Most authorities agree that dreams are very important for those on a spiritual path. This book shows you how to push beyond the boundaries of ordinary dreaming, and introduces you to the concept of making sleep a spiritual act. This process is known as "dream incubation" or "sacred sleep." The technique was practiced in dream temples around the ancient world, including those in Egypt, Babylon, Greece, and Rome. Dream incubation is the process of creating sacred dreams for a specific purpose: healing, advice, glimpses of the future, protection, conception of children, battle plans, and a host of other reasons. Now you can learn this technique in "Dreaming the Divine. "Tucked inside this book, you'll find practical and simple techniques for receiving sacred messages in your dreams, including: - How to prepare for sacred sleep - Dream rituals and spells to achieve your sacred sleep goals - The meanings of dream symbols seen during sacred sleep - Dream messengers and deities from numerous cultures - Natural sleep-inducing techniques including prayer, special baths, special foods to eat and others to avoid, herb teas, scented pillows, aromatherapy, and several others - How to remember and record your sacred sleep dreams. Seeking communion with the divine through dreams is one of the oldest forms of personal spirituality. Sacred sleep is one way to remove spirituality from the hands of the "experts" and place it where it belongs: in the hearts, minds, and dreams of everyday people. Get "Dreaming the Divine "and make your dreamtime special.

    Included are three thorough sections on health and energy levels, postures, and a survey of yoga's history.

    If yoga does accomplish all that--and most practitioners will swear it's true--how exactly does it do it? Believe it or not, there are answers. And they are based in how the human body/mind functions, how we are built and wired, and how what we do can direct and change that.Drawing on modern neuroscience, ancient wisdom, and decades of practice and teaching, Eddie Stern's One Simple Thing, with a foreword from Deepak Chopra, explains how what we do affects who we become, and reveals how a steady routine of physical movements, activities, and attitudes are able to transform not just our bodies but our brain functions and emotions, and how we experience life.

    Growing up American with a Tibetan twist, Sakyong Mipham talks to Westerners as no one can: in idiomatic English with stories and wisdom from American culture and the great Buddhist teachers. Turning the Mind Into an Ally makes it possible for anyone to achieve peace and clarity in their lives.

    Filled with helpful yoga exercises, Fierce Medicine teaches us to reconnect with our bodies, cultivate balance, and start living in harmony with our Spirits.

    A new chapter on The Many Benefits of Yoga gives a fascinating and valuable overview of the ways that yoga can maintain or restore the health of the body. With the help of specially commissioned anatomical drawings, it explains how yoga poses work on and benefit the body, including their effect on different types of muscle and the connective tissue (the vast network of elastic tissue that encloses and connects muscles and organs); how poses can help to stimulate our hormonal system; the vital role they play in calming the nervous system, helping you to relax and deal with stress; and the powerful effect yoga has in oxygenating the whole body, and especially the brain, which needs plentiful supplies of oxygen to function properly. In the chapter Proper Exercise, the yoga poses are arranged in the order you should practice them in, and poses are clearly labeled beginner, intermediate, or advanced, helping the reader to progress at his or her own pace. At the end of the book, in another new feature that yoga students will welcome, there are specially devised programs of yoga poses for beginners, intermediate, and advanced students of 20, 40 and 60 minutes each. The chapters on Yogic Breathing and on Positive Thinking and Meditation provide detailed advice on breathing techniques and on how to meditate. The Vegetarian Diet chapter has also been rewritten, and now includes a helpful transition eating plan to becoming vegetarian. The chapter also includes over 40 wholesome and delicious all-new vegetarian recipes.

    Mukunda Stiles begins by providing a comprehensive overview of the spiritual philosophy of yoga, and its many branches. He discusses everything that a beginning student needs to consider when choosing a practice, including how to find a yoga teacher. He also shares his solid understanding of anatomy and kinesiology (how specific muscles and bones react during movement) so that you can understand how each asana affects your body. Structural Yoga Therapy "TM" involves a series of 24 asanas. You'll learn "bodyreading" to determine what your posture reveals about muscular imbalances. You'll find out about joint mobility and muscle strength and learn how to work with a series of jointfreeing exercises to strengthen muscles. Once you are fully acquainted with your individual needs, Stiles teaches you how to synthesize a personalized program from the 24 Structural Yoga asanas to optimize health and healing. This valuable textbook is also useful for anyone working in physical therapy, myofascial release techniques, or other forms of massage.

    It integrates scientific and practical approaches providing a much-needed integrative perspective that complements existing yoga books for all levels and styles of yoga students. Serving up a collection of valuable insights gleaned from a lifetime of exploration, practice, study, and teaching by one of America’s pioneering and leading teachers of yoga, the book assists readers in making sense of the many discordant claims and teaching techniques that currently exist in the yoga world, freeing readers to pursue their own individual paths of yoga and personal practice. This is an essential text and reference for all yoga practitioners. The book first sets a context for an open-minded and evolutionary approach to yoga practice, and then explains the core principles of the many branches of yoga. A clear foundation is given for how the physical practices of yoga work to produce remarkable results of health and well being. The chapter Injury, Pain, and Healing shows how to prevent injuries and how to heal injuries should they occur. The reader is given a wealth of sophisticated of tools, insights, and anecdotes gleaned from a lifetime of practice and teaching to develop, hone, and tune his or her personal yoga approach. This book makes yoga come alive for the reader. The book concludes by going beyond the physical aspects to the heart of yoga. It illuminates and gives insight into the discovery of non-dogmatic forms and evolutionary approaches to meditation and spirituality. It presents a clear argument showing the pitfalls of regimented systems and how to make everything in daily life part of yoga practice and spiritual development. Ganga White gives us his unique and creative perspectives on a time-tested discipline for a healthy and vital life. Entertaining and thoroughly readable, this book offers a coherent explication of yoga, its philosophy and practice. White’s integrative views will inspire beginners and accomplished yogis to trust their inner wisdom and creatively reassess their practice. He is a great storyteller and gives us his personal and creative perspective, breathing fresh air into an ancient discipline. Yoga Beyond Belief offers an original, integrative approach to body, mind, and spirit that is practical, inspiring, and full of valuable insights to enliven and inform anyone’s yoga practice.

    The science of relaxation is a very valuable gift for the readers and would benefit all. The book has photographs of the various pranayama posture

    For much of her life, she subscribed to a relentless work hard/play hard mentality, burying parts of herself beneath the pursuit of busy-ness and accomplishment. It wasn’t until a devastating personal loss and health crisis thrust her into suffocating anxiety that she stopped racing around. As she began to pause and examine her actions and emotions, she found herself able to unlock deeply seated tension in her mind and body. Since then, Pransky has been devoted to studying and teaching mindfulness practices, deep relaxation, and compassionate listening.In Deep Listening, Pransky presents her signature Calm Body, Clear Mind, Open Heart program—a 10-step journey of self-exploration that she’s taught around the world. Derived from the techniques that healed her, the practice of Deep Listening invites you to pay close attention to your body, mind, and heart. You’re taught how to tune inward and relax into a state of openness, ease, and clarity. This is the new frontier in integrative wellness—mindfulness designed for healing.Pransky doesn’t ask you to “be your best self,” or “do more!” She asks you to “be here” and “do less.” She guides you gently through the stages of Deep Listening, from being present and noticing your tension to welcoming what you discover with softness and compassion. She integrates tools like guided meditations, journaling prompts, and restorative yoga poses to help you regard yourself with kindness and curiosity. Immersing yourself in the practice of Deep Listening will allow you to nurture your own well-being.

    . . and learning more about our lives.     By studying the hand's shape and lines of the palm, you can divine your own—or someone else’s—past, present, and future. Cassandra Eason lays out the basics of this ancient practice by discussing the importance of "life lines," "heart lines," and other truths written in our palms. It’s a fascinating way to discover more about our own lives and the lives of others.

    Featuring over 170 postures from the main schools of yoga, The Yoga Bible is the ultimate, comprehensive guide to practicing yoga and finding a mental and physical balance in life. The book encourages yoga beginners and experts alike to find a yoga sequence that suits their personal needs and abilities.

    Practical and interactive, it focuses on the poses themselves, providing clear, concise instructions and detailed illustrations for each, all in a lay-flat format that's easy to refer to during yoga practice. It also includes six classic moving meditations (such as Sun Salutation and Camel Vinyasa), 10 beginner-to-advanced sessions, and 48 mini-sequences designed to build strength for specific activities or alleviate health problems. Essential Yoga combines physical poses (asanas), breathing exercises (pranayamas), and meditations (dhyanas) into a simple and complete reference guide for yoga practitioners of all levels. Along the way, author Olivia Miller provides guidance on proper technique and alignment; modifications for beginners or those with knee, neck, or back pain; suggestions for preventing injury; and ways to keep a regular practice interesting and active. For beginners as muchas experts looking for one complete book that has it all, Essential Yoga is it.

    I’ve learned that the best high exists in the joy—or the sadness—of the present moment. Yoga allows me to surf the ripples and sit with the mud, while catching glimpses of the clarity of my home at the bottom of the lake: my true self. The very first time Saidman Yee took a yoga class, she left feeling inexplicably different—something inside had shifted. She felt alive—so alive that yoga became the center of her life, helping her come to terms with her insecurities and find her true identity and voice. From learning to cope with a frightening seizure disorder to navigating marriages and divorces to becoming a mother, finding the right life partner, and grieving a beloved parent, Saidman Yee has been through it all—and has found that yoga holds the answers to life’s greatest challenges. Approachable, sympathetic, funny, and candid, Saidman Yee shares personal anecdotes along with her compassionate insights and practical instructions for applying yoga to everyday issues and anxieties. Specific yoga sequences accompany each chapter and address everything from hormonal mood swings to detoxing, depression, stress, and increased confidence and energy. Step-by-step instructions and photographs demonstrate her signature flow of poses so you can follow them effortlessly. Yoga for Life offers techniques to bring awareness to every part of your physical and spiritual being, allowing you to feel truly alive and to embody the peace of the present moment.

    It speaks both to those coming to meditation for the first time and to longtime practitioners, anyone who cares deeply about reclaiming the richness of his or her moments.