The Yoga of Time Travel: How the Mind Can Defeat Time, by Fred Alan Wolf, Ph.D. (Quest Books, Wheaton, IL), $17.95
Every day we experience a dichotomy between our inner perception of time and objective time. With lunch breaks that fly by and meetings that seem to take forever, our watches rarely reflect our experience of time, yet we consciously choose to believe that clock time is the basis of reality. "The trick to going outside the confines of space and time is to reach beyond their source – the mind itself. Paradoxically, we need a theoretical picture created by the mind to understand what it means to reach beyond the mind." Moving effortlessly from the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, The Bhagavad Gita and the writings of BKS Iyengar to Einstein, wormholes, parallel universes and quantum computers, Fred Alan Wolf, Ph.D., paints this very picture for those who are equally spiritually and scientifically inclined. Making possibility waves and probability curves as easily accessible as the lotus pose, Wolf, the entertaining physicist featured in the film What the Bleep Do We Know!?, introduces you to the possibility of remembering the future and altering the past. Walking firmly in the footsteps of great spiritual masters, Wolf states that it is the ego itself that must be surmounted in order to escape from the space-time matrix and return to the Mind of God. Because it is the mind and ego that create the experience of time and space, Wolf posits the mind as the most effective and accessible vehicle for time travel, and offers mind yoga as the owner’s manual. Whether or not you become a successful time traveler, Wolf’s text promises to bring new perspective to your spiritual work and expand your understanding of the nature of God.
Girls Speak Out: Finding Your True Self, Andrea Johnston (Celestial Arts, Berkeley, CA), $12.95
"Ninety-five percent of the time human beings have lived on earth, every continent had cultures in which girls were as valuable as boys," but the girls who are growing up now do not know this. As a result, "most girls silence themselves between the ages of 9 and 16; they give up on part of who they are because they think it’s necessary to do so to survive." This is where the work of Andrea Johnston and Gloria Steinem steps in. Convening girls and women to share their experiences, Johnston creates an environment to teach and inspire girls to believe in themselves. Including enough information to establish your own working group for young women, Girls Speak Out celebrates women’s history and openly discusses the painfully common experiences of sexism, racism, classicism, ageism, etc., as well as the taboo experiences of neglect, poverty and sexual, physical and verbal abuse. While focusing on the issues of youth, the groups are beneficial for women of all ages to reclaim connection to their true selves by exploring their relationship to other women – past and present. Sharing stories of their periods, facing peer pressure and dealing with the expectations of parents and teachers, the pages of Girls Speak Out are brimming with tales of women coming into their power. Fourteen-year-old Yvonne goes to the principal to demand assistance controlling the boys in her class so that she can express her thoughts. Yvonne not only receives help from the principal, but also appreciation from her peers, including her male classmates. Referencing women as diverse as the Willendorf Goddess, Sojourner Truth and Sandra Cisneros, Girls Speak Out offers women inspiration and empowerment, no matter your background or age.
Angel Dogs: Divine Messengers of Love, by Allen and Linda Anderson (New World Library, Novato, CA) $15.95
Although stories abound of dogs saving people’s lives, it is the smaller miracles which remain untold that are truly amazing. Kept secret because of their private, emotionally intense or culturally taboo nature, Allen and Linda Anderson celebrate the stories of emotional and spiritual connection between canine and human. "Through the loving eyes of a dog, people experience who they truly are underneath their worries and pain and the masks they present to the world." Thus these messengers of love serve as a wonderful mirror for human emotions and provide exemplary care giving and even guidance. Some dogs prepare you for motherhood or simply remind you that you are loved and are not alone. Others function as health care workers, hinting that it is time to take your medicine. Sometimes these four-legged angels appear to help us through our challenges, like Oliver who made his way into Marion and Tom’s life as Tom was struggling with his illness, only to wander off just after Tom passed away. In Angel Dogs, the Andersons beautifully capture the uplifting and inspirational stories of these generous animals proving that angels can appear in many forms, but stop short of creating a love fest or an unending memorial. Instead, they simply share the extraordinary stories of beings such as Freckles, who returned after death as a wet-tongued vision to awaken his caregiver just in the nick of time to save his career. Although not commonly discussed, these are the type of stories that remind you that dog truly is man’s best friend.
