Midwest Authors:
Soul to Soul: Poems, Prayers and Stories to End a Yoga Class, compiled and edited by John Mundahl (Red Elixir), 202 pages, $16.95
Soul to Soul is a beautiful collection of inspiring selections that will add zest, depth, humor and tears to your yoga class. Enjoy quotes from the Dalai Lama, Eckhart Tolle, Thich Nhat Hanh, Shakti Gawain, Swami Kripalu, Mother Teresa, David Frawley and others. Honoring many cultures, spiritual traditions and spiritual masters, it’s the perfect gift for yoga teachers and practitioners, or it can be read by anyone seeking an uplifting, often tender message. The 150 selections are a wonderful way to send your yoga students home rested and peaceful.
Quantum Prayer: It’s Already Answered! Quantum Reality: It Already Exists! by Cathy Combs, 130 pages, $15.95 through www.cathycombs.com
Author, poet, educator and counselor Cathy Combs wrote Quantum Prayer for a reason: to remind us that God is “so very much more than the angry, judgmental, capricious bearded white man in the sky.” Her book embodies the knowing that we are deeply loved by a beneficent universe, that we are sacred, that we are holy. She writes, “We are here to fully actualize our true divine nature in physical reality.”
Classic Reissue:
Living with Joy: Keys to Personal Power & Spiritual Transformation, by Sanaya Roman (HJ Kramer/New World Library), 280 pages, $14.95
The newly updated 25th Anniversary edition of Living with Joy celebrates a book that has touched hundreds of thousands of lives. The author writes: “Many great artists, writers, businessmen, athletes and musicians have reported that their greatest works, inventions and inspiration seemed to be ‘given’ to them from a source beyond their ordinary reality. In a similar way, this book was given to Sanaya by her spiritual guide Orin, who she has been channeling for many years. The book offers a powerful message: We can choose to grow through joy rather than through pain and struggle. This book shows the reader how to do so. For the new edition, text was added to deepen and expand upon the principles taught in the original book, and completely new material – 18 “Daily Joy Practices” and hundreds of “Joy Affirmations – highlight the key points in the book.
Books for Body, Mind & Soul:
The Art of Flourishing: A New East-West Approach to Staying Sane and Finding Love in an Insane World, by Jeffrey B. Rubin (Crown Archetype), 352 pages, $24
In this original, surprising, and deeply revealing exploration of the self and relationships, Dr. Jeffrey Rubin brings the art of flourishing to life. The idea is startlingly simple: self-care is the foundation of intimacy, and intimacy is the culmination of self-care. The Art of Flourishing provides the reader with the tools necessary to thrive, to live a life of meaning, passion and fulfillment. An expert on both Eastern meditative and Western psychotherapeutic traditions, Dr. Rubin draws on the best practices of each to create a new and accessible path to living authentically. His unique synthesis provides a remarkably lucid guide for handling our emotions wisely, discovering our purpose and uncovering barriers to intimacy – the hidden emotional weeds that kill passion, such as conflicts over communication and power, boundaries and sexuality.
The Bhagavad Gita: A Walkthrough for Westerners, by Jack Hawley (New World Library), 224 pages, $14.95
The Bhagavad Gita is read daily by millions of people in India and throughout the world and is considered by a great many to be the finest source of spiritual teaching in the world. It was in India where Jack Hawley, a high-tech executive in search of new approaches to individual and organizational transformation, found the 5,000-year-old poem so profoundly relevant to contemporary life. Since then, he has been studying and sharing the teachings not as an abstract classic, but as a “universal love song” that covers a wide range of topics, from healing inner pain to celebrating life.
The Caregiver’s Tao Te Ching, by William and Nancy Martin (New World Library), 144 pages, $14
Those who care for the ailing, whether helping someone recover, grapple with a long-term disability, or face a terminal illness, often feel alone, overwhelmed, exhausted. William and Nancy Martin have worked as counselors, hospice trainers, and Zen guides — and as caregivers themselves. With empathy and insight, they offer readers solace drawn from the eternal wisdom of the Tao Te Ching. Like the original Chinese text, this book contains 81 chapters. Each chapter includes a poem for caregivers, evocative of the verses of the Tao Te Ching, followed by a reflection that presents practical guidance for navigating the emotional and physical hardships of caregiving. The resulting resource gently awakens readers to the grace, growth, and even joy possible at each step along their path.
Cell-Level Healing: The Bridge from Soul to Cell, by Joyce Whiteley Hawkes (Atria Books / Beyond Words), 158 pages, $15
Our bodies glow with the miracle of life pulsing in 100 trillion cells. Spiritual resources can positively influence the wizardry of our natural cell science that repairs and renews the body. Cell-Level Healing provides instruction at the interface of biology and spirit. While Masaru Emoto shows us that our thoughts change the structure of water, Dr. Hawkes shows that our thoughts change the functioning of our cells. Profoundly effective, yet simple to understand and use, the principles of appreciation, clearing, flow, and cell-level healing described and illustrated in Cell-Level Healing promote vibrant health. The book embarks on the premise that healing is a basic part of human nature, and provides a guide for the reader to tap into their innate healing abilities.
The Complete Idiot’s Guide® to Discovering Your Past Lives, by Michael R. Hathaway (Alpha), 320 pages, $16.95
By discovering your past lives, you can unlock the secret influence they have on your present one – enabling you to enjoy greater balance, success and happiness. This updated and revised Second Edition includes a stronger focus on understanding past lives so readers can find balance in the present and move forward in the future. It includes a new chapter on understanding relationships from the past, new information on twin flames and parallel lifetimes, and Soul Memory Healing Exercises to help resolve past-life issues.
Downward Dog, Upward Fog – A Novel, by Meryl Davids Landau (Alignment Publishing Co.), 285 pages, $15
Lorna Crawford has a great boyfriend, longtime friends, and a well-paying job as special-events coordinator at a premium ice-cream manufacturer. But, out of sorts and filled with self-doubt, the 33-year-old soon realizes that what she really wants is to stay on the spiritual path she keeps diving off of. Lorna jump-starts her efforts at a silent yoga retreat. But after returning from the mountain, she quickly loses her connection in the face of scheming co-workers, judgmental girlfriends, and, especially, her overly critical mother. Lorna also wrestles over her future with her boyfriend, a hot guy who takes her to the hottest places, but who can’t discern a meditation cushion from a toad stool. Reading spiritual books and visiting a channeler and energy healer move Lorna forward, but her confusion remains. Lorna’s seeking is put to the ultimate test when personal tragedy strikes. Will she come to truly understand that living spiritually has little to do with how you pretzel yourself on the yoga mat (although she gets plenty good at that), and everything to do with embracing the twists in everyday life?
The Essential Guide to Healthy Healing Foods, by Victoria Shanta Retelny and Jovanka JoAnn Milivojevic (Alpha Books), 400 pages, $19.95
The Essential Guide to Healthy Healing Foods provides readers with expert knowledge on foods that can help them achieve optimal health, and treat and prevent various diseases – foods that have the power to improve their well-being. Included are a multitude of healthful, whole food options for various conditions, such as heart disease, certain cancers, type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol, sleep disorders, memory problems, allergies, PMS, migraines, and arthritis. Learn ways to incorporate  more healthful foods and eating behaviors into your day to boost and replenish your well-being.
Fearlessness in the 2012 Paradigm Shift, by Christine Breese (University of Metaphysical Sciences), 250 pages, free download: http://www.umsonline.org/2012/2012Pgs/2012-Book/Fearlessness-In-The-2012-Paradigm-Shift.html
Fearlessness In The 2012 Paradigm Shift is a book to help you deal with the challenges and changes that are going to become evident very soon for humanity as December 21, 2012 comes closer. While University of Metaphysical Sciences adheres to no particular belief about this date over any other view, it does desire to help those who have questions about how to survive, deal with and handle the 2012 Paradigm Shift. It is possible to live fearlessly even during these times when fear will seem unavoidable. You can choose how you want to feel and live with peace during a time when many will be displaced, upset, confused and terrorized. You are the helpers and the healers during times of crisis, and being fearless is the first step in fulfilling your role to others around you as they deal with things they never thought possible.
If Only God Would Give Me a Sign! by Linda M. Potter (Bibliocast), 224 pages, $16.95
If Only God Would Give Me a Sign! is a delightful read, from the Erma Bombeck of Metaphysics – Linda M. Potter – of inspirational how-to’s (and how-not-to’s) in finding meaning in everyday signs. You encounter the literal and subtle signs along the journey of this entertaining, anecdotal, and light-hearted smorgasbord of personal stories, life lessons and encounters with “signs.” As you set out in search of spiritual guidance, you begin your discovery of signs, and life transforms itself from the mundane to the divine. If you’re ready to lighten up a little about spiritual enlightenment, this book’s for you.
Ignite Your Psychic Intuition: An A to Z Guide to Developing Your Sixth Sense, by Teresa Brady (Llewelyn Worldwide), 288 pages, $14.95
Designed for people with busy lives, Ignite Your Psychic Intuition presents quick and easy techniques for sparking your intuitive abilities and using them to enhance your life every day. This innovative guide simplifies psychic development with step-by-step exercises and engaging true stories from the author’s own experiences. Designed in an A-to-Z format, this book offers twenty-six practical teaching tools, one for each letter of the alphabet. You’ll discover the five main types of intuitive communication – clear seeing, hearing, touching, feeling, and knowing – and learn how to use simple practices such as white light bathing, energy scans, directed dreaming, chakra cleansing, and crystal gazing to empower and illuminate your life.
I’m Not Dead, I’m Different: Kids in Spirit Teach Us about Living a Better Life on Earth, by Hollister Rand (Harper), 288 pages, $14.99
When Hollister Rand became a psychic medium to children who had died, she soon discovered their young, opinionated spirits still had a lot to say to those left behind. Rand was initially puzzled as to why young spirits wanted to speak through her – as she had no children of her own and the responsibility of talking with people who had lost theirs seemed too great to bear. But the compelling answers came with time and patience: No one finds death more inexplicable than a grieving parent, thus no spirits are more motivated to make sense of it all for those they’ve left behind than young ones. These spirits clearly want to heal broken hearts and deepen our understanding of life and death. Through Rand, young spirits talk freely about how to make sense of murder, suicide and accidental deaths. They also discuss the different ways relationships on both sides can be mended, how the intergenerational cycle of abuse and addiction can be stopped, and how “joy guides”– miscarried and aborted children – can actually help those they’ve left behind move forward.
Minding Closely: The Four Applications of Mindfulness, by B. Alan Wallace (Snow Lion Publications), 368 pages, $24.95
The ability to sustain close mindfulness is a learned skill that offers profound benefits in all situations. This book explains the theory and applications of the practice the Buddha called the direct path to enlightenment. By closely minding the body and breath, we relax, grounding ourselves in physical presence. Coming face to face with our feelings, we stabilize our awareness against habitual reactions. Examining mental phenomena nakedly, we sharpen our perceptions without becoming attached. Ultimately, we see all phenomena just as they are, and we approach the ground of enlightenment. Bringing in his experience as a monk, scientist and contemplative, Alan Wallace offers a rich synthesis of Eastern and Western traditions, along with a comprehensive range of meditation practices interwoven throughout the text. The guided meditations are systematically presented, beginning with very basic instructions, which are then gradually built upon as one gains increasing familiarity with the practice.
Natural Abundance: Ralph Waldo Emerson’s Guide to Prosperity, edited by Ruth L. Miller (Atria Books / Beyond Words), 240 pages, $14
While Ralph Waldo Emerson’s essays on transcendentalism and nature are well known, few know the powerful truths he shared that can make our lives more satisfying and fulfilling today. Dr. Ruth L. Miller, a cultural systems scientist and New Thought minister, interprets a few essential essays that tell us how the world always responds to our thoughts, words and actions, and what we can do to ensure that our life is truly joy-filled in all aspects. In clear, simple language, she gives us a direct sense of what Emerson felt, saw, and struggled to share with his fellow human beings. Natural Abundance makes the hidden treasures of Emerson’s wisdom accessible to 21st century readers. Through it, this great man’s alignment of his heart’s knowing and his intellect’s understanding can lead all of us to a more abundantly fulfilling life, today.
The Real Men in Black: Evidence, Famous Cases, and True Stories of These Mysterious Men and Their Connection to the UFO Phenomena, by Nick Redfern (New Page Books), 256 pages, $15.99
Who are the “Men in Black”? In the blockbuster Hollywood movie of the same name, they were fictional characters. In real life, they are fearsome individuals who attempt to silence the witnesses of UFO and other paranormal phenomena. In his latest blockbuster book, bestselling author Nick Redfern reveals the hidden world of these notorious government operatives. He documents their origin and lays out classic cases, previously unknown reports and secret government files, while laying out the many theories that explain the mystery. Read the story of Albert Bender, the first man to claim an encounter with Men in Black, learn about the involvement of Men in Black at Loch Ness, and in the Mothman saga in the town of Point Pleasant, WV.
Train Your Brain to Get Happy: The Simple Program that Primes Your Gray Cells for Joy, Optimism, and Serenity, by Teresa Aubele, Stan Wenck and Susan Reynolds (Adams Media), 245 pages, $16.95
In Train Your Brain to Get Happy, neuroscientist Dr. Teresa Aubele and psychologist Dr. Stan Wenck draw upon the very latest research to  show you how to program your brain for happiness. From firing up your neurons and flooding them with your body’s own “happy” chemicals to feeding your brain the vitamins and supplements proven to enhance mood and serenity, you’ll learn how to rewire yourself for bliss – from the cellular level up. This groundbreaking guide helps lay the groundwork for brain restructuring that will make lead to new levels of happiness, satisfaction, and peace.
Coming in September:
Ego: The Fall of the Twin Towers and the Rise of an Enlightened Humanity, by Peter Baumann and Michael W. Taft (NE Press), 255 pages, $24.95, www.egothebook.com
Ego: The Fall of the Twin Towers and the Rise of an Enlightened Humanity 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. Using the latest research from neuroscience, evolutionary biology, psychology, 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 prison, and open the vast potential of conscious awareness.