This little book is a very appealing introduction to mindfulness meditation for children and their parents. In a simple and accessible way, it describes what mindfulness is and how mindfulness-based practices can help children calm down, become more focused, fall asleep more easily, alleviate worry, manage anger, and generally become more patient and aware. The book contains eleven practices that focus on just these scenarios, along with short examples and anecdotes throughout. Included with purchase is an audio CD with guided meditations, voiced by Myla Kabat-Zinn, who along with her husband, Jon Kabat-Zinn, popularized mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) as a therapeutic approach.

    Each step in the meditation practice (Recognize, Allow, Investigate, Nurture) is brought to life by memorable stories shared by Tara and her students as they deal with feelings of overwhelm, loss, and self-aversion, with painful relationships, and past trauma--and as they discover step-by-step the sources of love, forgiveness, compassion, and deep wisdom alive within all of us.

    (The somewhat confusing title is from a line in Zorba the Greek in which the title character refers to the ups and downs of family life as "the full catastrophe.") But this book is also a terrific introduction for anyone who has considered meditating but was afraid it would be too difficult or would include religious practices they found foreign. Kabat-Zinn focuses on "mindfulness," a concept that involves living in the moment, paying attention, and simply "being" rather than "doing." While you can practice anything "mindfully," from taking a walk to cleaning your house, Kabat-Zinn presents several meditation techniques that focus the attention most clearly, whether it's on a simple phrase, your breathing, or various parts of your body. The book goes into detail about how hospital patients have either improved their health or simply come to feel better despite their illness by using these techniques, but these meditations can help anyone deal with stress and gain a calmer outlook on life. "When we use the word healing to describe the experiences of people in the stress clinic, what we mean above all is that they are undergoing a profound transformation of view," Kabat-Zinn writes. "Out of this shift in perspective comes an ability to act with greater balance and inner security in the world." --Ben Kallenreissue 2005

    This expanded edition includes the complete text of its predecessor along with a new chapter on cultivating loving kindness. For anyone who is new to meditation, this is a great resource for learning how to live a more productive and peaceful life.

    Playing games is a great way for kids to develop their focusing and attention skills and to become more mindful. Susan Kaiser Greenland has had a lot of success bringing mindfulness to the classroom, and in this book she shares her experience, showing how parents, caregivers, and teachers can cultivate these qualities at home or in a school setting. She includes fifty mindfulness games that develop what Greenland calls the "new A, B, C's" for learning and for a happy and successful life: Attention, Balance, and Compassion. In a playful way, the games introduce kids to breathing practices and techniques for developing focus, concentration, and sensory awareness, and identifying and self-regulating emotions, among others skills. They include "anchor" games that develop concentration; visualization games that encourage kindness and focus; analytical games that cultivate clear thinking; and awareness games that develop all of these qualities and give greater insight into ourselves, others, and relationships. Greenland contextualizes each game and offers guidance for the parents/caregivers throughout.Even though the games are written for kids, they can be just as fun and transformative for adults. Greenland encourages parents and caregivers to develop their own attention, balance, and compassion and explore the universal concepts that she presents. She points out that as caregivers, our own mindfulness has a powerful effect on everyone in our lives, especially our children. They notice when we're calmer, more composed, and more joyful, and learn by our example."

    It views the human animal as a unique being, endowed with an instinctual capacity. It asks and answers an intriguing question: why are animals in the wild, though threatened routinely, rarely traumatized? By understanding the dynamics that make wild animals virtually immune to traumatic symptoms, the mystery of human trauma is revealed.Waking the Tiger normalizes the symptoms of trauma and the steps needed to heal them. People are often traumatized by seemingly ordinary experiences. The reader is taken on a guided tour of the subtle, yet powerful impulses that govern our responses to overwhelming life events. To do this, it employs a series of exercises that help us focus on bodily sensations. Through heightened awareness of these sensations trauma can be healed.

    Yet she's never offered an introductory course on audio--until now.On How to Meditate with Pema Chödrön, the American-born Tibetan Buddhist nun and bestselling author presents her first complete spoken-word course for those new to meditation.Through traditional insights and her personal guidance, offered in 12 sitting sessions, Pema Chödrön will help you honestly meet and compassionately relate with your mind as you explore:The basics of mindfulness awareness practice, from proper posture to learning to settle to breathing and relaxation- Gentleness, patience, and humor--three ingredients for a well-balanced practice- Shamatha (or calm abiding), the art of stabilizing the mind to remain present with whatever arises- Thoughts and emotions as "sheer delight"--instead of obstacles--in meditation"From my own experience and from listening to many people over the years, I've tried to offer here what I feel are the essential points of meditation," explains Pema Chödrön. Now this beloved voice shares with you her accessible approach--simple and down-to-earth while informed by the highest traditions of Tibetan Buddhism--on How to Meditate with Pema Chödrön.Running time: 5 hours, 45 minutes on 5 audio CDs

    Beginning with the simplest breathing and sitting techniques, and based on three key skills—concentration, mindfulness, and lovingkindness—it’s a practice anyone can do and that can transform our lives by bringing us greater resiliency, creativity, peace, clarity, and balance. This updated 10th anniversary edition includes exercises, journal prompts, and ten guided meditations available for download online and through scannable QR codes.

    When we are no longer limited by our thinking mind, suffering and pain disappears and we are able to move forward towards a new understanding of our relationships, of nature and of the profound wisdom that is to be found in stillness.

    “Unbounded freedom and joy, oneness with the divine ... these experiences are more common than you know, and not far away.” But even after achieving such realization — after the ecstasy — we are faced with the day-to-day task of translating that freedom into our imperfect lives. We are faced with the laundry.Drawing on the experiences and insights of leaders and practitioners within the Buddhist, Christian, Jewish, Hindu, and Sufi traditions, this book offers a uniquely intimate and honest understanding of how the modern spiritual journey unfolds — and how we can prepare our hearts for awakening.Through moving personal stories and traditional tales, we learn how the enlightened heart navigates the real world of family relationships, emotional pain, earning a living, sickness, loss, and death.

    Yet, as a species, humans have lost the ability to breathe correctly, with grave consequences.Journalist James Nestor travels the world to figure out what went wrong and how to fix it. The answers aren't found in pulmonology labs, as we might expect, but in the muddy digs of ancient burial sites, secret Soviet facilities, New Jersey choir schools, and the smoggy streets of Sao Paulo. Nestor tracks down men and women exploring the hidden science behind ancient breathing practices like Pranayama, Sudarshan Kriya, and Tummo and teams up with pulmonary tinkerers to scientifically test long-held beliefs about how we breathe.Modern research is showing us that making even slight adjustments to the way we inhale and exhale can jump-start athletic performance; rejuvenate internal organs; halt snoring, asthma, and autoimmune disease; and even straighten scoliotic spines. None of this should be possible, and yet it is.Drawing on thousands of years of medical texts and recent cutting-edge studies in pulmonology, psychology, biochemistry, and human physiology, Breath turns the conventional wisdom of what we thought we knew about our most basic biological function on its head. You will never breathe the same again.

    You grow impatient with someone you're trying to help. A cell phone user annoys you on a train. Would your first response to these situations be kindness? In The Kindness Handbook, Sharon Salzberg explores with insight and clarity how kindness for ourselves and others can be the quality we choose to steer our lives by. From the foundation of this transformative practice and its entry point through you, to its daily expression in your life, this book features a thoughtful collection of anecdotes, stories, and practical tools to inspire kindness for any life situation. The Kindness Handbook is your personal companion to explore the rich landscape of kindness-and help you see just how it might shift and open up your life to greater joy, meaning, and compassion. "For kindness to be more fully realized, it needs to be distinguished from being ineffectual or meek. It also needs to be infused with wisdom, supported by courage, and threaded with balance." -Sharon Salzberg, author of The Kindness Handbook "This book is like having Sharon and her gentle wisdom on call, 24-7, to remind you that in every moment, kindness can make a huge difference in how the next moment unfolds, in yourself and in others. This simple practice will light up and lighten your life." -Jon Kabat-Zinn, author of Coming to Our Senses and Arriving at Your Own Door "Sharon Salzberg is a powerful teacher of the enduring value of kindness. Here she brings her teachings to us in a beautiful and accessible form through moving stories and powerful exercises. The world needs more kindness. Sharon is showing us the way." -Roshi Joan Halifax, abbot at the Upaya Zen Center "With the deep wisdom gained by her many years of dharma practice and the greatness of her Being, Sharon leads us gently with confident strength and inspiration down the path to true happiness and love. Sleep with this book under your pillow!" -Krishna Das, author of Flow of Grace

    Total Meditation is the culmination of his teachings over the years, a complete exploration and reinterpretation of the physical, mental, emotional, relational, and spiritual benefits that this practice can bring. Deepak guides readers on how to wake up to new levels of awareness that will ultimately cultivate a clear vision, heal suffering in your mind and body, and help recover who you really are. Readers will undergo a transformative process, which results in an awakening of the body, mind, and spirit and a life led in a state of open, free, creative, and blissful awareness twenty-four hours a day.With this new book, Deepak elevates the practice of meditation to a life-changing quest for higher consciousness and a more fulfilled existence. He also incorporates new research on meditation and its benefits as well as a daily program of meditations to help revolutionize every aspect of our lives.

    It has fast become the slow way to manage the modern world - without chanting mantras or finding hours of special time to meditate.Bring these simple 5- and 10-minute practices into your day to find freedom from stress and ultimately, more peace in your life.

    Apply mindfulness to your relationship with food and you may be surprised to find that eating becomes a source of joy--instead an angst-ridden activity haunted by nutritionally based guilt, calorie-counting, and even more serious problems like eating disorders. For nearly a decade, Jan Bays's guide to eating mindfully has been transforming people's relationship with food--and based on her continued work with those people as well as new data emerging on the topic, she has created this significantly revised and refined version of the original, which contains even more essential information on mindful eating, as well as inspiring new examples from her workshop participants. She shows how to: - Tune into your body's own wisdom about what, when, and how much to eat- Eat less while feeling fully satisfied- Identify your habits and patterns with food- Develop a more compassionate attitude toward your struggles with eating- Discover what you're really hungry for The 75-minute audio program of exercises from the original book has also been revised and will now be available as an audio download.