Radical Self-Acceptance

When we seek comfort and relief from stress, Tara Brach teaches, we often unconsciously turn to false refuges such as material wealth, approval from others, or a preoccupation with the past and future. Yet by cultivating true refuge in this moment, not only can we find shelter from the storms of life but we also open ourselves up to fully experiencing joy and fulfillment. Here, Tara Brach guides a meditation using the therapeutic R.A.I.N. process for releasing fear and healing through self-compassion.

A profound transformation can occur just by training your attention in awareness - a practice sweeping the country with its capacity to decrease stress, cultivate inner calm, and expand wisdom and creativity. Clinical psychologist and meditation teacher Tara Brach has been at the forefront of mindfulness-based therapy since its inception, and here offers a traditional loving-kindness meditation with a neurologically-based relaxation technique known as "smiling yoga".

Despite our best intentions, we often have trouble dealing effectively with strong emotions. What if you had a conscious, skillful way to respond in times of anger, fear, jealousy, shame, and other powerful emotions? Meditations for Emotional Healing gives us a collection of insights and practices for bringing compassion, clarity, and understanding to our emotional lives-instead of expressing or repressing them in unhealthy ways.

When the difficulties and losses of life feel overwhelming, is there someplace we can turn for the safety, nurturing, and peace that we long for? Most of us are strongly conditioned to react with fear and confusion, falling back on strategies of judgment, control, addictive behaviors, and anger. Yet there is another way. “In any moment, no matter how lost we feel, we can take refuge in presence and love,” teaches Tara Brach.

Why does it feel so natural to be compassionate and kind to those we care about - yet so hard to treat ourselves the same way? "Our culture teaches us to use self-criticism for motivation and to build self-esteem by constantly measuring ourselves against everyone else," says Dr. Kristin Neff. "We need to re-learn the essential skill of being genuinely nurturing and supportive toward ourselves."

In this recorded retreat, based on the program Living Beautifully with Uncertainty and Change held at Omega Institute, Pema Chödrön and her teaching assistant, Meg Wheatley, provide a wealth of wisdom for learning to step right into the river: to be completely, fearlessly present even in the hardest times, the most difficult situations. It's the secret of being fully alive.

'True belonging doesn't require us to change who we are. It requires us to be who we are.' Social scientist Brené Brown, PhD, LMSW has sparked a global conversation about the experiences that bring meaning to our lives - experiences of courage, vulnerability, love, belonging, shame and empathy. In Braving the Wilderness, Brown redefines what it means to truly belong in an age of increased polarisation.

Pema Chödrön's perennially best-selling classic on overcoming life's difficulties cuts to the heart of spirituality and personal growth, and makes for a perfect addition to one's spiritual library. Drawing from traditional Buddhist wisdom, she offers life-changing tools for transforming suffering and negative patterns into habitual ease and boundless joy.

Over the past decade, an overwhelming body of research has shown self-compassion to be key to good psychological and physical health. Whether you wish to reduce stress, develop healthy habits for exercise or diet, unlock your creativity, or even deal with serious conditions such as depression or addiction, a strong sense of self-compassion is an essential ingredient for success. Best of all, self-compassion is a skill that can be learned.

Start Where You Are is an indispensable handbook for cultivating fearlessness and awakening a compassionate heart. With insight and humor, Pema Chödrön presents down-to-earth guidance on how we can "start where we are" - embracing rather than denying the painful aspects of our lives.

Penguin presents the audiobook edition of How to Change Your Mind, written and read by Michael Pollan. When LSD was first discovered in the 1940s, it seemed to researchers, scientists and doctors as if the world might be on the cusp of psychological revolution. It promised to shed light on the deep mysteries of consciousness as well as offer relief to addicts and the mentally ill. But in the 1960s, with the vicious backlash against the counterculture, all further research was banned. In recent years, however, work has quietly begun again on the amazing potential of LSD, psilocybin and DMT. Could these drugs in fact improve the lives of many people?

What does it take to be secure in our sense of belonging and self-worth? We may hustle to attain this security through achievements, meeting expectations, or repeating affirmations to ourselves - but Dr. Brené Brown's research has shown there is ultimately one obstacle to our sense of worthiness. “Shame is the barrier,” she teaches, “and building shame resilience is how we overcome it.”

Random House presents the audiobook edition of Rising Strong, written and read by Brené Brown. The physics of vulnerability is simple: if we are brave enough often enough, we will fall. This is a book about what it takes to get back up and how owning our stories of disappointment, failure and heartbreak gives us the power to write a daring new ending. Struggle can be our greatest call to courage and Rising Strong our clearest path to deeper meaning, wisdom and hope.

Everything Is Here to Help You offers an emotionally supportive way to shift out of the inner war of ego, and into the illuminated presence of your soul. In this book, spiritual teacher and intuitive Matt Kahn redefines the spiritual path for the modern-day seeker, and offers original, innovative ways to resolve fear, unravel judgments, and learn how to view life from a clear, expanded perspective. By redefining our understanding of the spiritual journey from the point of view of the soul, Matt breathes fresh life into all aspects of the healing journey for a revolution in personal growth.

We all have fears, but when we look closely at them, we discover that behind each fear resides a basic fear of ourselves. We're afraid to look at our habitual styles of thinking and behaving because we might not always like what we see. Ironically it is this fear of honest self-reflection that keeps us trapped in patterns of stress and discontentment. Here is a vision for moving beyond this most basic fear to discover the innate bravery, trust, and joy that reside at the core of our being.