When You’re Falling, Dive Trying to Be Human, Be the Person You Want to Find, Time-Out for Parents, Don’t Suffer, Communicate! What Universe Are You Creating? These are the titles of a few of the 25 books written by Cheri Huber over her 45 years as a student and teacher of Zen Awareness Practice. Her teaching is immanently approachable, encouraging humor, delight, curiosity, and compassion. To that end, her books are produced in a custom hand lettered font and are liberally sprinkled with simple, illuminating illustrations. Her writing offers profound and practical ways for dealing with the many difficulties of being human. Ending suffering is the essence of the Buddha’s message, which can sound like a serious undertaking—and it is— but Cheri contends that it is possible to be on a life-changing spiritual journey and remain lighthearted while doing so. Cheri’s bestselling, widely read Regardless of What You Were Taught to Believe, There Is Nothing Wrong with You: Going Beyond Self-Hate is a compassionate guide to learning to accept ourselves exactly as we are. A self-hating inner critic plagues even the most loving and self-aware among us, and seeing it clearly as utterly useless is crucial to being free of it. The Depression Book: Depression as an Opportunity for Spiritual Growth, now in its eleventh printing, is a definitive guide to dealing with the dull pain of depression. Having for years suffered from depression herself, her message is that it is not necessary to remain a victim of depression. How depression happens can be scrutinized, understood, and transcended. Shining the light of conscious compassionate awareness into its darkest corners can free us from its tyranny. Cheri teaches several innovative practices for supporting awakening to the wisdom, love and compassion of Authentic Nature, most notably Recording and Listening. Briefly stated, this means recording anything and everything a person wants to say, without reservation, listening back, and then responding from love to the person who made the recording! In 1984, Cheri founded A Center for the Practice of Zen Buddhist Meditation. These days the Center has a robust schedule of virtual workshops, email classes, and programs to deepen Awareness Practice. About 20 years ago while in Assisi, Italy, a chance encounter with a Franciscan friar inspired Living Compassion, a project in an impoverished slum in Ndola, Zambia. A small operation that fed 25 children daily is now a flourishing cooperative, providing nutrition, education, clean water, basic medical care and a safe environment for 1,000 children. Cheri hosts Open Air, a call-in radio show, Tuesdays at 5:00 p.m. Pacific.