My Bright Abyss

My Bright Abyss
Author: Christian Wiman
Publisher: Macmillan
Total Pages: 194
Release: 2013-04-02
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 0374216789

A passionate meditation on the consolations and disappointments of religion and poetry

Dying Modern

Dying Modern
Author: Diana Fuss
Publisher: Duke University Press
Total Pages: 161
Release: 2013-04-12
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 0822397501

In Dying Modern, one of our foremost literary critics inspires new ways to read, write, and talk about poetry. Diana Fuss does so by identifying three distinct but largely unrecognized voices within the well-studied genre of the elegy: the dying voice, the reviving voice, and the surviving voice. Through her deft readings of modern poetry, Fuss unveils the dramatic within the elegiac: the dying diva who relishes a great deathbed scene, the speaking corpse who fancies a good haunting, and the departing lover who delights in a dramatic exit. Focusing primarily on American and British poetry written during the past two centuries, Fuss maintains that poetry can still offer genuine ethical compensation, even for the deep wounds and shocking banalities of modern death. As dying, loss, and grief become ever more thoroughly obscured from public view, the dead start chattering away in verse. Through bold, original interpretations of little-known works, as well as canonical poems by writers such as Emily Dickinson, Randall Jarrell, Elizabeth Bishop, Richard Wright, and Sylvia Plath, Fuss explores modern poetry's fascination with pre- and postmortem speech, pondering the literary desire to make death speak in the face of its cultural silencing.

The Effortless Mind

The Effortless Mind
Author: Will Williams
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 291
Release: 2018-05-03
Genre: Health & Fitness
ISBN: 1471167925

A GUIDE TO THE UNIQUE POWER OF BEEJA MEDITATION TO OVERCOME STRESS AND ANXIETY, HELPING US TO THRIVE. ‘Will’s meditation is a game changer. If you want to understand meditation more deeply and how you can harness the benefits, The Effortless Mind is where it’s at. I will be giving this important book to everyone I know.’ Jasmine Hemsley, author of The Art of Eating Well ‘Will makes meditation cool. Say hello to a clearer mind thanks to your new bulletproof technique to help you relax and unleash your best self.’ Madeleine Shaw, author of Get The Glow Daily life can feel like a fast-paced treadmill, leaving little time to unwind, re-charge and do what brings us joy. Meditation is a powerful way to hit the pause button, increase your energy and start to enjoy life more. The Effortless Mind is renowned meditation teacher Will Williams’s must-have guide for modern-day meditators. Suffering from chronic stress and insomnia, Will undertook years of research and training with leading experts from around the world, which led him to find the cure he was looking for in Beeja meditation. In The Effortless Mind, Will explains how his Vedic-inspired method of meditation has transformed the lives of his students – all of whom are busy people of all ages and all backgrounds. Their inspiring stories and the scientific research into meditation show the profound physical, mental and emotional benefits you can gain from such a simple daily practice, including more energy, better sleep, greater clarity, less anxiety and a happier outlook on life. More praise for The Effortless Mind: ‘Meditation can be a powerful tool in managing anxiety, stress and other common daily experiences that so many people seem to face and Vedic meditation with Will is one of the simplest forms of meditation there is, making it incredibly accessible for anyone to learn.’ Annie Clarke, author of Mind Body Bowl ‘I learnt how to meditate with Will Williams two years ago and since then so many things have changed. I have a life-long tool that has brought me calm, clarity and increased creativity and allowed me to far more effectively weather the storms of everyday life. Will is the most generous, warm and gracious teacher.’ Eminé Rushton, Wellbeing Director, Psychologies ‘Within a few months of learning to meditate with Will, I realised I was starting to have so many ideas for songs and books, as well as helping me with a busy schedule of touring and being a dad.’ Howard Donald, Take That ‘Beeja meditation is now part of my daily routine. It has been hugely beneficial in so many ways. Will is very supportive and nurturing and makes learning seem easy and fun. I feel extremely grateful this has come into my life.’ Cressida Bonas, actress ‘Will’s practical, non-woo-woo approach to meditation has enabled thousands of busy people to find a way to fit a regular practice into their lives.’ Lesley Thomas, The Times

Modern Meditation

Modern Meditation
Author: Dr. Stan Rodski
Publisher: Hardie Grant
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2016-10-04
Genre: Games & Activities
ISBN: 9781743791899

The only coloring exercises scientifically proven to ease stress Drawing from the study of neuroscience, each of these three unique coloring books contain more than 75 unique patterns designed to focus your brain through the use of pattern, repetition, single focus, and creativity. It is inevitable that our brains get overwhelmed at times by the bombardment of information, but it is essential for our health and well-being to be able to draw upon our own resources to deal with that stress. The simple act of coloring has the power to engage your brain, improve your mood, and kindle creativity by providing a mindful task that can forge new neural pathways and connections in our brains. In this series, Dr Rodski looks at the fight or flight reaction to stress and how coloring can help; how repetition, pattern, and focus relax the brain; and how coloring can stimulate the brain to be more agile and learn faster.

Modern Meditation

Modern Meditation
Author: Thomas Valone
Publisher: Integrity Research Institute
Total Pages: 108
Release: 2009
Genre: Body, Mind & Spirit
ISBN: 9781935023005

This book offers the most direct method today for learning the modern technique for easily learning meditation in four easy steps. With four basic exercises that anyone can learn quickly, this book provides the best and easiest path to the achievement of a new and improved you! With lots of science references, studies prove the long-lasting effects of the practice of modern meditation in a simple fifteen-minute exercise on a daily basis. Benefits include greater orderliness of brain functioning, improved ability to focus, increased creativity, deeper level of relaxation, improved perception and memory, development of intelligence, natural changes in breathing patterns, decrease in stress hormone, lower blood pressure for hypertensive people and a normalisation of blood pressure for low blood pressure people, reversal of the aging process, reduced need for medical care, reduction in cholesterol, increased self-actualisation, increased strength of self-concept, decreased cigarette, alcohol, and drug abuse, increased productivity and hearing ability, improved relations at work, improved health and longevity, more positive health habits.

Tao of Letting Go

Tao of Letting Go
Author: Bruce Frantzis
Publisher: North Atlantic Books
Total Pages: 178
Release: 2009
Genre: Meditation
ISBN: 1556438087

What is known from the Tao Te Ching, I Ching, and other Taoist texts is almost entirely literary. When Bruce Frantzis studied these texts with his main teacher, Grandmaster Liu Hung Chieh, he was taught their practical application: "This is what they say; this is what they mean; this is how to do them." In the TAO of Letting Go, Frantzis offers a bridge to this pragmatic approach for living a spiritual life. Spirituality is not just an aspiration for which people strive, he says, but a genuine, accomplishable reality. Frantzis shows how to expend maximum effort and yet not use force--the gentle way of the Water method--to enrich personal health and energy systems. The Water tradition continues the work of releasing inner conflicts, a process that begins with the Dissolving Method, passed down by Lao Tse in the Tao Te Ching over 2,500 years ago. The author shows how to completely let go of the blockages that bind and prevent the seeker from reaching full spiritual potential. Short, direct chapters and exercises cover such topics as breathing and awareness; Taoist meditation; fog and depression; modern anxiety; love and compassion; and more.

Meditation in Modern Buddhism

Meditation in Modern Buddhism
Author: Joanna Cook
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages:
Release: 2010-08-05
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1139487841

In contemporary Thai Buddhism, the burgeoning popularity of vipassanā meditation is dramatically impacting the lives of those most closely involved with its practice: monks and mae chee (lay nuns) living in monastic communities. For them, meditation becomes a central focus of life and a way to transform the self. This ethnographic account of a thriving Northern Thai monastery examines meditation in detail, and explores the subjective signification of monastic duties and ascetic practices. Drawing on fieldwork done both as an analytical observer and as a full participant in the life of the monastery, Joanna Cook analyzes the motivation and experience of renouncers, and shows what effect meditative practices have on individuals and community organization. The particular focus on the status of mae chee - part lay, part monastic - provides a fresh insight into social relationships and gender hierarchy within the context of the monastery.

The Birth of Insight

The Birth of Insight
Author: Erik Braun
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Total Pages: 274
Release: 2013-11-19
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 022600094X

Insight meditation, which claims to offer practitioners a chance to escape all suffering by perceiving the true nature of reality, is one of the most popular forms of meditation today. The Theravada Buddhist cultures of South and Southeast Asia often see it as the Buddha’s most important gift to humanity. In the first book to examine how this practice came to play such a dominant—and relatively recent—role in Buddhism, Erik Braun takes readers to Burma, revealing that Burmese Buddhists in the colonial period were pioneers in making insight meditation indispensable to modern Buddhism. Braun focuses on the Burmese monk Ledi Sayadaw, a pivotal architect of modern insight meditation, and explores Ledi’s popularization of the study of crucial Buddhist philosophical texts in the early twentieth century. By promoting the study of such abstruse texts, Braun shows, Ledi was able to standardize and simplify meditation methods and make them widely accessible—in part to protect Buddhism in Burma after the British takeover in 1885. Braun also addresses the question of what really constitutes the “modern” in colonial and postcolonial forms of Buddhism, arguing that the emergence of this type of meditation was caused by precolonial factors in Burmese culture as well as the disruptive forces of the colonial era. Offering a readable narrative of the life and legacy of one of modern Buddhism’s most important figures, The Birth of Insight provides an original account of the development of mass meditation.

Unplug

Unplug
Author: Suze Yalof Schwartz
Publisher: Harmony
Total Pages: 226
Release: 2017-03-07
Genre: Body, Mind & Spirit
ISBN: 1101905379

A modernized approach to meditation that will appeal to anyone, even if - especially if - you believe you have no time, you can't sit still, or that "it's just not you." Whether you're a Fortune 500 CEO or someone bogged down with a never-ending to-do list, the proven secret to being more effective and living a happier, healthier life is to hurry up and slow down, to unplug. Studies show that you can get more done - and do it better - by doing less, just by consciously unplugging for a few minutes each day and meditating. This revolutionary book by the founder and CEO of the groundbreaking LA-based meditation studio Unplug Meditation brilliantly simplifies this powerful practice and shows the overwhelmed and overworked how easy it is to unplug in order to relieve stress, regain focus, and recharge. Schwartz debunks the common misperceptions about meditation, including the notion that you need to sit still for long periods of time, or that you need to "turn off your brain." She also shares the life-changing benefits you will experience, the proven science of how meditation literally changes your brain, as well as easy techniques and tips to easily incorporate meditation into your daily life.