Inprint - New Books of interest by Jeanne Spiro

The Leader’s Way: The Art of Making the Right Decisions in Our Careers, Our Companies, and the World at Large by His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Laurens van den Muyzenberg. (Broadway Books, $27.58, hardcover.)

Born out of a decade of discussions between His Holiness the Dalai Lama and international management consultant Laurens van den Muyzenberg, The Leader’s Way is the unique meeting of two worlds, the global business landscape and Buddhism. At first glance, these seem to be an unlikely pairing. A closer look shows the best business practices and Buddhist principles have much in common; both are concerned with making rational, holistic decisions and turning them into responsible, effective action.

The world today faces many challenges: the worst global recession in over seventy-five years, billions of people living in abject poverty, and the threat of an environmental meltdown. Even prosperous businesses and leaders feel insecure about the future. A new kind of leadership is needed today, one that sees events as they really are and understands the interconnectedness, impermanence, and interdependence of individuals, companies, and the global economic system.

Through fascinating insights and everyday examples, His Holiness offers practical tools and advice on how to lead in our 21st century world. Drawing on the wise teachings of Buddhism, he says we can become better, more informed leaders as individuals, achieve more progressive leadership in our organizations, and help address some of the world’s most pressing problems. Moreover, we can improve the quality of life for all by promoting responsible, ethical, and profitable business practices. This is the leader’s way.

Free to Love, Free to Heal: Heal Your Body by Healing Your Emotions by David Simon, M.D. (Chopra Center Press, $22.95, hardcover.)

Free to Love, Free to Heal offers a proven path to authentic healing for those of us struggling with an emotional or physical health challenge. Dr. David Simon, co-founder of the Chopra Center, guides us through a five step process that has helped thousands release their emotional pain, find freedom from the past, and reclaim their health and happiness.

Drawing on the Eastern healing arts and modern science, Simon provides a systematic approach to identifying, mobilizing, and releasing the life damaging beliefs that contribute to anxiety, addictive behaviors, chronic pain, depression, obesity, chronic fatigue, irritable bowel syndrome, and many other health problems.

Filled with practical tools, self assessment exercises, quizzes, personal stories, Free to Love, Free to Heal encourages us to release the core beliefs and painful memories that lead to emotional distress and physical illness. Whether we’re coping with divorce, grief, job burnout, chronic stress, a difficult relationship, or an abusive past, this book can help us heal our bodies and find emotional freedom.

The Compassionate Life: Walking the Path of Kindess by Mark Ian Barasch. (Berrett-Koehler Publishers, $16.95, Paperback.)

“Today the world stirs with hope for some new upward arc, for a kinder epoch,” writes Marc Ian Barasch. “The need to turn away from cynicism and toward each other has never been clearer.”

With a keen balance of hope and skepticism, Barasch sets out on a journey to the heart of compassion, discovering its power to change who we are and the society we’ve become. He describes encounters with empathetic apes, and with monks whose brain scans show the power of compassion practice; with a man who donated a kidney to a stranger, and another who forgave his daughter’s murderer; and with astronomers trying to send a missive to E.T. that we’re not just clever, but kind.

With unfailing curiosity, Barasch poses vital questions: What can we learn from exceptionally empathetic people? Can we increase our kindness quotient with practice? How do we open our hearts to those who do us harm? What if the great driving force of our evolution were actually survival of the kindest? He comes up with challenging, inspiring answers as well. Drawing on science and spirituality, history and popular culture, he creates a smart, provocative argument that a simple shift in consciousness changes pretty much everything.

Lighten Up! The Authentic and Fun Way to Lose Your Weight and Your Worries by Loretta LaRoche. (Hay House, $18.95, hardcover.)

Loretta LaRoche is sick to death of diets and diet books. Not a day goes by without an article appearing in the media that reveals some food that could be harmful or helpful to our health. Food has become either demonic or divine. We’ve forgotten how to be in right relationship with one of the greatest pleasures we have in life: eating. As a result, we’re fatter than ever and more stressed out about being fat!

In this humorous and informative book, LaRoche cuts through the nonsense, disclosing the wisdom she has accumulated from “having gained and lost a tribe of people.” She also shares her expertise as an international stress consultant, former aerobics instructor, and owner of a wellness center. She offers eight surprising secrets for reducing weight and stress as she leads us down the path of learning to eat well, moving with joy, and living a more balanced life. Her greatest promise is that we’ll get into shape and have fun while we’re doing it.

The Happy Medium: Awakening to Your Natural Intuition by Jodi Livon. (Llewellyn, $16.95, paperback.)

What’s it like to be a medium? With warmth and candor, intuitive coach Jodi Livon shares the stories and the wisdom she’s acquired on her journey as a psychic medium. Over the years, she has helped clients, friends, family, and even those in spirit find healing and learn life lessons. These touching stories illuminate spirit communication and offer instruction on developing our own intuitive skills.

Livon reveals how she receives and interprets psychic impressions, offering a firsthand account of how the psychic process works. She offers tips on trusting our senses, maintaining emotional balance, staying grounded, and interpreting signs from the universe, along with fun exercises to develop our skills. The Happy Medium can help us learn to tune into our own intuition for higher awareness and guidance in making life’s decisions.

The Genius Machine: The 11 Steps that Turn Raw Ideas into Brilliance by Gerald Sindell. (New World Library, $19.95, hardcover.)

Gifted with the unique ability to help people discover and apply their own innate genius, intellectual property consultant Gerald Sindell works with individuals and organizations to maximize returns on our most precious capital: our ideas. Dubbed the genius machine by his clients, Sindell’s process has proven invaluable for countless individuals and businesses needing to hone their message or launch a new product in today’s market.

Whether the end goal is to persuade a critical audience or meet a fundamental human need, Sindell’s system is designed to polish rough ideas and fast track them to their end target. He affectionately calls his process Endleofon, an old English word for eleven. This is an eleven step system that can help us get from the beginning of a problem—a complex one that needs solving or a brilliant vision that needs filling out—to the point where our work is fully developed and ready to take it’s place in the world.

Ideas enter the process fuzzy, weak, and partially baked. Using the eleven steps—starting with distinctions, identity, and implications, and ending with connection, impact, and advocacy—these ideas are examined from every angle and leave robust, polished, and ready to change the world. Whether the task is writing a book, designing a house, creating a method for people in a company to work together, or coming up with a better way for kids to learn, The Genius Machine clears the cobwebs and makes our ideas bulletproof.

A Closer Look at Yoga: A Guide for Everyday Practice by Denise Marchese Chicoine with Michael Casko. (Healing Partners, $14.95, paperback.)

Developing a yoga practice that will nurture and grow with us over a lifetime requires a balanced foundation that establishes yoga in the mind as more than mere physical fitness. In A Closer Look at Yoga, Denise Chicoine combines her love of yoga, teaching experience, and intuitive awareness to foster a deeper understanding of yogic principles. Through a series of yoga based articles she offers her personal perspective and insights for enriching our daily yoga practice.

This ready to use guide is a welcome companion for those of us who seek to broaden our yoga experience. Through easy to understand language and practical examples, it can be enjoyed by both the novice and the seasoned yogi. It is an invitation to practice yoga from a place that honors the soul as well as the body.