(The somewhat confusing title is from a line in Zorba the Greek in which the title character refers to the ups and downs of family life as "the full catastrophe.") But this book is also a terrific introduction for anyone who has considered meditating but was afraid it would be too difficult or would include religious practices they found foreign. Kabat-Zinn focuses on "mindfulness," a concept that involves living in the moment, paying attention, and simply "being" rather than "doing." While you can practice anything "mindfully," from taking a walk to cleaning your house, Kabat-Zinn presents several meditation techniques that focus the attention most clearly, whether it's on a simple phrase, your breathing, or various parts of your body. The book goes into detail about how hospital patients have either improved their health or simply come to feel better despite their illness by using these techniques, but these meditations can help anyone deal with stress and gain a calmer outlook on life. "When we use the word healing to describe the experiences of people in the stress clinic, what we mean above all is that they are undergoing a profound transformation of view," Kabat-Zinn writes. "Out of this shift in perspective comes an ability to act with greater balance and inner security in the world." --Ben Kallenreissue 2005

    In Yoga Girl, Brathen takes readers beyond her Instagram feed and shares her journey like never before—from her self-destructive teenage years in her hometown in Sweden to her adventures in the jungles of Costa Rica, and finally to the beautiful and bohemian life she’s built through yoga and meditation in Aruba today. Featuring spectacular photos of Brathen practicing yoga with breathtaking tropical backdrops, along with step-by-step yoga sequences and simple recipes for a healthy, happy, and fearless lifestyle—Yoga Girl is like an armchair vacation to a Caribbean spa.

    A collection of talks she gave between 1987 and 1994, the book is a treasury of wisdom for going on living when we are overcome by pain and difficulties. Chödrön discusses:    •  Using painful emotions to cultivate wisdom, compassion, and courage    •  Communicating so as to encourage others to open up rather than shut down    •  Practices for reversing habitual patterns    •  Methods for working with chaotic situations    •  Ways for creating effective social action

    Avoid putting stress on your joints and heart with this slower yoga style.In today's fast-paced world it's easy to lose the balance in our lives and the connection with our bodies. Yin Yoga offers a remedy to the stress and hustle of everyday life. As yin balances yang in Taoist philosophies, so the slower yin-style yoga offers an alternative to the faster, more active forms of yoga such as ashtanga. Yin yoga concentrates on holding and breathing through floor-based poses, allowing you the time and space to clear your mind and stretch your body. The 54 meditative poses and 20 targeted sequences will help you attain a sense of mindfulness and physical well-being, making it the perfect complement to a busy, active yang lifestyle and bringing you back into balance.

    Bikram Choudhury, the world's foremost authority on Hot Yoga, is here to show you the true way to self-improvement and a new love of life. Based on a centuries-old and scientifically proven pathway to health, Bikram Yoga will whip your body, mind, and spirit into shape.Based on Bikram's signature program of 26 postures and two breathing exercises, this book will help you combat a variety of afflictions—from stress and insomnia to arthritis and back pain—and maintain exceptional health for years to come. The various postures work your muscles, increase flexibility, and flush toxins out of your system—a completely natural, full-body workout without the unhealthy stresses and dangers of a gym. It isn't easy: It's a rigorous, body-bending program, and Bikram gives it to you straight in his outspoken, charismatic, and tough-love fashion. But just like the hundreds of thousands of students who go to his studios across the country, you'll end up sweaty and exhausted but keep coming back for more.Additionally, Bikram Yoga can help you do much more than drop inches from your belly. Bikram explains how practicing yoga is also a mental and spiritual mission that can help you create a path to true happiness. When it comes to love and marriage, realizing your full potential, or living a life in perfect balance, Bikram's yogic philosophy shows you how physical strength and flexibility can be a gateway to mental clarity and spiritual calm.If you've never tried Bikram's yoga, get ready for the deepest, most beneficial class of your life. And if you're an old hand at it, your understanding of the postures and the sequence will increase exponentially, as will your results.So are you ready to achieve lasting health and happiness? The time has come for Bikram Yoga. Grab your mat and get ready to change your life.

    In its power to touch the heart, to awaken consciousness, [The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying] is an inestimable gift.”—San Francisco Chronicle A newly revised and updated edition of the internationally bestselling spiritual classic, The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying, written by Sogyal Rinpoche, is the ultimate introduction to Tibetan Buddhist wisdom. An enlightening, inspiring, and comforting manual for life and death that the New York Times calls, “The Tibetan equivalent of [Dante’s] The Divine Comedy,” this is the essential work that moved Huston Smith, author of The World’s Religions, to proclaim, “I have encountered no book on the interplay of life and death that is more comprehensive, practical, and wise.”

    His views go beyond any particular religion, doctrine, or guru. This book extracts the essence from his teachings in The Power of Now, showing us how to free ourselves from “enslavement to the mind.” The aim is to be able to enter into and sustain an awakened state of consciousness throughout everyday life. Through meditations and simple techniques, Eckhart shows us how to quiet our thoughts, see the world in the present moment, and find a path to “a life of grace, ease, and lightness.”

    Whether you are just beginning your journey or have been practicing yoga for years, Yoga Anatomy will be an invaluable resource-one that allows you to see each movement in an entirely new light.Leslie Kaminoff is a recognized expert and teacher in anatomy, breathing, and bodywork. He is the founder of the Breathing Project, New York City's premiere yoga studio dedicated to the teaching of individualized, breath-centered yoga practice and therapy.

    Meditation helps with focus. With relieving stress. With warding off Alzheimer's, reducing colds, and improving nearly every aspect of life.But who has time for it?This quick, simple book lays out exactly what you need to get started with meditation. It offers a variety of ways for you to meditate, so you can find one that fits into your hectic routine. And it only requires five minutes. Five quick, easy minutes to improve your life.Take that first step, and see what wonderful results will follow!This book Five Minute Meditation is intended to be free on all systems, to help those who are in need of support find a step toward a more contented life. If the system you are currently on requires a charge to download, all author's proceeds will benefit battered women's shelters.Feel free to contact Lisa if you have any questions about her routine - she's happy to help!

    Based on fifteen years of research into energy medicine, Dr. Myss's work shows how every illness corresponds to a pattern of emotional and psychological stresses, beliefs, and attitudes that have influenced corresponding areas of the human body. Anatomy of the Spirit also presents Dr. Myss's breakthrough model of the body's seven centers of spiritual and physical power, in which she synthesizes the ancient wisdom of three spiritual traditions-the Hindu chakras, the Christian sacraments, and the Kabbalah's Tree of Life-to demonstrate the seven stages through which everyone must pass in the search for higher consciousness and spiritual maturity. With this model, Dr. Myss shows how you can develop your own latent powers of intuition as you simultaneously cultivate your personal power and spiritual growth.By teaching you to see your body and spirit in a new way, Anatomy of the Spirit provides you with the tools for spiritual maturity and physical wholeness that will change your life.

    This new deluxe printing of these timeless teachings is a treasure to be read and referred to again and again by seekers treading the spiritual path. The classic Sutras (thought-threads), at least 4,000 years old, cover the yogic teachings on ethics, meditation, and physical postures, and provide directions for dealing with situations in daily life. The Sutras are presented here in the purest form, with the original Sanskrit and with translation, transliteration, and commentary by Sri Swami Satchidananda, one of the most respected and revered contemporary Yoga masters. In this classic context, Sri Swamiji offers practical advice based on his own experience for mastering the mind and achieving physical, mental and emotional harmony.

    As an Ayurvedic consultant, Susan Weis-Bohlen helps those who are new to Ayurveda address this exact issue. In Ayurveda Beginners Guide Susan explains of the holistic principles behind Ayurveda, and offers gentle guidance for incorporating its restorative practices in your everyday life.Designed with the newcomer in mind, Ayurveda Beginner’s Guide presents: A concise overview of Ayurveda that covers its historical roots, concepts, and various healing methods A 3-week Ayurveda plan for beginners to introduce Ayurvedic concepts into one's lifestyle gently and practically A wide range of Ayurveda techniques such as recipes, yoga, aromatherapy, meditation, seasonal cleanses, and more A simple dosha quiz and in-depth descriptions of each dosha Ayurveda Beginner’s Guide will show you how to unlock the transformative powers of Ayurveda and move forward in your journey towards a healthier state of mind, body, and spirit.

    This expanded edition includes the complete text of its predecessor along with a new chapter on cultivating loving kindness. For anyone who is new to meditation, this is a great resource for learning how to live a more productive and peaceful life.

    We all know it, we all wish for it, but just how to do it—that eludes us. In his new book, A Life Worth Breathing, internationally renowned yoga teacher and spiritual philosopher Max Strom shows us the way. His groundbreaking book reaches past expected dogma in a language that is vital, inspired, and accessible. Strom leads us on a journey of self-discovery as we excavate our past in order to have a better understanding of our present. According to Max Strom, “We live in fear of terrorism but in actuality the most devastating terrorism comes from within us as we sabotage ourselves.” With practical techniques, A Life Worth Breathing offers us a path to transformation with visionary insights on forgiveness, gratitude and self-empowerment. The teachings are rooted in Yoga, Sufism and Eastern philosophy, but make no mistake, this is not just another yoga book of postures, it is a guidebook for living. A Life Worth Breathing teaches us that by healing our past emotional wounds, silencing the inner critic that cripples us, and cultivating a yoga and breathing practice, we can elevate ourselves from the mindset of a reactionary victim to a higher level of awareness and empowerment. With these life skills we can achieve our true destiny, that of a fully integrated soul living an authentic life of meaning, success and joy. A life worth living, a life worth breathing.

    Seldom has such a small handful of words provided a teaching as rich as has this famous opening line. In a single stroke, the simple sentence cuts through the pervasive tendency students have of getting so close to Zen as to completely miss what it’s all about. An instant teaching on the first page. And that’s just the beginning.In the forty years since its original publication, Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind has become one of the great modern Zen classics, much beloved, much reread, and much recommended as the best first book to read on Zen. Suzuki Roshi presents the basics—from the details of posture and breathing in zazen to the perception of nonduality—in a way that is not only remarkably clear, but that also resonates with the joy of insight from the first to the last page. It’s a book to come back to time and time again as an inspiration to practice, and it is now available to a new generation of seekers in this fortieth anniversary edition, with a new afterword by Shunryu Suzuki’s biographer, David Chadwick.