Through various stages in this journey of initiation, we grow to understand the causes of our suffering and how to free ourselves from the pain and drama of our unhealed emotions. Life itself invites us to be initiated through many means—the possibility of love, the loss of a parent or friend, the birth of a child, or a serious health crisis. True initiation is empowered by facing personal challenges and experiencing the spiritual rebirth—or illumination—that follows.Unifying this book is the sacred process of transforming toxic emotions into sources of power and grace. Illumination shows us how to bid a joyful goodbye to the people and places we have met, discovering a sacred space where the spirit inhabits, uniting the body and soul. When we learn to let go from difficult situations and problems, to accept our lives as they are, we can begin to identify with a self that is eternal.Recounting his own experiences, tracing the mythologies of an array of cultures, and expanding his inquiry into the field of neurobiology, Alberto Villoldo shows readers how they can benefit from these sacred practices.

    Dip into this colorful feast of ways to work on your chakras, using associations, crystals, meditation, visualization, foods, music, and exercise. Each chakra has its chart of correspondences, with color, key element, fragrances, and physical and mental functions. See how other healing disciplines incorporate chakra therapies.

    Drawing from his years of experience as a teacher, spiritual leader, and avid meditator, Edward Viljoen will guide readers down the path to enlightenment using wisdom such as:Mindfulness practices—Train yourself to become absorbed in a purposefully chosen activity Sitting practices—Reduce the use of mental and physical resources as much as possible by sitting still and silently Creative practices—Devices such as journaling, observing, and focusing on a favorite literary or spiritual passage   Peppered throughout with stories from the author’s spiritual teachings and personal anecdotes, this book goes beyond a simple how-to book and creates a wonderful reading experience that will help readers to live more wise and fulfilling lives.

    Reflecting on his own journey from Esquire magazine editor-in-chief to Buddhist meditation teacher, Moffitt provides a fresh perspective on the Buddha's ancient wisdom, showing how to move from suffering to new awareness and unanticipated joy. In this deeply spiritual book that is sure to become a Buddhist classic, Moffitt explores the twelve insights that underlie the Buddha's core teaching--the Four Noble Truths--and uses these often neglected ideas to guide readers to a more meaningful relationship to suffering. Moffitt write: "These twelve insights teach you to dance with both the joy and pain, finding peace in a balanced mind and calm spirit. As the most specific, practical life instructions I have ever encountered, they serve as an invaluable tool for anyone who seeks a life filled with meaning and well-being." Practicing these twelve insights, as Moffitt suggests, will help readers experience life's difficulties without being filled with stress and anguish, and they will enhance their moments of happiness. With engaging writing and a strong message of self-empowerment, Dancing with Life offers a prescriptive path for finding joy and peace that will appeal to meditation students and readers of "Dharma Wisdom," Moffitt's column in Yoga Journal, as well as anyone searching for a more authentic life.

    In this best-selling mindfulness guide - it has sold more than three million copies in Korea, where it was a number-one best-seller for 41 weeks and received multiple best book of the year awards - Haemin Sunim (which means "spontaneous wisdom"), a renowned Buddhist meditation teacher born in Korea and educated in the United States, illuminates a path to inner peace and balance amid the overwhelming demands of everyday life.By offering guideposts to well-being and happiness in eight areas - including relationships, love, and spirituality - Haemin Sunim emphasizes the importance of forging a deeper connection with others and being compassionate and forgiving toward ourselves.

    Sometimes you just want to relax, clear your head, rest your aching muscles, and rejuvenate your weary soul. You've heard meditation is a great stress reliever, but sometimes it seems so complicated it makes you downright uptight. Relax! Meditation is easy to learn, especially if you rely on 'The Complete Idiot's Guide to Meditation, Second Edition' as you follow the path to inner peace. In this 'Complete Idiot's Guide', you get:-Zen Techniques, including guided imagery and mindfulness, to help you meditate effectively.-Tips for learning how to use meditation in daily life, including stressful situations, exercise and fatigue.-An easy-to-understand explanation of the connections between meditation, sleep and dreams. Expert advice on how and when to meditate and detailed drawings and diagrams for breathing, positions and more. -Techniques for meditating to music or modern chants.

    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.”

    Navy SEAL Mark Divine’s Kokoro Yoga is not your traditional yoga book. Coach Divine’s integrated training curriculum is an intense physical workout designed for both the nation’s elite special ops soldiers and any athlete with the heart and mind of a warrior.His yoga sequences are focused to adapt to all physical and mental capabilities, combining breathing, meditation, and visualization into both traditional poses as well as cross-training/combat-conditioning exercises. Coach Divine’s decades of experience with amateur and professional athletes, active and aspiring Navy SEALs, and wounded warriors uniquely qualifies him as an expert motivator and teacher.Kokoro Yoga develops a harmonious balance between mental and physical toughness, strength, and sense of purpose. Inside you will find short digestible sequences that will help any athlete hone their fitness routine to reach their fullest potential. With Kokoro Yoga the practitioner will:* get an unbeatable full-body workout through body-weight functional movements that can be done at home or on the on go;* increase flexibility while building long lean muscle mass;* enhance your workouts with deep muscle recovery;* improve physical and mental balance, focus, and control at all levels—including a special segment designed for those recovering from PTSD;* find emotional, intuitional, and Kokoro (heart) spiritual harmony to achieve peak performance.Coach Divine’s methods have been tested by the toughest warriors in the world. Use this book as a guide to experience the profound power of yoga as a developmental system that will allow you to break through any barriers holding you back.

    Beginning with an overview of the history and science of yoga, Dr. McCall describes the many different techniques in the yoga tool kit; explains what yoga does and who can benefit from it (virtually everyone!); and provides lavishly illustrated and minutely detailed instructions on starting a yoga practice geared to your fitness level and your health status. Yoga as Medicine offers a wealth of practical information, including how to:•Utilize yogic tools, including postures, breathing techniques, and meditation, for both prevention and healing of illness•Master the art of becoming more in tune with your body•Communicate more effectively with your doctor•Adopt therapeutic yoga practices as either an alternative or a complement to surgery and to expensive, sometimes dangerous medications•Practice safely Find an instructor and a style of yoga that are right for you. With twenty chapters devoted to the work of individual master teachers, including such well-known figures as Patricia Walden, John Friend, and Rodney Yee, Yoga as Medicine shows how these experts have applied the wisdom of this ancient holistic practice to twenty different conditions, ranging from arthritis to chronic fatigue, depression, heart disease, HIV/AIDS, infertility, insomnia, multiple sclerosis, and obesity. Defining yoga as “a systematic technology to improve the body, understand the mind, and free the spirit,“ Dr. McCall shows the way to a path that can truly alter your life. An indispensable guide for the millions who now practice yoga or would like to begin, as well as for yoga teachers, body workers, doctors, nurses, and other health professionals.

    At the same time, trauma remains a fact of life: the majority of us will experience a traumatic event in our lifetime, and up to 20% of us will develop posttraumatic stress. This means that anywhere mindfulness is being practiced, someone in the room is likely to be struggling with trauma.At first glance, this appears to be a good thing: trauma creates stress, and mindfulness is a proven tool for reducing it. But the reality is not so simple.Drawing on a decade of research and clinical experience, psychotherapist and educator David Treleaven shows that mindfulness meditation—practiced without an awareness of trauma—can exacerbate symptoms of traumatic stress. Instructed to pay close, sustained attention to their inner world, survivors can experience flashbacks, dissociation, and even retraumatization.This raises a crucial question for mindfulness teachers, trauma professionals, and survivors everywhere: How can we minimize the potential dangers of mindfulness for survivors while leveraging its powerful benefits?Trauma-Sensitive Mindfulness offers answers to this question. Part I provides an insightful and concise review of the histories of mindfulness and trauma, including the way modern neuroscience is shaping our understanding of both. Through grounded scholarship and wide-ranging case examples, Treleaven illustrates the ways mindfulness can help—or hinder—trauma recovery.Part II distills these insights into five key principles for trauma-sensitive mindfulness. Covering the role of attention, arousal, relationship, dissociation, and social context within trauma-informed practice, Treleaven offers 36 specific modifications designed to support survivors’ safety and stability. The result is a groundbreaking and practical approach that empowers those looking to practice mindfulness in a safe, transformative way.

    Perfect awareness. True beauty. Yoga is much more than just a physical activity. It is a conscious lifestyle that brings about a profound spiritual and personal transformation. This book on yoga invites you to experience yoga as the ancient masters intended it--a holistic way of life that unites the body, mind, and spirit for complete health and well-being.With clear instruction, Dr. Robert Butera guides you through ten steps on the path of yoga that are based on traditional yogic principles and practices, yet designed to fit seamlessly into your life. Yoga enthusiasts of all kinds will discover effective tools for creating a life of healthful beauty and inner peace.Understand the role of physical poses within the larger, holistic system of yoga Practice breathing techniques (pranayama), work with your energy centers (chakras), and develop your concentration Overcome psychological blocks, balance your emotions, and grow emotionally and spiritually Visit www.pureheartofyoga.com for free video clips of demonstrated yoga postures.Praise: "The Pure Heart of Yoga will bring increased depth to your yoga practice...It is an excellent book: thoughtful, reflective, deep, and accessible."--Eleanor Criswell, Ed.D., author of How Yoga Works"That he's able to instruct and inspire with a warm heart and skillful direction, without judgment or prejudice about the "style" or your yoga of choice, is good reason to believe this book will bring life to your practice."--Yoga Journal

    The pressure to “have it all” wreaks havoc on our bodies and emotional well-being, and also creates unrealistic expectations. Toxic comparisons and the need to perform enforces damaging ideals of who and what we should be, making it harder for us to connect with who we really are. But what if there was a way to break free from these patterns and beliefs? What if you could free your body from stress and trauma, tap into your inherent creativity, and connect more authentically with the people who matter? In this life-changing book, intimacy expert and counselor Michaela Boehm shares practical rituals and exercises to show you simple, everyday changes that will revolutionize your connection to yourself, your life, and your relationships. Beyond the outdated stereotypes of femininity lies the ancient wisdom of the Wild Woman archetype, a path to reconnecting with our “body intelligence.” In this book, you will learn to: - Re-wild yourself by connecting to who you really are and integrating body, emotions, and mind for powerful expression in the world. - Switch effortlessly between “doing” and “being,” allowing you to access both empowered success and personal fulfillment. - Unlock creativity and intuition through understanding how body, heart, and mind can work together. - Engage in relaxed, body-specific exercises that help you connect with yourself and your chosen relationships.

    This new compilation of her published work features pieces on why you should pursue purpose over passion, embrace negative thinking, see the wisdom in daily routine, and become aware of the cognitive biases that are creating the way you see your life. Some of these pieces have never been seen; others have been read by millions of people around the world. Regardless, each will leave you thinking: this idea changed my life.

    Tias Little is a master teacher, and he brings his precise instruction to the wisdom teachings and philosophy of hatha yoga. He offers us a guided tour of the body's structure and physical anatomy, then uses this new structural awareness as grounds for exploring the subtle body. In a meaningful and pragmatic way, the book maps the connection between the body and the rich symbolism that pervades the yogic imagination, including the chakras, nadis, and koshas. We come to see how the (yoga) body cannot be seen apart from the psycho-spiritual forces that animate it. Further, Tias offers readers clear, illuminated instruction for yoga, pranayama, and meditation techniques that apply these body-mind principles. This book is essential reading for all serious students and teachers of yoga.Each chapter focuses on one of the eight key energetic/anatomy centers of the body: feet/base, pelvis, sacrum, belly, diaphragm, heart/lungs, throat, and crown. The book is organized literally from the ground up, and figuratively from physically basic to conceptual/subtle. Each chapter has a list of poses for activating and applying the lessons, guided meditations, and excerpts from yogic texts. These practical exercises allow readers to immediately integrate the chapter's lessons into their practice.

    Addressing 100% of the teacher training curriculum standards set by Yoga Alliance, the world's leading registry and accreditation source for yoga teachers and schools, Teaching Yoga is also ideal for use as a core textbook in yoga teacher training programs. Drawing on a wide spectrum of perspectives, and featuring more than 150 photographs and illustrations, the book covers fundamental topics of yoga philosophy and history, including a historical presentation of classical yoga literature: the Vedas, Upanishads, Bhagavad Gita, Yoga Sutras of Pataljali, and the main historical sources on tantra and early hatha yoga. Each of the eleven major styles of contemporary yoga is described, with a brief history of its development and the distinguishing elements of its teachings. Exploring traditional and modern aspects of anatomy and physiology, the book provides extensive support and tools for teaching 108 yoga poses (asanas), breathing techniques (pranayama), and meditation. Teaching Yoga offers practical advice for classroom setup, planning and sequencing classes, as well as the process involved in becoming a teacher and sustaining oneself in the profession. The book has over 200 bibliographic sources, a comprehensive index, and a useful appendix that lists associations, institutes, organizations, and professional resources for yoga teachers.