Finding The Blue Sky

Joseph Emet explores the intersection between Positive Psychology--the study of what makes people happy--and the ancient wisdom of Buddhism. Positive Psychology—with its focus not on mental "disease," but rather on what actually makes people happy—has revolutionized the way that we look at mental health. What many people don't realize, however, is that Positive Psychology is not as young a field of inquiry as we think. In fact, according to Joseph Emet, the original positive thinker was the Buddha himself. In this wise and inspiring book, Emet traces the fascinating intersection between the age-old wisdom of Buddhism and the latest scientific research into what makes people happy. In this book readers will discover: * How to replace negative thinking with positive thinking * How to move from frenzied thinking to quiet contemplation * The duty we have to others to live a happy life As Joseph explains in this work, the blue sky of happiness is found just beyond the grey clouds of sadness, everyday concerns, stress, or anxiety. Readers will find that the advice in this book can act as the gentle wind that clears those clouds away.

Sleep deprivation is a growing problem worldwide. We go to our doctors for advice, but they seem to have nothing but pills to counteract this predicament, and these quick fixes fail to get to the root of the problem.Buddha's Book of Sleep is the first book to treat sleep disorders from the perspective of mindfulness meditation. Yet this is a natural choice - mindfulness meditation has proven effective for other psychological problems such as stress, depression and anxiety and these very issues are what become sleep problems when our heads hit the pillow. Divided into two sections, this book attacks sleep disorders with a combination of wisdom and practical meditation exercises. The first section describes the reasons why mindfulness meditation's basis in self-awareness is appropriate for dealing with this problem, detailing the practices of this popular form of meditation. The second section contains seven specific exercises to practice at bedtime or in the wee hours of the morning, depending on when sleeping problems occur. Supplying readers with a new perspective on why they cannot fall asleep (even when they feel exhausted), and arming them with easy-to-use tools from the practices of mindfulness meditation, Buddha's Book of Sleep will help the reader calm their hurried thoughts and rest easy.

A warm and unforgettable portrait of a family letting go of the known world to encounter an unfamiliar one filled with rich possibilities and new understandings. Bruce Kirkby had fallen into a pattern of looking mindlessly at his phone for hours, flipping between emails and social media, ignoring his children and wife and everything alive in his world, when a thought struck him. This wasn't living; this wasn't him. This moment of clarity started a chain reaction which ended with a grand plan: he was going to take his wife and two young sons, jump on a freighter and head for the Himalaya. In Blue Sky Kingdom, we follow Bruce and his family's remarkable three months journey, where they would end up living amongst the Lamas of Zanskar Valley, a forgotten appendage of the ancient Tibetan empire, and one of the last places on earth where Himalayan Buddhism is still practiced freely in its original setting. Richly evocative, Blue Sky Kingdom explores the themes of modern distraction and the loss of ancient wisdom coupled with Bruce coming to terms with his elder son's diagnosis on the Autism Spectrum. Despite the natural wonders all around them at times, Bruce's experience will strike a chord with any parent—from rushing to catch a train with the whole family to the wonderment and beauty that comes with experience the world anew with your children.

A boy’s nomadic life in Mongolia is under threat in a novel that “captures the mountains, valleys and steppes in all their surpassing beauty and brutality” (Minneapolis Star-Tribune). In the high Altai Mountains of northern Mongolia, a young shepherd boy comes of age, tending his family’s flocks on the mountain steppes and knowing little of the world beyond the surrounding peaks. But his nomadic way of life is increasingly disrupted by modernity. This confrontation comes in stages. First, his older siblings leave the family yurt to attend a distant boarding school. Then the boy’s grandmother dies, and with her his connection to the old ways. But perhaps the greatest tragedy strikes when his dog, Arsylang—“all that was left to me”—ingests poison set out by the boy’s father to protect his herd from wolves. “Why is it so?” Dshurukawaa cries out in despair to the Heavenly Blue Sky, to be answered only by the wind. Rooted in the oral traditions of the Tuvan people, The Blue Sky weaves the timeless story of a boy poised on the cusp of manhood with the story of a people on the threshold. “Thrilling. . . . Tschinag makes it easy for his readers to fall into the beautiful rhythms of the Tuvans’ daily life.” —Los Angeles Times Book Review “In this pristine and concentrated tale of miraculous survival and anguished loss, Tschinag evokes the nurturing warmth of a family within the circular embrace of a yurt as an ancient way of life lived in harmony with nature becomes endangered.” —Booklist

On September 11th2001, 32-year-old Elizabeth Turner was working at Channel 4 when news broke of the attacks on the World Trade Centre. Surrounded by TV screens, like her colleagues, she watched as the horror unfolded. But for Elizabeth, the atrocities were all the more painful - her husband Simon was at a meeting in the restaurant at the top of the towers as the planes crashed into them. Elizabeth was seven months pregnant with their first child. As the destruction unfolded, and Simon did not call, Elizabeth's world crumbled, and she spiralled into an abyss of grief more painful than most of us can imagine. This immensely moving memoir packs a powerful emotional punch, and hooks the reader from the first page. The author eloquently describes how she had to hit rock bottom before she could start rebuilding a life for herself and her young son William. That she was able to recover at all is testament to the power of the human spirit. But more than this, Elizabeth has forged a completely new life and career and is now living what she calls her 'ultimate life'. Her story offers hope that there is a way through the worst experiences - not with quick-fix solutions but by moving deep within yourself to bring about complete healing and recovery.

Bright Star Ranch led him to her--but will he stay?Josh Lake is forced to head home for the holidays after he's suspended from his job in the city, but running into Paisley Sheridan could be exactly what he needed. Not only does she board him at her ranch in exchange for his advertising expertise, but spending the Christmas season with her in Big Sky, Montana, brings more joy than he's felt in a long while. Is he willing to give up the lavish lifestyle he's worked for in exchange for the gift of love?The last thing Paisley wants for Christmas is to spend time with Josh Lake--the guy who broke her heart in high school--but until her bank loan goes through, she has to take all the free help she can get. Unfortunately, Josh seems to want back in her life again, and the town's quirky coffee shop owners don't help by hanging mistletoe at every opportunity. Will Paisley succeed in driving him away, or will she find the healing needed to have hope for a future together?

A Piece of Blue Sky: The Dynamics of Faith turns to Abraham, the patriarch of the faith, to find both encouragement and challenge. In a classic series of sermons on this figure, Darrel E. Berg explores the dynamics of faith. Seeking the parallels between Abrahams path and the course facing an individual seeking to live by faith in todays world, he offers several key, guiding insights. The life of faith is like a pendulum that swings between doubt and trust. The person who follows God in faith will face times of sacrifice. God desires for individuals, by his grace, to accept their own identities and to embrace their places in Gods plans. A key message of A Piece of Blue Sky is clear: Christians lives are not necessarily free from tension or exempt from strife. Its encouragement is equally unambiguous: despite the swings between enthrallment and discouragement with Gods calling, Christians can remain committed, like Abraham, to remain obedient to God and to follow his guidance for living. In A Piece of Blue Sky: The Dynamic of Faith, one hears clearly that just as Abraham never found all that he sought on his own journey through life, Christians today can continue to seek the promised land to which God calls them. Even when that journey leads to places where clouds of adversity hang over the life of faith, Abrahams example reminds them that God always holds out the promise of a piece of blue sky.

"Shortly after Cass's big brother is deployed to fight in Iraq, Cass becomes pen pals with an Iraqi girl who opens up her eyes to the effects of war".