Spiritual Practice For Crazy Times

A practical guide to surviving and thriving in a world gone mad Do you ever feel torn between finding refuge and staying informed and engaged? Have you ever felt too stressed out to meditate? Too anxious to roll out your yoga mat or pray? The truth is, when the world gets chaotic and confounding, we need spiritual practice more than ever. That's when our souls need sustenance. That's when we need to recharge and ground ourselves to take on the challenge. This concise, compassionate guide is filled with tools and techniques for accessing the sanctuary within you. They'll give you spiritual support at a moment's notice, in whatever time you have, with whatever attention you can spare. Expert teacher Philip Goldberg draws on authoritative texts and teachers from every spiritual path, especially the empirical methods of the Yoga tradition-as well as contemporary psychology and scientific research. The result is a wide range of techniques to relieve the mind and body, refresh the spirit, and gird us for constructive action. You'll get insightful instruction in practices ranging from deep meditation to cognitive reframing to "spiritual space management," from silently communing with nature to actively engaging with others. And you'll find detailed guidelines for creating a spiritual routine-along with an inventory of supplementary practices-that suits your needs and lifestyle. This breezy, thorough, pragmatic book will help you find refuge and healing from the crazy times we're living in-and it will prepare you for taking robust steps to help restore sanity in the world around you.

A fascinating look at India’s remarkable impact on Western culture, this eye-opening popular history shows how the ancient philosophy of Vedanta and the mind-body methods of Yoga have profoundly affected the worldview of millions of Americans and radically altered the religious landscape. What exploded in the 1960s, following the Beatles trip to India for an extended stay with their new guru, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, actually began more than two hundred years earlier, when the United States started importing knowledge--as well as tangy spices and colorful fabrics--from Asia. The first translations of Hindu texts found their way into the libraries of John Adams and Ralph Waldo Emerson. From there the ideas spread to Henry David Thoreau, Walt Whitman, and succeeding generations of receptive Americans, who absorbed India’s “science of consciousness” and wove it into the fabric of their lives. Charismatic teachers like Swami Vivekananda and Paramahansa Yogananda came west in waves, prompting leading intellectuals, artists, and scientists such as Aldous Huxley, Joseph Campbell, Allen Ginsberg, J. D. Salinger, John Coltrane, Dean Ornish, and Richard Alpert, aka Ram Dass, to adapt and disseminate what they learned from them. The impact has been enormous, enlarging our current understanding of the mind and body and dramatically changing how we view ourselves and our place in the cosmos. Goldberg paints a compelling picture of this remarkable East-to-West transmission, showing how it accelerated through the decades and eventually moved from the counterculture into our laboratories, libraries, and living rooms. Now physicians and therapists routinely recommend meditation, words like karma and mantra are part of our everyday vocabulary, and Yoga studios are as ubiquitous as Starbuckses. The insights of India’s sages permeate so much of what we think, believe, and do that they have redefined the meaning of life for millions of Americans—and continue to do so every day. Rich in detail and expansive in scope, American Veda shows how we have come to accept and live by the central teaching of Vedic wisdom: “Truth is one, the wise call it by many names.”

In this uplifting and transformational book, spiritual teacher Mary Davis shares daily reflections, inspiring quotes, practices, prayers and meditations that fill your heart with encouragement, joy and inner peace. With a page for each day of the year, this gentle book will become a companion and a wise teacher that takes you on a spiritual journey of finding joy and gratitude in simple things, peace and comfort even in the midst of chaos, and a deeper love for others through kindness, compassion and service. Written during a year of solitude in the isolation of a cabin, Mary's poetic gift with words, loving guidance, humor and heart will feed your soul and have you looking forward to each day's reading. Every Day Spirit is packed with spiritual wisdom, making it a road map to a more meaningful and fulfilling life – and a reminder to slow down and notice the blessings. It's the perfect gift for yourself...and anyone in need of inspiration, hope, comfort and wisdom.

From a recovering addict, musician, and tattooed indie culturist: a guidebook for today’s generation of spiritual misfits who crave a dogma-free path. Brutally honest and radically unconventional, Chris Grosso’s collection of stories and musings about his meandering journey of self-inquiry, recovery, and acceptance shows what it means to live a truly authentic spiritual life. Set amongst the backdrop of Grosso’s original music (includ­ed for download via QR codes in the text), Indie Spiritualist encourages you to accept yourself just as you are, in all your humanity and imperfect perfection.

These real-life examples and refreshing stories of everyday spiritual practices people use to free themselves from the work and worry mindset of our culture will empower you to see how even your busiest workweek can include spiritual habits and routines.

"Upgrade your metaphysics" with funny yet profound insights into science, religion, and meaning.

"I enjoyed this immensely... Definitely a fun and entertaining book while sharing a bit of spiritual goodness as well." Katie "This book put into words just what, and how, I was feeling about my own spiritual journey. Women and men have such different experiences and this book beautifully articulates them." Amanda Motherhood is misunderstood. Since time immemorial we've believed that when women become mothers they are taking time out from real work and serious personal growth, especially spiritual development. But we've had it all wrong. While heavily pregnant with her third child, personal growth writer Astra Niedra attempts a holiday in the tropical paradise of Australia's Far North with her husband and two young daughters in tow. During this ‘holiday’ she discovers that the skills and abilities that mothers are required to use each day as part of their job are the same as the practices prescribed for enlightenment seekers. “Her simple spellbinding stories, her keen intellect, and her unfailing humour make this book a pleasure to read. Here is a new way of thinking of spirituality, of valuing our humanity while living a spirit-infused life, and a fascinating (and novel) path to enlightenment! It's a consciousness changer and I loved it." Dr Sidra Stone "A great read for all mothers, I loved this book!" Ann Shepich This book will inspire you, entertain you and lift your spirits, all the while grounding you in the unshakeable truth that there is far more to being a mother and raising children than conventional wisdom would have us believe.

Swamiji and Stories of His Life Paramhansa Yogananda once said to a group of disciples: “You must not let the symphony of your life go unfinished.” This phrase perfectly describes the last years of Swami Kriyananda’s life, which were a crescendo of divine love and untiring service to humanity. Who was Swami Kriyananda? What was it like to know this close and direct disciple of the great Master, Paramhansa Yogananda? In Swamiji, Miriam Rodgers shares an intimate and up-close look at lessons she learned through her connection as Swami Kriyananda’s nurse for the last eight years of his life. In this profoundly moving biographical account filled with never before heard stories, you’ll glimpse the interior castle of Swami Kriyananda’s consciousness. Throughout history, the saints alone are the true custodians of religion. Saints like Swami Kriyananda draw their understanding from the direct experience of truth and of God, not from superficial reasoning or book learning. You’ll be spellbound and inspired by the story of Swamiji.