WAVERLY - Peter Amato’s journey from recovery to self-discovery has been ongoing for more than 16 years. He is an ordained lay monk, a certified yoga instructor, owner of Inner Harmony Wellness Centers, a seasoned traveler, a Ph.D. candidate in mind-body medicine, a meditation master, a psychotherapist with 16 years of sobriety to his credit and the author of “Soul Silence.”
“Soul Silence” was released in November 2010. “My book is part life story and part how to evolve your life journey to move through the seven levels of human consciousness, to move beyond the mind, intellect and ego and have a direct experience of your heart, your, spirit and your soul,” said Amato, who opened the first location of the Inner Harmony Wellness Centers in May 1997.
The facility combined conventional medicine with complementary and alternative therapies offering “a holistic, patient-centered health and wellness care including cancer care, cardiovascular health, eating disorders, smoking cessation, weight loss and stress management.”
He currently owns and operates Inner Harmony Wellness Centers in St. Martin, which includes the Inner Harmony Yoga Institute and Inner Harmony Yoga Studio; the Center for Integrative Medicine at Inner Harmony, PC, located on the campus of Mercy Hospital in Scranton; the Inner Harmony Yoga Studio at Uno Fitness on Olive Street in Scranton. He is also a partner in the Integrative Life Center in Nashville, an outpatient integrative health model, which merges various forms of health, healing and recovery. When he is not in St. Martin, he resides in Waverly.
“The journey I teach is to experience our higher self through meditation and yoga, which has been alive for over 10,000 years,” said Amato. “The book offers stress reduction practices for quieting the mind as well as powerful spiritual exercises to take ones awareness to the timeless state of being.
“Anyone searching for a direct experience of a higher power will find it in ‘Soul Silence.’ Twelve steps offer a great guide, but no path or manual. This was why HCI Communications asked me to write the book. They saw a void in the traditional system,” added Amato.
“The 12-steps of Alcoholics Anonymous saved my life. They are a guide to move beyond the hooks of the mind and ego, help you become clean and sober, and help you to grow up and come home to a higher self within without attachment.”
In 2004, Amato “planted the seed” that would grow the hundreds of pages of notes, ideas and presentations he had given worldwide into “Soul Silence.”
He said, “I would say it took five to 10 years for the book to percolate, develop a life of its own and become a manuscript.”
Amato has traveled and studied meditation and stress reduction with world leaders and pioneers in their respective fieldsand was ordained as a lay monk under Nobel Peace Prize Zen Buddhist monk author and poet Thich Nhat Hanh in the Mahayana tradition of Buddhism. He is also certified in primordial sound meditation and studied directly with Deepak Chopra.
“Soul Silence” has been an opportunity for Amato to share his experience as what he referred to as “a living laboratory of the unfolding journey of human consciousness.”
“At the Wellness Center, I work in guiding people in lifestyle and wellness coaching, offering customized organic nutrition programs and biofeedback for individuals,” said Amato. “At some point in the near future, we will be offering our 200- and 500-hour teacher training certification in Scranton as well. Inner Harmony yoga is rooted in hatha, raja and bhakti yoga. Therefore, it is classic yoga rooted in an inward focus and a meditative awareness. .”
While the title Amato originally assigned to his manuscript was “The Only Way Out Is In,” the publishers decided to call it “Soul Silence.”
“No problem. I like it,” said Amato.
His book is available at Anthology Bookstore, Possibilities Bookstore in South Scranton, Inner Harmony Wellness Center at Mercy Hospital and online at Amazon.com or www.innerharmonywellness.com/meet-peter
Amato said he does see private clients regarding Lifestyle and Wellness Coaching, Customized Nutrition Programs, and private meditation and yoga sessions at the Wellness Center from June through November. For more information call Ryan Gilmartin at 570.346.4621.
< back to news
