BOOK Reviews
Being Buddha at Work: 101 Ancient Truths on Change, Stress, Money, and Success
Franz Metcalf and BJ Gallagher
$14.95 P, 9781609942922, Berrett-Koehler Publishers
Buddhism is a system of thought that is meant to be put into practice in the day-to-day world. It is designed to be useful. Since most of your customers face their most stressful and frustrating situations at work, it follows that Buddhist teachings on mindfulness and inner peace can be helpful in the workplace. This book affirms that premise and breaks it down into simple, easy-to-follow steps. The authors tell us what the Buddha might advise us to do about overflowing email inboxes, multi-tasking, financial setbacks, retirement planning, angry customers, demanding bosses, sexual harassment, outsourcing, and job security. This is definitely a new twist on mindfulness practice, and one written with both beginners and experienced Buddhist practitioners in mind. Many of your customers will want to keep a copy in their desk drawer for easy reference. The authors don’t require journaling or meditation exercises from the reader. They teach by offering gentle reminders that we all have an inner Buddha, and we always have a choice.
Rather than grouping it with other Buddhist texts, consider displaying it with some of the livelier goal-setting/success/motivation books. It will also work well in displays dealing with job searches and career changes.
—Anna Jedrziewski, Spirit Connection New York, New York, N.Y.
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Rethinking Depression: How to Shed Mental Health Labels and Create Personal Meaning
Eric Maisel, Ph.D.
$14.95 P, 9781608680207, New World Library
Dr. Eric Maisel, a licensed California therapist and prolific author of “non-fiction”/self-help books with titles such as The Atheist’s Way and Everyday You, among others, has launched an existentially-based campaign against the goliath mental-health industry, claiming that the non-medical term “depression” has been “medicalized” in Western society with treatment through the use of anti-depressants, which happen to be the most prescribed drugs in the U.S.
This is a pretty profound start for a book geared toward readers suffering from depression and the clinicians who treat them. Dr. Maisel’s book describes the cornerstones of unhappiness, as well as how unhappiness is treated as depression. His solution to unhappiness is simply to live life based on existential ideals: Taking control of thoughts, attitudes, moods, and behaviors, clients master themselves and experience freedom from unhappiness.
Rethinking Depression will guide the reader through Dr. Maisel’s simple existential program designed to help the reader “verify the truth by making it real in your own life,” and support the elimination of unhappiness caused by inauthentic living. Certainly, this easy-to-read guide, filled with existentialist quotes, “client” samples of working his program, even cross-referencing his own Ten Zen Seconds, will bring relief to sufferers of unhappiness everywhere.
—Allyson Gracie, Wellness Specialist
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Falling Into Easy: Help for Those Who Can’t Meditate
Dee Willock
$16.95 P, 9781780990262, O-Books
Meditation can be an ethereal, and sometimes frustrating, thing. Hence, chasing relaxation is often a stressful and demoralizing experience. Dee Willock addresses this issue and offers readers a simple solution: Stop trying so hard and enjoy the process. She’s got plenty of ideas for helping readers make that happen. She breaks with tradition and a long-standing list of “should’s” to create a sense of adventure and accessibility with regard to meditation. She asks readers to change their minds and begin with a clean slate, unraveling their way to inner peace rather than struggling to grasp it.
She calls on meditation heavy-hitters, such as Pema Chodron and Thich Nhat Hanh, to communicate the essence of mindfulness/meditation practice. She includes a series of meditation exercises (Dissection, Looping Back, Shadowing) to help readers customize their experience and gain a sense of control. Most importantly, she includes lots of beautiful meditations, written like poetry, which trigger almost tangible visual images. Her ideas are presented so uniquely that the book is a real page-turner, unlikely as that sounds. Consider displaying it with books about stress reduction and pain relief, or close to check-out as a stand-alone, spontaneous-purchase item.
—Anna Jedrziewski, Spirit Connection New York, New York, N.Y.
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Good Energy Book: Creating Harmony and Balance for Yourself and Your Home
Tess Whitehurst
$14.95 P, 9780738727721, Llewellyn Publications
Tess Whitehurst brings her lifetime experience of energy work, feng shui, intuitive counseling, and study of magical arts together to present her Good Energy Book, a compilation of “recipes” for ourselves and our homes to shift energy. She touches on the subject of magic and mystery, encouraging readers to explore their belief systems, and describes her own observations of the world of seen and unseen. The book opens with the importance of de-cluttering our lives and evolves into how to use sound, smudging, talismans, and invoking divine assistance and animal spirit guides to lift negativity.
The Good Energy Book also covers incantations, meditations, and blessings for specific purposes that will enhance the readers’ personal lives, life situations, and homes. She devotes attention to the ego, “Earthbound Entities 101,” and the tremendous energetic force that is a result of strong ego-driven emotions and attitudes; she also discusses her energetic imprint hypothesis and even reincarnation.
Whitehurst’s spellbinding handbook offers simple home remedies for the spirit and the soul, involving garlic, beans, essential oils, sea salts, semi-precious stones, and candles to create a magical life for the reader. Everyone will find something powerful in this book to experiment with—it’s a must-have for anyone who believes in the magic and mystery of energy.
—Allyson Gracie, Wellness Specialist
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Tiny Buddha: Simple Wisdom for Life’s Hard Questions
Lori Deschene
$16.95 H, 9781573245067, Conari Press
It began with daily tweets drawn from Buddhist teachings. It quickly became one of the most successful sites on the web (www.tinybuddha.com). Now, Lori Deschene has created a book that moves her unique ability to share with others into a new realm. She writes from the trenches, not the top of the mountain, but you can sense that she has seen the view from on high. She also makes it clear that she is not just a tourist at either level. She has experienced both realms and most of what’s in between. It has made her able to see her fellow travelers on the path as they are and as they might be. Her gift is allowing others to connect with her so they can discover hidden aspects of themselves.
Familiar words like attachment, compassion, disillusionment, and mindfulness take on new meaning in the context of Deschene’s personal narrative. Her honest and raw account of her struggle against the downward spiral of negative emotions and addictive behaviors infuses every word of wisdom she offers us with validity.
Consider displaying this one with self-help/healing books rather than with Buddhist/mindfulness books. Let readers know that it is not a quick-fix, motivational tome. It is a serious look at what it means to wrestle with life in order to learn the lessons the Universe is offering us.
—Anna Jedrziewski, Spirit Connection New York, New York, N.Y.
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Homegrown & Handmade: A Practical Guide to More Self-Reliant Living
Deborah Niemann
$22.95 P, 9780865717022, New Society Publishers
Deborah Niemann was shocked to learn that a cheeseburger and fries wasn’t a healthy meal. You have your meat, dairy and vegetables, right? The author left her city life for the country so she and her family could have better control of the food they ate. Living on 32 acres of land, Niemann began scouring the internet on what types of goats would be best for her farm and reading up on how to can the tomatoes she began planting from seeds. She wrote this book as a way to teach others about her experiences (good and bad), what she’s learned, and what she wishes she knew before she got started.
As more of us consider our food sources and both food security and food safety are at the forefront of our daily news, Homegrown & Handmade seems ripe for the picking. It’s not preachy or pushy. Rather, the book is laid out into chapters from what to plant in your garden to what types of chicks to buy if you’re considering a chicken coop, making it easier to zone in on what the reader is interested in. It’s a great resource for learning what we can do to take more control of our lives and what we put into our bodies.
—Megy Karydes, Karydes Consulting, Chicago, Ill.
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What the Animals Taught Me: Stories of Love and Healing From a Farm Animal Sanctuary
Stephanie Marohn
$16.95 P, 9781571746573, Hampton Roads Publishing
Stephanie Marohn has been running a sanctuary for farm animals since 1993. In this book, she traces the arrivals of several animals, the difficulties she experienced in getting them to fit in or in dealing with health issues. Each of the 10 chapters is followed by the lesson she learned in unconditional love—lessons that apply to our relationships with animals as well as with other humans.
While Marohn struck me as being highly spiritual from the beginning, she explains how she learned to move higher on the spiritual ladder when she dealt with the animals in her care. Her detailed descriptions of where she was when she met a particular animal and the journey they took together that brought her to a higher level offer lessons for us all.
With the miniature horse she named Pegasus, for example, Marohn learned liberty work or liberty training. The focus is on the horse and the person establishing a relationship through companion walking without equipment. She calls this “the difference between domination and wise guidance.” Indeed, throughout the book, the author refers to respect, which she defines as recognizing the sovereignty of the other. Because Marohn strives to recognize the sovereignty of the other, she struggles to manage the correct amount of intervention in dealing with illness and death. She works at listening to what her farm animal family members have to say about their time to die. She also has some profound thoughts about grieving, which stopped me in my tracks.
This book has a lot to offer. In addition to the 10 lessons, there are many detailed descriptions of the personalities of individual sheep, for example, and their interactions with their sheep family and other animals. The descriptions of how the animals express their own grief at the passing of another animal also are quite moving.
—Catherine Ferguson, Psychic for Pets and People
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Resonance: Nine Practices for Harmonious Health and Vitality
Joyce Whiteley Hawkes, Ph.D.
$24.95 H, 9781401929084, Hay House
Dr. Joyce Whiteley Hawkes had already acquired serious credentials as a cellular biologist when a near-death experience turned her attention to indigenous healing practices and the mysteries of the universe. Gradually she began applying what she discovered, helping others to restore their health. She distilled her knowledge into a system of nine practices, based on the resonance between nine pairs of inner healing aspects. The practices that she spells out in this book will allow the reader to enter the world of universal harmony and begin to access the healing nature of their bodies.
The book provides excellent insight into the natural healing process and the scientific research being done regarding that process. Some of the things readers will learn about are what star cells do, how computer games promote neurogenesis, how to safely use empathic listening, and how to practice transcendent communication. Tools are provided at the end of each chapter so that the reader can begin using what they are learning. Perhaps the biggest contribution Hawkes makes, however, is her expertise on the dance between logic and intuition. The journey from hard-and-fast science to right-brain fluidity will interest both skeptics and believers. Consider displaying this one with books on energy medicine, mindfulness practice, and relaxation techniques.
—Anna Jedrziewski, Spirit Connection New York, New York, N.Y.
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The First Rule of Ten: A Tenzing Norbu Mystery
Gay Hendricks and Tinker Lindsay
$14.95 P, 9781401937768, Visions
Tibetan monk, turned LA cop, turned PI — it’s nothing less than one would expect from a successful relationship expert’s first mystery novel — and it’s a perfect choice to launch Hay House’s new mystery imprint, Visions. Ten is the book’s protagonist (the rules are his). He has a cat named Tank, an ex-girlfriend he calls “she-who-hates-cats,” and he often chooses a cold beer instead of meditation to reduce stress. His spiritual insights run as a sub-theme in his mind, as he chases bad guys and looks for clues. He models himself after Sherlock Holmes (his childhood idol) and has a Dr. Watson style, computer-jockey sidekick named Mike.
The action begins when a casual visitor to Ten’s residence turns up dead. Just days after leaving the LAPD, Ten becomes immersed in unraveling the crime and adjusting to being an outsider to his former law-enforcement family. Subtly laced with drugs, sex, and ex-rockers, in addition to a compassionately rendered supporting cast, this one is a page turner with a broad potential audience.
With more books already in the pipeline for the Tenzing Norbu series, customers will want to get to know this new-millennium Magnum/Rockford-style gumshoe as soon as possible. Tell them not to wait for the movie; this is a perfect post-holiday indulgence.
—Anna Jedrziewski, Spirit Connection New York, New York, N.Y.
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Patience: The Art of Peaceful Living
Allan Lokos
$14.95 P, 9781585429004, Jeremy P. Tarcher/Penguin
The trick to keeping your patience is not losing it in the first place. Sound simplistic? The most important concepts often do. Author Allan Lokos has devoted a large part of his career to this one. His premise is that learning patience—and it is a skill—is an important part of Buddhist mindfulness practice. Anger and impatience go hand-in-hand, and both, the sages tell us, can do a lot of damage to our spiritual growth, and to our health and sense of well-being.
The book begins at the beginning: overcoming inertia. It is an indication of Lokos’ realistic approach to helping us change our negative behaviors. His years of practicing and teaching Buddhism have brought him wisdom, in both his teaching and his expectations. He stresses the importance of the balance between patience and perseverance, as well as the importance of a sense of humor. The book has credibility because of Lokos’ honesty in relating his own struggles with patience.
His discovery of the power of patience was a life-changing event for him. He is now committed to helping others find that power within themselves. Each chapter ends with a suggested contemplation and a simple practice exercise. The big picture is that he is offering readers a new slant on traditional mindfulness practice. His book will provide an entry point for customers who are intimidated by unfamiliar spiritual philosophies. Consider displaying it with non-religious books that apply mindfulness practice to everyday concerns, such as stress, parenting, and overeating.
—Anna Jedrziewski, Spirit Connection New York, New York, N.Y.
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Nutripuncture: Stimulating the Energy Pathways of the Body Without Needles
Patrick Veret, M.D., Cristina Cuomo, Fabio Burigana, M.D., and Antonio Dell’Aglio, M.D.
$19.95 P, 9781594774294, Healing Arts Press
Employing a holistic vision of the human body, traditional Chinese medicine, organic chemistry, and the science of cellular nutrition, Nutripuncture stimulates the body’s energetic meridians using a series of mineral complexes rather than needles or physical pressure. The system of 38 Nutripuncture remedies, discovered by Dr. Veret, accelerates the natural self-healing ability of the body. This book represents an in-depth introduction to that system and the concepts on which it is founded.
Nutripuncture details each of the body’s meridians and the health functions associated with it. Both physical and psychological concerns (including trauma and addiction) are covered. Logically organized and explained in laymen’s terms with a minimum use of foreign words, the book will be invaluable to energy workers and other natural healing practitioners, as well as to readers who want to take their wellness into their own hands. Consider displaying it with Mantak Chia’s Fusion of the Five Elements and Chi Self-Massage.
—Anna Jedrziewski, Spirit Connection New York, New York, N.Y.
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Advanced Thai Yoga Massage: Postures and Energy Pathways for Healing
Kam Thyne Chow
$24.95 P, 9781594774270, Healing Arts Press
Mr. Chow, a native of Thailand and founder/director of Lotus Palm School in Montreal, has compiled Advanced Thai Yoga Massage for healing practitioners. The mechanics of Lotus Palm system of Thai Yoga Massage rest on four principles: Meditation and Metta (loving kindness), Stances (seated, kneeling, standing), Rhythmic Rocking (relaxing motion that sets treatment tempo), and Touch Techniques (guidelines). Thai Yoga Massage historically, and currently, is the Thai equivalent of the Western Internist, and is used for treating injuries, strokes, and even “evil spirits.” This concisely written and well-organized manual is complete with step-by-step photos of practitioner/client poses, breaking down the how-to of the described therapies.
Mr. Chow’s energizing and inspiring guide provides enough information to set the practitioner confidently into action with the Lotus Palm system, keeping the focus on the energy exchanged, the loving kindness of the art, and simple, clear anatomical information. This book will surely invite readers to further explore the art of Thai Yoga Massage and integrate it into their own personal or client practice.
—Allyson Gracie, Wellness Specialist
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Your True Home: The Everyday Wisdom of Thich Nhat Hanh
Melvin Mcleod, editor
$17.95 P, 9781590309261, Shambhala Publications
Thich Nhat Hanh, Buddhist monk and activist, is becoming a household name, and for good reason. His understanding of Buddhist philosophy and practice is so thorough that he is able to condense complex ideas into simple teachings without losing the intensity of the original concepts. Editor Mcleod has done a stellar job choosing excerpts from Thich Nhat Hanh’s teachings to use in today’s fast-lane society. As people around the world take to the streets to express their discontent, these daily meditations on inner peace, our true natures, and optimism are arriving just in time.
Your True Home is a good introduction to Thich Nhat Hanh’s writing and will generate interest in his many other successful books.
—Anna Jedrziewski, Spirit Connection New York, New York, N.Y.
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Your Emotional Type: Key to the Therapies That Will Work for You
Michael A. Jawer and Marc S. Micozzi
$14.95 P, 9781594774317, Healing Arts Press
This science-based looks at the ways alternative healing modalities work in relation to not only particular illnesses, but also the personalities of people seeking treatment. The authors target 12 chronic conditions, the Dozen Discomforts, to analyze in depth. Going well beyond the idea of dissociated feelings triggering physical conditions in the body, they zero in on specific responses, specific personality types, and specific solutions. They organize the broad field of alternative medicine into seven main categories, the Super Seven. Then they coordinate the Super Seven with the Dozen Discomforts to create a guide explaining which alternative modalities work best for each health condition. This extremely readable manual on alternative medicine is useful and accessible for both clients and the professionals providing services for them.
This is a break-through book that heralds the next growth phase in alternative treatment and wellness. Be sure to let customers know about the many pages of resources and references at the end of the book.
—Anna Jedrziewski, Spirit Connection New York, New York, N.Y.
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The Tao of Joy Every Day: 365 Days of Tao Living
Derek Lin
$15.95 P, 9781585429189, The Tao of Joy Every Day: 365 Days of Tao Living
Just in time for the holidays, this little treasure by well-known Taoist teacher Derek Lin arrives with wisdom and insight neatly packaged into 365 daily teachings. Lin is fluent in both Chinese and English, making him perfect to bring these ancient teachings into Western awareness. Each daily teaching or story is followed with a brief interpretation by Lin. While the daily teachings all fit onto one page, they contain a depth of information and explanation that makes this seemingly simple offering a serious teaching tool. Put into practice one small step at a time, they will indeed enhance the reader’s ability to experience joy.
The Tao of Joy Every Day is perfect for both beginners and experienced practitioners. Make sure your customers know about Lin’s best-selling translation of the Tao Te Ching.
—Anna Jedrziewski, Spirit Connection New York, New York, N.Y.
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Gobble Gobble
Cathryn Falwell
$16.95 P, 9781584691488, Dawn Publications
Dawn Publications is committed to helping young people develop a connection to the earth and its many species. Cathryn Falwell’s lively poem and illustrations make a valuable contribution toward this goal. The story follows a young girl’s observation of wild turkeys through the seasons. We learn about these uniquely American birds as she watches, tracks, and studies them. Falwell’s illustrations show the girl’s wonder, joy, and surprise at her discoveries. They also bring the forest to life. This is a great gift that will capture the imagination of young readers and bring a smile to adults as well.
—Anna Jedrziewski, Spirit Connection New York, New York, N.Y.
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The Whale Whisperer: Healing Messages from the Animal Kingdom to Help Mankind and the Planet
Madeleine Walker
$17.95, 9781844095377, Findhorn Press
Madeleine Walker is an animal intuitive and healer. Much of this book is devoted to sharing the messages she received from wild animals that few humans ever see. Walker met these creatures in travels across the globe with the specific purpose of making contact. In the Bahamas, she received warnings from the lemon and tiger sharks: "Why do you assume you are the superior species on the earth? … if you take it upon yourselves to change the balance of Mother Nature, you will destroy the balance for yourselves. There was a time when you worked with the earth and not against it; that time must come again." Not all the messages are from exotic, wild animals. Woody, a domesticated horse, also gave her a message to share: "Horses carry the war consciousness of man. You have ridden us into your battles throughout millennia. We return to educate and heal your tainted souls." According to Walker, we have to start listening to the planet's needs, instead of our own.
Walker's messages in the book are also available on CDs with accompanying music.
—Catherine Ferguson, Psychic for pets and people.
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Smile at Fear: Awakening the True Heart of Bravery
Chögyam Trungpa
$15.95 P, 9781590308851, Shambhala
The words of this Tibetan lineage holder, who died more than two decades ago, resonate as clearly now as any being written today. Forced to flee Tibet in 1959, Trungpa was a visionary who brought traditional Tibetan Buddhism to the West and established the first Buddhist-inspired university in North America. He understood that fear—whether terror brought on by a specific event, or ongoing anxiety—would be the prominent circumstance of this millennium. The solutions he offers readers come from classic Buddhist teaching. The answers are inside us, not external, even when we are faced with real world aggression and violence from others. The lessons he teaches are not easy to put into practice, but such is the path of the Buddhist warrior in pursuit of unconditional confidence and fearlessness. The weapons he offers us are truth, awareness, and compassion.
This book is one readers will go back to over and over during times of stress and uncertainty. Be sure to point out the foreword by Pema Chödrön.
—Anna Jedrziewski, Spirit Connection New York, New York, N.Y.
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