New commitment: A commandment comes down from an outside authority. A commitment, on the other hand, arises from within you. That’s one reason why David Simon, M.D., co-founder of The Chopra Center, believes that a commitment is a more powerful catalyst for change than a commandment. In a new book, The Ten Commitments: Translating Good Intentions into Great Choices (Health Communications Inc.), Dr. Simon has created a 10-step primer for practical change. Instead of preaching "Thou shalt not," he introduces 10 positive calls to action – with concrete ways to jump-start personal growth and achieve a new level of happiness and fulfillment. Available at Amazon.com. Look for an interview with Dr. Simon in the September edition of Edge Life.
New piano: The author of The World Peace Diet, Will Tuttle, has just released a new CD of original piano music, Ascension: A Journey Beyond (Karuna, available at www.willtuttle.com or Amazon.com). Tuttle describes his new recording as "the vibration of a new world and a new consciousness," and he notes that this recording "comes closer than any yet to capturing the spirit and power of the vibrational energy of the music that comes through me. This CD, recorded directly from a grand piano, is intended to heal, uplift, inspire, delight, enlighten and awaken us to deep intuitive understandings. It is 66 minutes long with 17 original pieces.
New bleep: The long-awaited Quantum edition of one of the most successful documentaries in U.S. history – What the Bleep Do We Know!? – was released August 1 from Fox Home Entertainment. This double-sided, three-disc edition contains the original 2.5-hour version of the extended film What the Bleep – Down the Rabbit Hole, plus a five-hour quantum version of the film with special options that allow you to dive as deep down the rabbit hole as you want to go. It includes six hours of supplemental interviews and a question-answer session with the filmmakers. "People have been asking us for more," says Producer/Directory William Arntz. "So we decided to open up the archive and put in one set of everything that we think is of interest to the viewers." For more, visit www.whatthebleep.com.
New exercise: Cathryn Taylor, author of The Inner Child Workbook, has gone much deeper in a new system that blends exercise with the transformation of body, mind and soul. Soul Steps: Conscious Aerobic Exercise is a 90-day, 12-week program designed to trigger the challenges needing to be healed. "We cannot progress in any exercise regimen without bumping into the issues held in our bodies," the author writes. "The very process of exercise invites you to clear the path to your joy." She found that over time, she came to realize that when her "well-fueled" body was in motion, she was aligned with spirit, had set her intention for clarity and had become quiet enough to listen. Call (612) 282-3686 or visit www.comscious-aerobic-exercise.com.
New vision: Lester R. Brown’s book Plan B: Rescuing a Planet under Stress and a Civilization in Trouble was the blueprint. The recently published Plan B 2.0 is an expanded and updated version of the original, which has been lauded as a groundbreaking achievement by such notables as former President Bill Clinton and former Apollo 14 astronaut Edgar Mitchell. In Plan B, Brown makes this simple observation: "Our global civilization today is on an economic path that is environmentally unsustainable, a path that is leading us toward economic decline and eventual collapse." But Brown doesn’t stop there. Plan B offers suggestions on restructuring the global economy so it is sustainable, on ways to eradicate poverty, stabilize population and restore hope to developing countries, and on ways to restore natural systems. The author notes that if we fail to build a new economy before decline sets in, "it will not be because of a lack of fiscal resources, but rather because of obsolete priorities." Visit www.earth-policy.org or Amazon.com.
