Some Books Related to Relaxation and Meditation

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Bennett, A. - How to Live on 24 Hours a Day - Bennett was a novelist who wrote this very sensitive and intelligent book about time use. One of his major points is that we get 24 hours anew each day, that the supply of hours is continuous. No matter how we waste today, we always get another 24 hours tomorrow. (Very old book.)

Benson, H. - The Relaxation Response - This is the fundamental book for learning meditation technique.

Boorstin, D. - The Image: A Guide to Pseudo-Events in America - A good book on the cheapness and phoniness of American life.

Brown, B. - New Body, New Mind - Brown is a scientist who writes helpfully about meditation and related topics.

Brown, B. - Stress & the Art of Biofeedback - Brown is a scientist who writes helpfully about meditation and related topics.

Cousins, N. - Anatomy of an Illness - This is the famous book in which Cousins, an editor and writer, relates his taking over management of his own illness. He emphasized laughter, humor, and pleasant experiences as tools for recovery.

Edwards, B. - Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain - An excellent book on the interaction between our minds and our eyes.

Elbow, P. - Writing without Teachers - Wonderful source of ideas on improving your writing on your own. An interesting appendix on group consensus.

Flickstein, M. - Journey to the Center - This book really helps you learn to meditate. It gives you assistance with difficulties you may have and exercises to follow.

Friedman & Rosenman - Type A Behavior and Your Heart - An older book. The original work on the possible link between stressful living and heart disease. Subsequent work has not supported the existence of the link, but the book has many excellent ideas about de-stressing life.

Gallwey, T. - The Inner Game of Tennis - This book is one of my two favorite books on education. It is an excellent source of insight into applications of Buddhist thinking to Western life.

Gallwey, T. - The Inner Game of Golf - Some people can get a lot more out of a book if it relates to them directly. If you are a golfer you might enjoy this one more.

Gendlin, E. - Focusing - Gendlin is a scientist in Chicago who studied the effectiveness of various types of counseling. He found deep concentration and reflection to be keys to improvement, regardless of the counseling method.

Glasser, W. - Positive Addiction - This book examines methods of assisting yourself through physical exercise or meditation. It explains how meditative practices introduce new ideas into Western scientific psychology.

Goleman, D. - The Meditative Mind - A very wide-ranging examination of meditation and its traditions in world religions.

Green, B. & Gallwey, T. - The Inner Game of Music - Musicians may get more out of this book than the Gallwey books on tennis and golf.

Hanh, T. N. - The Miracle of Mindfulness - This Buddhist monk gives reasons for and ways to live in the present moment.

Hanh, T. N. - Peace is Every Step - Thich Naht Hanh is well-known throughout the world for the beauty and simplicity of his writing and his ability to link Eastern and Western insights. This book helps the reader learn to live a peaceful, harmonious life.

James, W. - Talks to Teachers - James wrote this book before 1900. It has many good ideas for teachers. Among them is the recommendation that teachers learn and use meditation.

Kerr, W. - The Decline of Pleasure - Kerr was the drama critic for the New York Times. He writes here about some loss of our ability to enjoy life and pleasures. This book is sensitively and invitingly written.

Lakein, A. - How to Get Control of Your Time and Your Life - This is the best-known book on time management in English. There is a good film of about 30 minutes that captures its main ideas.

Leider, R. - The Power of Purpose - A great deal of the time people don't really know their purpose. It's true that our purposes change, but focusing on a purpose is a kind of wealth within the reach of most of us, most of the time.

Linder, S. - The Harried Leisure Class - Linder was a Swedish economist who came to the United States to study our leisure class. He shows that being harried is related to being wealthy and having lots of choices for our activities.

Maltz, M. - Psycho-Cybernetics - Maltz was a plastic surgeon who found that when people believed they were beautiful, they were empowered, inspired. Maltz has written several books on the importance of mindset to success.

Morehouse & Gross - Total Fitness in 30 Minutes a Week - Morehouse was a physical fitness expert who teamed up with Gross, an editor, and wrote this best-selling book. It is a good guide for adult fitness in minimum time.

Morehouse & Gross - Maximum Performance

Needleman, J. - Lost Christianity - Needleman shows that there is a long tradition in Christianity of meditation and contemplation. Such practices are not restricted to Eastern religions.

Ostrander & Schroeder - Superlearning - Two women explore many aspects of relaxation, leading to better learning.

Ostrander & Schroeder - Superlearning 2000 - An update of the previous book.

Pelletier, K. - Mind as Healer, Mind as Slayer - A fundamental reference on the power of the mind.

Rico, G. - Writing the Natural Way - Like Edwards book on drawing, this book explains the importance of a relaxed mind to creativity.

Seyle, H. - Stress without Distress - Hans Seyle was the "father" of stress research. He showed the physiological results of stress using scientific research. This book is a popular summarization of the practical consequences of his discoveries.

Stroebel, C. - The Quieting Reflex - Stroebel is an American physician who shows the reader how to attain deep relaxation in short amounts of time, such as six seconds.

Thoreau, H. - Walden - This American classic, written in the middle 1800s, is a beautifully-written examination of the goals of life.

Vanden Broeck, G. - Less is More: The Art of Voluntary Poverty

White, E.B. - "The Door" in The Second Tree from the Corner - This essay is included in the list because it is a marvelous evocation of stressful urban living.

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