Inprint - New Books of interest by Jeanne Spiro

Happiness from the Inside Out: The Art and Science of Fulfillment by Robert Mack. (New World Library, $14.95, Paperback.)

It used to be that good advice about how to be happy came mostly from poets, philosophers, and clergymen, but within the last ten years, scientists have begun studying happiness. In the fields of psychology and cognitive science, researchers have been focusing less on the treatment of mental illness and more on what it takes for psychologically “normal” people to feel satisfied, fulfilled, and genuinely happy. What they are finding has proven so useful that a whole new field called Positive Psychology was created.

With a master’s degree in Positive Psychology, celebrity life coach Robert Mack is at the forefront of this emerging field. In Happiness from the Inside Out he distills science’s proven discoveries about what it takes to be happy into a practical, entertaining book that offers us a road map to happiness that starts with our own habits and beliefs. He offers key principles for creating a happier life such as getting high off our own supply, detaching happiness from specific results, focusing on the best in ourselves, reaching for a positive feeling before acting, and loving others by loving ourselves. For each of these principles Mack offers simple “happy habits.”

He offers a variety of paths to happiness and explains how, with a few simple principles and a little effort, anyone can find joy and contentment while living a fulfilling, abundant life.

Trauma Stewardship: An Everyday Guide to Caring for Self While Caring for Others by Laura van Dernoot Lipsky with Connie Burk. (Berrett-Koehler Publishers, $19.95, Paperback.)

Laura van Dernoot Lipsky, formerly a social worker with trauma victims in the ER, gives us a deep and sympathetic look at the many ways the stress of dealing with trauma manifests in those who devote themselves to caring for others. Feelings of helplessness and hopelessness, diminished creativity, chronic exhaustion and cynicism create a crushing feeling of being overwhelmed that caretakers often internalize. These and other symptoms affect them individually and collectively, sapping the energy and effectiveness they so desperately need.

In Trauma Stewardship, Lipsky offers a way to meet these challenges in an intentional way—to keep from becoming overwhelmed by developing a quality of mindful presence. Joining the wisdom of ancient cultural traditions with modern psychological research, Lipsky teaches how to achieve a workable balance in life so one can continue doing the good work without burning out.

Raising Intuitive Children: Guide Your Children to Know and Trust Their Gifts by Caron B. Goode, Ed.D. and Tara Paterson. (New Page Books, 15.99, Paperback.)

     Intuitives have been called the sensitive ones, the creative dreamers, who share what they experience that others do not see. Finally, parents whose children are intuitively gifted have new, concrete strategies for raising them to be strong contributors in life.
     Raising Intuitive Children helps parents understand an intuitive child’s world. More than that, it shows them how to validate, not suppress, these intuitive abilities. The stakes are high. If their intuitive abilities get dismissed, intuitive children can lose their way, their joy, and their spirit.
     Psychotherapist Caron Goode teams up with parenting expert and coach Tara Paterson to share explanations, stories, and examples, many from Tara’s own family, in this ground-breaking guide. It addresses: Knowing if your child is intuitively gifted; identifying when something is out of balance; trusting what intuitive children say from the imaginable realm; shifting parenting styles to meet a child’s style and strengths; using breathing techniques for staying centered, calm, and optimistic; creating rituals so they can feel solid and bring forth their intuitive intelligence; dealing with environmental and nutritional elements that especially affect intuitives; and exploring strategies for bonding and communication at each stage of development.

We Are Not Alone: A Complete Guide to Interdimensional Cooperation by Atala Dorothy Toy. (Wieser Books, $17.95, Paperback.)

In the early 1990s while working at the United Nations Devolpment Programme in New York, Atala Dorothy Toy went through a near death experience that took her on a journey and showed her a new way of perceiving energy—one in which all objects in the universe are alive, conscious, and willing to cooperate with humans to fashion a healthier, more holistic world. In We Are Not Alone, she teaches the deceptively simple art of how to communicate with any object or life form. Whether it’s a pet, tree, gemstone, power line, computer, nature spirit, extra-terrestrial, angel or inner guide—the process is the same. All it takes is knowing you can do it and then learning how.

Toy tells us that we are already communicating interdimensionally as part of the process of understanding our personal environment. We just haven’t considered this as a capacity that we could consciously develop. When we decide on a sunny morning to bring an umbrella to work because of a feeling that rain is on the way; when the perfect parking space opens up after asking for help from the parking deva; when we’re browsing the shelves at the library and the very book we need drops off the shelf; when we’re rearranging the living room furniture or creating a new garden and the couch or the peony bush tells us where it wants to be—these are all instances of interdimensional communication. The only difference between those who say they cannot perceive interdimensionally and those who do is intent and practice.

The Ecstatic Experience: Healing Postures for Spirit Journeys by Belinda Gore. (Bear & Co., $20.00, Paperback with CD.)

The human need for ecstasy—the ability to be free of the limitations of ordinary consciousness—is as imperative as the need for food. Anthropologist Felicitas Goodman claimed that being deprived of ecstasy was the fundamental cause of all forms of addiction. Indigenous cultures and the civilizations of antiquity were aware of this and developed specific rituals to induce and channel trance energies to detoxify and nourish the subtle body in order to experience the ecstatic reality that gives life to matter.

The body postures seen in ancient art from Mayan, Egyptian, African, Native American, Sumerian, and other ancient and indigenous traditions are a doorway to inducing this kind of ecstatic trance. People who assume these postures in a ritual context are able to experience expanded and transformative states of consciousness.

Following up on the introduction of this practice in her first book, Ecstatic Body Postures, Belinda Gore provides a new series of twenty sacred postures and exercises that allow for a deeper understanding and utilization of these shamanic practices. She shows how to use the energy awakened by these practices for healing, shapeshifting, initiations into the mysteries of death and rebirth, divination, spirit journeying, and restoring balance to the cosmic patterns disrupted by destructive human activity. To help reach these deep, ecstatic trance states, a sixty minute CD of shamanic trance rhythms is included.

Indra’s Net: Alchemy and Chaos Theory as Models for Transformation by Robin Robertson, Ph.D. (Quest Books, $16.95, Paperback.)

Where the hermetic sage unites with contemporary physics, Indra’s Net is an innovative and captivating approach to spiritual transformation; a must-read for all who seek out the hidden messages within science and antiquity. Alchemy and chaos theory share a transformative nature that is fascinating and surprisingly, spiritually awakening. Jungian psychologist and author Robin Robertson compares these intriguing practices to the beautiful symbolism of Indra’s “web,” the Hindu god’s expansive necklace of shining pearls and jewels. Like the mythic Buddhist net, which illustrates the intricate interconnectedness of the universe, alchemy and chaos theory both reveal the microcosm and macrocosm as infinitely related.

The age old hermetic maxim, “as above, so below,” which is said to be inscribed on the mysterious Emerald Tablet of Thoth, has long been praised by alchemists for eloquently embodying the parallels between all macro and micro levels. Dr. Robertson applies the laws of chaos theory, which prove the perpetual union of the vast and infinitesimal, to the wisdom of the ageless hermetic principle, validating alchemy’s timeless transformative power.

Provocative, yet written in language that is accessible and easy to grasp, Indra’s Net reveals the amazing synchronous elements between 21st century science and ancient hermetic teachings. It examines the implications of the Mandelbrot set fractals for all organic composition and compares chaos theory’s feedback to the widespread, primordial concept of the ouroboros, the mystical tail biting snake. By evincing the powerful relevance of alchemic philosophy and practice through modern physics and mathematics, Robertson assists us in recognizing the true Philosopher’s Stone, a transformative spiritual gold latent in us all.

Encodings of Light: A profound system to awaken and empower you by Anold Lane. (RealityIs Books, $16.95, Paperback.)

Encodings of Light, as you will discover, is something truly remarkable. This process strengthens and deepens our creative powers, breathing life into our intentions. Use of the Encodings opens us to unlimited possibilities. They also animate, and thereby maximize, the power of intention through a balanced union with the physical body. The combination of thoughts, words, and actions results in an energetic symphony of union with the forces of the cosmos. What happens is an animated application of the law of attraction through which we can learn what powerful creators we truly are.

Anold Lane has worked in the healing arts for over thirty years. As a transpersonal astrologer, he has written for several magazines and newspapers and presented his craft on national talk radio. He has taught metaphysical classes and led numerous retreats. While living in Hawaii, he learned a technology known as the Sound Table, and is the creator of a unique system for self awakening, Evolutionary Dialogues™. Anold currently lives in the Seattle area where he enjoys a practice as a gifted astrologer and Sound Table practitioner.