Spirituality Made Practical: All Things Old Made New Again

Over the past decade, we've had a strong interest in all things spiritual,? says Debra Goldstein, partner and agent of The Creative Culture, Inc., who specializes in representing Mind/Body/Spirit authors. ?Now that people?s eyes are opened,? she continues, ?what I am seeing is a desire for methods and advice on how to apply spiritual principles to everyday aspects of life.?
One aspect of this practical spirituality is a return to our religious and spiritual roots for new insights and understandings about our world. Rather than being exclusive and doctrine-bound, these books are cross-cultural and inclusive, and lead to an integration of heart, mind, and soul.
God is for Everyone offers the teachings of the late spiritual master Paramhansa Yogananda, Crystal Clarity Publishers, 1-56589-180-5, as taught and understood by his disciple, J. Donald Walters, himself an author of over eighty books. This book emphasizes ?the underlying unity of all religions? and the importance of the Divine in our lives.
The Stages of Meditation by the Dalai Lama from Snow Lion Publications, Inc., 1-55939-197-9, is the most extensive explanation of the writings on meditation by ninth-century saint and scholar Acharya Kamalashila. Translated by Venerable Geshe Lobsang Jordhen, Losang Choephel Ganchenpa, and Jeremy Russell, this ?text can be like a key that opens the door to all other major Buddhist scriptures.? Chapters on how to meld practice with wisdom and insight will appeal to practical Western minds.
The late Eknath Easwaran, another teacher of meditation, gathered a selection of passages from the religious traditions of East and West for his Eight Point Program, a program based on silent meditations of memorized inspirational passages. Nilgiri Press, the exclusive publishers of Easwaran?s work, offers this new edition of God Makes The Rivers to Flow: Sacred Literature of the World, 1-58638-008-7, an expanded collection with added translations.
The challenge of meditation for the Western mind is the practice of stillness. In Stillness Speaks by Eckhart Tolle, New World Library, 1-57731-400-X, the author offers brief ideas or messages for contemplation that point to truth and stillness. ?True intelligence operates silently. Stillness is where creativity and solutions to problems are found.?
Using Japanese haiku, the most ancient and shortest form of poetry, award-winning poet Sylvia Forges-Ryan and Yale psychologist Edward Ryan joined talents to teach an original technique for relaxing in their book Take a Deep Breath: The Haiku Way to Inner Peace, Kodansha International, 4-7700-2885-7. Forty-four poems are arranged around the seasons with the authors? own responses to lead the reader to a moment of still awareness. This small book is great for travel or for gift-giving.
Eastern influence is a strong presence in the Mind/Body/Spirit category of books. Yoga, in particular, continues to be highly popular. Ashtanga Yoga for Women: Invigorating Mind, Body, and Spirit with Power Yoga by Sally Griffyn and Michaela Clarke, Ulysses Press, 1-56975-350-4, reflects the recent surge of interest in power yoga, a form that combines stretch, strength, and endurance. The authors, long-time practitioners of ashtanga yoga, teach women a style of yoga that was once the preserve of men, addressing specific needs ?with clearly written instructions and helpful advice that makes Ashtanga suitable for women of all ages.? Clear step-by-step photographs accompany each posture.
Yoga is not just about strength-building but also about healing. In their book Yoga Therapy: Overcoming Headaches, Crystal Clarity Publishers, 1-56589-169-4, Peter Van Houten, M.D., founder of the Sierra Medical Clinic, and Rich McCord, Ph.D., worldwide director of Ananda Yoga, offer an alternative to over-the-counter painkillers for the millions of Americans suffering from serious or chronic headaches. This book, which requires no prior knowledge or experience of yoga, combines yoga postures with the latest in conventional and alternative medical treatment as an aid in healing.
Combining her professional work as a psychotherapist with her practice of Buddhist mindfulness meditation, Barbara Miller Fishman offers women a new therapeutic approach in her book, Emotional Healing through Mindfulness Meditation: Stories and Meditations for Women Seeking Wholeness, Inner Traditions International?Bear & Company, 0-89281-998-7. The author relates the stories of eight different women who used the combination of six awareness practices of Mindfulness Psychotherapy to overcome trauma and grief. ?If we want peace,? Fishman writes, ?we eventually realize that both the outside and inside worlds present us with the same challenge: to discover the stillness within, and from that stillness, to feel compassion for ourselves and all other beings.? Some of the Mindfulness Meditations are also on a CD included with the book.
Nicki Scully?s new book from Bear & Company, Alchemical Healing: A Guide to Spiritual, Physical, and Transformational Medicine, 1-59143-015-1, gives readers a different approach to healing, bringing together techniques of shamanism and energetic healing. The author, an international healer and teacher, shows readers how to ?turn the base substance of who you are . . . into the alchemical gold of knowledge and enlightenment? through techniques of working with power animals and plant, mineral, and elemental spirit guides.
Author, licensed psychologist, and founding director of Animas Valley Institute, Bill Plotkin, Ph.D. also calls on ancient traditions in his new book Soulcraft: Crossing Into the Mysteries of Nature and Psyche, New World Library, 1-57731-422-0. Inspired by the idea of the vision quest, this book is filled with soulcraft practices, stories, poems, and guidelines, and invites the reader ?to embark upon a contemporary, Western, nature-based journey into the wilderness of your own soul.?
For those who aren?t ready to face the wilderness but would like a simpler, slower pace of life, Simplicity Lessons: A 12-Step Guide to Living Simply by Linda Breen Pierce, Gallagher Press, 0-9672067-9-0, is ?a tool that will allow you to take whatever you learn from this book and make it an integral part of your life.? The book offers ideas, suggestions, resources, and assignments for individual or group work.
Practical spirituality is also necessary in all areas of life, including work. 30 Day Essentials for Career by Jyotish Novak, Crystal Clarity, 1-56589-175-9, makes an excellent gift for people looking to improve their attitude and gain clarity about their career. The book is small, with its own ribbon bookmark, and has a brief passage of inspiration or advice and a practical exercise for each of the thirty days.
Another work-related book, The Joy of Burnout: How the End of the World Can Be a New Beginning, Inner Ocean Publishing, 1-930722-20-6, is already a bestseller in the U.K. and now published here in the U.S. ?The message of this book,? writes author Dr. Dina Glouberman, psychotherapist and founding director of Skyros Holistic Holidays, ?is that burnout is the state of mind, body, and spirit reached by those of us who have come to the end of a particular road but haven?t acknowledged this.? Glouberman offers stories about herself and others, along with checklists and exercises to help readers find their way again on the path of life and work.
Jayne Howard Feldman, author of Driving Under the Influence of Angels, A.R.E. Press of the Edgar Cayce Foundation, 0-87604-445-3, shares her personal experiences with angels in her journey across the country ?as she follows the angels and their guidance, sharing her insights and the lessons she has learned from a lifetime association with the angels.?
Inspiring yet practical, these Mind/Body/Spirit books cover all aspects of life. As Goldstein, of The Creative Culture, Inc., confirms, ?From relationships to parenting, crafts to exercise, I believe the emerging trend will continue to be books that help people live their everyday lives in more awakened, conscious ways.?

STEPHANIE: BELOW TWO ITEMS ARE FOR SIDEBARS; PERHAPS TWO SEPARATE aLEX

Spiritual clairvoyant, Doctor of Psychology, and author of twenty-two books including Healing with the Angels, Doreen Virtue teaches workshops around the country on angels, elementals, and clairvoyance. She finds her audiences very curious about the spiritual world and how it can help them.
?People are interested in mediumship and life after death,? says Virtue, ?especially with the popularity of John Edwards and his books and TV show. They also want to look into the future to see if it will be a peaceful one since the war in Iraq.?
Virtue, who publishes with Hay House, is currently doing work involving archangels and ascended masters.
Once recent topic, which is already popular in the U.K. and Australia and is finding a new upsurge in popularity here in the U.S., according to Virtue, is elementals and fairies. The author attributes some of this new interest to the Harry Potter books and the movie trilogy of The Lord of the Rings.
?When my husband and I do workshops,? she says, ?we often ask the attendees what they want us to talk about and they want to hear about it all, but most especially about the elementals.?

Wayne Dyer, the ?father of motivation? and author of such popular books as Your Erroneous Zone and You?ll See It When You Believe It, believes that two of the most important emerging trends in the Mind/Body/Spirit field are the concept of energy and the power of intention. According to Dyer, ?Everything in the universe is energy. Energy is not moral?it is high or low, or fast or slow?but not good or bad.? He says that love is an energy that can convert the energy of hatred.
Related to this concept of energy is the power of intention. Dyer, also with Hay House, says it is the ability to manifest and attract into our lives from source energy that which we desire. ?When you get back into harmony with source energy,? he explains, ?then that harmony looks like peace, creativity, and kindness.?