Awaken the Giant WithinIs Anthony Robbins a Psycho-Quack cheese-master or does he actually have something useful to say? This is my true story of how Anthony Robbins made me a functioning member of society again.

A few years ago, I was afflicted with the often-undiagnosed Supermarket Anxiety and as-yet unrecognized disorder on the DSM. It hit me abruptly and without warning. After years of leisurely strolling through the aisles, I became panicky at the Grocery Store, just wanting to get the F out of Dodge. If i went with a friend, I would wait in the car. If I went alone, I walked quickly and with my head down, as if in a trance. The situation became so bad that I started dissociating at the drop of a hat. (If my mind left my body, I was not cognizant enough of where it went to be able to enjoy the experience.)


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soulIt’s amazing how the most simple things can change your life forever. We always think that if we have more money, the house of our dreams, retirement, or whatever else seems out of reach at the moment, we will finally, truly be happy—but this is simply an illusion.

It really is the little things in life that make us happy and feed our souls, as Dr. Bernie S. Siegel points out in his small but smart spiritual guide, 101 Exercises for the Soul. It’s filled with easy exercises for mind, body and soul expansion that basically anyone can do. Soul exercisers can choose which chapter to begin with, on which area they’d like to focus on, and spend as much time on that area—a day? a week?—as they like.

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Have you ever kept a gratitude or joy journal, where you wrote a few things you were grateful for each day? If you have, you already know the profound difference it can have on your life. Simply by being grateful for everything in your life, you can not only become more grateful and happy in the process, but you will also begin to see even more things to be grateful for manifested in your everyday life.

If you are familiar with the Law of Attraction, you also know that this is simply the result of changing your thougths—switching from resentment and jealously to sheer gratitude and joy will send out the message to the universe that you want things that will make you joyful and greatful!

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We spend a lot of time thinking about life and the nature of being, as humans. Perhaps it's simply a byproduct of being sentient animals, perhaps—as the more spiritual among us would insist—that level of introspection is a mark that we are indeed God's deliberate creation, superior to and different than other What if the Big Bang didn't create life at all, but rather, life created the Big Bang?animals.

A thought-provoking recent article on msnbc.com abridges and presents part of a new book, Biocentrism: How Life and Consciousness are the Keys to Understanding the True Nature of the Universe, by two leading scientists: biologist Robert Lanza, M.D., and astronomer Bob Berman.

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If you’re interested in learning a little bit about the goddesses of the world, Patricia Telesco’s daybook, 365 Goddess, is a great book to dive into. Each day introduces you to a new goddess, following a theme of daily goddess festivals and observances.

For example, today’s goddess is actually a group of goddesses, the Ratna Dadinis of India. Telesco chose these goddesses because today is traditionally the Hemis Festival, which celebrates the battle of good and evil. In Tibet, the Ratna Dadinis rule over gestures of good and compassion. Coordinating the place and festival with matching goddesses, Telesco provides a peek into both culture and deity.

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Any SARK fan will tell you that despite Susan Arial Rainbow Kennedy’s gentle humor, fun drawings and inner-child-infused humor, her writing is quite spiritual, as well as uplifting. Reading SARK’s work makes a person feel held, loved, understood.

SARK’s daybook, Living Juicy, contains daily morsels of creativity, self-awareness, self-care and growth. With weekly themes like expressing, allowing and shouting—one for every week of the year—SARK guides readers through “micromovements,” as she calls them, toward becoming the people we want to be.

Every page is filled with SARK’s trademark free spirited creative art, and includes assignments like watching snails, writing friends letters, and tracing your own body on paper. From journaling to painting your dreams, pretending to sob hysterically to taking imaginary vacations, Living Juicy has a succulent bite of life on every page just perfect for almost anyone to eat.

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Mindful LivingMost organizers or planners give you just enough space to hang yourself in. Between scrawled appointments, doctor visits, meetings and task lists, you can see your very identity shrinking in the margins—along with your sanity. This is not one of those organizers.

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The Artist's WayJulia Cameron is a genius. There’s simply no other way to put it.

After years at a job where my creativity gradually dwindled into a small pocket within my frontal lobe, often forgotten, often developing cobwebs and housing stray homeless creatures who wandered in and marveled at the vacant find, I suddenly found myself wholly dependant on said monochromatic pocket following a rather painful—but relieved, I must admit—layoff.

Diving head-first into finding another way to support my family, I also dove into numerous self-help books, believing that I was lacking something. And I was. I was lacking myself. And Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s Way helped me find… me.

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The Peace BookMy preschooler and I are huge fans of Todd Parr. I bought The Peace Book for her when she was just a newborn and we have read it over and over again since.

The pictures, like the pictures in all of Parr’s books, drew her in when she was a tiny thing. They are simple, but bright and colorful, and very child-friendly. From creatures to people, beings are always accepted no matter how they look—and each and every one looks every different. Brown, yellow, black, red—some of Parr’s people are even blue or green! Everyone you meet is a friend in Parr’s world.

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Thich Nhat HanhThough May is nearly over, there is plenty of time to learn more about meditation and begin a daily meditative practice, if you don’t have one already. There are hundreds of books about meditation available today; here is just a sampling to start off with.

The Miracle of Mindfulness: A Manual on Meditation: Renowned Zen Buddhist master Thich Nhat Hanh provides everyday exercises to help you meditate on a daily basis. “Mindfulness is the miracle by which we master and restore ourselves,” says Hanh. From mindful breathing while doing daily chores to practicing Hanh’s methods for just ten minutes daily, this is an easy program for most people to follow.

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