America's most celebrated spiritual writers offer inspiring words on the state of the soul today. This collection of more than thirty original essays addresses both the importance of caring for and nourishing the soul and the ways in which these individuals tend to their own souls on a day-to-day basis.
Ancient techniques using the hands have been depicted in various healings practices for centuries. This book combines these unique hand positions or mudras with the symbols and words of Jewish mysticism, the Kabbalah. Focusing on the patterns of the Tree of Life used within the Kabbalah, Dr. Schusterman shows us how to use our fingers and hands in key positions that will connect with the body's own energy. These movements working with focused intent will expand the body's awareness and allow healing and balance to occur. The book offers case studies of different patients with various physical and emotional problems and how using these techniques they were able to bring about healing, joy and a sense of well being into their lives. Through detailed charts and diagrams, this book offers six short steps to activating the Tree of Life process for personal healing and balance. Healing practitioners can also apply these mudras to remove stress or pain and improve the health of others.
This book provides a well-researched biblical and scientific overview of abuse. A broad overview, it deals with the various types of abuse, the various effects of abuse, and the means of healing. Abuse can be sexual, physical, neglect, spiritual, and verbal. The chief arguments pursued throughout the book are: (1) abuse is far more rampant than most Christians realize, but due to human depravity and satanic influence, widespread abuse is predicable. (2) All types of abuse create profound, long-term soul damage due to the way abuse perverts various aspects of the image of God. (3) God is the healing redeemer. Human salvation came through horrible physical abuse. (4) Healing must take place in the context of relationships. Humans are deeply impacted by others due to being made in the image of God. Just as surely as abusive relationships have tremendous power to wound the soul, so healthy relationships have tremendous power to nurture and heal the soul. Questions answered in the book include: - How can a genuine believer abuse a child? - Why would someone abuse a child? - How can parents and childrens’ workers identify abusers? - How can abuse victims heal? - What does genuine healing look like? - Is anger appropriate or hurtful for abuse victims? - Where does forgiveness fit in? Helpful sample child protection policy, application, screening interview, and warning signs of potential abusers equip ministry leaders. Illustrations, case studies, and art therapy drawings.
After a career as one of the nation's top environmental lawyers, James Thornton spent several years on retreat, culminating in a meeting with the Dalai Lama, who asked him to teach a path of integration and wholeness. In A Field Guide to the Soul, Thornton leads us through a series of contemplative exercises designed to clarify the body, mind, and heart, and make a deep connection with the wisdom encoded in the natural world. His nature writing is joyously lyrical; the book as a whole is immensely practical, drawing on Jungian psychology, and Buddhist, Hindu, and Christian teachings, to give us the tools to work for the benefit of all living beings. At a time when people are desperate to make some sense of their lives, Thornton shows us how to embark on our own hero's journey. Only by taking full responsibility for our thoughts, feelings, and actions can we bring about the revolution in consciousness that is so vital today. In order to discover how to care for the Earth and all its inhabitants, we must first learn how to care for ourselves. Here is a practical manual that shows us the way.
Soul Midwives, a movement begun by Felicity Warner, has changed the face of modern holistic and spiritual palliative care in the UK and abroad.Soul Midwives are holistic and spiritual companions to the dying. They draw on traditional skills, now largely forgotten, applying them to our modern world to ease the passage of those who are dying. Their services are used within people's own homes, in hospices and in care homes.Anyone with an open and compassionate heart and a desire to help others can train to become a Soul Midwife. This book will guide you through the core principles and techniques of this practice.
WINNER OF THE WORD GUILD 2019 CHRISTIAN LIVING BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARD "The pages you are about to read may feel like a literal rescue." —Ann Voskamp, New York Times Bestselling author Survival Guide for the Soul is a profound spiritual exploration of God's love—a love that many of us understand intellectually without fully grasping or relying on in our day-to-day experiences—a love that fills our sails with joy and frees us to truly flourish. Many of us are driven by an ambition to accomplish something big outside ourselves. On all sides, we're pressured to achieve—professionally, socially, financially. Even when we're aware of this pressure, it can be hard to escape the vicious circles of accomplishment, frustration, and spiritual burn-out. Drawing on a wide range of sources from Scripture to church history to psychology and modern neuroscience—as well as deeply personal stories from his own life—Ken Shigematsu, recipient of the Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Medal and pastor of Tenth Church in Vancouver, BC, vividly demonstrates how the gospel redeems our desires and reorders our lives. Pastor Shigematsu offers fresh perspective on how certain spiritual practices help orient our lives so that our souls can flourish in the midst of a demanding, competitive society. And he concludes with a liberating and counter-cultural definition of true greatness. If you long to experience a deeper relationship with Christ within the daily pressures to succeed, Survival Guide for the Soul is packed with biblical wisdom and a godly approach to transcend the human tendency to define ourselves by our productivity and success. "Loaded with practical insights and encouraging thoughts, every reader will benefit from Ken's work." —Max Lucado, New York Times Bestselling author
"As A Boy, Claude Rawlings looks up through the grated window of his basement apartment to watch the world go by. Poor, lonely, supported by a taxi-driver mother whose eccentricities spin more and more out of control, he faces the terrible task of growing up on the margins of life, destined to be a spectator of that great world always hurrying out of reach. But there is an out-of-tune piano in the small apartment, and in unlocking the secrets of its keys, as if by magic, Claude discovers himself. He is a musical prodigy." "Body & Soul is the story of a young man whose life is transformed by a gift. The gift is not without price - the work is relentless, the teachers exacting - but the reward is a journey that takes him to the drawing rooms of the rich and powerful, private schools, a gilt-edged marriage, and Carnegie Hall. Claude moves through this life as if he were playing a difficult composition, swept up in its drama and tension, surprised by its grace notes. Music, here, becomes a character in its own right, equaled in strength only by the music of Frank Conroy's own unmistakable and true voice." "Bristling with character and invention, Body & Soul is Dickensian in its range and richness. This is a novel with all the emotional appeal and moral gravity of a classic bildungsroman, but with a tone as contemporary as a jazz riff - an unforgettable achievement by one of the great writers of our time."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Revised to incorporate the changes in opinions and attitudes since its first publication, the second edition of 'Places of the Soul' has brought Christopher Day's classic text into the 21st century. This new edition of the seminal text reminds us that true sustainable design does not simply mean energy efficient building. Sustainable buildings must provide for the 'soul'. For Christopher Day architecture is not just about a building's appearance, but how the building is experienced. 'Places of the Soul' presents buildings as environment, intrinsic to their surroundings, and offers design principles that will open the eyes of the architecture student and professional alike, presenting ideas quite different to the orthodoxy of modern architectural education. Christopher Day's experience as an architect, self-builder, professor and sculptor have all added to the development of his ideas that encompass issues of economic and social sustainability, commercial pressures and consensus design. This book presents these ideas and outlines universal principles that will be of interest and value to architects, builders, planners and developers alike.