Today he is the director of the Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education (CCARE) at Stanford University, of which the Dalai Lama is a founding benefactor. But back then his life was at a dead end until at twelve he wandered into a magic shop looking for a plastic thumb. Instead he met Ruth, a woman who taught him a series of exercises to ease his own suffering and manifest his greatest desires. Her final mandate was that he keep his heart open and teach these techniques to others. She gave him his first glimpse of the unique relationship between the brain and the heart.Doty would go on to put Ruth’s practices to work with extraordinary results—power and wealth that he could only imagine as a twelve-year-old, riding his orange Sting-Ray bike. But he neglects Ruth’s most important lesson, to keep his heart open, with disastrous results—until he has the opportunity to make a spectacular charitable contribution that will virtually ruin him. Part memoir, part science, part inspiration, and part practical instruction, Into the Magic Shop shows us how we can fundamentally change our lives by first changing our brains and our hearts.

    There’s never been a greater need to slow down, tune out and give ourselves permission to be still. In The Art of Stillness—a TED Books release—Iyer investigate the lives of people who have made a life seeking stillness: from Matthieu Ricard, a Frenchman with a PhD in molecular biology who left a promising scientific career to become a Tibetan monk, to revered singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen, who traded the pleasures of the senses for several years of living the near-silent life of meditation as a Zen monk. Iyer also draws on his own experiences as a travel writer to explore why advances in technology are making us more likely to retreat. He reflects that this is perhaps the reason why many people—even those with no religious commitment—seem to be turning to yoga, or meditation, or seeking silent retreats. These aren't New Age fads so much as ways to rediscover the wisdom of an earlier age. Growing trends like observing an “Internet Sabbath”—turning off online connections from Friday night to Monday morning—highlight how increasingly desperate many of us are to unplug and bring stillness into our lives. The Art of Stillness paints a picture of why so many—from Marcel Proust to Mahatma Gandhi to Emily Dickinson—have found richness in stillness. Ultimately, Iyer shows that, in this age of constant movement and connectedness, perhaps staying in one place is a more exciting prospect, and a greater necessity than ever before. In 2013, Pico Iyer gave a blockbuster TED Talk. This lyrical and inspiring book expands on a new idea, offering a way forward for all those feeling affected by the frenetic pace of our modern world.

    Endorsed by the National Institute for the Clinical Application of Behavioral Medicine, mindfulness is a simple way to gently help you become more present with the challenges you face and navigate difficulties with more clarity and courage.The guidance presented in Real-World Mindfulness for Beginners has been praised by today’s leading voices on mindfulness. Particularly helpful to those who are new to mindfulness, Real-World Mindfulness for Beginners offers knowledge that is easy to understand and techniques that can be applied immediately. Each chapter offers mindfulness practices that are specific to common challenges such as dealing with anxiety and stress, managing anger and hurt, and coping with grief and loss. In Real-World Mindfulness for Beginners, you’ll find: Mindfulness practices that are most applicable to your current need Easy mindfulness practices that take only minutes or even seconds Tips that modify mindfulness practices to inspire new experiences Through the practices in Real-World Mindfulness for Beginners you’ll unearth the quiet strength within to handle life’s curve balls as they come, wherever you may be.

    But it feels so hard. We are simultaneously the harsh judge and the lost, scared child who wants to stop feeling judged. It becomes a vicious cycle. It only stops when we step outside ourselves and observe how we get ourselves stuck.Tiny Buddha's Guide to Loving Yourself from TinyBuddha.com creator Lori Deschene, shares 40 unique perspectives and insights on topics related to loving yourself, including: realizing you're not broken, accepting your flaws, releasing the need for approval, forgiving yourself, letting go of comparisons, and learning to be authentic. Featuring stories selected from hundreds of TinyBuddha.com contributors, the book provides an honest look at what it means to overcome critical, self-judging thoughts to create a peaceful, empowered life.This book combines all of the elements that made Deschene's first book, Tiny Buddha, compelling--authentic stories (four in each chapter); insightful observations about our shared struggles and how to overcome them; and action-oriented suggestions, based on the wisdom in the stories.

    If you’ve tried mindfulness before and failed, we get it. Likely you were told to sit on a pillow in a dark room, meditate, or count your breaths. But mindfulness isn’t about separating ourselves from the problems in the world. Instead, it is about re-learning how to get out there, connect with the suffering of every living being and in so doing, embrace your own personal suffering to heal, transform, grow, and finally find peace.Tim Desmond—an esteemed Buddhist philosopher who has lectured on psychology at both Harvard and Yale and studied under Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh—has spent his life cultivating new ways to bridge the gap between the ancient tradition of mindfulness and modern life. With How to Stay Human in a F*cked Up World Desmond gets right to the heart of our collective pain with a life-changing mindfulness practice for surviving the sometimes-miserable world we live in, featuring strategies and guidance you can start using to feel more connected, joyful, and present today.

    In What About Now, you will find over 150 quotes from Gina Lake’s books—Choosing, Embracing the Now, Radical Happiness, and others—that will inspire and enable you to be more present. These empowering quotes will wake you up out of your ordinary consciousness and help you live with more love, contentment, gratitude, and awe. Here is a sample: “Watch the mind as it tries, in every moment, to co-opt experience by translating it into a story. It tries to draw you away from experience into a mental world that simulates experience. It tries to draw you into an imagined story about the experience. If it succeeds, that story becomes your experience. If you agree to go to this mental world, feelings will also arise and add reality to this world, but it is still a mental world.” Gina Lake is a nondual spiritual teacher whose teachings are similar to Eckhart Tolle's. After having a spiritual awakening in 1999, she has been dedicated to helping others awaken.

    In the book, Michael Taft gives you step-by-step instructions in the powerful and reliable techniques of mindfulness meditation, and outlines the psychological and neuroscientific research underpinning these practices. An excellent book for beginners who are atheists, agnostics, and skeptics of all stripes who want help with anxiety, depression, and to enjoy life more.

    While over 5 million Americans meditate regularly, millions more remain unaware of the physical, mental, and spiritual well-being that can result from such a simple practice. "Meditation For Dummies" guides you down the road to increased awareness and inner peace. It also covers the historical origins and traditional wisdom behind modern meditation practice. Relax, take a deep breath, and we'll do the rest.

    Kindfulness is the cause of relaxation. It brings ease to the body, to the mind, and to the world. Kindfulness allows healing to happen. So don't just be mindful, be kindful!With his trademark knack for telling engaging stories paired with step-by-step anyone-can-do-it instructions, Brahm brings alive and makes accessible powerful tools tranformation. This slim, beautifully designed volume is a Quick Start guide for living a life of joy and compassion.

    Whether it's in your work, relationships, health, finances, or leisure time, North America's simplicity expert Elaine St. James can help you learn to unwind and improve the quality of your life. If you're feeling over-powered, overextended, and overwhelmed, SIMPLIFY YOUR LIFE is the antidote, providing one hundred proven, practical steps for creating a simple and satisfying way of life.

    But what really is silence? Where can it be found? And why is it more important now than ever?Erling Kagge, the Norwegian adventurer and polymath, once spent fifty days walking solo in Antarctica with a broken radio. In this meditative, charming and surprisingly powerful book, he explores the power of silence and the importance of shutting out the world. Whether you're in deep wilderness, taking a shower or on the dance floor, you can experience perfect stillness if you know where to look. And from it grows self-knowledge, gratitude, wonder and much more.Take a deep breath, and prepare to submerge yourself in Silence. Your own South Pole is out there, somewhere.

    In conversation with a long-time member of AA meetings, Father Thomas talks insightfully about surrendering to one's Higher Power and the journey that must be undertaken for the healing of the soul to begin.

    Many times, people with PTSD will suffer flashbacks, have intense nightmares and difficulty sleeping, and may feel angry, anxious, and constantly “on alert.” Living with PTSD is extremely difficult, but there are ways that you can manage your symptoms and, in time, recover.In The iRest Program for Healing PTSD, clinical psychologist and yogic scholar Richard C. Miller-named one of the top twenty-five yoga teachers by Yoga Journal-offers an innovative and proven-effective ten-step yoga program for treating post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The deep relaxation meditations in this book will help you overcome the common symptoms of PTSD, such as anxiety, insomnia, and depression, and maintain emotional stability so that you can return to living a full, meaningful life.The author's iRest protocol is an integrative approach that heals the various unresolved issues, traumas, and wounds that are present in the body and mind. It recognizes the underlying sense of calm that is always present, even amidst all changing circumstances of life. Extensive research has shown that iRest effectively supports the healing process across a broad range of populations. Currently, there are iRest programs in military hospitals across the US, as well as in correctional facilities, hospices, clinics, schools, and organizations supporting personal growth and well-being. iRest has been endorsed by the US Army Surgeon General and Defense Centers of Excellence as a complementary and alternative medicine (CAM).If you are ready to start healing from your trauma and get back to living the life you once knew-a life free from fear, anxiety, and sleepless nights-this book will help you find your way. To find out more about Richard C. Miller and the iRest program, visit www.irest.us.

    Drawing from his years of experience as a teacher, spiritual leader, and avid meditator, Edward Viljoen will guide readers down the path to enlightenment using wisdom such as:Mindfulness practices—Train yourself to become absorbed in a purposefully chosen activity Sitting practices—Reduce the use of mental and physical resources as much as possible by sitting still and silently Creative practices—Devices such as journaling, observing, and focusing on a favorite literary or spiritual passage   Peppered throughout with stories from the author’s spiritual teachings and personal anecdotes, this book goes beyond a simple how-to book and creates a wonderful reading experience that will help readers to live more wise and fulfilling lives.

    We all have the capacity for intuitive insight; in fact, intuition is already within us - whether we are aware of it or not. Having intuition doesn’t involve having psychic powers or having to visualize white lights coming out of our heads. These common “new age” style techniques are not at all necessary to develop our intuition. In some cases, these techniques further impair our capacity to be intuitive simply because it can add more clutter into our minds. Developing your intuition is not about adding more or wanting more, it’s about throwing things out and wanting less – when we have cultivated a healthy space within, we can hear, see and feel our intuition more clearly. This book will help you to understand what intuition is and why it is an important part of our lives. It will outline some very simple and progressive steps to take in order to de-clutter the mind so that you can become more aware and sensitive to your intuitive abilities.