The Big Silence - A Daughter's Memoir of Mental Illness and Healing

Wellness entrepreneur and cofounder of Tone It Up Karena Dawn opens shares her experience growing up with a paranoid schizophrenic mother and her personal mental health journey in her new memoir, The Big Silence: A Daughter¿s Memoir of Mental Illness and Healing. Hoping to empower others who are dealing with their own mental and emotional problems, Dawn reaches a depth of honesty, truth, power, and emotional gravity that¿s rarely achieved.

About the author

Karena Dawn is an entrepreneur, trainer, best-selling author, and cofounder of Tone It Up, the leading fitness and lifestyle community for women. Her lifelong passion for fitness, mindfulness, and spiritual empowerment has made her a leader in the wellness space. Born and raised in Indiana and currently living in Austin, Texas, by way of California, Dawn began cultivating her spiritual practice from a young age. Meditation and movement transformed her life and helped her overcome a dark period of depression and substance abuse. Since then, she has practiced daily meditation and followed The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success for more than ten years. She is honored to speak about The Seven Spiritual Laws and how to apply them to your everyday life.  

As the cofounder of Tone It Up, Dawn empowers women around the world. Through workouts, nutrition products, and community connection, Tone It Up helps women live their healthiest and happiest lives. Most recently, Dawn created Toned Body, Toned Mind, a holistic program in the Tone It Up app that combines yoga, meditation, and self-care practices and includes many teachings she learned while studying meditation at The Chopra Center. She is the coauthor of Tone It Up: Balanced and Beautiful and the New York Times bestselling book Tone It Up: 28 Days to Fit, Fierce and Fabulous. 

Dawn has been featured in Forbes for creating a “fitness empire” and on the Create & Cultivate 100 List honoring women who are masters in their field. She has also headlined the POPSUGAR Play/Ground festival and has been a keynote speaker at the Power Up Women’s Leadership Conference.
 

As a passionate advocate for mental wellness, Dawn is proud to serve on the board of advisors for NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) and is the founder of the mental health nonprofit The Big Silence Foundation, as well as the podcast The Big Silence. Through all her work, Dawn is dedicated to helping others feel confident, empowered, and fulfilled. 

Summary

Quiet your mind, and the silence will help you hear your inner voice—the one that says, “Stay strong enough to forgive, to heal, and to have hope.”

In her stirring, vulnerable new memoir, Karena Dawn reveals what it was like to grow up with a mother suffering from severe mental health issues, and how, during her teenage years, she desperately tried to escape her own inner demons. Addicted to pain-numbing drugs and crippled by severe depression, Karena learned how to use grief as a teacher, releasing herself from guilt and shame and finding the inner strength to go from abandonment to forgiveness, from hopelessness to healing. 

Karena’s bold and brave memoir shows us how staying silent about mental illness only reinforces the stigma. At the heart of her story is the eternal struggle we all share—how to move past the pain and suffering of our personal battles to experience life’s joys. Through the healing power of nature, meditation, and fitness, Karena was able to forge a path to self-discovery and find peace. 

Ultimately, The Big Silence reveals how a journey of self-love can lead to a renewed sense of identity and a life filled with hope and optimism.

Foreword

Organic Social Media Content Promotion to 3.3M+ followers across all social media channels

Email Promotion to 1.4M Tone It Up Subscribers

Promotion Through Author’s Network of Influencers

Signed book giveaway, IG live/Zoom, IG stories designed to target the Tone It Up community

Inclusion and highlight in the National Alliance of Mental Illness (NAMI) newsletter and website where author is a board member

Promotional Materials for Author Speaking Engagements

Inclusion in Karena’s new podcast, The Big Silence, to launch before the book release date

5-city live event tour (includes a workout/medication, a panel, book signing, and meet and greet (Austin, Los Angeles, Miami, NYC, Denver)

Additional text

“Karena’s revealing memoir demonstrates how one can truly create a new journey with a renewed sense of identity, hope, and optimism.” – DEEPAK CHOPRA 
 “Karena’s new book is about transformation. As she struggles to cope with her mother’s mental illness, Karena learns it’s not about being perfect, but about striving each day to learn, accept, and forgive. It’s about using tools like physical movement and meditation that will improve the quality of your life. That is transformation.”—JILLIAN MICHAELS, #1 New York Times bestselling author

 “In honest and beautiful prose, Karena writes about confronting her struggles with bravery and courage, removing the stigma of mental illness and paving the way for others seeking empathy and acceptance.”—JEWEL, musician, songwriter, and New York Times bestselling author of Never Broken 
 “Your book [will] reach the hearts and souls of everyone . . .[and] inspire.”—DARLENE CORDERO, director of talent outreach at Chopra Global

Product details

• Authors: Karena Dawn
• Publisher: Ingram Publishers Services
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 26.04.2022
• EAN: 9781954854499
• ISBN: 978-1-954854-49-9
• No. of pages: 298
• Subjects: Fiction > Narrative literature > Letters, diaries; BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Women, FAMILY & RELATIONSHIPS / Dysfunctional Families, Family & relationships: advice & issues, HEALTH & FITNESS / Mental Health, Coping with / advice about mental health issues