This is the second Shelf Talk column focusing on New Age titles by Susan L. Weis, proprietress of breathe books, Baltimore, Md.:
When customers tell me they want to learn how to meditate, first I ask if they have a specific style in mind: Buddhist, Zen, Hindu, Jewish, Kripalu, Sidda, Sivananda, etc. Then I ask if they are interested in a book or a CD. CDs may be guided or instructional, or a visualization (think "You are on a beautiful white beach, a green healing light is shining on you"), music, singing bowls or Hemi-Sync/Theta Wave (subliminal) CDs.
After I've totally confused them (but not you, I hope!), I take them to the shelf labeled "meditation," clear on the far side of my little shop, away from the Buddhas and Hindus and Jews. These are the books I'm most likely to place in their hands:
Meditation for Beginners by Jack Kornfield (Sounds True, $19.95, 9781591791485/1591791480). Kornfield is an American who trained as a Buddhist monk in Thailand, Burma and India. In 1975, he co-founded the Insight Meditation Society in Barre, Mass., a fabulous retreat center (my center of choice!). Kornfield's book/CD set is small (88 pages) and not intimidating for the first-time meditator. He writes in a very clear, easy manner, offering six guided meditations that are included on the accompanying CD. (The CD was recorded live so you hear people moving about, making sounds--you feel that you are in a meditation hall.) Both the book and CD could stand on their own. Together they create a very rich experience in which the novice (or advanced) meditator never feels alone.
Kornfield's best advice? "Keep it simple. An attitude of childlike openness will help you discover the truth of your life in the present moment."
Another book I really love is by Sakyong Mipham, the son of the influential Tibetan teacher Chogyum Trungpa Rinpoche. The Sakyong was raised in the U.S., but his life has been steeped in the tradition of Shambhala Meditation. (Pema Chodron, whom I wrote about in my last column, Shelf Awareness, April 30, 2007, is also of this tradition.) Shambhala and Buddhism are two streams of teaching closely related, "a spiritual worship grounded in realization of basic goodness."
The book, Turning the Mind into an Ally (Penguin, $14, 9781573223454/157322345X), is written for anyone who wants to begin meditating, but the Sakyong deftly handles topics such as suffering, bewilderment, laziness, and boredom that are familiar even to a long-time meditator! He applies techniques to all of these "hindrances" and teaches you how to use them in your practice. This is a great primer on the fundamentals of meditation as well as a gentle introduction to the Shambhala way of living.
A more fully secular presentation comes from Donna Thomson in her book The Vibrant Life (Sentient Publications, $14.95, 9781591810469/1591810469).
Donna, a meditation teacher and therapist in New Mexico, presents meditations designed to increase energy and awareness in your life. She refers to these guided visualizations as "mental exercises" and offers ideas about how to bring meditation to you, rather than you to it. Even a few moments of breathing in line at the bank can reap rewards. Her "meditations" include cleansing and recharging, releasing energy, psychic protection, love, acceptance and recovering your inner child, presented in clear language and easy-to-follow steps. Although she refers to all the great traditions, she doesn't promote any one of them over another.
Another completely secular but more spiritual choice is the book/CD set Meditation: Achieving Inner Peace and Tranquility in Your Life by Brian L. Weiss, M.D. (Hay House, $17.95, 9781561709304/1561709301), the famed hypnotherapist and past-life regressionist. Dr. Weiss is a graduate of both Columbia and Yale and has a private psychiatric practice in Florida. His writings are very logical and he never pushes the reader to uncomfortable places.
In this book, he describes various mediation techniques and relates stories from his private practice and his own life. He writes that he wants "to encourage you to meditate so that you can discover and develop spiritual experiences--but remember to keep your mind open to whatever images may occur." His CD is gentle, quite moving and deeply relaxing. (As with all meditation CDs, it comes with a warning not to listen while you are driving.)
Now onto the CDs. A new bestselling series in my shop, which my Simon & Schuster rep, Bob Schmid, introduced to me, is from the Relaxation Company. It has a series of meditation and relaxation CDs by Dr. Jeffrey Thompson that use theta brain-wave technology (like Hemi-Sync). These are highly effective CDs, packaged with good explanations in the small booklet and well-priced at $19.95 for a two-CD set.
My favorite CDs by the Relaxation Company for newcomers to meditation are the Yoga Meditation series. For a great price ($24.98), you are introduced to three types of meditation presented by master teachers.
There are two collections: Yoga Meditations ($24.98, 9781559617505/1559617500), which includes three CDs read by male teachers, and Yoga Meditations Collections ($24.98, 9781559617680/1559617683), which has three teachings by female teachers. Funny: the women's CDs are about emotional freedom and joy, and the men's recordings are about energy, freedom and life-enhancing meditations! Each of these great recordings from six traditions offer very practical meditation techniques.
I've saved the best for last. I've been practicing meditation (we call it "practice" because you are always evolving in present moment awareness) for almost 15 years. For the most part, I'm a no-frills meditator. I watch my breath. I don't chant. I see my thoughts and let them go. I watch for the important messages as they surface . . . and let them go as well! I don't have many props--a good cushion, a lovely space to sit and maybe I'll hold a crystal or gemstone now and then.
So no wonder my favorite CD comes from Jon Kabat-Zinn: guided mindfulness meditation (lower case letters like breathe books!) series 1, a four-CD set (Sounds True, $29.95, 9781591793595/1591793599), which includes a body scan, mindful yoga 1 & 2, and a sitting meditation. You are guided simply by Kabat-Zinn, who is best known as the founder of the Stress Reduction Clinic and Center for Mindfulness at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center.
Mindfulness practice, Kabat-Zinn says, is not about trying actively to achieve anything. By increasing awareness to how things are in the actual moment, we often feel states of deep relaxation and well-being in both body and mind. Don't you feel better already?!
In a friendly voice with the use of only a singing bowl (a small brass bowl that "sings" or rings when hit gently with a striker) he moves through yoga and meditation, leaving lots of space for you to find yourself. There are long pauses where you are simply sitting "together." Gently, Kabat-Zinn will chime in to check on your sitting posture, to tell you to let your thoughts go, offer tools for how to deal with pain and to remind you to breathe. After all, that's what it all about--just breathe.
When customers tell me they want to learn how to meditate, first I ask if they have a specific style in mind: Buddhist, Zen, Hindu, Jewish, Kripalu, Sidda, Sivananda, etc. Then I ask if they are interested in a book or a CD. CDs may be guided or instructional, or a visualization (think "You are on a beautiful white beach, a green healing light is shining on you"), music, singing bowls or Hemi-Sync/Theta Wave (subliminal) CDs.
After I've totally confused them (but not you, I hope!), I take them to the shelf labeled "meditation," clear on the far side of my little shop, away from the Buddhas and Hindus and Jews. These are the books I'm most likely to place in their hands:
Meditation for Beginners by Jack Kornfield (Sounds True, $19.95, 9781591791485/1591791480). Kornfield is an American who trained as a Buddhist monk in Thailand, Burma and India. In 1975, he co-founded the Insight Meditation Society in Barre, Mass., a fabulous retreat center (my center of choice!). Kornfield's book/CD set is small (88 pages) and not intimidating for the first-time meditator. He writes in a very clear, easy manner, offering six guided meditations that are included on the accompanying CD. (The CD was recorded live so you hear people moving about, making sounds--you feel that you are in a meditation hall.) Both the book and CD could stand on their own. Together they create a very rich experience in which the novice (or advanced) meditator never feels alone.
Kornfield's best advice? "Keep it simple. An attitude of childlike openness will help you discover the truth of your life in the present moment."
Another book I really love is by Sakyong Mipham, the son of the influential Tibetan teacher Chogyum Trungpa Rinpoche. The Sakyong was raised in the U.S., but his life has been steeped in the tradition of Shambhala Meditation. (Pema Chodron, whom I wrote about in my last column, Shelf Awareness, April 30, 2007, is also of this tradition.) Shambhala and Buddhism are two streams of teaching closely related, "a spiritual worship grounded in realization of basic goodness."
The book, Turning the Mind into an Ally (Penguin, $14, 9781573223454/157322345X), is written for anyone who wants to begin meditating, but the Sakyong deftly handles topics such as suffering, bewilderment, laziness, and boredom that are familiar even to a long-time meditator! He applies techniques to all of these "hindrances" and teaches you how to use them in your practice. This is a great primer on the fundamentals of meditation as well as a gentle introduction to the Shambhala way of living.
A more fully secular presentation comes from Donna Thomson in her book The Vibrant Life (Sentient Publications, $14.95, 9781591810469/1591810469).
Donna, a meditation teacher and therapist in New Mexico, presents meditations designed to increase energy and awareness in your life. She refers to these guided visualizations as "mental exercises" and offers ideas about how to bring meditation to you, rather than you to it. Even a few moments of breathing in line at the bank can reap rewards. Her "meditations" include cleansing and recharging, releasing energy, psychic protection, love, acceptance and recovering your inner child, presented in clear language and easy-to-follow steps. Although she refers to all the great traditions, she doesn't promote any one of them over another.
Another completely secular but more spiritual choice is the book/CD set Meditation: Achieving Inner Peace and Tranquility in Your Life by Brian L. Weiss, M.D. (Hay House, $17.95, 9781561709304/1561709301), the famed hypnotherapist and past-life regressionist. Dr. Weiss is a graduate of both Columbia and Yale and has a private psychiatric practice in Florida. His writings are very logical and he never pushes the reader to uncomfortable places.
In this book, he describes various mediation techniques and relates stories from his private practice and his own life. He writes that he wants "to encourage you to meditate so that you can discover and develop spiritual experiences--but remember to keep your mind open to whatever images may occur." His CD is gentle, quite moving and deeply relaxing. (As with all meditation CDs, it comes with a warning not to listen while you are driving.)
Now onto the CDs. A new bestselling series in my shop, which my Simon & Schuster rep, Bob Schmid, introduced to me, is from the Relaxation Company. It has a series of meditation and relaxation CDs by Dr. Jeffrey Thompson that use theta brain-wave technology (like Hemi-Sync). These are highly effective CDs, packaged with good explanations in the small booklet and well-priced at $19.95 for a two-CD set.
My favorite CDs by the Relaxation Company for newcomers to meditation are the Yoga Meditation series. For a great price ($24.98), you are introduced to three types of meditation presented by master teachers.
There are two collections: Yoga Meditations ($24.98, 9781559617505/1559617500), which includes three CDs read by male teachers, and Yoga Meditations Collections ($24.98, 9781559617680/1559617683), which has three teachings by female teachers. Funny: the women's CDs are about emotional freedom and joy, and the men's recordings are about energy, freedom and life-enhancing meditations! Each of these great recordings from six traditions offer very practical meditation techniques.
I've saved the best for last. I've been practicing meditation (we call it "practice" because you are always evolving in present moment awareness) for almost 15 years. For the most part, I'm a no-frills meditator. I watch my breath. I don't chant. I see my thoughts and let them go. I watch for the important messages as they surface . . . and let them go as well! I don't have many props--a good cushion, a lovely space to sit and maybe I'll hold a crystal or gemstone now and then.
So no wonder my favorite CD comes from Jon Kabat-Zinn: guided mindfulness meditation (lower case letters like breathe books!) series 1, a four-CD set (Sounds True, $29.95, 9781591793595/1591793599), which includes a body scan, mindful yoga 1 & 2, and a sitting meditation. You are guided simply by Kabat-Zinn, who is best known as the founder of the Stress Reduction Clinic and Center for Mindfulness at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center.
Mindfulness practice, Kabat-Zinn says, is not about trying actively to achieve anything. By increasing awareness to how things are in the actual moment, we often feel states of deep relaxation and well-being in both body and mind. Don't you feel better already?!
In a friendly voice with the use of only a singing bowl (a small brass bowl that "sings" or rings when hit gently with a striker) he moves through yoga and meditation, leaving lots of space for you to find yourself. There are long pauses where you are simply sitting "together." Gently, Kabat-Zinn will chime in to check on your sitting posture, to tell you to let your thoughts go, offer tools for how to deal with pain and to remind you to breathe. After all, that's what it all about--just breathe.