Martial Arts and Writing Help Mom Heal after Daughter’s Death

July 5, 2012 - PRLog -- Kent, WA  – When Elena Stowell’s fifteen-year-old daughter died suddenly from a heart condition, she thought her heart might stop too. Can a heart keep beating after shattering into a thousand pieces? She bravely discovered the answer was “yes” after stumbling across Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and finding inner strength and grief support through her time on the mat. Elena realized the principles of healing and the martial art form were the same. After a soul-searching journey through physical soreness, mental exhaustion, and emotional overload, her therapist and coach encouraged to share her moving and potent story with the world. Flowing with the Go was born.

After years of exploration, writing, and support from the Jiu-Jitsu community, Elena is ready to reveal the inner workings of her reassembled heart, held tightly together by her hard-earned blue belt.

Flowing with the Go will be unveiled to the world on July 10, and Elena is hosting a private release party on July 14. Due to the popularity among the Brazilian Jiu-JItsu community, Elena’s book was translated into Brazilian Portuguese and is available internationally in both English and Brazilian Portuguese. Elena will be will be traveling to Brazil in August for their Bienal Internaciional do livro de Sao Paulo book festival.

The book is now available for preorder on BQB’s website. You can also order it on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or through your favorite bookstore. The eBook version is available through Kindle, Nook, iTunes, and Kobo. http://shop.boutiqueofqualitybooks.com/Flowing-with-the-G...

To secure an interview or book signing with Elena Stowell, or to receive an advance copy of the book for a prerelease review, email Julie@bqbpublishing.com.

About Flowing with the Go
For what seemed like a lifetime and probably was, Elena Stowell wandered aimlessly in a personal prison of self-doubt and lack of purpose after her daughter Carly died suddenly before her eyes. By some combination of miracle and necessity, she walked into a Seattle-area Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu gym and rolled for the first time in her life. Through that experience and others that followed, Elena discovered the tenets of the martial art form and healing were the same. With a ripping raw honesty and refreshing balance of humor and introspection, Elena’s story reminds us to never stop panning for the gold within ourselves.

About the Author
Elena Stowell, a high school biology and AP biology teacher with a master’s degree in animal science, lives with her family in Kent, Washington. She is a National Board Certified Teacher and is part of a small collaborative group of teachers who facilitate workshops and symposia about food safety and nutrition for a week during the summer each year in Washington, DC, for the US Food and Drug Administration. Elena’s daughter died in April of 2007 and Elena was devastated as any mother would be. The rest of her life became about surviving the grief. With the support and encouragement of her family and friends, she took a first step off of the couch and back into life. Needing an outlet for the suffocating turmoil of emotions that losing a child causes, Elena found Foster Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. She learned that, like many martial arts, Jiu-Jitsu had a spiritual aspect and would provide the guidance she needed to work through her grief. Her coach, James Foster, sometimes without even knowing it, made statements that she took deeply to heart. To learn more about Elena, visit http://www.elena-stowell.com/.

About BQB Publishing
Founded in August of 2010, BQB was created to be “the writer’s publisher,” focusing on quality writing from new authors. An independent hybrid publisher, BQB combines the quality processes of traditional publishing with hands-on author involvement to bring today’s new writers and tomorrow’s best sellers into the hands of booksellers and the reading public. To learn more about BQB, visit http://www.bqbpublishing.com/.