Kristin Neff comes a step-by-step guide explaining how to be more self-compassionate and achieve your dreams in lifeThe relentless pursuit of high self-esteem has become a virtual religion—and a tyrannical one at that. Our ultracompetitive culture tells us we need to be constantly above average to feel good about ourselves, but there is always someone more attractive, successful, or intelligent than we are. And even when we do manage to grab hold of high self-esteem for a brief moment, we can't seem to keep it. Our sense of self-worth goes up and down like a ping-pong ball, rising and falling in lockstep with our latest success or failure.Fortunately, there is an alternative to self-esteem that many experts believe is a better and more effective path to happiness: self-compassion. The research of Dr. Kristin Neff and other leading psychologists indicates that people who are compassionate toward their failings and imperfections experience greater well-being than those who repeatedly judge themselves. The feelings of security and self-worth provided by self-compassion are also highly stable, kicking in precisely when self-esteem falls down. This book powerfully demonstrates why it's so important to be self-compassionate and give yourself the same caring support you'd give to a good friend.This groundbreaking work will show you how to let go of debilitating self-criticism and finally learn to be kind to yourself. Using solid empirical research, personal stories, practical exercises, and humor, Dr. Neff—the world's foremost expert on self-compassion—explains how to heal destructive emotional patterns so that you can be healthier, happier, and more effective. Engaging, highly readable, and eminently accessible, this book has the power to change your life.

    As an empath herself, Dr. Judith Orloff is uniquely versed in the challenges and opportunities facing people with extraordinary sensitivity. With Essential Tools for Empaths, she offers techniques, insights, and guided practices to help you overcome the most common pitfalls for empaths—while helping you develop your exceptional gifts of perception, compassion, and creativity. In this practice-based companion to her book, The Empath’s Survival Guide, she shows you how to: • Discover what kind of empath you are—and what your particular obstacles and opportunities will be • Stop absorbing physical and emotional symptoms from those around you • Manage the challenges of sensory overload, social overwhelm, and empathy fatigue • Protect yourself from narcissists, control freaks, and other energy vampires • Enhance your health, intuition, and spiritual life • Recognize and overcome the addiction issues empaths often face • Flourish in intimate relationships while maintaining healthy boundaries • Help non-empaths understand your needs and special abilities of perception • Find fulfilling work that supports your sensitivities • Raise empathic children in a healthy, supportive way "Empaths are pioneers of a new way of being for humankind," says Dr. Orloff. "We are in the midst of an evolution of human consciousness . . . and you are the path-forgers." Here she brings empaths an invaluable resource for learning to survive and thrive in an overwhelming culture—so you can fully shine your power in the world.

    In Shamanic Journeying, Sandra Ingerman draws from over 20 years' experience as a student and teacher of shamanism to share the core insights of this transformative practice. Join her to learn the original role of the shaman in indigenous societies; how to meet and work with your "power animal" and other spirit teachers; and the keys to successful journeying in our modern culture. With fascinating accounts of the powerful results of shamanic journeying and answers to the questions you may face as you begin your practice, Shamanic Journeying includes everything you need to explore the visionary worlds of the shaman. Book jacket.

    Moss teaches that our dreams give us maps we can use to find and bring home our lost or stolen soul parts. He shows how to recover animal spirits and ride the windhorse of spirit to places of healing and adventure in the larger reality. We discover how to heal ancestral wounds and open the way for cultural soul recovery.You’ll learn how to enter past lives, future lives, and the life experiences of parallel selves and bring back lessons and gifts. “It’s not just about keeping soul in the body,” Moss writes. “It’s about growing soul, becoming more than we ever were before.” With fierce joy, he incites us to take the creator’s leap and bring something new into our world.

    In a beautifully crafted blend of moving stories, humorous insights, practical guidance, and personal memoir, she offers tools to help us make the choice we all face in times of challenge: Will we be broken down and defeated, or broken open and transformed? Lesser shares tales of ordinary people who have risen from the ashes of illness, divorce, loss of a job or a loved one - stronger, wiser, and more in touch with their purpose and passion. And she draws on the world's great spiritual and psychological traditions to support us as we too learn to break open and blossom into who we were meant to be.

    “Mindfulness is not an evasion or an escape,” he explains. “It means being here, present, and totally alive. It is true freedom—and without this freedom, there is no happiness.”Based on a retreat that Thich Nhat Hanh led for Westerners, this book offers a range of simple, effective practices for cultivating mindfulness, including awareness of  breathing and walking, deep listening, and skillful speech. You Are Here also offers guidance on healing emotional pain and manifesting real love and compassion in our relationships with others. Simple, warm, direct, and startlingly potent, this book reveals the heart of the Buddhist path and helps us to reconnect with the joy and wonder of being alive, regardless of life’s changing circumstances. Praise for Thich Nhat Hanh “Among Buddhist leaders influential in the West, Thich Nhat Hanh ranks second only to the Dalai Lama.”—New York Times “Thich Nhat Hanh writes with the voice of the Buddha.”—Sogyal Rinpoche, author of The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying

     From brother and sister team Demian Lichtenstein and Shajen Joy Aziz comes an inspiring book that explores the basic but vital reality that we are each given a unique Gift, a purpose in our life that is always seeking to express itself. Find that Gift and you can experience joy, power, fulfillment, freedom and unconditional love in ways beyond your imagination. Discover the Gift presents a simple roadmap to a journey of self-discovery that will, undoubtedly, change your life forever. Sharing their own heartfelt, personal stories of tragedy and redemption, Demian and Shajen introduce us to eight fundamental steps that will help you discover the gift within you—and prepare you to share that gift with others. Along the way you will receive both direction and support from a wide range of the world’s most influential transformational leaders, people from all walks of life who not only live their Gift every day, but who have made it their purpose to help you do the same. Among them: His Holiness the Dalai Lama; His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar; Mark Victor Hansen; Dr. Sonia Powers; Mary Manin Morrissey; Dr. Barbara De Angelis, Jack Canfield, and Michael Bernard Beckwith, to name just a few.Inspiring as well as practical, Discover the Gift illuminates that place inside each of us where an extraordinary Gift awaits to come alive. Your Destiny Awaits. Discover the Gift. It’s Why You’re Here.

    

    The simple, stirring, and poetic reflections here comfort, inspire, and gently bring readers out of the harried, hectic day-to-day and back to the bedrock of peace, and even joy, of our true, essential, and authentic selves. He shows how this is possible when we direct our awareness out of chaos and into calm. In so doing we learn to access the present moment of any day, as Taylor writes at the books beginning The Only Place When the future is full of dreadand the past full of regret, where can you take refuge except the present When maelstroms of tormenting thoughtspush back the barricades of your sanity, the present is the calm center where you can rest. And slowly, as you rest therethe niggling thoughts and fears dissolvelike shadows shrinking under the midday sununtil you dont need refuge any more. The present is the only placewhere there is no thought-created pain. The present is the only place.

    Then one morning, she woke up in a state of absolute joy, filled with the realization of how her own suffering had ended. The freedom of that realization has never left her, and now in Loving What Is you can discover the same freedom through The Work. The Work is simply four questions that, when applied to a specific problem, enable you to see what is troubling you in an entirely different light. As Katie says, “It’s not the problem that causes our suffering; it’s our thinking about the problem.” Contrary to popular belief, trying to let go of a painful thought never works; instead, once we have done The Work, the thought lets go of us. At that point, we can truly love what is, just as it is.Loving What Is will show you step-by-step, through clear and vivid examples, exactly how to use this revolutionary process for yourself. You’ll see people do The Work with Katie on a broad range of human problems, from a wife ready to leave her husband because he wants more sex, to a Manhattan worker paralyzed by fear of terrorism, to a woman suffering over a death in her family. Many people have discovered The Work’s power to solve problems; in addition, they say that through The Work they experience a sense of lasting peace and find the clarity and energy to act, even in situations that had previously seemed impossible. If you continue to do The Work, you may discover, as many people have, that the questioning flows into every aspect of your life, effortlessly undoing the stressful thoughts that keep you from experiencing peace. Loving What Is offers everything you need to learn and live this remarkable process, and to find happiness as what Katie calls “a lover of reality.”

    Your life, just as it is, is the perfect place to be. Jack Kornfield, one of America's most respected Buddhist teachers, shares this and other key lessons gleaned from more than forty years of committed study and practice. Topics include:    • How to cultivate loving-kindness, compassion, joy, and equanimity    • Conscious parenting    • Spirituality and sexuality    • The way of forgiveness    • Committing ourselves to healing the suffering in the world Bringing Home the Dharma includes simple meditation practices for awakening our buddha nature—our wise and understanding heart—amid the ups and downs of our ordinary daily lives.

    Not knowing this fact is a severe handicap, as the Universe is designed to care for and nurture all its creatures and help make our life’s journey easier and more successful. When we learn how to connect with our angelic guides, our lives naturally fall into a pattern of ease and flow during which we grow our souls, fulfill our life’s purpose, and make our time on Earth endlessly entertaining. This fascinating and inspirational book by Sonia Choquette provides all the information you need to help you connect with your spirit guides so that you can enjoy all the love, abundance, and joy you’re entitled to.

    You know you have a calling but you don't yet know what it is or how to go about finding it. The Lightworker's Source is a much-needed guide for newly awakened or even fully conscious Lightworkers to reveal their authentic selves and find fulfillment in the lives they are destined to live. You will be inspired by true stories of fellow Lightworkers who have awakened to the divine intention of their own lives, and learn practices to enhance your own Lightworker gifts.The Lightworker's Source will help you understand:The signs and symptoms of awakening to your Lightworker roleWhat the "Dark Night of The Soul" is and why it is a Lightworker rite of passageHow to avoid the "One Way Flow," which will create roadblocks to your own happinessHow to use your dreams for guidance and as a gateway to your higher selfThe Lightworker's Source is the practical roadmap to the higher self you've been searching for.

    Nor do you need to burn incense or rub crystals.This book shows you easy ways to meditate whenever and wherever you want—you’ll learn how to do it without anyone knowing—and still hang out with your military pals, cop buddies, and fellow martial arts students. You can still own a pit bull, drive a Harley, and share lies with your drinking buddies. The same is true whether you’re a firefighter, doorman, bodyguard, medic, or security officer. The simple fact is, meditation as taught within these pages, will make you a better warrior.

    As the day's events unfolded, in real time, he responded with a calm and clear voice, helping to make sense out of the fear and chaos that will forever define this date. Even the Sun Will Die documents this historic meeting with Eckhart Tolle and the comforting wisdom he revealed that day.We live in a time, he says, when we define ourselves through our enemies; and science and technology are in the service of human madness. Yet even in the face of disaster, a miracle happens when we say yes to living in this moment and no other. This great opening, he teaches, can serve as nothing less than the beginning of a revolution in human consciousness with the potential to transform our world and everyone in it. Also for the first time on audio, Eckhart Tolle comments on his own awakening, and what he sees as the next step in human evolution.From insights into the way out of suffering, to evidence that a new consciousness is already rising, Even the Sun Will Die confirms Eckhart Tolle's place among the most important and accessible spiritual teachers of our time.