A motivational teacher and New York Times bestselling author presents an exciting new guide to awakening the spirit within.

    No one knew about his past growing up with a mother who suffered from mental illness; a greedy aunt; a mindless and spoiled older brother; an absent father.It wasn't until an explosion in Afghanistan that his memory was blasted back into focus. This book is the result of a long, cathartic chat with a stranger at a beach bar, where Harold finally found some peace.

    J. Ruth Gendler's evocative book has as its cast of familiar characters our own emotions, brought to life with a poet's wisdom and an artist's perceptive eye. In The Book of Qualities' magical community, Excitement wears orange socks, Faith lives in the same apartment building as Doubt, and Worry makes lists of everything that could go wrong while she is waiting for the train. In portraying the complexities of the psyche, Gendler uses the Qualities to bridge the distinctions between literature and psychology, and has created an original work that challenges us to look at our emotions in new and inspiring ways.

       In Trying Not To Try, Edward Slingerland explains why we find spontaneity so elusive, and shows how early Chinese thought points the way to happier, more authentic lives. We’ve long been told that the way to achieve our goals is through careful reasoning and conscious effort. But recent research suggests that many aspects of a satisfying life, like happiness and spontaneity, are best pursued indirectly. The early Chinese philosophers knew this, and they wrote extensively about an effortless way of being in the world, which they called wu-wei (ooo-way). They believed it was the source of all success in life, and they developed various strategies for getting it and hanging on to it.   With clarity and wit, Slingerland introduces us to these thinkers and the marvelous characters in their texts, from the butcher whose blade glides effortlessly through an ox to the wood carver who sees his sculpture simply emerge from a solid block. Slingerland uncovers a direct line from wu-wei to the Force in Star Wars, explains why wu-wei is more powerful than flow, and tells us what it all means for getting a date. He also shows how new research reveals what’s happening in the brain when we’re in a state of wu-wei—why it makes us happy and effective and trustworthy, and how it might have even made civilization possible.   Through stories of mythical creatures and drunken cart riders, jazz musicians and Japanese motorcycle gangs, Slingerland effortlessly blends Eastern thought and cutting-edge science to show us how we can live more fulfilling lives. Trying Not To Try is mind-expanding and deeply pleasurable, the perfect antidote to our striving modern culture.

    An adventure that illuminates a path toward understanding the meaning of life and our place in the universe.-Humanity faces an unprecedented crisis that threatens all life on Earth. Desert Storm fighter pilot and NASA astronaut Ron Garan addresses this head-on in Floatingin Darkness: A Journey of Evolution, the follow-up to his critically acclaimed first book, The Orbital Perspective: Lessons in Seeing the Big Picture from a Journey of 71 Million Miles.-Ron takes us on an extraordinary journey through outer space and inner space. He explores the dancing, intersecting orbits of religion, spirituality, and science while grappling with his own role in the violence of combat and the effects of war on all aspects of human life. We witness Ron struggling with mortality while also basking in the sheer wonder and beauty of our world and beyond. From this perspective, Ron maps out a viable path forward—to solve our crisis, we need a giant leap in humanity’s evolutionary process. We must transcend individual and collective ego and embrace the true nature of our interdependence with this fragile planet and all life within its biosphere. -Ron shows us how to discover our purpose, detoxify our divisive culture, and become a “white blood cell” in a growing immune response to heal our world.-Floating in Darkness is a blueprint to build a restorative and positive future for all.

    Whether you consider yourself religious, spiritual, or simply open to life's most profound questions, this uplifting volume will offer inspiration, solace, and a pathway toward truth and deeper understanding.

    She investigates claims about sports drinks, chocolate milk, and “recovery” beer; examines the latest recovery trends; and even tests some for herself, including cryotherapy, foam rolling, and Tom Brady–endorsed infrared pajamas. Good to Go seeks an answer to the question: Do any of these things actually help the body recover and achieve peak performance?

    . . Stein develops the cartographical metaphor of the title by beginning with the "surface" (ego) of the psyche and exploring successively more complex areas, including complexes, libido thoery, shadow, "anima/us," the self, individuation, and synchronicity. The map soon resembles the multidisciplinary chart of a solar system more than it does a flat map. In each subject area, Stein draws heavily on papers that Jung wrote late in his life, but he sets these in the context of Jung's earlier developing thought. This method allows the author to demonstrate the interconnectedness and coherence of Jung's mature work. -- Choice, 10/15/98Stein could just as aptly have named his introductory guide "Jung's Art of the Soul," for the course the founder of analytical psychology charted also has the intuitive sweep of an artist on an inner journey integrated within a systematic framework of techniques. Though acknowledging Jung's creative, intuitive approach to fathoming the mysteries of the individual and collective human psyche, the author presents a solid case for the basic coherency and empirical underpinnings of the great psychoanalyst's theory-counter to those who viewed him as more of a mystic or philosopher who espoused: "As within, so without." Territory consciously omitted from this psychic map concern his analytic practice and interpretation of culture, history, and religion. Organized like a graduate thesis, all the major concepts that evolved over Jung's lengthy career are lucidly summarized with some contextual details: ego-consciousness, complexes, libido theory, archetypes, persona/shadow, anima/animus, the self, individuation, and synchronicity. While this presentation is eminently more accessible than most Jungian texts-and Stein does preface it with personal remarks about his long-time attraction to Jung-those who seek a sense of Jung's own voice and personal development in his quest for answers to many of life's enigmas will have their appetites whet to explore further. -- From Independent Publisher

    Rudy's poems and quotes have been viewed and shared millions of times as he has traveled the country and the world performing for sell-out crowds. Helium is filled with work that is simultaneously personal and political, blending love poems, self-reflection, and biting cultural critique on class, race and gender into an unforgettable whole. Ultimately, Rudy's work rises above the chaos to offer a fresh and positive perspective of shared humanity and beauty.

    Learning to listen really listen requires sacred practice.The Sacred Art of Listening guides you through forty practices of deep listening to our Source, to ourselves, and to each other.Inspiring text and contemplative artwork combine to communicate the three essential qualities of deep listening silence, reflection and presence. They demonstrate that the key to healthy relationships and spiritual transformation can be as basic as practicing the art of listening.You will learn how to:Speak clearly from the heartCommunicate with courage and compassionHeighten your awareness and sensitivity to opportunities for deep listeningEnhance your ability to listen to people with different belief systems"

    Like the number zero, it will always be both a void and the start of infinite possibility. The Rise a soulful celebration of the determination and courage of the human spirit makes the case that many of our greatest triumphs come from understanding the importance of this mystery.This exquisite biography of an idea is about the improbable foundations of creative human endeavor. The Rise begins with narratives about figures past and present who range from writers to entrepreneurs; Frederick Douglass, Samuel F. B. Morse, and J. K. Rowling, for example, feature alongside choreographer Paul Taylor, Nobel Prize winning physicists Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov, Arctic explorer Ben Saunders, and psychology professor Angela Duckworth.The Rise explores the inestimable value of often ignored ideas the power of surrender for fortitude, the criticality of play for innovation, the propulsion of the near win on the road to mastery, and the importance of grit and creative practice. From an uncommonly insightful writer, The Rise is a true masterwork.

    De Botton's essay "Why You Will Marry the Wrong Person" (The New York Times, May 28, 2016), which draws from The Course of Love, was the #1 most emailed article for days.We all know the headiness and excitement of the early days of love. But what comes after? In Edinburgh, a couple, Rabih and Kirsten, fall in love. They get married, they have children—but no long-term relationship is as simple as "happily ever after." The Course of Love is a novel that explores what happens after the birth of love, what it takes to maintain love, and what happens to our original ideals under the pressures of an average existence. You experience, along with Rabih and Kirsten, the first flush of infatuation, the effortlessness of falling into romantic love, and the course of life thereafter. Interwoven with their story and its challenges is an overlay of philosophy—an annotation and a guide to what we are reading.This is a Romantic novel in the true sense, one interested in exploring how love can survive and thrive in the long term. The result is a sensory experience—fictional, philosophical, psychological—that urges us to identify deeply with these characters and to reflect on his and her own experiences in love. Fresh, visceral, and utterly compelling, The Course of Love is a provocative and life-affirming novel for everyone who believes in love.

    100 color illustrations.

    The miracle in the mundane.One day, while browsing an antique store in Helena, Montana, photographer Tyler Knott Gregson stumbled upon a vintage Remington typewriter for sale. Standing up and using a page from a broken book he was buying for $2, he typed a poem without thinking, without planning, and without the ability to revise anything.He fell in love.Three years and almost one thousand poems later, Tyler is now known as the creator of the Typewriter Series: a striking collection of poems typed onto found scraps of paper or created via blackout method. Chasers of the Light features some of his most insightful and beautifully worded pieces of work—poems that illuminate grand gestures and small glimpses, poems that celebrate the beauty of a life spent chasing the light.

    However, spiritual practices can sometimes make us less, not more, authentically human. We may be good Christians, but we aren't good human beings. How can we ensure that our spiritual journey is conducted in a way that allows us to become fully alive and deeply human?David Benner has spent thirty-five years integrating psychology and spirituality. Here he presents an expansive, psychologically informed understanding of spirituality, probing the contrasts between soulful and soulless spirituality, deep and shallow religion, and healthy and unhealthy relationships with God to affirm the vital role of human development in the spiritual journey. Benner then suggests soulful practices for cultivating the Christian spiritual life.This book will appeal to readers seeking depth and substance in their quest for authentic spirituality. It will also be a helpful resource for mental health professionals and spiritual directors. Reflection questions and exercises for individual or group use are included at the end of each chapter.d