Divorce. Death. Disease. Doubt.

Its lifes heavy stuff that sends us on the journey inward.

For some its the search for purpose. For others its a desire to solve lifes mysteries.

For me, the journey inward began several years ago, when I realized that anger was subconsciously controlling me.

So, I turned to books like Gary Zukavs Seat of the Soul and Eckhart Tolles The Power of Now. They helped me realize that any problems I have begin and end with me.

And in August, I headed to Estes Park, Colo., to join 700 other seekers of enlightenment at Sounds Trues Wake Up Festival, a five-day event thats like a convention for soul searchers.

Soul-searching has become big business these days, with Oprah Winfrey out on her Life You Want Weekend tour, where attendees pay up to $999 to have an aha moment with Ms. O.

Some of Oprahs favorite life trailblazers like authors Elizabeth Gilbert (Eat, Pray, Love) and Mark Nepo (The Book of Awakening) shared wisdom at the Wake Up Festival.

Heres a sampling of what we learned

JILL BOLTE TAYLOR:

The rest is here:

How ALIVE are you? 4 spiritual teachers help you find out