Inprint - New Books of interest by Jeanne Spiro

The Lens of Perception: A User’s Guide to Higher Consciousness, Third Edition by Hal Zina Bennett. (Celestial Arts, $15.95, Paperback.)

This third edition of The Lens of Perception helps to answer that question posed by the bestselling movie What the Bleep Do We Know? This underground classic provides a liberating and practical view of our relationship with the quantum world and tells us how to make use of that information in our everyday lives.

The lens of perception is the part of human consciousness that creates our sense of reality. It is a core concept in virtually every spiritual and psychological tradition, from ancient Buddhism to Native American shamanism to Jungian psychology. Through this book, you’ll explore the inner workings of human consciousness and unravel the Gordian knot of reality itself. It is a guided tour of human consciousness that takes us from individual self-awareness to becoming co-creators of our reality. Only by knowing the ancient secrets of the lens of perception can we actualize our highest spiritual potential.

This book is based on the author’s experiences with peyote shamans of the U.S. and Mexico. Since its initial publication in 1987, The Lens of Perception has won tens of thousands of readers and has been praised by leading teachers of shamanism, spirituality, and personal growth.

How to Heal Toxic Thoughts: Simple Tools for Personal Transformation by Sandra Ingerman. (Sterling Publishing, $14.95, Hardcover.)

In How to Heal Toxic Thoughts, Sandra Ingerman, a therapist and shaman practitioner, teaches us how to deal with our fear, anger, and frustration. She teaches us to address the needs of our times and how to protect ourselves in any hostile environment that is filled with negative energy. She works with the ancient principle of alchemy, often perceived as simply the method by which medieval natural philosophers looked to turn lead into gold. Metaphorically speaking, alchemists also worked on a higher level, turning heavy-leaded consciousness into a light-hearted golden consciousness. Using their theories, Ingerman examines how to appropriately process and transform negative thoughts and emotions that arise throughout the day.

Ingerman teaches us how to identify toxic thoughts, transmute negative energy, and shield ourselves from the harmful influences others project out of ignorance. She gives us tools for coping with negative thoughts and emotions and helps us transform toxic thoughts into feelings of peace, harmony, and love. Her methods are simple, but they have the power to change us, others, and the world.

The Inner Glide: The Tao of Skiing, Snowboarding, and Skwalling by Patrick Thias Balmain. (Destiny Books, $14.95, Paperback).

Patrick Thias Balmain believes that skiing can be a path to higher spiritual awareness, contributing to centering, ego effacement, and the search for perfect mental stillness. He is the creator of the skwal, a type of snowboard that positions the feet and the body facing forward on the board, and discovered that by applying a concentrated awareness to movement activities such as skiing, a balance in motion can be achieved that is pure harmony and joy. When the mind is completely engaged, not with thoughts but with the attention it commits to the movement of the body, it brings forth a balance between Earth’s center of gravity and that of the individual that evokes lasting transformation in one’s stance toward life, influencing one’s attitudes, gestures, words, and actions.

The Inner Glide presents a unique and original practice that challenges ski enthusiasts, snowboarders, or skwallers, whether experts or beginners, to make the transition from the raw quest for sensation to a more subtle and harmonious practice based on internal centering. Balmain offers a complete illustrated program that includes nine “katas of the glide”—conscious movement exercise sequences that help practitioners discover the right gesture and the inner glide for any terrain or situation—to bring body and mind into balance with joy.

Bhagavad Gita for Modern Times: Secrets to Attaining Inner Peace and Harmony by Swami Sadashiva Tirtha. (Sat Yuga Press, $17.95, Paperback.)

Bhagavad Gita for Modern Times is a commentary that delivers the Bhagavad Gita’s deep and often difficult to understand spiritual wisdom in an accessible manner using real life examples. It incorporates the essence of the Gita’s venerable teachings with fresh concepts, including how to reduce stress through meditation, how to achieve familial harmony, how ecology and nature affect inner peace, how to nurture well-rounded education for children, and how social entrepreneurism benefits communities.

These peace-promoting ideas are discussed from a universal vantage so people from all faiths and beliefs can find their highest ideals expressed. Terms like “karma” are discussed with semantic parallels to other religions’ notions like, “as you sow, so shall you reap.” Each chapter ends with exercises to help grow more peaceful thoughts, goals, and habits.

This spiritual guide uses examples that both children and adults can understand and relate to. As we search for greater meaning and purpose amide our busier lifestyles, this book can lead us to a greater sense of being, a secure mind, and a more sane view of the world.

Tibetan Cooking: Recipes for Daily Living, Celebration, & Ceremony by Elizabeth Esther Kelly. (Snow Lion Publications, $19.95, Paperback.)

There is no better way to experience a new culture than through its food, and no better guide to the recipes and gustatory culture of Tibet than Elizabeth Kelly, long time cook for lamas and other Tibetans.

Kelly’s remarkable array of easy-to-follow recipes uses ingredients readily available in the West. She offers serving suggestions, meal planning, traditional foods, and numerous vegetarian dishes: everything needed to make a complete Tibetan dinner or just to try something different. She also offers a personal look into little-known aspects of Tibetan cuisine, its adaptation to modern times, and its preservation and connection with Tibetan holidays and religious ceremonies. She discusses Tibetan customs and etiquette for mealtime and offers information on serving Tibetan teachers.

Herbal Prescriptions After 50: Everything You Need to Know to Maintain Vibrant Health by David Hoffmann. (Healing Arts Press, $24.95, Paperback.)

In this complete and natural-approach guide to healthy aging, medical herbalist David Hoffmann addresses the unique concerns of people approaching age fifty and older. He examines each of the body’s major systems—from the muscles and bones and the digestive system to the pulmonary, cardiovascular, and reproductive organs—discussing not only how to maintain each system’s natural functioning but also the specific health concerns brought about by aging.

Hoffmann’s herbal treatments focus on prevention and promoting longevity, but he also offers herbal remedies for specific ailments such as hypertension, insomnia, bronchitis, varicose veins, and arthritis. The book’s Materia Medica includes more than 150 herbs, by both common and Latin names, and specifies which part of the plant to use, the actions and indications, preparation methods, and recommended dosages.

The natural healing properties of herbs provide a welcome alternative to the unpleasant and sometimes dangerous side effects that can be brought on by synthetic drugs, and they minimize the dependence on conventional medical treatments that can have conflicting protocols and results. The remedies offered in Herbal Prescriptions After 50 are designed to promote robust, lasting health and provide a way to age with grace.

The Crystal Healer: Crystal Prescriptions That Will Change Your Life Forever by Philip Permutt. (CICO Books, $14.95, Paperback.)

Crystal therapy has long been used as a gentle system of holistic healing. By drawing on the unique qualities of crystals such as quartz and amethyst, you can balance the energy fields around your body, home, and office to bring well-being, and gain health benefits. Crystals can help soothe emotional problems such as anxiety, mood swings, or shyness, as well as physical symptoms such as migraines and allergies. In addition, crystals can act as natural energy boosters and aid in detoxifying our systems.

The book’s first section explains the principles of crystal healing and examines how crystals can transmit and magnify energy. Learn how healers work with crystals and the body’s chakras to rebalance the energetic systems and bring about healing. The next section offers a way to find out what crystals can do for you, with 250 crystals arranged by color with explanations about their healing properties.

The third section enables you to look up an ailment and select the appropriate crystal for treatment. From migraines and insomnia to muscle aches, eczema and other allergies or to beat exhaustion or give yourself a confidence boost, there are over 250 remedies for common ailments.