Yet Dr. Richard Schwartz’s research now challenges this “mono-mind” theory. “All of us are born with many sub-minds—or parts,” says Dr. Schwartz. “These parts are not imaginary or symbolic. They are individuals who exist as an internal family within us—and the key to health and happiness is to honor, understand, and love every part.”Dr. Schwartz’s Internal Family Systems (IFS) model has been transforming psychology for decades. With No Bad Parts, you’ll learn why IFS has been so effective in areas such as trauma recovery, addiction therapy, and depression treatment—and how this new understanding of consciousness has the potential to radically change our lives. Here you’ll explore:• The IFS revolution—how honoring and communicating with our parts changes our approach to mental wellness• Overturning the cultural, scientific, and spiritual assumptions that reinforce an outdated mono-mind model• The ego, the inner critic, the saboteur—making these often-maligned parts into powerful allies• Burdens—why our parts become distorted and stuck in childhood traumas and cultural beliefs• How IFS demonstrates human goodness by revealing that there are no bad parts• The Self—discover your wise, compassionate essence of goodness that is the source of healing and harmony• Exercises for mapping your parts, accessing the Self, working with a challenging protector, identifying each part’s triggers, and moreIFS is a paradigm-changing model because it gives us a powerful approach for healing ourselves, our culture, and our planet. As Dr. Schwartz teaches, “Our parts can sometimes be disruptive or harmful, but once they’re unburdened, they return to their essential goodness. When we learn to love all our parts, we can learn to love all people—and that will contribute to healing the world.”

    A combination of talk therapy and bodywork, it is used to treat a wide range of psychological and physiological conditions, ranging from stress and anxiety to depression and PTSD. Nowhere has somatics proven more effective than in the treatment of trauma. This book invites readers to look beyond the body and mind to consider the social, political and economic roots of trauma. Conditions such as racism, environmental degradation, sexism, and poverty are more than illnesses of society, they are also the source of physical, mental, and emotional disease. Author and practitioner Staci Haines offers a new politicized somatics for therapists and social activists who share a common goal of alleviating suffering and improving life. Individual and societal well-being go hand-in-hand; just as health practitioners need to consider the societal factors underlying trauma, so too must activists understand trauma's physical and mental impact on the lives of those for whom they advocate. Politicized somatics builds power, deepens capacity, and creates embodied skills required for lasting health and meaningful social transformation. This book will be an important tool for healers, therapists, political activists, community organizers, and for the survivors of trauma.

    Death is always with us, in the marrow of every passing moment. She is the secret teacher hiding in plain sight, helping us to discover what matters most in life.Life and death are a package deal. They cannot be pulled apart and we cannot truly live unless we are aware of death. The Five Invitations is an exhilarating meditation on the meaning of life and how maintaining and ever-present consciousness of death can bring us closer to our truest selves. As a renowned teacher of compassionate care-giving and the cofounder of the Zen Hospice Project, Frank Ostaseski has sat on the precipice of death with more than a thousand people. In The Five Invitations, he distills the lessons gleaned over the course of his career, offering an evocative and stirring guide that points a radical path to transformation.The Five Invitations:-Don’t Wait-Welcome Everything, Push Away Nothing-Bring Your Whole Self to the Experience-Find a Place of Rest in the Middle of Things-Cultivate Don’t Know MindThese invitations show us how to wake up fully to our lives. They can be understood as best practices for anyone coping with death or navigating any sort of transition or crisis; they guide us toward appreciating life’s preciousness. Death can be a valuable companion on the road to living well, forging a rich and meaningful life, and letting go of regret. The Five Invitations is a powerful and inspiring exploration of the essential wisdom dying has to impart to all of us.

    All that’s required is that we learn to let go of our expectation that life should go according the agenda we have in mind. Zen teacher Ezra Bayda provides the teachings and practices we need to learn to let go into true happiness—the kind that goes far deeper than the kind that’s about getting what we think we want. Most of our unhappiness, he explains, is the result of seeking satisfaction in things external to us: new jobs, better relationships, luxury vacations. By liberating ourselves from expectations about these outward things and looking inward instead, we can find a deeper and unshakable kind of satisfaction that not only makes things a lot more pleasant for us, but that generates in us generosity and compassion toward others.  Beyond Happiness includes simple meditation and mindfulness practices you can use to access true happiness, including basic sitting meditation, gratitude practice, loving-kindness practice, and the Three Questions practice, in which we ask ourselves: Am I happy now? What blocks happiness? and Can I surrender to what is?

    From isolation to love. From chaos to peace. From lack to abundance. The Four Sacred Secrets combines proven scientific approaches with ancient spiritual practices to take you on a journey that will open your mind to an extraordinary destiny. Drawing on the power of our untapped consciousness, brilliant insights will help you find solutions to long-held challenges. The easy-to-follow meditations included in this book will transform your experience of reality and open you to the power of creating a beautiful life for yourself. Including ancient fables and modern stories that will speak intimately to your heart, this life-transforming book fuses the transcendental and the scientific, the mystical and the practical, to guide you to consciously create wealth, heal your heart, awaken yourself to love, and help you to make peace with your true self. The Four Sacred Secrets will cast its spell on you from the first page and guide you to life in a beautiful state.

    Smiling Mind provides personal insight into the practice of mindfulness meditation. Coming from a firm belief that mindfulness can take people to a more positive and emotionally aware place, Smiling Mind demonstrates how this can be achieved in all areas of our lives—our work, relationships, families, and parenting. It is full of ideas, advice, practical tools, and inspiration to lead a fulfilling life, which in turn means we can build thriving, happy, and successful communities.

    Many people have the compassionate wish to benefit others, but few understand how to make this wish effective in daily life. In this explanation of the Buddhist classic Guide to Bodhisattva's Way of Life, Gelshe Kelsang shows how we can develop and maintain the supremely compassionate motivation of a Bodhisattva, and how we can then engage in the actual practices that provide the greatest benefits to others and lead to the attainment of full enlightenment.

    This groundbreaking work in transpersonal psychology has been revised and redesigned for a more accessible presentation. Arranged schematically, the book uses the inherent structure of the chakra system as a map upon which to chart our Western understanding of individual development. Each chapter focuses on a single chakra, starting with a description of its characteristics, then exploring its particular childhood developmental patterns, traumas and abuses, and how to heal and maintain balance. Illuminated with personal anecdotes and case studies, Eastern Body, Western Mind seamlessly merges the East and West, science and philosophy, and psychology and spirituality into a compelling interpretation of the chakra system and its relevance for Westerners today.Revised edition of the groundbreaking New Age book that seamlessly integrates Western psychology and the Eastern chakra system, including a new introduction from the author.Applies the chakra system to important modern social realities and issues such as addiction, codependence, family dynamics, sexuality, and personal empowerment.

    Childhood Interrupted also explains how to cope with these emotional traumas and even heal from them.Your biography becomes your biology. The emotional trauma we suffer as children not only shapes our emotional lives as adults, it also affects our physical health, longevity, and overall well-being. Scientists now know on a bio-chemical level exactly how parents, chronic fights, divorce, death in the family, being bullied or hazed, and growing up with a hypercritical, alcoholic, or mentally ill parent can leave permanent, physical fingerprints on our brains.When we as children encounter sudden or chronic adversity, excessive stress hormones cause powerful changes in the body, altering our body chemistry. The developing immune system and brain react to this chemical barrage by permanently re-setting our stress response to high, which in turn can have a devastating impact on our mental and physical health.Donna Jackson Nakazawa shares stories from people who have recognized and overcome their adverse experiences, shows why some children are more immune to stress than others, and explains why women are at particular risk. Groundbreaking in its research, inspiring in its clarity, Childhood Interrupted explains how you can reset your biology and help your loved ones find ways to heal.

    Clear and friendly, this in-depth practice manual builds on the nine-stage model of meditation originally articulated by the ancient Indian sage Asanga, crystallizing the entire meditative journey into 10 clearly-defined stages. The book also introduces a new and fascinating model of how the mind works, and uses illustrations and charts to help the reader work through each stage. This manual is an essential read for the beginner to the seasoned veteran of meditation and can be read from front to back, or used as a reference guide, choosing chapters as needed based on the current state of the reader’s practice.

    Eating acid like it was candy and chasing speed with cheap vodka, smoking truckloads of weed, all in a vain attempt to get numb and stay numb.This is the story of a young man and a generation of angry youths who rebelled against their parents and the unfulfilled promise of the sixties. As with many self-destructive kids, Noah Levine's search for meaning led him first to punk rock, drugs, drinking, and dissatisfaction. But the search didn't end there. Having clearly seen the uselessness of drugs and violence, Noah looked for positive ways to channel his rebellion against what he saw as the lies of society. Fueled by his anger at so much injustice and suffering, Levine now uses that energy and the practice of Buddhism to awaken his natural wisdom and compassion.While Levine comes to embrace the same spiritual tradition as his father, bestselling author Stephen Levine, he finds his most authentic expression in connecting the seemingly opposed worlds of punk and Buddhism. As Noah Levine delved deeper into Buddhism, he chose not to reject the punk scene, instead integrating the two worlds as a catalyst for transformation. Ultimately, this is an inspiring story about maturing, and how a hostile and lost generation is finally finding its footing. This provocative report takes us deep inside the punk scene and moves from anger, rebellion, and self-destruction, to health, service to others, and genuine spiritual growth.

    Teaser Bonus!From one of the world's top mindfulness experts comes the ultimate tool for clearing out mental clutter and improving every aspect of your physical and mental health.With this ten-minute guided meditation, learn a simple yet powerful technique that's been tested by time and now adapted to fit into even the most hectic modern lifestyle. And reap incredible benefits! Doing this exercise on a daily basis can help you relieve stress, have stronger relationships, reduce anxiety, sleep more, find a healthy weight, control your emotions, be more productive… the list goes on and on. If you enjoy this meditation, don't miss Andy Puddicombe's book GET SOME HEADSPACE (coming June 2012), which provides many more techniques and exercises, as well as the fascinating science behind mindfulness.

    Judith Orloff. "But for empaths it goes much further. We actually feel others' emotions, energy, and physical symptoms in our own bodies, without the usual defenses that most people have." The Empath's Survival Guide is an invaluable resource for empaths and anyone who wants to nurture their empathy and develop coping skills in our high-stimulus world--while fully embracing their gifts of intuition, compassion, creativity, and spiritual connection.This practical, empowering, and loving book was created to support empaths through their unique challenges and help loved ones better understand the empath's needs and gifts. Dr. Orloff offers crucial practices, including:- Exercises to help you identify your empath type and where you are on the empathy spectrum - Tools for protecting yourself from sensory overload, exhaustion, addictions, and compassion fatigue while replenishing your vital energy - Simple, effective strategies to stop absorbing stress and physical symptoms from others and protect yourself from narcissists and other energy vampires - How to find the right work that feeds you - How to navigate intimate relationships without feeling overwhelmed - Guidance for parenting and raising empathic children - Awakening the empath's gift of intuition and deepening your spiritual connection to all living beingsFor any sensitive person who's been told to "grow a thick skin," here is a lifelong guide for staying fully open while building resilience, exploring your gifts of depth and compassion, and feeling welcome and valued by a world that desperately needs what you have to offer.

    Since then, he's helped thousands of people worldwide unlock their own healing journey. And now he's here to help you become your own healer too.Vex shares how to experience healing through the layers of the self, combining yogic principles and simple, accessible techniques for exceptional, long-lasting results. These transformative practices include:- Working with your body's energy - Exploring and raising your inner vibration - Creating positive relationships - Exploring your personal history and rewriting limiting beliefs - Uncovering your true self and reigniting your fireTaking charge of your inner healing is one of the greatest acts of self-love. By committing to this process and raising your vibration - the energy that courses through you and you radiate out into the world - you'll create space to welcome more joyful experiences into your life.

    Yet this sense of meaning and wonder is so easy to lose sight of in the hectic pace of modern living. In The Buddhist Path to Simplicity, Christina Feldman, a Buddhist teacher, shows you how to find harmony and balance by applying ancient Buddhist wisdom to the here and now. The path of conscious simplicity, she suggests, allows us to fully recover ourselves, by rediscovering our sense of meaning and wonder. As a mother, a layperson and an internationally recognized teacher, Feldman knows the stresses and strains of modern life. She addresses subjects of compassion, speech, effort, intention, mindfulness and awakening. The path to peace, she suggests, is not necessarily complex or arduous. If we simply turn our attention to this moment, it will speak to us of wonder, mystery, harmony and peace. She demonstrates that there is no better moment in which to awaken and discover everything our heart longs for than this very moment.