience and practice as a Black woman, yoga teacher and space holder. She writes with vulnerability, truth, courage, and heart. May this work serve all those who seek an anchor in the tumultuous times we live in, and may the words be an inspiration to live, study, and embody the teachings of our ancestors.”
Anjali Rao, President of Accessible Yoga
Association
“Wow, just wow! If ever there is a time that a book like this needed, it is now. By not skating around the truth of her thoughts, feelings, and experiences in recent years, Pamela invites us into exploring our own truths and urges us to stand strong in them…The skillful rhythm of her writing lulls us into getting to the core of what we need to re-establish the lost connections with ourselves, each other, and the universe. But it also helps us release the weight of what’s going on in the world around us and make room for self-care and inward focus to re-energize. You Are the Pendulum will be one that we reach for often, when we need on-the-spot strength, direction, and perspective.”
Pamela McBride, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
Strategist, Career & Leadership Development
Consultant, Author & Freelance Writer
“Courageous. Unflinching. Inspired. Spiritually transcendent. In You Are the Pendulum, Pamela Stokes Eggleston shares her soul with the clarity and wisdom of one who has earned the sacred meaning and deep purpose of her life. Effectively and inspirationally holding the contradictory experiences of suffering and inner peace in her heart and offering hands, Pamela reveals a vibrant and illuminated pathway through the mystery of the human experience. She encourages us all to see and think clearly, to feel fully, and to act in service to our highest selves as we uphold the promise of a shared humanity for all who walk this earth together.”
David Lipsius, Mental Health & Wellness Guide
“Pamela’s writing is powerful and real! She takes us on a voyage of grief, discovery, and love with each essay and poem. This is an incredible work of art.”
Darrell Green, Pro Football Hall of Famer
“Thank you, Pamela Stokes Eggleston, for sharing so openly with us. You Are the Pendulum reveals your heart and your process in such a strong and generous way. Your words help us process our grief and struggle, from the pandemic to personal loss. You’re not afraid to dive deep and encourage us to leave the safety of the shallow waters for something more profound. As you say, ‘Exploring the depths of your very heart, spirit, soul. Cracking yourself open to reveal, receive love for you. Loving you some you’.”
Jivana Heyman, Author of Yoga Revolution & Accessible Yoga
“Sensual, deeply intuitive and contemplative, Pamela Stokes Eggleston’s powerfully poetic wordplay in You Are the Pendulum, is a woman’s journey to Self. The book guides its readers through love, trauma, and loss – to understanding and ultimately, Self-discovery, with the help of practical meditative techniques and exercises; and beautifully scripted prose that caresses the spirit like a mother’s whisper or disturbs it like a sea-tossed inflatable. A must-read for anyone seeking to strengthen connection to self and universe.”
T. McCreary Moore, Senior Advisor, Service to the Armed Forces; International Services at the American Red Cross
“In this collection of poetry, reflection, and essays, Stokes Eggleston’s voice shines with crystal clarity. At the same time, her words guide and challenge us to examine our experience of this world, our own self in it, and our place among all those that we share this experience with.”
Judith Carlisle, Ph.D. Adjunct Professor
Loyola Marymount University
“As the great womanist activist Fanny Lou Hamer said, ‘Nobody’s free until everybody’s free,’ and I don’t personally know a freedom fighter with more clarity, nuance, and grace than Pamela. She reminds us that there is no enlightenment in spiritual bypassing, and no unearthing of great, illuminating Universal truth before facing the dark personal truths that we bury within. Her work embodies the hard work of activism and the need for the occasional soft landing, a poet-warrior queen’s salvo reminding us, “No justice? No peace. Know justice? Know peace.”
Lily Burana, Journalist, Editor, and Best-Selling
Author of Strip City & Grace for Amateurs