If NLP usually turns you off, or you find it gimmicky, manipulative, or overblown, then I would recommend this course as a breath of fresh air for beginners and those with more experience as well.

Description: NLP Marin teaches a set of skills and perceptual frames that combine some core skills and techniques of NLP with a variety of other modalities, such as neo-Rechiean childhood development, Bert Hellinger’s family constellations, and other interesting and useful ideas they have integrated into their work.

I find their particular flavor of NLP is incredibly effective, respectful, and honoring of all aspects of a human being. It is very much in contrast to the feel I get from some other forms of NLP, which occur to me as gimmicky, manipulative, or overblown.

The main trainer/instructor is Carl Buchheit, who I really enjoy learning from. He’s been doing NLP since the late 70s, and is incredibly good at what he does. He’s incredibly sharp, knowledgeable, and has a really quirky sense of humor. I respect him a lot, and I’ve enjoyed every weekend I’ve gone to.

Anecdote: As a result of this training, I quit my job as a software engineer, and chose to start a career as a coach. The model and set of tools here integrated a lot of the other work I had learned elsewhere, and had me realize “Wow, I’m actually damn good at working with people, and have something very real to offer them.” It gave me the confidence to go after what I want, even though it’s a bit scary to do so.

Potential Turn-Offs: If you’re experienced as a coach/therapist, or done a lot of personal work with people, the first course may seem a little basic, and you may get impatient.

You also practice what you learn on other classmates. Sometimes that can be a great experience, and sometimes a difficult one, depending on the skill and competence of the classmate in question.

What I Got out of it: I have trained with them quite a bit, and am nearly complete with my Master’s Certification. (Which requires a total of 16 weekends of training.)

My experience of learning there has been an interesting combination of learning skills, and doing personal growth/development work. A lot of what I have learned has subtly (or dramatically) shifted my experience of people, the world, and especially myself. It’s not as dramatic and concentrated as an Arete circle, but has consistently worked to shift and revise a lot inside of me.

At this point, I feel *way* more acceptance and liking of myself, as well as having a really strong set of techniques I can use to work with people, and make a difference in their lives.

Learn more about NLP Marin

Shunryu Suzuki Roshi was a Soto Zen priest and the founder of the San Francisco Zen Center. He was born 1904 in rural Japan, arrived in the United States to teach in 1959, and died of cancer in San Francisco in 1971.

Description: I have read many Buddhist books, and this one is my favorite. In fact, I have read many books (full stop), and this one is my favorite. ZMBM is mystical and otherworldly yet day-to-day ordinary, it is philosophical and technical yet beautifully poetic and literary, it is challenging and demands your best yet is gentle and patient, it is traditional yet modern, it is serious and sincere yet light-hearted and easy, it is simple yet deep, it is Japanese yet American. To summarize : pimp as muhfgn hell. Steven Mitchell included excerpts from ZMBM in his anthological collection of traditional “enlightened” writings called “The Enlightened Mind”, and it’s easy to see why. My perspective is that these words emerge from the still silent heart of genuine spiritual liberation.

Anecdote: Suzuki Roshi was purportedly a small man with a wry and sometimes mischievous sense of humor. Once, while being transported between Zen temples, he reportedly ordered a burger, and then, saying he wasn’t that hungry, switched lunches with his driver (later admitting that it was because he thought the guy was too attached to being a hard-line vegetarian). Suzuki Roshi’s, a Zen master in his own right, described him as “soft and warm on the outside, hard as stone [in his self-discipline] on the inside”.

Potential Turn-Offs: I’ll leave others to try to cook some up. I can’t think of any. Maybe if your iman declared jihad on all religions besides your own? Aside from fundamentalism like that, if you’re into depth, clarity, beauty, and profundity, this is a good book for you.

What I Got out of it: In the twenty years since I first read it, every time I pick up this book and read a chapter or three, I get something out of it that speaks powerfully and directly to what is going on in my life. The relevant information is usually simultaneously simple, obvious, and everyday-decent, and yet also magical, deep, and paradoxical. I have noticed that my favorite books seem to grow deeper as the years go on, and the deeper I get, and ZMBM was the first book I noticed that seemed to be doing this. I look forward to seeing what as yet undiscovered treasures it will hold for me twenty or thirty years from now.

Learn more about Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind, by Shunryu Suzuki

Description: David’s teaching is clear and concise. The instruction makes it easy to figure out where your hands and feet need to be so you can spend the entire class soaking up the sweetness as your breath moves you along. The flowing sequence connects you to your body and breath, even if you just have time for part of the practice. David’s ashtanga inspired class leaves you rejuvenated, full of life, & smiling.

Anecdote: My parents don’t practice yoga, but couldn’t turn off the DVD. Maybe it was the scenic natural setting, the soothing tone of David’s voice, or the connections he draws between the practice on and off the mat that kept us tuned in as if it were the latest arrival from Netflix. The experience created one more connection between myself and my parents.

Potential Turn-Offs: *Warning* : too many of David’s classes may lead you to quit your job & open your own yoga studio in the relatively near future. Side effects may also include: personal transformation, career changes, odd cravings of teacher trainings, a strong urge to tell all of your friends about the infinite benefits of yoga, intense feelings of peace, happiness, bliss, and love.

What I Got out of it: The proof is in the pudding…David was one of my very first yoga teachers, and now I teach yoga too. His classes allowed me to expand my boundaries, let go of what I didn’t need, harness what’s deep inside and let it shine on the outside.

Open your heart and mind to the practice, you’ll realize that you’re stronger than you ever imagined. And that with all that strength comes softness and compassion.

Learn more about Find Balance with David Lurey

Description: This book helps the reader learn how to create structures for conscious relating. These ideas assist in dealing with breakdowns by helping people understanding how to honor each individual as well as the relationship as a whole.

Anecdote: Before being introduced to the ideas in this book, I somehow didn’t realize that we each have our own way of “expecting” other’s to be in the world. I’ve found so much freedom through the implementation of these ideas in my life — what a brilliant gift!

Potential Turn-Offs: Dense material.

What I Got out of it: Freedom, compassion, understanding and tools to assist me in relating more effectively with everyone in my life, from my family to friends to clients and even strangers.

Learn more about RelationDancing

Growth Potential: I was a failure as a meditator. Satsang with Pamela was my entree to accessing the peaceful core beyond the mind’s chatter.

Pop Potential: Pam’s students run the gamut from teenagers to homemakers to people who have spent many years in sincere spiritual study. Her approach to nondualism is so simple, one need never read a single Vedic text to experience the state the rishis spoke of. If you think Vedic is something you hope not to catch, and rishis sound like something delicious, you’re still in great shape to find peace with Pamela.

“Get Real” Potential: Pam’s very sweet, giggly-girl personality could be off-putting to some (it isn’t to me).

What I Got out of it: Ultimately satsang was not “mental” enough for me, and I went on to a more hands-on inquiry practice, but I would not have gotten there without the tacit encouragement of this gentle teacher, who lovingly showed me that I needn’t believe everything I think.

Learn more about Satsang with Pamela Wilson

Growth Potential: Ferriss brings a great mix of his own ideology with specific, usable tips and resources. He makes a convincing argument for why you shouldn’t give the best years of your life working for someone else, on the arbitrary 40-60 hr/week schedule. He then delves into dozens of specific ‘how-to’s from pre-testing products and outsourcing their production, to managing interrupting people who want to ‘chat’ at work. My favorite exercise was called ‘dreamlining’ where you put your dreams into realizable financial goals.

Pop Potential: I think Tim has a better chance of hitting the pop mainstream than his book, although he did achieve bestseller status. He’s a charismatic & good lookin’ fella, and you can see from his blog that he spends a fair amount of his time being active and having fun. The YouTube videos on his site are certainly intriguing enough that one could see a 4hourworkweek TV show in the not-too-distant future. That is if it didn’t require putting more than 2 hours a week into it (he’s got other businesses to run after all).

“Get Real” Potential: Central to the book’s premise is that working in an office, on a 9-5 work schedule and having bosses and stuff is bad. Running around skydiving and traveling while your own business is on autopilot is good. I’d argue that that’s a little extreme as each has its merit. Also, I can’t help but get the feeling that a life with free time during the weekdays, and bopping from country-to-country lends itself to a degree of loneliness. If you don’t talk to your employees, customers and have virtual assistants emailing thank you notes to your friends and loved-ones…um, who are you interacting with?

What I Got out of it: Personal development books often get me real psyched up at first, and then I kind of forget about all that stuff I was going to do to transform my life a few days later. This is the first book that I can really say is a new bible. So much of what the author shared resonated with thoughts I’d had for years but felt ashamed to think. He not only helped me make sense of my intuition, he told me how to make it work. This book served as a catalyst for me to streamline and optimize my life and projects so that I can spend more time doing the things I’m really passionate about.

Learn more about The 4-Hour Workweek, by Timothy Ferriss

Bottom line: TMC helped me uncover the kickass MF I am today. And I know that’s going to last for many years to come.

Learn more about The Men’s Circle

Growth Potential: The Power of Now focuses on the whole “be here now” concept in simple concrete terms. Tolle rams home the idea that life never occurs in the past and the future, only in this moment and that if you are not present to this moment, you are not truly alive. It encourages the reader to be more present to the moment regardless of the circumstances.
Pop Potential: I had a really interesting moment while actually reading the book on a crowded airliner, with babies screaming all around me. Instead of shutting down and trying to ignore the crowd and noise, I used the principles I was reading about at that moment to stay present and have a very interesting experience for the rest of the flight.
“Get Real” Potential: There are some concepts in the book that are pretty far out there. For instance, he writes about the “pain body” and how women’s menstrual cycles are past pain resurfacing. I’m not going to say that I disagree with these concepts, but I felt some of them were not based as much in real world understanding of things and are hard to accept as presented.
What I Got out of it: I found this book extremely enlightening on many levels, and now experience myself more aware and more present. I cannot recommend it enough.

Learn more about The Power Of Now

The absence of any visual signs of decay in the dead body of Paramahansa Yogananda offers the most extraordinary case in our experience…. No physical disintegration was visible in his body even twenty days after death…. No indication of mold was visible on his skin, and no visible drying up took place in the bodily tissues. This state of perfect preservation of a body is, so far as we know from mortuary annals, an unparalleled one…. No odor of decay emanated from his body at any time…

“Get Real” Potential: This is his real life, hence ‘Autobiography!’ Now I don’t think I will be staring any tigers in the eye and feeling a sense of overall peace and connection to it’s spirit any time soon, but there are many valuable stories that have opened me to new ways of taking the higher path in my life and of trusting my intuition.
What I Got out of it: A wonderful insight to the life of a man who has touched the lives of millions and inspired self-realization on a global level. I enjoyed the stories from a personal level as both entertainment as well as a tool to watch how he lives his life with ‘the highest good’ and the teachings of his Guru guiding him. It is a ‘good feeling’ book and I got a good feeling from it!

Learn more about Autobiography of a Yogi
Hear more about Autobiography of a Yogi

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