Author Keen draws on her personal experience with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) and related conditions to inform and support others through a well-informed and satisfying series of practical techniques, authentic examples, and spiritual introspection. In her younger years, Keen, then a noted and highly ambitious journalist, suffered from CFS, often unable to stay awake during working hours. The CFS, as she would later discover, was, among other detriments, stifling the flow of creativity and inner freedom offered by healthy sleep. Desperate, she took healing routes such as detox, dietary, and lifestyle changes, but to no avail. However, during a trip to her birthplace in Malawi, Africa, she began to sense a revelatory opening. The exigencies of travel and her recognition of the dire straits of the people she encountered resulted in "more breadth of being." Once she returned to London, she was less afflicted for a time. But it would take her felt need to meditate and her search for guidance in that discipline to evince true recovery for what she deems a "crash" or "burnout," terms that fellow CFS sufferers will readily grasp.

Unlike our forebears, who often lived and worked in secure homeplaces throughout their lives, workers now face the need for constant environmental and work changes, a predicament that has resulted in widespread job burnout. One of her prominent mentors, teacher and writer Samuel Sagan (Subtle Bodies, the Fourfold Model), asserts that IST can be regarded as a protection in this era. Enlightened by education in meditation and her own experiential visions and revelations, Keen would gradually conquer her CFS, absorbing internal wellbeing—a state that is neither purely physical nor mental, but what she would encounter as inner space techniques (IST). IST is a Western perspective that has roots in ancient traditions: the Indian concept of the subtle or astral body, and the Chinese designations of yin and yang qualities, which all persons possess, but often not in an attainable, usable balance. Much of the IST format involves "letting go," allowing creative influences to enter one's life, whereas in these times, Keen aptly states, "There is no letting go when you are always plugged in."

Keen, after her recovery from CFS, became an IST proponent, studying at the internationally based Clairvision School and working with clients around the world. Using case studies encountered in her IST outreach, Keen vividly conveys to readers what it means to crash, successfully demonstrating how CFS directly affects one's functionality by suppressing vitally needed internal relaxation and subtle contact with one's higher, etheric resources. She has designated the regeneration she recommends as a Noble Cure, or Noble Chaos, referencing an ancient definition of "noble" as "knowable." The propelling forces that Keen has chosen to utilize for herself are offered for CFS sufferers who will undoubtedly recognize their worth and wish to pursue their development. Additionally, her well-intentioned work, lively prose, and the many references she cites throughout can provide fresh inspiration for sincere spiritual seekers across a wide spectrum of beliefs and aspirations.

RECOMMENDED by the US Review

A 2025 Eric Hoffer Book Award Category Finalist

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