Mental Power

The quest for enlightenment has occupied mankind for millennia. And from the depictions we’ve seen—monks sitting on meditation cushions, nuns kneeling in prayer, shamans communing with the universe—it seems that this elusive state is reserved for a chosen few. But now, neuroscientist David Perlmutter and medical anthropologist and shaman Alberto Villoldo have come together to explore the commonalities between their specialties with the aim of making enlightenment possible for anyone.

“If only I could get some closure…” If you’ve found yourself saying these words, you’re not alone. When you’ve lost a relationship, a job, or a loved one, closure can seem as elusive as it is necessary. Psychotherapist and relationship coach Gary McClain says it’s one of the most common—and important—issues his clients bring up. In this empathetic and insightful guide, Dr. McClain explains why the promise of closure is so appealing—and why it’s not always all it’s cracked up to be.

As Jamie Holmes shows in Nonsense, being confused is unpleasant, so we tend to shutter our minds as we grasp for meaning and stability, especially in stressful circumstances. We’re hard-wired to resolve contradictions quickly and extinguish anomalies. This can be useful, of course. When a tiger is chasing you, you can’t be indecisive. But as Nonsense reveals, our need for closure has its own dangers. It makes us stick to our first answer, which is not always the best, and it makes us search for meaning in the wrong places.

As Dr. Marian explains, while you may well think you speak only one language, in fact your mind accommodates multiple codes of communication. Some people speak Spanish, some Mandarin. Some speak poetry, some are fluent in math. The human brain is built to use multiple languages, and using more languages opens doors to creativity, brain health, and cognitive control. Every new language we speak shapes how we extract and interpret information.

Oliver Burkeman explores why people are often more successful - as are organisations, armies and governments - when they focus on reasons they are likely to fail; asks where happiness comes from, and whether we look for it in the wrong places; explores a phenomenon that has come to be called 'fungineering' – attempts to boost happiness in the workplace; and confronts what many of us see as the most negative of all experiences: death.

Renowned media scholar Sherry Turkle investigates how a flight from conversation undermines our relationships, creativity, and productivity - and why reclaiming face-to-face conversation can help us regain lost ground. We live in a technological universe in which we are always communicating. And yet we have sacrificed conversation for mere connection. Preeminent author and researcher Sherry Turkle has been studying digital culture for over 30 years. Long an enthusiast for its possibilities, here she investigates a troubling consequence.

In How to Have a Good Day, economist and former McKinsey partner Caroline Webb shows listeners how to use recent findings from behavioral economics, psychology, and neuroscience to transform their approaches to everyday working life. Advances in these behavioral sciences are giving us ever better understanding of how our brains work, why we make the choices we do, and what it takes for us to be at our best.

We see on all sides men who seem to exert a wonderful and mysterious mental influence upon others - upon those associated with them, or upon the public mind. Leaders spring into prominence, apparently owing their power to some mysterious influence over the minds and wills of others. Some attain power and position - others attain wealth and social state, by reason of some inner force. When we meet certain people, we become at once impressed by a something about them that makes its power and influence felt by us.

Discover how expanding and improving your mental agility—your ability to flex your thoughts, feelings, and actions—can transform your life, bolster your resilience, and foster your zest for living. Endless self-help approaches claim to have the answer. It's important to be mindful, we are told, and to stay in the moment. Sometimes, we are advised to keep going no matter what, to be 'gritty'. Others tell us that adopting a 'growth mindset' is key.

Do you feel like there is something inside of you waiting to come out? Are you interested in reaching a higher level of consciousness? Are you tired of feeling stuck? If you answered yes to any of these questions, then this book is for you. Awakening the kundalini energy that lives inside of you will raise your consciousness and open you up to a new experience that you never knew existed. Having an awakened kundalini is a gift, one that can help you reach new levels on your spiritual path, which all leads to enlightenment.

Robin Dunbar is the world-renowned psychologist and author who famously discovered Dunbar's number: how our capacity for friendship is limited to around 150 people. In Friends, he looks at friendship in the round, at the way different types of friendship and family relationships intersect, or at the complex of psychological and behavioural mechanisms that underpin friendships and make them possible - and just how complicated the business of making and keeping friends actually is.

Are videogames bad for us? It's the question on everyone's mind, given teenagers' captive attention to videogames and the media's tendency to scapegoat them. It's also - if you ask clinical psychologist Alexander Kriss - the wrong question. In his therapy office, Kriss looks at videogames as a window into the mind. Is his patient Liz really "addicted" to Candy Crush - or is she evading a deeper problem? And when Jack immerses himself in Mass Effect, is he eroding his social skills - or honing them via relationship - building gameplay?

In this eye-opening and practical guide, psychotherapist Britt Frank introduces you to your parts: from impulsive inner parts and shadowy hidden parts to your inner child and more. You’ll learn to listen to the conversations inside yourself and identify the core needs behind your habits and behaviors. Using tools and exercises ranging from self-dialogue to embodiment techniques and more, you’ll discover new ways to nurture and harmonize these inner voices—even when you feel overwhelmed and low in motivation.

So What's the Big Secret? And what can it do for you?Well, if you've ever had a dream, a secret ambition, a passionate desire or goal, but had no idea how to make it real, then The Secret to Teen Power audio book is for you. The Secret has already shown millions of people all over the world how to change their lives and make their dreams come true. And you can do it too.

In her brand-new book, Fearne Cotton seeks out the insight and advice of wise minds to explore what they can teach us to achieve happiness, connection and hope. Fearne weaves her own journey of discovery and personal stories with the deep knowledge, ancient practices and emotional tools of renowned spiritualists and thought leaders. With their help, she peels back layers of anxiety and self-limiting beliefs to find contentment and deeper meaning.

It's no wonder that introversion is making headlines - half of all Americans are introverts. But if that describes you, are you making the most of your inner strength? In this book, psychologist and introvert Laurie Helgoe, PhD, unveils the genius of introversion. Introverts gain energy and power through reflection and solitude. Our culture, however, is geared toward the extrovert. The pressure to get out there and get happier can lead people to think that an inward orientation is a problem instead of an opportunity.

Thomas Troward was a judge in British-administered India who wrote and lectured widely on the power of the mind, and became president of the International New Thought Alliance. The Hidden Power comprises a collection of Troward's essays on consciousness, symbolism, psychology, and mental science.

A successful Wall Street trader turned Cambridge neuroscientist reveals the biology of boom and bust and how risk taking transforms our body chemistry, driving us to extremes of euphoria and risky behavior or stress and depression. The laws of financial boom and bust, it turns out, have more than a little to do with male hormones. In a series of groundbreaking experiments, Dr. John Coates identified a feedback loop between testosterone and success that dramatically lowers the fear of risk.

Here is a landmark book that reveals the way boys think and that shows parents, educators, and coaches how to reach out and help boys overcome their most common yet difficult challenges - by the best-selling author who changed our conception of adolescent girls. What you'll find in Masterminds and Wingmen is critically important for every parent - or anyone who cares about boys - to know. Collaborating with a large team of middle- and high-school-age editors, Rosalind Wiseman has created an unprecedented guide to the life your boy is actually experiencing - his on-the-ground reality.

Anxiety disorders are the most common mental illnesses in the world. But in our workplaces, anxiety has been a hidden problem—there in plain sight but ignored. Until now. The Anxious Achiever is a book with a mission: to normalize anxiety and leadership. As leadership expert and self-proclaimed anxious achiever Morra Aarons-Mele argues, anxiety is built into the very nature of leadership. It can—and should—be harnessed into a force for good.