What it is: Insert DVD, step onto your mat, take a deep breath, and let the transformation begin. This DVD provides yoga instruction that touches all levels of practicioners. And the best part: no reason to miss a class, all you have to do is push play. It’s Yoga-to-go, for when you’re on the go and need to ‘find your balance’.

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What it is: Our friends at Wikipedia have this to say, “Bhante Henepola Gunaratana is a Sri Lankan Buddhist monk … [He was] born December 7, 1927 in Sri Lanka. He was ordained as a monk at the age of 12, and … came to the United States at the invitation of the Sasana Sevaka Society in 1968 … He is the author of the considerably influential work Mindfulness in Plain English.” The book is a staple of the American “Vipassana”, or mindfulness meditation, scene. As an act of generosity by its author, It is available for free at a number of places on the web (flex your Google-fu to check it out).

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What it is: Wikipedia says, “The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, first published in 1989, is a self-help book written by Stephen R. Covey. … the book lists seven principles that, if established as habits, are supposed to help a person achieve true interdependent ‘effectiveness’. Covey argues this is achieved by aligning oneself to what he calls ‘true north’—principles of a character ethic that, unlike values, he believes to be universal and timeless.”

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What it is: This book is about one man’s journey from a path destined for success in traditional terms, to a path that defines success in more universal terms. In plain English, Dan is an athlete, smart, destined for a wife, a “good” job, and a pretty standard day-to-day. Throughout the book, he discovers deeper truths about what is important, and how to live a happier life. It’s a good light read.

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What it is: “A Guide To Rational Living” is the first book the great psychologist Doctor Albert Ellis wrote on Rational Emotive Behavioral Therapy ( REBT - later known as “cognitive therapy”)

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What it is: A book about how to recover lost parts of yourself and become more whole by paying attention to somatics(tendencies of the body). There are fun and engaging tools to play along as well, like the “which animal are you when you get defensive” cheat sheet (which I describe a little further down this review).

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What it is: A brilliant book distinguishing relating with others consciously and unconsciously.

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.

Continue reading ‘RelationDancing: Consciously Creating What You Really Want In Your Relating by Mark Michael Lewis’

Location: 953 Mission Street, san Francisco
What it is: Learn to dance with fire while engaging in a developmentally focused community. The classes are just as much about a non-judgemental learning philosophy, getting in touch with your body, self-expression, and relaxation (being in flow) as they are about dance.

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What it is: Sex Ecology and Spirituality is the breakthrough book where Ken Wilber first described his All Quadrants, All Levels approach to Integral Thinking. This tour de force of scholarship and spirituality differentiates the pre-rational (magic and mythical) conceptions of spirituality from the rational and the trans-rational (phenomenological and experiential) conceptions of spirituality. He then places the various ideas of spirituality on a developmental spectrum from birth to enlightenment, examining each phase of development through 4 “quadrants” or perspectives that contrast interior and exterior on the one hand, and individual and collective on the other.

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Location: Various locations in the U.S. and Europe
What it is: At the School for The Work, participants spend nine days and nights “learning to unlearn” the stressful thoughts that cause fear, anger, stress, and suffering. Exercises are based on Katie’s personal experience of “waking up to reality” to ground participants in practical applications of The Work’s four questions and turnaround.

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