The Fine Arts of Relaxation, Concentration, and Meditation : Ancient Skills for Modern Minds

Preface -- American Buddhism -- Meditation: Why Bother? -- What Meditation Isn't -- What Meditation Is -- Attitude -- The Practice -- What to Do with Your Body -- What to Do with Your Mind -- Structuring Your Meditation -- Set-up Exercises -- Dealing with Problems -- Dealing with Distractions I -- Dealing with Distractions II -- Mindfulness (Sati) -- Mindfulness versus Concentration -- Meditation in Everyday Life -- What's in It for You -- The Power of Loving Friendliness -- Index -- About the Author -- Also from Wisdom Publications -- Wisdom Publications.

joel And Michelle Levey Have Taught Thousands Of People Around The Globe To Live In Greater Harmony And Balance. Field-tested And Refined Over Many Years, The Leveys' Unique Approach To Stress-mastery And Personal Development Offers Step-by-step Guidance For Developing Personal Strengths, Enhancing The Quality Of Life, And Making A Real Contribution To The World. the Fine Arts Of Relaxation, Concentration And Meditation Offers A Treasury Of The Authors' Most Useful Teachings: Waking Up Throughout The Day; Finding One's Meditation Practice And Sticking To It; Balancing Breath, Brain, And Mind-mastering Stress And Enhancing Performance In Every Arena Of One's Life; Creative Intelligence-—the Dynamic Synergy Of Active And Quiet Mind Skills; Mastery, Mystery, And Meditation—awakening To One's True Nature; And Inspired Work—relaxation, Concentration, And Meditation On The Job. A Vital Blend Of Profoundly Practical Skills, Advice, Instruction, And Encouragement Makes This A Complete Course For Awakening More Fully To One's Highest Potentials In Each Moment Of Life.

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the Leveys, Who Teach Stress-management Methods To A Variety Of Organizations, Including The U.s. Army Green Berets, Offer An Inviting And Highly Practical Manual For Those Who Want To Enhance Health And Performance, Master Stress And Deepen Their Appreciation Of Life. They Begin By Discussing Relaxation, Presenting Eight Simple, Discrete Techniques For Identifying And Releasing Tension Within The Body And Mind. They Then Progress To Concentration, Offering 11 Separate Methods, Including Several Deep-breathing Exercises, Designed To Help One Disregard Distractions, Stabilize The Mind And Bring One's Full Attention To Bear On The Object Of Concentration. Proper Relaxation And Concentration Are Fundamental For Successful Meditation, Which Here Is Both A Path To Spiritual Liberation And Also A Real-world Strategy For Altering Harmful Patterns Of Thought And Behavior. The Leveys Then Offer 39 Methods Of Meditation, From Simply Listening Purposefully To One's Surroundings To Imagining That One's Body Is Hollow. They Round Out The Book With Reflections On Integrating All These Techniques Into Everyday Life And Work. Many Of The Strategies Found Here Are Clear, Step-by-step Procedures; Others Are Scripts Suitable To Record On Tape To Play Back During A Relaxation, Concentration Or Meditation Session. Although They Do Not Advocate Any Particular Spiritual Tradition, The Authors Continually Emphasize The Depth And Sacredness Associated With These Inner Arts, Resulting In A Useful Handbook That Will Appeal To A Wide Range Of Readers Seeking Increased Tranquility In And Mastery Over Their Lives. (feb.) Copyright 2003 Cahners Business Information.

Joel and Michelle Levey have taught thousands of people around the globe to live in greater harmony and balance. Field-tested and refined over many years, the Leveys' unique approach to stress-mastery and personal development offers step-by-step guidance for developing personal strengths, enhancing the quality of life, and making a real contribution to the world. The Fine Arts of Relaxation, Concentration and Meditation offers a treasury of their most useful teachings: Waking up throughout the day—finding your meditation practice and sticking to it. Balancing breath, brain, and mind-mastering stress—enhancing performance in every arena of your life. Creative intelligence—the dynamic synergy of active and quiet mind skills. Mastery, mystery, and meditation—awakening to your true nature. Inspired Work—relaxation, concentration, and meditation on the job. A vital blend of profoundly practical skills, advice, instruction, and encouragement makes Fine Arts a complete course for awakening more fully to your highest potentials in each moment of your life.

Being Nobody, Going Nowhere is the winner of the Christmas Humphreys Award for Best Introductory Buddhist Book. In this new edition of her classic best-selling book, Ayya Khema gives clear, practical instruction on meditation and techniques for overcoming counterproductive mental habits and beliefs. Through the simple practices detailed here, one can develop deeper insight, a sense of calm well-being, and a greater capacity to love and feel loved on a daily basis. This incredible book also includes an eloquent, sparklingly lucid outline of the Buddhist path that can be understood and enjoyed by everyone.

In this lucid classic, beloved teacher Ayya Khema introduces the reader to the essence of the Buddhist path. She addresses the how and why of meditation, providing a clear framework for understanding the nature of karma and rebirth and the entirety of the eightfold path. With specific, practical advice Ayya Khema illuminates the practices of compassion and sympathetic joy and offers forthright guidance in working with the hindrances that we all encounter in meditation. Few introductory books are both simple and profound. Being Nobody, Going Nowhere is both. In this new edition of her classic best-selling book, Ayya Khema gives clear, practical instruction on meditation and techniques for overcoming counterproductive mental habits and beliefs. Through the simple practices detailed here, you will develop deeper insight, a sense of calm well-being, and a greater capacity to love and feel loved on a daily basis. Being Nobody also includes an eloquent, sparklingly lucid outline of the Buddhist path that can be understood and enjoyed by everybody. Rewritten and revised for new readers, this classic manual on relaxation and meditation covers a wide range of techniques for focusing the mind and harmonizing it with the outside world. Original.