Download or read book Contemplative Practices in Action written by Thomas G. Plante Ph.D. and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2010-07-15 with total page 273 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This groundbreaking primer illuminates contemplative methods that can improve mental and physical health. Contemplative practices, from meditation to Zen, are growing in popularity as methods to inspire physical and mental health. Contemplative Practices in Action: Spirituality, Meditation, and Health offers readers an introduction to these practices and the ways they can be used in the service of well being, wisdom, healing, and stress reduction. Bringing together various traditions from the East and West, this thought-provoking work summarizes the history of each practice, highlights classic and emerging research proving its power, and details how each practice is performed. Expert authors offer step-by-step approaches to practice methods including the 8-Point Program of Passage Meditation, Centering Prayer, mindful stress management, mantram meditation, energizing meditation, yoga, and Zen. Beneficial practices from Christian, Buddhist, Jewish, Hindu, and Islamic religions are also featured. Vignettes illustrate each of the practices, while the contributors explain how and why they are effective in facing challenges as varied as the loss of a partner or child, job loss, chronic pain or disease, or psychological disorders.
Download or read book Contemplative Practices in Higher Education written by Daniel P. Barbezat and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2013-10-30 with total page 262 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Contemplative pedagogy is a way for instructors to: empower students to integrate their own experience into the theoretical material they are being taught in order to deepen their understanding; help students to develop sophisticated problem-solving skills; support students’ sense of connection to and compassion for others; and engender inquiries into students’ most profound questions. Contemplative practices are used in just about every discipline—from physics to economics to history—and are found in every type of institution. Each year more and more faculty, education reformers, and leaders of teaching and learning centers seek out best practices in contemplative teaching, and now can find them here, brought to you by two of the foremost leaders and innovators on the subject. This book presents background information and ideas for the practical application of contemplative practices across the academic curriculum from the physical sciences to the humanities and arts. Examples of contemplative techniques included in the book are mindfulness, meditation, yoga, deep listening, contemplative reading and writing, and pilgrimage, including site visits and field trips.
Download or read book Contemplation in Action written by Richard Rohr and published by Crossroad. This book was released on 2006 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book, designed for bedside devotion, offers the best of Richard Rohr's "Radical Grace" newsletter.
Download or read book Contemplative Pedagogies for Transformative Teaching Learning and Being written by Jing Lin and published by IAP. This book was released on 2019-11-01 with total page 397 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In our current systems of education, there is a trend toward compartmentalizing knowledge, standardizing assessments of learning, and focusing primarily on quantifiable and positivist forms of inquiry. Contemplative inquiry, on the other hand, takes us on a transformative pathway toward wisdom, morality, integrity, equanimity, and joy (Zajonc, 2009). These holistic learning practices are needed as a counterbalance to the over-emphasis on positivism that we see today. In addition to learning quantifiable information, we also need to learn to be calmer, wiser, kinder, and happier. This book aims to find and share various pathways leading to these ends. This book will describe educational endeavors in various settings that use contemplative pedagogies to enable students to achieve deep learning, peace, tranquility, equanimity, and wisdom to gain new understanding about self and life, and to grow holistically. Embodiment is a central concept in this book. We hope to highlight strategies for exploring internal wisdoms through engaging ourselves beyond simply the rational mind. Contemplative pedagogies such as meditation, yoga, tai chi, dance, arts, poetry, reflective writing and movements, can help students embody what they learn by integrating their body, heart, mind, and spirit.
Download or read book Joy Unspeakable written by Barbara A. Holmes and published by Fortress Press. This book was released on 2017-10-15 with total page 258 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Joy Unspeakable focuses on the aspects of the Black church that point beyond particular congregational gatherings toward a mystical and communal spirituality not within the exclusive domain of any denomination. This mystical aspect of the black church is deeply implicated in the well-being of African American people but is not the focus of their intentional reflection. Moreover, its traditions are deeply ensconced within the historical memory of the wider society and can be found in Coltrane's riffs, Malcolm's exhortations, the social activism of the Black Lives Matter Movement and the presidency of Barack Hussein Obama. The research in this book-through oral histories, church records, and written accounts--details not only ways in which contemplative experience is built into African American collective worship but also the legacy of African monasticism, a history of spiritual exemplars, and unique meditative worship practices. A groundbreaking work in its original edition, Joy Unspeakable now appears in a new, revised edition to address the effects of this contemplative tradition on activism and politics and to speak to a new generation of readers and scholars.
Download or read book Contemplation in a World of Action written by Thomas Merton and published by Image. This book was released on 1973 with total page 396 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The American trappist monk outlines means of reorganizing monastic life to meet the needs of contemporary man
Download or read book Action Versus Contemplation written by Jennifer Summit and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2018-03-22 with total page 253 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “All of humanity’s problems stem from man’s inability to sit quietly in a room alone,” Blaise Pascal wrote in 1654. But then there’s Walt Whitman, in 1856: “Whoever you are, come forth! Or man or woman come forth! / You must not stay sleeping and dallying there in the house.” It is truly an ancient debate: Is it better to be active or contemplative? To do or to think? To make an impact, or to understand the world more deeply? Aristotle argued for contemplation as the highest state of human flourishing. But it was through action that his student Alexander the Great conquered the known world. Which should we aim at? Centuries later, this argument underlies a surprising number of the questions we face in contemporary life. Should students study the humanities, or train for a job? Should adults work for money or for meaning? And in tumultuous times, should any of us sit on the sidelines, pondering great books, or throw ourselves into protests and petition drives? With Action versus Contemplation, Jennifer Summit and Blakey Vermeule address the question in a refreshingly unexpected way: by refusing to take sides. Rather, they argue for a rethinking of the very opposition. The active and the contemplative can—and should—be vibrantly alive in each of us, fused rather than sundered. Writing in a personable, accessible style, Summit and Vermeule guide readers through the long history of this debate from Plato to Pixar, drawing compelling connections to the questions and problems of today. Rather than playing one against the other, they argue, we can discover how the two can nourish, invigorate, and give meaning to each other, as they have for the many writers, artists, and thinkers, past and present, whose examples give the book its rich, lively texture of interplay and reference. This is not a self-help book. It won’t give you instructions on how to live your life. Instead, it will do something better: it will remind you of the richness of a life that embraces action and contemplation, company and solitude, living in the moment and planning for the future. Which is better? Readers of this book will discover the answer: both.
Download or read book Mindfulness Oriented Interventions for Trauma written by Victoria M. Follette and published by Guilford Publications. This book was released on 2015-01-01 with total page 385 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Grounded in research and accumulated clinical wisdom, this book describes a range of ways to integrate mindfulness and other contemplative practices into clinical work with trauma survivors. The volume showcases treatment approaches that can be tailored to this population's needs, such as mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR), acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT), and mindful self-compassion (MSC), among others. Featuring vivid case material, the book explores which elements of contemplative traditions support recovery and how to apply them safely. Neurobiological foundations of mindfulness-oriented work are examined. Treatment applications are illustrated for specific trauma populations, such as clients with chronic pain, military veterans, and children and adolescents.
Download or read book Action Contemplation and Happiness written by C. D. C. Reeve and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 2012-03-12 with total page 316 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The notion of practical wisdom is one of Aristotle's greatest inventions. It has inspired philosophers as diverse as Martin Heidegger, Hans-Georg Gadamer, Elizabeth Anscombe, Michael Thompson, and John McDowell. Now a leading scholar of ancient philosophy offers a challenge to received accounts of practical wisdom by situating it in the larger context of Aristotle's views on knowledge and reality. That happiness is the end pursued by practical wisdom is commonly agreed. What is disputed is whether happiness is to be found in the practical life of political action, in which we exhibit courage, temperance, and other virtues of character, or in the contemplative life, where theoretical wisdom is the essential virtue. C. D. C. Reeve argues that the dichotomy is bogus, that these lives are in fact parts of a single life, which is the best human one. In support of this view, he develops innovative accounts of many of the central notions in Aristotle's metaphysics, epistemology, and psychology, including matter and form, scientific knowledge, dialectic, educatedness, perception, understanding, political science, practical truth, deliberation, and deliberate choice. These accounts are based directly on freshly translated passages from many of Aristotle's writings. Action, Contemplation, and Happiness is an accessible essay not just on practical wisdom but on Aristotle's philosophy as a whole.
Download or read book Every Thing Is Sacred written by Richard Rohr and published by Convergent Books. This book was released on 2021-02-16 with total page 176 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this companion to The Universal Christ, Richard Rohr and Patrick Boland offer forty reflections and practices exploring what it means to live “in Christ.” In his landmark book The Universal Christ, Richard Rohr articulated a transformative view of what it means to recognize Jesus as “Christ”—as a portrait of God’s constant, unfolding work in the world. Now, in partnership with Patrick Boland, a psychotherapist and member of Rohr’s Center for Action and Contemplation community, he invites readers to engage with the themes of the book through spiritual practice. Each reflection in this book draws on a key passage of The Universal Christ, paired with prayers, journal prompts, and embodied exercises that invite readers into a more personal encounter with the truth that the presence and compassion of the Christ are in every thing. Whether read daily for the season of Lent or explored over the course of a year, Every Thing Is Sacred is a hope-filled journey into the love at the heart of all things.
Download or read book The Universal Christ written by Richard Rohr and published by Convergent Books. This book was released on 2019-03-05 with total page 250 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • From one of the world’s most influential spiritual thinkers, a long-awaited book exploring what it means that Jesus was called “Christ,” and how this forgotten truth can restore hope and meaning to our lives. “Anyone who strives to put their faith into action will find encouragement and inspiration in the pages of this book.”—Melinda Gates In his decades as a globally recognized teacher, Richard Rohr has helped millions realize what is at stake in matters of faith and spirituality. Yet Rohr has never written on the most perennially talked about topic in Christianity: Jesus. Most know who Jesus was, but who was Christ? Is the word simply Jesus’s last name? Too often, Rohr writes, our understandings have been limited by culture, religious debate, and the human tendency to put ourselves at the center. Drawing on scripture, history, and spiritual practice, Rohr articulates a transformative view of Jesus Christ as a portrait of God’s constant, unfolding work in the world. “God loves things by becoming them,” he writes, and Jesus’s life was meant to declare that humanity has never been separate from God—except by its own negative choice. When we recover this fundamental truth, faith becomes less about proving Jesus was God, and more about learning to recognize the Creator’s presence all around us, and in everyone we meet. Thought-provoking, practical, and full of deep hope and vision, The Universal Christ is a landmark book from one of our most beloved spiritual writers, and an invitation to contemplate how God liberates and loves all that is.
Download or read book Breathing Under Water written by Richard Rohr and published by Franciscan Media. This book was released on 2013-11-04 with total page 85 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous is America's most significant and authentic contribution to the history of spirituality, says Richard Rohr. He makes a case that the Twelve Steps relate well to Christian teaching and can rescue people who are drowning in addiction and may not even realize it. To survive the tidal wave of compulsive behavior and addiction, Christians must learn to breathe under water and discover God's love and compassion. In this exploration of Twelve Step spirituality, Rohr identifies the Christian principles in the Twelve Steps, connecting The Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous with the gospel. He draws on talks he has given for over twenty years to people in recovery and those who counsel and live with people with addictive behavior. Rohr offers encouragement for becoming interiorly alive and inspiration for making one's life manageable for dealing with the codependence and dysfunction (sin) rampant in our society.
Download or read book Soul Awakening Practice written by James O'Dea and published by Watkins Media Limited. This book was released on 2017-06-13 with total page 239 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A mantra for a new consciousness with an introduction by Lynne McTaggart and contributions by Ervin László, Michael Singer, Barbara Marx Hubbard, Anodea Judith, Kabir Helminski and Mona Polacca. The Soul Awakening Practice is built around a 6-line mantra. A mantra is a sacred utterance. Repetition of a mantra aids in concentration and is believed to have both psychological and sacred powers. This is a book for activists, for ecologists, and for spiritual seekers engaged in the quest for a spiritually coherent and united worldview. The human race has a moral imperative to transform the way we live and The Soul Awakening Practice offers a way for us to engage spiritually. Integrating ancient wisdom, modern science and psychology this mantra prayer is a means by which to reveal a coherent worldview available to each and every one of us. Written by James O’Dea, the former president of the Institute of Noetic Sciences and member of the Evolutionary Leaders Group, the book not only includes the prayer itself but a commentary on the power of prayer as well as expanded, contemplative line-by-line reflections and explanations. To provide different viewpoints and perspectives on this new worldview, the book includes commentaries by key luminaries from science, cosmology, evolutionary theory, Yoga, Sufism and indigenous wisdom. Be receptive and allow the prayer to illuminate your insights. Experience your own unique journey of awakening.
Download or read book Interoception Contemplative Practice and Health written by Norman Farb and published by Frontiers Media SA. This book was released on 2017-02-07 with total page 318 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: There is an emergent movement of scientists and scholars working on somatic awareness, interoception and embodiment. This work cuts across studies of neurophysiology, somatic anthropology, contemplative practice, and mind-body medicine. Key questions include: How is body awareness cultivated? What role does interoception play for emotion and cognition in healthy adults and children as well as in different psychopathologies? What are the neurophysiological effects of this cultivation in practices such as Yoga, mindfulness meditation, Tai Chi and other embodied contemplative practices? What categories from other traditions might be useful as we explore embodiment? Does the cultivation of body awareness within contemplative practice offer a tool for coping with suffering from conditions, such as pain, addiction, and dysregulated emotion? This emergent field of research into somatic awareness and associated interoceptive processes, however, faces many obstacles. The principle obstacle lies in our 400-year Cartesian tradition that views sensory perception as epiphenomenal to cognition. The segregation of perception and cognition has enabled a broad program of cognitive science research, but may have also prevented researchers from developing paradigms for understanding how interoceptive awareness of sensations from inside the body influences cognition. The cognitive representation of interoceptive signals may play an active role in facilitating therapeutic transformation, e.g. by altering context in which cognitive appraisals of well-being occur. This topic has ramifications into disparate research fields: What is the role of interoceptive awareness in conscious presence? How do we distinguish between adaptive and maladaptive somatic awareness? How do we best measure somatic awareness? What are the consequences of dysregulated somatic/interoceptive awareness on cognition, emotion, and behavior? The complexity of these questions calls for the creative integration of perspectives and findings from related but often disparate research areas including clinical research, neuroscience, cognitive psychology, anthropology, religious/contemplative studies and philosophy.
Download or read book The Practice of the Presence of God written by Brother Lawrence and published by Hyweb Technology Co. Ltd.. This book was released on 2011-10-15 with total page 311 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Centering Prayer and Inner Awakening written by Cynthia Bourgeault and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2004 with total page 193 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Centering Prayer and Inner Awakening is a complete guidebook for all who wish to know the practice of Centering Prayer.
Download or read book The Palgrave Handbook of Positive Peace written by Katerina Standish and published by Palgrave Macmillan. This book was released on 2021-12-02 with total page 1206 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This Handbook represents an unprecedented exploration of the positive peace platform. It permits a comprehensive appreciation of the breadth of positive peace that engages with nonviolence, environmental sustainability, social justice and positive relationships scholarship. The work serves as a one-stop shop for scholar/practitioners interested in locating their inquiry and outputs in the field of positive peace and provides readers from a multitude of disciplines and academic departments with a comprehensive overview of the multiplicity of positive peace research in one location. In doing so, the Handbook of Positive Peace securely demarcates and recognizes the positive peace platform in social scientific and humanities academic disciplines.
