Practical Meditation: A Simple Step-by-Step Guide


Giovanni Dienstmann - 2018
    Find out how to meditate to suit your lifestyle, whether you are new to meditation or seeking to enhance your existing practice.Do I need to sit in a special pose? How long should I meditate for? Is meditation religious? With myth-busting facts and easy-to-follow advice, this meditation book provides everything you need to know, from your first taste of meditation, to how to master the key techniques and deepen your practice.Find a style that you enjoy by exploring over 30 step-by-step meditations, from Mindfulness Meditation to Tai Chi. Discover the benefits of meditation on your mind and body, examining how it works and the scientific evidence behind its effects. Use the short "mini-meditations" to sample a range of different styles, then learn how to set up a meditation practice that works for you.Clear, practical advice helps you build meditation into your daily life, so you can find peace and stillness at home, at work, on the beach, on a business trip. Self-care for body and mind - anytime, anywhere.

Sit. Stay. Heal.: How Meditation Changed My Mind, Grew My Heart, and Saved My Ass


Spike Gillespie - 2015
    It traces my journey from a brutal Depression in 2012 to some amazing healing over the course of 2013 through a dedicated daily meditation practice. It also includes Twelve Lessons for those of you who wish to get a meditation practice started without tracking down a guru, without converting to a particular religion, and without investing in $500 yoga pants. All you need is your ass, your lungs, and a desire to try.

The Gifts of Imperfection


Brené Brown - 2010
    Brené Brown, a research professor and thought leader on vulnerability, courage, worthiness, and shame, shares ten guideposts on the power of Wholehearted living—a way of engaging with the world from a place of worthiness.

Ayurveda: The Science of Self-Healing


Vasant Dattatray Lad - 1984
    This beautifully illustrated text thoroughly explains history & philosophy, basic principles, diagnostic techniques, treatment, diet, medicinal usage of kitchen herbs & spices, first aid, food aid, food antidotes and much more.

A Path with Heart: A Guide Through the Perils and Promises of Spiritual Life


Jack Kornfield - 1993
    A guide to reconciling Buddhist spirituality with the American way of life addresses the challenges of spiritual living in the modern world and offers guidance for bringing a sense of the sacred to everyday experience.

Yoga Nidra: The Art of Transformational Sleep


Kamini Desai - 2017
    In Yoga Nidra you enter a state of non-doing in which transformation happens from beyond the mind rather than through the mind. In this highly regenerative meditative state you can restore and rejuvenate your body, heal and recover from illness and re-wire your brain for greater mental and emotional balance and resiliency. This comprehensive guidebook explores the core of Yogic philosophy and modern applications of Yoga Nidra backed by scientific research - affirming what Yogis have known for thousands of years. You will receive instruction on the practice of Yoga Nidra and the use of intention. You will discover how unconscious thinking patterns and resulting biochemical states contribute to ill health, stress, insomnia, depression, anxiety, bad habits, trauma and addictions and most importantly, how to neutralize them with the Six Tools of Yoga Nidra.

How Happiness Happens: Finding Lasting Joy in a World of Comparison, Disappointment, and Unmet Expectations


Max Lucado - 2019
    I used to be happy, but then life took its toll.”Only one-third of Americans surveyed said they were happy. How can this be? Education is accessible to most. We’ve made advancements in everything from medicine to technology, yet 66 percent of us can’t find an adequate reason to check the “yes” box on the happiness questionnaire.Worldwide, people profess that happiness is their most cherished goal. Marketers get this. “Want to be happy?” they ask. Eat at this restaurant, drive this car, wear this dress. Happiness happens when you lose the weight, get the date, find the mate, or discover your fate. It’s wide, this way to happiness. Yet, for all its promise, it delivers a fragile joy; here one day, tomorrow scattered by the winds of comparison, disappointment, or unmet expectations.Max writes, “There is another option. It requires no credit card, monthly mortgage, or stroke of fortune. Age and ethnicity aren’t factors...an unexpected door to joy.” In this book Max shares the unexpected path to a lasting happiness, one that produces reliable joy in any season of life. Based on the teachings of Jesus and backed by modern research, How Happiness Happens presents a surprising but practical way of living that will change you from the inside out.  Also available in Spanish.

The Relaxation Response


Herbert Benson - 1975
    When Dr. Benson introduced this approach to relieving stress over forty years ago, his book became an instant national bestseller. Since that time, millions of people have learned the secret—without high-priced lectures or prescription medicines. The Relaxation Response has become the classic reference recommended by most health care professionals and authorities to treat the harmful effects of stress and high blood pressure.Discovered by Dr. Benson and his colleagues in the laboratories of Harvard Medical School and its teaching hospitals, this revitalizing, therapeutic tack is now routinely recommended to treat patients suffering from stress, including heart conditions, high blood pressure, chronic pain, insomnia, and many other physical and psychological ailments. It requires only minutes to learn, and just ten minutes of practice a day.

A Return to Love: Reflections on the Principles of "A Course in Miracles"


Marianne Williamson - 1992
    Whether psychic pain is in the area of relationships, career, or health, she shows us how love is a potent force, the key to inner peace, and how by practicing love we can make our own lives more fulfilling while creating a more peaceful and loving world for our children.

The Mindful Athlete: Secrets to Pure Performance


George Mumford - 2015
    A widely respected public speaker and coach, Mumford shares his story and strategies in The Mindful Athlete. His proven techniques transform the performance of anyone with a goal, be they an Olympian, weekend warrior, executive, hacker, or artist.A basketball player at the University of Massachusetts (where he roomed with Dr. J, Julius Erving), injuries forced Mumford out of the game he loved. The meds that relieved the pain of his injuries also numbed him to the emptiness he felt without the game and eventually led him to heroin. After years as a functioning addict, Mumford made meditation the center of his life. He kicked drugs, earned a master’s degree, and began teaching meditation to inmates and others.Mumford went on to partner with coach Phil Jackson, a long-time mindfulness practitioner, working with him and each of the teams he coached to become NBA champions. His roster of champion clients now includes executives and Olympians. With a charismatic style that combines mindfulness with lessons from icons like Yoda and Bruce Lee, Mumford delivers an engrossing story and an invaluable resource.

Body Thrive: Uplevel Your Body and Your Life with 10 Habits from Ayurveda and Yoga


Cate Stillman - 2015
    Ayurveda is the perennial body wisdom tradition that co-arose with yoga, the path of living awake. Here lies a simple body habits curriculum that every person can learn as a child, master as an adult, and refine as an elder for their body to thrive. Check out more at www.bodythrive.comThe messages in this book are strong and simple. When we embody the 10 core habits of Yogis, based on the wisdom of Ayurveda, we thrive. By becoming vibrant, dynamic human beings on a growth path, we are a boon to ourselves, our families, society, and the planet. Ayurveda is based on living in sync. When we synchronize our bodily rhythms to nature’s clock, our physiology harmonizes. We experience balance, ease, and flow. When we live against nature’s body clock, we experience stress, rapid aging, and dis-ease. This book grew out of my online Body Thrive™ coaching program, where my Body Thrive Coaches and Yoga Health Coaches™ guide their pilot groups into 10 specific, habits from the teachings of Ayurveda in 10 weeks. That's one essential, daily habit upgrade per week for a few months. This book guides readers through a entertaining and insightful journey into better body integrity. The success and the efficacy of the Body Thrive method came from my search as an innovative Ayurvedic practitioner and yoga teacher. I wanted a more effective path to guide my clients towards their desired health breakthrough and wellness goals. We now have 100 Yoga Health Coaches using the Body Thrive method around the world. As you’ll see in the book, Body Thrive is innovative, practical and results-focused. In a poll of 150 clients working in a group during a 10 week Body Thrive™ program with various Yoga Health Coaches (in training) we discovered:
89% Developed better self-care habits 79% Feel better in their bodies. 59% Are eating a healthier diet 51% Are sleeping better and feel well rested.Based on this practice lab, the 3 core components taught in this book are:1.AyurvedaThe habits of Ayurveda, based on biorhythms, are non-negotiable for thrive. As we align with our biorhythms, we detox our habits. In doing so, our bodies, minds, emotions, and even our kitchens, homes, relationships, and lives uplevel into thrive. We experience the best time of our lives from living in cooperation with our bodies and our ecosystem.2.Behavioral scienceApplying modern behavioral science teachings, or what I nickname habit evolution science, helps people uplevel their habits faster. Being results focused with proven strategies is essential for steady and rapid progress.3.Dynamic Groups + Relationship EvolutionPeople in groups adopt Body Thrive habits faster when with others focusing on similar goals. This book outlines how to create dynamic supportive relationships on the path to daily habit evolution.

Tending the Heart Fire: Living in Flow with the Pulse of Life


Shiva Rea - 2013
    Tides, breath, and blood flow in rhythm. We are born into a universe of currents, and our heart is the great conductor of the body, orchestrating our flow."The mystical foundations of all the world's spiritual paths meet in a single, sacred place: the heart of the seeker. We have reached a time when scientific understanding mirrors the teachings of the great wisdom traditions in revealing our energetic heart as the light of consciousness, the fire of love, a field of intelligence. Tending the Heart Fire, the first book by pioneering yogini Shiva Rea, is an invitation to embody our extraordinary potential at this turning point in time, to reconnect your life to the rhythms of your body and the natural world—to live in flow with the pulse of life.Weaving together wisdom from the great world traditions—including yoga, Ayurveda, Tantra, and modern science—Shiva presents an essential resource for becoming a firekeeper of the sacred heart. This diverse treasury is filled with mediations, life guidance, seasonal rituals, and daily practices, including:Insights for harmonizing with the sacred junctures of time—the daily, weekly, lunar, and solar cycles of manifestation and renewal• Aligning with the seasons—how to adapt your diet, exercise, and yoga rhythms throughout the annual cycle Ways to honor the great sacred holidays, rites, and festivals• Awakening of sahaja—the natural flow at the origins and source of yoga asana and sacred embodiment at the heart of yoga and Tantra• Skills for tending your inner fire in every aspect of life and healing imbalances that can support a renewable energy lifestyle• A visual teaching with over a hundred full-color images, including reference charts, diagrams, illustrations, and ancient poetry for inspirationThe legacy of the Heart Fire is more than eight hundred thousand years old—and in our modern world, we need more than ever to consciously reconnect to the radiant field that transcends time, space, and culture. "The direct awakening of the heart often happens when we are at a crisis point, when the armor of our heart has to crack," writes Shiva Rea. "Let us return to the power and magnificence of our hearts—as living fire, as intelligent energy and electromagnetic radiance, and as our illuminating guide toward love, creativity, and deep knowing of our true sacred nature."

Hardwiring Happiness: The New Brain Science of Contentment, Calm, and Confidence


Rick Hanson - 2013
    Dr. Hanson’s four steps build strengths into your brain— balancing its ancient negativity bias—making contentment and a powerful sense of resilience the new normal. In mere minutes each day, we can transform our brains into refuges and power centers of calm and happiness.

The Healing Power of the Breath: Simple Techniques to Reduce Stress and Anxiety, Enhance Concentration, and Balance Your Emotions


Richard P. Brown - 2012
    Millions of Americans suffer from mood problems and stress-related issues including anxiety, depression, insomnia, and trauma-induced emotions and behaviors; and most would prefer not to take medication for their conditions due to troublesome side effects, withdrawal symptoms, and disappointing success rates. Drs. Richard P. Brown and Patricia L. Gerbarg provide a drug-free alternative that works through a range of simple breathing techniques drawn from yoga, Buddhist meditation, the Chinese practice of qigong, Orthodox Christian monks, and other sources. These methods have been scientifically shown to be effective in alleviating specific stress and mood challenges such as anxiety, insomnia, post-traumatic stress disorder, and many others. The authors explain how breathing practices activate communication pathways between the mind and the body, positively impacting the brain and calming the stress response. The enclosed audio program guides readers through the techniques and helps make these breathing practices an ongoing part of daily life. This book and CD set includes breathing techniques to relieve    • anxiety and depression    • trauma-related emotions and behaviors    • post-traumatic stress disorder    • insomnia    • addiction-related behaviors It also offers breathing techniques to enhance concentration, peak performance, and personal relationships.

The Cow in the Parking Lot: A Zen Approach to Overcoming Anger


Leonard Scheff - 2008
    Domestic violence. Professionally angry TV and radio commentators. We’re a society that is swimming in anger, always about to snap. Leonard Scheff, a trial attorney, once used anger to fuel his court persona, until he came to realize just how poisonous anger is. That and his intense study of Buddhism and meditation changed him. His transformation can be summarized in a simple parable: Imagine you are circling a crowded parking lot when, just as you spot a space, another driver races ahead and takes it. Easy to imagine the rage. But now imagine that instead of another driver, a cow has lumbered into that parking space and settled down. The anger dissolves into bemusement. What really changed? You—your perspective.Using simple Buddhist principles and applying them in a way that is easy for non-Buddhists to understand and put into practice, Scheff and Edmiston have created an interactive book that helps readers change perspective, step by step, so that they can replace the anger in their lives with a newfound happiness. Based on the successful anger management program Scheff created, The Cow in the Parking Lot shows how anger is based on unmet demands, and introduces the four most common types—Important and Reasonable (you want love from your partner); Reasonable but Unimportant (you didn’t get that seat in the restaurant window); Irrational (you want respect from a stranger); and the Impossible (you want someone to fix everything wrong in your life).Scheff and Edmiston show how, once we identify our real unmet demands we can dissolve the anger; how, once we understand our "buttons," we can change what happens when they’re pushed. He shows how to laugh at ourselves—a powerful early step in changing angry behavior. By the end, as the reader continues to observe and fill in the exercises honestly, it won’t matter who takes that parking space—only you can make yourself angry.