Recommended ReadingsThe following selected readings appear in random order, and many of these list additional resources. Cohen, Kenneth, The Way of Qigong. New York, Ballantine Books.
Cheun, Lam Kam, Chi Kung: The Way of Energy. New York, Simon & Schuster Publishing.
Jwing-Ming, Yang, The Root of Chinese Qigong. Jamaica Plain, MA, YMAA Publication Center.
Frantzis, B. K., Opening the Energy Gates of Your Body, Berkeley, CA, North Atlantic Books.
Davey, H. E., Living the Japanese Arts & Ways. Berkley, Stone Bridge Press. Honoré, Carl, In Praise of Slowness. San Francisco, Harper.
Leonard, George, Mastery. New York, Penguin Books.
Pitchford, Paul, Healing with Whole Foods. Berkeley, California, North Atlantic Books.
Campbell, T. Colin, The China Study: Startling Implications for Diet, Weight Loss and Long-Term Health. Dallas, Texas, Benbella Books.
ISSSEEM, Energy Medicine. Boulder, CO, Sounds True. Gold, Taro, Living Wabi Sabi. Kansas City, MO, Andrews McMeel Publishing.
Liao, Waysun, Nine Nights with the Taoist Master. Oak Park, IL, Taichi Tao Productions.
Nguyen, Quang Van, Fourth Uncle in the Mountain. NYC, NY, St. Martin's Press.
Diepersloot, Jan, Warriors of Stillness, Vol. 1 and 2, Walnut Creek, CA, Center for Healing and the Arts.
Childre, Doc, Transforming Anger, Oakland, CA, New Harbinger Publications.
Powell, Richard, Wabi Sabi Simple, Avon, MA, Adams Media.
Okakura, Kakuzo, The Book of Tea, Boston & London, Shambhala Press.
Guo, Bisong, Listen to Your Body, Honolulu, HI, University of Hawai'i Press.
Krech, Greg, Naikan: Gratitude, Grace, and the Japanese Art of Self-Reflection, Berkley, CA, Stone Bridge Press.
Beinfield, Harriet and Efrem Korngold, Between Heaven and Earth: A Guide to Chinese Medicine, Ballantine Books.
Capra, Fritjof, The Web of Life, Doubleday.
Schlitz, Marilyn, Tina Amorok, and Marc Micozzi, Consciousness And Healing: Integral Approaches To Mind-body Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri, Churchill Livingstone.
Buhner, Stephen Harrod, The Fasting Path: For Spiritual, Emotional, and Physical Healing and Renewal, New York, New York, Penguin Group.
Wilber, Ken, The Essential Ken Wilber: An Introductory Reader, Shambhala.
Oschman, James, Energy Medicine: The Scientific Basis, St. Louis, Missouri, Churchill Livingstone.
Wilhelm & Baynes, The I Ching, Princeton, New Jersey, Princeton University Press.
Waley, Arthur, Confucius: The Analects, New York, New York, Alfred A. Knopf.
Hinton, David, Mencius, Washington, D.C., Counterpoint.
Bayda, Ezra, Saying Yes To Life, Boston, Massachusetts, Wisdom Publications, Inc.
Jensen, Lin, Bad Dog!, Boston, Massachusetts, Wisdom Publications, Inc.
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This is the best overview of qigong available in the West. Laden with qigong history, scientific research, and basic exercises, this is the only qigong book you really need.
The one consistent in my personal practice is Standing Meditation, and when you're ready for the real deal, this is where you should turn. Ken Cohen's book is wonderful, but this is the one book I am most glad I found.
It amazes me how many qigong masters have physics backgrounds; Yang Jwing-Ming is yet another. These guys are serious about energy and human potential, and this book is qigong in about as much depth as anyone will ever need.
A real look into qigong practices and the culture in which they developed. Frantzis sheds much needed light on qigong before and after the cultural revolution, qigong versus yoga, qigong versus Western exercise, and much more. Also includes highly valuable exercises.
Practices, esoteric, and otherwise, may well lead to the cultivation of body/mind/spirit and keen insight into the ultimate nature of life, but such goals are never guaranteed. How we approach our practices usually determines what we learn from them. This book shows how deliberate, conscious awareness helps.
Full of facts on the attributes of life at a slower pace, this is obviously not a read to be rushed through. Covers: the history of speed, putting on the brakes, slow food, slow medicine, the mind/body connection, work, leisure, the art of the bedchamber, and childrearing — often a side-effect of the bedchamber arts — heh, heh, heh.
Do you have trouble sticking with things — relationships, diets, exercise programs, important projects? This book details the pitfalls, the mind/body/spirit connection, and how to get through it all. Few purchases under $15 will ever be as useful.
Asian traditions meet modern nutrition, pure and simple. This book is amazing. If you find yourself wondering about diet, nutrition, all those health food claims, and the world of herbal remedies and supplements, you need this book.
Dr. Campbell's credentials are impeccable. His research methods are the gold standard, and this book details the most comprehensive study of nutrition ever conducted. The results will amaze you, but the overwhelming evidence will convince you. Read this book and change your life and possibly the lives of those you love.
If you enjoy audio programs, here's one loaded with experts talking about energy and energy medicine. While traveling by car, plane, or train, if you're listening to anything other than music, this is worth considering.
Real lessons in celebrating the perfection of imperfection in yourself, others, and the world around you.
A new, very readable, translation of one of the greatest books ever written, the Tao Te Ching, which is also the second most translated book in the world, following only the Bible.
The memoir of a Vietnamese barefoot doctor, this book is magical and inspiring. It's about coming of age and realizing one's life path while living in a country during one of that country's most anguished periods in history. If you find plenty of reason to skip your daily practice, read this book.
The first two of a promised three part series, these books, deeply rooted in the practice of Standing Meditation, are recommended for serious practitioners only.
From the folks at the HeartMath Institute. The first book using techniques supported by Western science in showing us how to transform the body's physical response to anger into relaxed calm.
Wabi Sabi is an ancient Japanese practice emphasizing the value of simplicity as a path to inner balance. This is how the quiet truths of the natural world can help you find peace at home, work, and in your relationships.
More wabi sabi; Asian aesthetics in a very rich cup of tea. This book is about exactly what you think it is, and it's also about all the things you would never imagine it to be.
A template for managing mind and body from one day to the next, this book shows you how to change your body and your world.
Through an ongoing practice of Naikan we develop a profound sense of appreciation for the many blessings so often overlooked in our daily lives.
A rare find, this book works to educate professionals and laypersons alike. The authors do a great job detailing the art and inner workings of Chinese medicine while placing it in a framework that serves the reader searching for a simple how and why of this ancient tradition.
Saying this book, from the author of The Tao of Physics, is his finest work may be saying a lot, but it may also be entirely accurate. This is an amazing synthesis of recent scientific breakthroughs.
From some of the frontline thinkers in the field of health and wellness comes this welcome collection of articles, lectures, papers, and theoretical thinkings on the current state of health and healing in our times. Read it and see what the future holds.
This book offers extremely important insight into fasting - why, when, how long, what type, and what to expect. If you have health issues or if you have considered fasting for spiritual purposes, here is the guide you need.
Ken Wilber is one of the most gifted minds of our time. If you know the name and have not ventured in Wilber's thinking, here is a great way to ease your way in. If you are not familiar with the name, in all likelihood you soon will be.
James Oschman, a highly regarded scientist, brings to the table a small mountain of research - overlooked, neglected, and ignored – to explain the how and why of energy based therapies and that they do, in fact, work.
This ancient Chinese text, also known as The Book of Changes is one of the most debated books ever. Simultaneously condemned as superstition and praised for its many insights, it has influenced both New Age gurus and traditional scientists including Albert Einstein, Max Planck, Niels Bohr, and Carl Jung. This is truly deep material. Be sure to put on your waders.
Confucius is the author, Waley the translator of this book, the selected writings of a great thinker. Remember how you and your friends used to cite the name of Confucius and then spout out almost any nonsense at all while trying to make a point. Well, here is a book that offers what Confucius really said. "Confucius said, 'Read this book.' "
Hinton is the translator for this collection of the essential Mencius. Confucius' best known student, Mencius goes into much greater detail and provides a richer context, thus making his offering a bit more accessible than the post-humous sayings of Confucius. Full of eloquence, this is a very rich read.
I know the title sounds a little hokey and very New Age, but trust me, this is a great little book. Set it at your bedside and flip it open to any page. You will be inspired.
"An exquisite work of alarming lucidity." "Compellingly beautiful... a reading experience that is both gut-wrenching and inspiring." "Jensen writes with a deep understanding of life, the land, and the human spirit." "Bad Dog! Reads like something Steinbeck might have written had he been a Buddhist." The preceding are quotes from other reviews... I can only add that this book is dark and disturbing, brutal, beautiful, and profound. Read it only of you have a strong stomach for the reality of being human.
