Download or read book The Mindful Geek written by Michael Taft and published by . This book was released on 2015-09-14 with total page 242 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Mindful Geek tells you how to derive the real world benefits of hardcore mindfulness meditation without drinking the metaphysical Kool-Aid. Meditation teacher, Michael W. Taft gives you step-by-step instructions in the powerful and reliable techniques of mindfulness meditation, and outlines the psychological and neuroscientific research underpinning these practices. By treating mindfulness as a scientifically-based, psychological technique, you can keep your atheistic or agnostic secular skepticism and still maintain a powerful, regular, and deeply effective meditation practice. That's because meditation doesn't require you to believe in it to work. Like any good technology, if you use it correctly, it will do the job reliably whether you believe in it or not. And-make no mistake-meditation is a kind of technology; a technology for hacking the human wetware in order to improve your life. This book is a practical, hands-on manual about how to make the most of that technology for yourself. If you are smart, skeptical, technically-inclined, and have a desire to see what meditation is really all about, this book is for you. Michael has taught a lot of meditation programs at tech corporations like Google, so this material has been field-tested on some world-class geeks.

Download or read book The Mindful Glow Cookbook written by Abbey Sharp and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2018-12-04 with total page 446 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Gold Winner, 2019 Taste Canada Awards - Health and Special Diets Cookbooks Cheeky registered dietitian, food lover, and YouTube star Abbey Sharp is often described as "Nigella Lawson in a lab coat." In her debut cookbook she shares fun, satisfying, and unbelievably healthy recipes that will ignite your love affair with food. In over 100 recipes, Abbey shows us how she eats: healthy and nourishing meals that are packed with flavour like PB & J Protein Pancakes, Autumn Butternut Squash Mac and Cheese, Stuffed Hawaiian Burgers, Chicken, Sweet Potato and Curry Cauliflower, Chocolate Stout Veggie Chili, Chewy Crackle Almond Apple Cookies, and Ultimate Mini Sticky Toffee Puddings. Many of her recipes are plant-centric and free of dairy, gluten, and nuts. Others contain some protein-rich, lean beef, poultry, eggs, and dairy, so there are plenty of delicious recipes for every one and every occasion. Featuring gorgeous photography throughout, The Mindful Glow Cookbook is perfect for anyone looking to fully nourish their body, satisfy food cravings, and enjoy every snack, meal, and decadent dessert in blissful enjoyment.

Download or read book Mindful Yoga Mindful Life written by Charlotte Bell and published by Shambhala Publications. This book was released on 2016-08-01 with total page 192 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A longtime yoga teacher and Buddhist meditation practitioner, Charlotte Bell describes in passionate detail how she applied the eightfold path of the Yoga Sutras and the Buddha’s heed for mindfulness to her hectic Western life—with practicality and precision, grace and guts.Her insights honor these timeless teachings while staying relevant to contemporary life. She recounts personal stories that depict her commitment to practice in her own life: in relationships, music, asana, meditation, teaching, and even writing this book. And it's not all rosy. She writes about self-doubt and struggles, all while welcoming, time and again, the life she has, imperfections and all.Charlotte Bell shows by example how to be a yogi in the particularity of your own life. Her suggestions about how to bring mindfulness into asana will deepen your practice; her recommended daily practices, or Reflections, will reveal new inner landscapes. Mindful Yoga, Mindful Life is an inspiring guide for anyone seeking to live a yogic life.

Download or read book Ego written by Michael Taft and published by ReadHowYouWant. This book was released on 2011-09-01 with total page 404 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Baumann and Taft skillfully weave eyewitness accounts of 9/11 with insights from evolutionary theory, neuroscientific studies on brain plasticity and emotion, genetics, and other new areas of research. I highly recommend this book to all who are interested in how science can help in understanding both the human capacity for horrific action and the clear reasons for optimism about our collective future.''Alfred W. Kaszniak, Ph.D., Professor of Psychology, Neurology & Psychiatry, University of Arizona Ego: The Fall of the Twin Towers and the Rise of a New Humanity by Peter Baumann and Michael W. Taft is the first book to explore the positive evolutionary potential hidden in one of the most destructive events in history. In their examination of the evolutionary implications of 9/11 and its aftermath, the authors contend we are not falling into the grip of a new dark age at all, rather we are on the verge of a much brighter one as the Darwinian process of natural selection continues to advance humankind. The authors' inquiry led them to the root of human suffering: the ego. That the ego underlies our problems as a species may come as no surprise. But a deeper look into the ego's origin and history is full of unexpected revelations: The modern human is dominated by a Stone Age brain Energy consumption and the environmental crisis is nothing more than the evolutionary drive to survive gone haywire Evolution has wired us to be riveted to bad news, bad outcomes, and worst - case scenarios When beliefs are challenged it triggers a life or death stance in the human nervous system Emotions are mostly physical, not mental The self we identify with along with its biases and beliefs turns out to be an evolutionary tool that made its first appearance some 50,000 years ago during what's called the conceptual revolution, arguably the biggest developmental leap in human history. The emerging ego accompanied our ability to construct complex tools, create art, and redefine social structure. For the first time as a species, we were able to imagine the future, consider the thoughts of others, and picture ourselves in our own minds. The ego is a cognitive trick of natural selection intended to insure the survival of the individual. Baumann and Taft say the problem comes when we take the ego's conceptualization of reality as the truth about who we actually are. Using the latest research from cognitive neuroscience, evolutionary psychology, social anthropology, and paleontology, Baumann and Taft show that modern humanity may be on the verge of an expansion of cognitive abilities akin to the development of the ego. This next step will free the human mind to see beyond the confines of the ego and open the vast potential of conscious awareness.

Download or read book Biofeedback and Mindfulness in Everyday Life Practical Solutions for Improving Your Health and Performance written by Inna Khazan and published by W. W. Norton & Company. This book was released on 2019-07-30 with total page 269 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A mind-body approach to taking control of your physical and emotional health. Biofeedback is the process of training your body to control its involuntary actions, such as breathing and heart rate. Minor changes to these actions can significantly improve physical and emotional well- being. In Biofeedback and Mindfulness in Everyday Life, Harvard Medical School faculty member Inna Khazan pairs biofeedback techniques with mindfulness practice to address some of life’s most common ailments— from anxiety and fear to stress and insomnia. She begins with a description of basic physiological information, explaining concepts such as breathing and overbreathing. In Part Two she dives into the practice of mindfulness. And in Part Three she zeroes in on applying this mind-body approach to an array of common problems. Khazan’s approach outlines simple solutions for readers who want to improve the way they respond to challenges. She guides them through increasing their resilience and emotional flexibility while empowering them to take back control of their overall health.

Download or read book Mindful Thoughts for Stargazers written by Mark Westmoquette and published by Leaping Hare Press. This book was released on 2019-07-02 with total page 163 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “In his handy pocket-sized book, Mark Westmoquette presents a constellation of musings on how the mysteries of the outer universe—from shooting stars and eclipses, to the journey of a photon—connect us more deeply to our inner universes.” - FLOW magazine Noticing the wonders of the night skies can foster a sense of curiosity, awe and deep interconnectedness like nothing else on Earth! Mindful Thoughts for Stargazers presents a constellation of meditations on how the mysteries of the outer universe connect us all more deeply to our inner universes. Astronomer and ex-Zen monk Mark Westmoquette explores how astronomy proves to be an enlightening tool to transformative awareness–through shooting stars, eclipses and the journey of a photon, we discover how to find meaning and presence here and now.

Download or read book Crafting Calm written by Maggie Oman Shannon and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2013-04-08 with total page 209 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As our world has become increasingly dependent on technology, and our Western societies have become woefully “Crackberried”— to use the title of a recent documentary on the emotional and social pitfalls of our too-wired ways—an intriguing phenomenon is occurring: There is an increasing amount of interest in returning to some of the simpler arts that were neglected or left behind with the onslaught of technology. Artisans and everyday crafters are finding a renewed satisfaction in making something with their own hands; some are even communicating about the inherent physical- and mental-health benefits found in handwork—and, even more than that, they are framing their handwork as meditation or spiritual practice. In today’s sophisticated and pluralistic society, people are more aware than ever that spiritual practice can be defined more expansively—and the popularity of books focusing on alternative spiritual practices demonstrate that readers are hungry for new (or ancient) ways of enhancing their inner lives. In Crafting Calm the author will explore these new forms of creative spiritual practice and the benefits they provide. The format of With Shannon's book will itself be creative, a rich “potpourri approach” that weaves together interviews, historical facts, projects for readers to do themselves, quotations, and suggested resources. Crafting Calm will serve as an inspirational resource guide to a broad assortment of spiritual practices gathered from the global arts-and-crafts communities, as well as from people who don’t consider themselves artists but who have adopted creatively expressive forms of spiritual practice. While there have been a few books published focusing on a particular form of creative spiritual practice (Skylight Paths, for example, has published books on beading as a spiritual practice; painting as a spiritual practice; and using clay as a spiritual practice), no one has yet explored the breadth of possibilities for creative spiritual practices contained in Crafting Calm.

Download or read book When We Are No More written by Abby Smith Rumsey and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2016-03-01 with total page 247 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Our memory gives the human species a unique evolutionary advantage. Our stories, ideas, and innovations--in a word, our "culture"--can be recorded and passed on to future generations. Our enduring culture and restless curiosity have enabled us to invent powerful information technologies that give us invaluable perspective on our past and define our future. Today, we stand at the very edge of a vast, uncharted digital landscape, where our collective memory is stored in ephemeral bits and bytes and lives in air-conditioned server rooms. What sources will historians turn to in 100, let alone 1,000 years to understand our own time if all of our memory lives in digital codes that may no longer be decipherable? In When We Are No More Abby Smith Rumsey explores human memory from pre-history to the present to shed light on the grand challenge facing our world--the abundance of information and scarcity of human attention. Tracing the story from cuneiform tablets and papyrus scrolls, to movable type, books, and the birth of the Library of Congress, Rumsey weaves a compelling narrative that explores how humans have dealt with the problem of too much information throughout our history, and indeed how we might begin solve the same problem for our digital future. Serving as a call to consciousness, When We Are No More explains why data storage is not memory; why forgetting is the first step towards remembering; and above all, why memory is about the future, not the past. "If we're thinking 1,000 years, 3,000 years ahead in the future, we have to ask ourselves, how do we preserve all the bits that we need in order to correctly interpret the digital objects we create? We are nonchalantly throwing all of our data into what could become an information black hole without realizing it." --Vint Cerf, Chief Evangelist at Google, at a press conference in February, 2015.

Download or read book Rewire Your Brain for Love written by Marsha Lucas, Ph.D. and published by Hay House, Inc. This book was released on 2012-02-01 with total page 242 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Rewire Your Brain for Love, neuropsychologist Marsha Lucas brings together neuroscience and mindfulness meditation in an exciting program to help readers create and sustain better, healthier, juicier romantic relationships. With a passion for neuroscience and the ability to relay it in a clear, unintimidating--and funny--manner, Lucas delves into how the human brain works in relationships, exploring the neurological connections that fuel our reactions. In an inviting and reassuring tone, she describes how we developed our current relationship wiring and how to modify it through mindfulness meditation. Focusing on nine high-voltage benefits-including everything from being able to better manage your reactions, to improved communication with yourself and others, to an enhanced ability to handle fear-Lucas shows how a short daily meditation practice can change the way you interact with everyone around you…especially those closest to you. Each chapter focuses on one benefit, including an in-depth description of exactly what that benefit is and how it will improve the reader's life. She looks at the science and research associated with mindfulness meditation in relation to each benefit, and then provides readers with a specific meditation to help bring that benefit into their relationships. Imagine, instead of blowing up at an off-hand statement your partner makes, you are able to stop, breathe, and respond in a thoughtful manner. And as the author says, "You don't have to become a monk, or a vegetarian, or spend hours contemplating your navel"; you simply need to notice your mind's busyness and not get all tangled up in it. This simple process truly can change your life.

Download or read book How to Have a Good Day written by Caroline Webb and published by Currency. This book was released on 2016-02-02 with total page 370 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In How to Have a Good Day, economist and former McKinsey partner Caroline Webb shows readers how to use recent findings from behavioral economics, psychology, and neuroscience to transform our approach to everyday working life. Advances in behavioral sciences are giving us an 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. But it has not always been easy to see how to apply these insights in the real world--until now. In How to Have a Good Day, Webb explains exactly how to apply this science to our daily tasks and routines. She translates three big scientific ideas into step-by-step guidance that shows us how to set better priorities, make our time go further, ace every interaction, be our smartest selves, strengthen our personal impact, be resilient to setbacks, and boost our energy and enjoyment. Through it all, Webb teaches us how to navigate the typical challenges of modern workplaces—from conflict with colleagues to dull meetings and overflowing inboxes—with skill and ease. Filled with stories of people who have used Webb’s insights to boost their job satisfaction and performance at work, How to Have a Good Day is the book so many people wanted when they finished Nudge, Blink and Thinking Fast and Slow and were looking for practical ways to apply this fascinating science to their own lives and careers. A remarkable and much-needed book, How to Have a Good Day gives us the tools we need to have a lifetime of good days.

Download or read book Forest Bathing written by Hector Garcia and published by Tuttle Publishing. This book was released on 2020-06-02 with total page 146 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Shinrin Yoku: "taking in the forest atmosphere," the medicine of simply being in the forest, "forest bathing." This book offers guidelines for finding peace and replenishment in any space --from turning off your phone to seeking the irregularities in nature, which in turn can make us less critical of ourselves. It offers tips not only on being fully present and mindful while in the forest, but also on how to tap into that mindfulness at home--even if home is the busiest and most crowded of cities. Forest Bathing explains the traditional Japanese concepts that help readers understand and share in the benefits of the Japanese approach to forest bathing--a cornerstone of healing and health care in Japan. These concepts include: Yugen: Our living experience of the world around us that is so profound as to be beyond expression Komorebi: The interplay of leaves and sunlight Wabi sabi: Rejoicing in imperfection and impermanence From the healing properties of phytoncides (self-protective compounds emitted by plants) to the ways we can benefit from what forest spaces can teach us, this book discusses the history, science and philosophy behind this age-old therapeutic practice. Examples from the ancient Celts to Henry David Thoreau remind us of the ties between humankind and the natural world--ties that have become more and more elusive to Westerners.

Download or read book The Science of Enlightenment written by Shinzen Young and published by Sounds True. This book was released on 2018-08-01 with total page 264 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Enlightenment—is it a myth or is it real? Across time and culture, inner explorers have discovered that the liberated state is a natural experience, as real as the sensations you are having right now. Few teachers achieve clarity with the application of scientific inquiry to these states of consciousness like Shinzen Young. Now in paperback, The Science of Enlightenment makes Young’s essential insights available to readers everywhere. The Science of Enlightenment merges scientific precision, Young’s grasp of the source-language teachings of many spiritual traditions, and his rare gift for sparking insight upon insight through original analogies and illustrations. The result: an uncommonly lucid "Aha, now I get it!" guide to mindfulness meditation—how it works and how to use it to enhance our cognitive capacities, compassion, and experience of happiness independent of conditions. For meditators of all levels and lineages, this multifaceted wisdom gem will be sure to surprise, provoke, illuminate, and inspire.

Download or read book Presentation Zen written by Garr Reynolds and published by Pearson Education. This book was released on 2009-04-15 with total page 316 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: FOREWORD BY GUY KAWASAKI Presentation designer and internationally acclaimed communications expert Garr Reynolds, creator of the most popular Web site on presentation design and delivery on the Net — presentationzen.com — shares his experience in a provocative mix of illumination, inspiration, education, and guidance that will change the way you think about making presentations with PowerPoint or Keynote. Presentation Zen challenges the conventional wisdom of making "slide presentations" in today’s world and encourages you to think differently and more creatively about the preparation, design, and delivery of your presentations. Garr shares lessons and perspectives that draw upon practical advice from the fields of communication and business. Combining solid principles of design with the tenets of Zen simplicity, this book will help you along the path to simpler, more effective presentations.

Download or read book The Caped Crusade written by Glen Weldon and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2017-03-21 with total page 352 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Since his debut in Detective Comics #27, Batman has been many things: a two-fisted detective; a planet-hopping gadabout; a campy Pop Art sensation; a pointy-eared master spy; and a grim ninja of the urban night. Yet, despite these endless transformations, he remains one of our most revered cultural icons. [In this book, Weldon provides a] look at the cultural history of Batman and his fandom"--Amazon.com.

Download or read book Nondualism written by Michael Taft and published by . This book was released on 2014-11-14 with total page 98 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Many traditions and mystics talk about nondualism. But what is nondualism, and how have people-from different religions in different parts of the word-described this concept over the millennia? In this book you will discover the long history of nondualism, from its first roots in the Indian Upanishads, to its expression in Buddhism and Advaita Vedanta, to its most modern-day expressions in the West. If you are a person in a nondual tradition, this book is an invaluable companion on your journey.

Download or read book Let There Be Water written by Seth M. Siegel and published by Macmillan. This book was released on 2015-09-15 with total page 350 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: New York Times and Los Angeles Times Bestseller! As every day brings urgent reports of growing water shortages around the world, there is no time to lose in the search for solutions. The U.S. government predicts that forty of our fifty states-and 60 percent of the earth's land surface-will soon face alarming gaps between available water and the growing demand for it. Without action, food prices will rise, economic growth will slow, and political instability is likely to follow. Let There Be Water illustrates how Israel can serve as a model for the United States and countries everywhere by showing how to blunt the worst of the coming water calamities. Even with 60 percent of its country made of desert, Israel has not only solved its water problem; it also had an abundance of water. Israel even supplies water to its neighbors-the Palestinians and the Kingdom of Jordan-every day. Based on meticulous research and hundreds of interviews, Let There Be Water reveals the methods and techniques of the often offbeat inventors who enabled Israel to lead the world in cutting-edge water technology. Let There Be Water also tells unknown stories of how cooperation on water systems can forge diplomatic ties and promote unity. Remarkably, not long ago, now-hostile Iran relied on Israel to manage its water systems, and access to Israel's water know-how helped to warm China's frosty relations with Israel. Beautifully written, Seth M. Siegel's Let There Be Water is and inspiring account of the vision and sacrifice by a nation and people that have long made water security a top priority. Despite scant natural water resources, a rapidly growing population and economy, and often hostile neighbors, Israel has consistently jumped ahead of the water innovation-curve to assure a dynamic, vital future for itself. Every town, every country, and every reader can benefit from learning what Israel did to overcome daunting challenges and transform itself from a parched land into a water superpower.

Download or read book The For the War Yet to Come written by Hiba Bou Akar and published by Stanford University Press. This book was released on 2018-09-11 with total page 264 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “Through elegant ethnography and nuanced theorization . . . gives us a new way of thinking about violence, development, modernity, and ultimately, the city.” —Ananya Roy, University of California, Los Angeles Beirut is a city divided. Following the Green Line of the civil war, dividing the Christian east and the Muslim west, today hundreds of such lines dissect the city. For the residents of Beirut, urban planning could hold promise: a new spatial order could bring a peaceful future. But with unclear state structures and outsourced public processes, urban planning has instead become a contest between religious-political organizations and profit-seeking developers. Neighborhoods reproduce poverty, displacement, and urban violence. For the War Yet to Come examines urban planning in three neighborhoods of Beirut’s southeastern peripheries, revealing how these areas have been developed into frontiers of a continuing sectarian order. Hiba Bou Akar argues these neighborhoods are arranged, not in the expectation of a bright future, but according to the logic of “the war yet to come”: urban planning plays on fears and differences, rumors of war, and paramilitary strategies to organize everyday life. As she shows, war in times of peace is not fought with tanks, artillery, and rifles, but involves a more mundane territorial contest for land and apartment sales, zoning and planning regulations, and infrastructure projects. Winner of the Anthony Leeds Prize “Upends our conventional notions of center and periphery, of local and transnational, even of war and peace.” —AbdouMaliq Simone, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity “Fascinating, theoretically astute, and empirically rich.” —Asef Bayat, University of Illinois — Urbana-Champaign “An important contribution.” —Christine Mady, International Journal of Middle East Studies