Explains what Zen is and how it came to America, how to practice Zen and incorporate it into daily living, and the Zen approach to the world.

    There has never been a more important time to rediscover your pause button. Calm is the book that will show you how to take back a little bit of peace, space and all-important calm. This book contains the simple tools, tricks and habits that will change the rest your life. It is a practical and pleasurable guide to twenty-first century mindfulness. Regular meditation is medically proven to be good for you - it increases focus and creativity, productivity and job satisfaction, mental and even physical health. But in reality most of us don't have time to sit on a cushion with our eyes closed for half an hour every day. And many people associate meditation with hard work and huge lifestyle shifts- you might be imagining Buddhist monks locked in a mountain retreat and living off gruel... This is where Calm comes in. Calm is about simple, achievable habits that work with the demands of your busy life instead of pretending those demands don't exist. Calm does not require specialist training- it uses abilities that every single one of us is born with, like creativity, spontaneity and simply noticing the world around you. Calm is not a set of rules that you need to worry about following or breaking. It is inspirational, practical and non-prescriptive. Onerous, time-consuming meditation might seem out of reach but everyone can achieve calm - including you.

    Meditation practice is one way to do it, but not the only way. In fact, there are easy ways to fit it into your everyday life. Jan Chozen Bays provides here 25 practices that can be used on the go to cultivate mindfulness. The three-breath practice, the mindfulness of entering rooms, offering compliments, tasting your food one careful bite at a time--these deceptively simple practices can have a cumulative effect for the better. The book is an abridgment of Bays's longer collection How to Train a Wild Elephant: And Other Adventures in Mindfulness.

    Veterans and their families deal with the painful aftermath of combat; one in five Americans has been molested; one in four grew up with alcoholics; one in three couples have engaged in physical violence. Such experiences inevitably leave traces on minds, emotions, and even on biology. Sadly, trauma sufferers frequently pass on their stress to their partners and children. Renowned trauma expert Bessel van der Kolk has spent over three decades working with survivors. In The Body Keeps the Score, he transforms our understanding of traumatic stress, revealing how it literally rearranges the brain’s wiring—specifically areas dedicated to pleasure, engagement, control, and trust. He shows how these areas can be reactivated through innovative treatments including neurofeedback, mindfulness techniques, play, yoga, and other therapies. Based on Dr. van der Kolk’s own research and that of other leading specialists, The Body Keeps the Score offers proven alternatives to drugs and talk therapy—and a way to reclaim lives.

    In our noisy, noisy world, it can seem nearly impossible to find ways to turn off our busy minds, which so often flood us with worry and unending lists of tasks. So how do you find your way off the negativity treadmill? When you feel overwhelmed and afraid, how can you return to a place of groundedness and connection? “When we turn toward our hearts, we arrive like a bolt of lightning in the present moment, and all our arguments against ourselves and life go quiet,” teaches Sarah Blondin. “No matter where you are, no matter what you are doing, you can touch this place in yourself to feel free and alive.” With poetic brilliance and skillful instruction, this renowned teacher brings you a treasury of meditations and spiritual teachings to help you detach from your busy mind and tune into your feeling heart. As the students of her popular online trainings can attest, these simple and powerful practices can instantly bring you into a deeper connection with yourself and others. And you can go back to these meditations whenever you feel overwhelmed, disconnected, or afraid.Read Heart Minded from front to back for a full course in living a life guided by the wise heart—or open to any page for a reminder that, beneath your burdens and troubles, you are fundamentally whole and free. This book includes links to free guided meditations on audio, presented by Sarah Blondin.

    2 powerfully inspirational classics on positive thinking combined into 1 powerful book.

    From the 1950s to the 1970s, Eastern spiritual philosophies ignited in the West profound new ways of perceiving ourselves and the mysteries of life. And from the beginning, Alan Watts was at the forefront sparking insight after insight at live gatherings and radio broadcasts. Today, Alan Watts books and recordings bring perennial delight to new readers and listeners of all ages and beliefs. Here, the luminary author and speaker explores three often-overlooked yet essential universal dynamics: connection, play, and pleasure. This exceptional collection of sessions includes three complementary seminars: The Cosmic Network a journey into the interconnected web of the personal and the infiniteEcological Awareness reflections on how humanity and nature evolve through discovery and purposeless playThe Pursuit of Pleasure how a true materialism connects us fully through our senses with others and to the natural flow of the cosmos. Along the way, you ll explore many other themes, at turns humorous, prophetic, and more relevant today than ever. What unfolds is a liberating view of life that arises from possibility and the unpredictable perfect and just so not in spite of its messy imperfections, but because of them."

    It views the human animal as a unique being, endowed with an instinctual capacity. It asks and answers an intriguing question: why are animals in the wild, though threatened routinely, rarely traumatized? By understanding the dynamics that make wild animals virtually immune to traumatic symptoms, the mystery of human trauma is revealed.Waking the Tiger normalizes the symptoms of trauma and the steps needed to heal them. People are often traumatized by seemingly ordinary experiences. The reader is taken on a guided tour of the subtle, yet powerful impulses that govern our responses to overwhelming life events. To do this, it employs a series of exercises that help us focus on bodily sensations. Through heightened awareness of these sensations trauma can be healed.

    Hay expands her philosophies of loving the self through:- learning to listen and trust the inner voice;- loving the child within;- letting our true feelings out;- the responsibility of parenting;- releasing our fear about growing older;- allowing ourselves to receive prosperity;- expressing our creativity;- accepting change as a natural part of life;- creating a world that is ecologically sound where it's safe to love each other;- and much more.She closes the book with a chapter devoted to meditations for personal and planetary healing.

    Insightful and uplifting, Dear Stranger is a humbling insight into different interpretations of happiness, and how despite sometimes seeming unobtainable it can become and achievable goal. No one should face a mental health problem alone. Whether it's on a doorstep, on the end of a telephone or online, Mind are there for those struggling with a mental health problem. And now so is this book . . . **** Full list of contributors: Fiona Phillips; Martha Roberts; Francesca Martinez; Rachel Joyce; Donal Ryan; Matt Haig; Philippa Rice; Naomi Alderman; Yuval Noah Harari; Ilona Burton; Rowan Coleman; Ellen White; Abbie Ross; Giles Andreae; Conn Iggulden; Lisa Jewell; Seanseen Molloy-Vaughn; Genevieve Taylor; Thomas Harding; Jez Alborough; Caitlin Moran; Blake Morrison; Nicci French; Jo Elworthy; John Lewis-Stempel; Chris Riddell; Tessa Watt; Black Dog Runner; Helen Dunmore; Charlotte Walker; Alain de Botton; Deborah Levy; Kevin Bridges; Marian Keyes; Nicholas Allan; Nick Harkaway; Edward Stourton; Eoin Colfer; Shirley Hughes; Santham Sanghera; Alexandra Fuller; Daniel Levitin; Claire Greaves; Arianna Huffington; Richard Branson; Molly Pearce; Nicholas Pinnock; Tim Smit; Tony Parsons; David Chawner; @Sectioned__; Professor Lord Richard Layard;

    In this uniquely accessible guide, Lorin Roche shows that meditation is that easy , and pleasurable.Roche answers questions and debunks meditation myths, and gives three easy-to-follow techniques for getting started 塴he Do Nothing Technique," "Salute Each of the Senses," and "Feeling at Home Exercise". He and shows you how to integrate "mini meditations" into spare moments of the day, from savouring morning coffee to taking advantage of the five minutes before a meeting. He explains how to overcome meditation obstacles, customise meditation to your own needs, and use your breath, voice, and attention as meditation aids. And he shows how meditation will give you the power to explore your inner passions , and enrich your sense of self.

    In this small book readers will discover Heart Yoga, which developed over the centuries in the Gelukpa tradition of the Dalai Lamas. The program presented here combines popular yoga exercises wtih special Tibetan poses, and methods of working from the inside to give a healthy and a happy heart. Roach discovered a number of previously unknown Tibetan works on yoga in the course of his ongoing efforts to find and preserve ancient Tibetan Buddhist texts. He discusses the ideas and insights presented in these texts and places them within the context of the Buddhist tradition. To help readers incorporate this ancient wisdom in their daily lives, he provides a specific regime of yoga postures and meditations. Combining instructive illustrations with the unique philosophical underpinnings of the Buddhist approach, Geshe Roach has created a unique program for yoga on a physical and spiritual level.

    Many of us are overly empathic, and many are extra sensitive to certain foods, medicines, situations, and people. If you have physical or emotional ailments, are overweight, have allergies, or are inexplicably lethargic, unfocused, or feeling lost, there is a reason. Your energetic sensitivities likely have caused you to take on the pain, unhappiness, and other disease of the people around you. Self-Care for the Self-Aware provides a solution specifically tailored for you and your uncommon healing needs.If you've done way too many traditional, alternative, or complementary healing modalities and at best have only achieved temporary relief, Self-Care for the Self-Aware is for you. You'll learn a process specific to the self-aware to heal ourselves, so we can better serve others."

    Describes how manipulating the body's energy systems can strengthen the immune system, relieve pain, improve memory and alleviate depression.

    In ancient times, the warrior learned to master the challenges of life, both on and off the battlefield. He acquired a sense of personal freedom and power—not through violence or aggression, but through gentleness, courage, and self-knowledge. The Japanese samurai, the warrior-kings of Tibet, the knights of medieval Europe, and the warriors of the Native American tribes are a few examples of this universal tradition of wisdom. With this book the warrior's path is opened to contemporary men and women in search of self-mastery and greater fulfillment. Interpreting the warrior's journey in modern terms, Trungpa discusses such skills as synchronizing mind and body, overcoming habitual behaviors, relaxing within discipline, facing the world with openness and fearlessness, and finding the sacred dimension of everyday life. Above all, Trungpa shows that in discovering the basic goodness or human life, the warrior learns to radiate that goodness out into the world for the peace and sanity of others. The Shambhala teachings—named for a legendary Himalayan kingdom where prosperity and happiness reign—thus point to the potential for enlightened conduct that exists within every human being. "The basic wisdom of Shambhala," Trungpa writes, "is that in this world, as it is, we can find a good and meaningful human life that will also serve others. That is our true richness."