Spiritual Medicine

Author and philosopher Sydney Banks once again brings to life his wise and simple gardener as a voice through which Banks presents more implications of the Three Principles that create human reality, calling on us to realize that to fully understand the Principles is to liberate one's spirit. In this sequel to Sydney Banks’ book The Enlightened Gardener, two colleagues return to England to meet once again with the remarkable gardener whose simple yet profound philosophy made such a difference to their lives.

In this heart-centered book, a student in conversation with his teacher, Kamlesh D. Patel - affectionately known as Daajii, the current spiritual guide of the century-old Heartfulness tradition - present a unique method of meditation with the power to facilitate an immediate, tangible spiritual experience, irrespective of a person's faith. Based on Daaji's own combination of approaches and practices for the modern seeker, Heartfulness is a contemporized version of the ancient Indian practice of Raja Yoga, a tradition that enables the practitioner to realize the higher self within.

If you think that you have to retreat to a cave in the Himalayas to find the enlightenment that yoga promises, think again. In this second edition of Living Your Yoga, Judith Hanson Lasater stretches the meaning of yoga beyond its familiar poses and breathing techniques to include the events of daily life - all of them - as ways to practice. Using the time-honored wisdom of the Yoga Sutra and the Bhagavad Gita to steer the course, she serves up off-the-mat practices to guide you in deepening your relationships with yourself, your family and friends, and the world around you.

Have you ever read the Bible only to come away confused? Ever wondered if God actually had you in mind when He began telling His story? Though life may not be going according to your plan, God has another one, far better than you can imagine. From Genesis to Revelation, experience His invitation to get you dancing with joy. Listen to the story of God unfold through these chapters, and you’ll find not only His redeeming love but His plan and provision designed especially for you.

Unexpected success created a spiritual crisis for Nikki Walton, which ultimately lead her to search her soul, scour religious texts, and come into closer connection with the divine in her daily life. This inspired GoOD Mornings, 5-minute meditations centering love and spirit to start the day, a popular podcast which has established her as a spiritual leader. She also offers prompts and insight into how this practice has opened her heart to expansiveness and freed her of fear.

As a Tibetan lama and leader of Shambhala (an international community of 165 meditation centers), Sakyong Mipham has found physical activity to be essential for spiritual well-being. He's been trained in horsemanship and martial arts but has a special love for running. Here, he incorporates his spiritual practice with running, presenting basic meditation instruction and fundamental principles he has developed.

Have you ever had the feeling your life just isn't working? That no matter how much you push and direct, or sit back and let go, the square peg you're holding just won't fit into the round hole that is your life? What if, instead, the roadblocks went away? What if you could experience more ease and flow in your life, banish self-doubt, fear, and anxiety, and live your greatest life? Can you imagine what that would look like - and more important, what it would feel like?

In this noisy, distracting world, it is difficult to truly hear. People talk past each other, eager to be heard but somehow deaf to what is being said. Listening is an essential skill for healthy relationships, both with God and with other people. But it is more than that: listening is a way of life. Adam McHugh places listening at the heart of our spirituality, our relationships and our mission in the world. God himself is the God who hears, and we, too, can learn to hear what God may be saying through creation, through Scripture, through people.

Open your spiritual eyes; listen with the inner ear; open your minds. What is it that we are to open our eyes, our ears and our minds to? What is it that we must see, hear, and understand? It is something Jesus learned through silent communion with life. The inward ear of Jesus was in tune with the divine harmony; his inward eye looked upon a spiritual universe; his human consciousness was transmuted into divine understanding as he sought for and found his union with life.

In God's Battle Plan for the Mind, pastor David Saxton seeks to convince God's people of the absolute necessity for personal meditation and motivate them to begin this work themselves. But he has not done this alone. Rather, he has labored through numerous Puritan works in order to bring together the best of their insights on meditation. Standing on the shoulders of these giants, Saxton teaches us how to meditate on divine truth and gives valuable guidance about how to rightly pattern our thinking throughout the day.

Incredibly, the ingredients of a hugely successful life cost nothing at all. In fact, we mass-produce 60,000 of them every day. These are the thoughts that our mind creates. They are responsible for the happiness and distress we experience. They are the precursors of all we do. We grapple with improving our actions, only to find our attempts undone by impure thinking. If we focus on transforming our thoughts instead, incredible results will accrue from a fraction of the efforts.

Seven years ago, Christian Wiman, a well-known poet and the editor of Poetry magazine, wrote a now-famous essay about having faith in the face of death. My Bright Abyss, composed in the difficult years since and completed in the wake of a bone marrow transplant, is a moving meditation on what a viable contemporary faith - responsive not only to modern thought and science but also to religious tradition - might look like.

What remained confined to the indigenous tribes of the Amazonian rainforest has now gone global in the last 25 years. We are talking about the powerful brew known by the name of ayahuasca, or yage.

When you feel overwhelmed by the pressures of life, you can pause, restore calm, and choose joy by exploring new ways to break free from worry and anxiety. With Breathe, soul-care mentor Bonnie Gray is here to help you create new wellness habits to rest and renew your spirit.

With warmth and wisdom from a lifetime of spiritual seeking, inspirational force Agapi Stassinopoulos guides you through fifty-two weeks of letting go of what doesn’t work for you and finding what does. You’ll cultivate the building blocks of self-care (meditation, health, making time for yourself) and confront the common roadblocks we all face, like pouring your energy into other people or living in denial. You’ll explore your “conflict” areas, such as relationships, money, self-esteem, anxiety, and your childhood.

An exploration of the healthful powers of curanderismo, a combination of Aztec, Spanish, Native American, and African medicine, from a registered nurse and professional curandera, advocates a holistic approach to healing, showing how to creatively combine Western and folk medicines.

If you're looking for mushroom mansplaining, you've come to the wrong book. The Psilocybin Handbook for Women is a resource for everyone, although it features information specific to those assigned female at birth-because psychedelics may have different effects and applications across the sexes.

Larry Brilliant's life journey has led him on a purposeful path across continents and countercultural movements, marching arm in arm with the men and women who defined a generation. A man who has always been in the right place at the right time, Brilliant has engaged with some of the most prominent thought leaders, spiritual masters, heroes, and icons in the world, including Neem Karoli Baba (Maharajji), Martin Luther King Jr., Steve Jobs, Mikhail Gorbachev, Wavy Gravy, the Grateful Dead, the Dalai Lama, and Barack Obama.

No matter where we are in our spiritual development, we all have questions about our practice and what we are experiencing - both the challenges and opportunities. How can I overcome my struggles to meditate more deeply? Is there a need for a guru, or can I rely on myself? Can I trust my intuition? Is it possible to hear the “Inner Word”, the voice of the soul, and how can I be sure that’s what I’m hearing? Is the Higher Self in the heart?

When we think of wellbeing, we often think of our physical and mental health-tending to our bodies and minds to find peace, purpose, and connection in our lives. But as Kamlesh D. Patel, spiritual leader of the Heartfulness Organization and fourth in line to the raja yoga tradition illuminates, there is a third system we too often overlook: The Spiritual Anatomy. Acting as a sort of atlas for consciousness, the chakras—the centers of spiritual energy that comprise our spiritual anatomy—lead us back to our hearts, ourselves, and the sustainable happiness and meaning we crave.