One clue to the nature of MBS books is found in the words behind the abbreviation: these titles may address the mind (psychology, philosophy, self-help) or the body (health, fitness) or both, but a spiritual component is a must. Here, we offer a selection of titles for fall 2015 and spring 2016 that showcase the breadth of MBS topics.
Food for the Soul
MBS books offer readers many ways to transform their lives. Some draw on teachings from ancient spiritual traditions, and others use modern life stories and memoirs as inspiration.
Seven Cups of Consciousness
by Aleya Dao
(New World Library, Sept.).
An alternative healer offers an array of spiritual tools to attain higher consciousness.
Persephone Rising
by Carol S. Pearson
(HarperElixir, Sept.).
Using archetypes from Greek myths including Demeter and Persephone, Pearson (The Hero Within) urges women to see themselves as heroines.
Bouncing Forward
by Michaela Haas
(Atria/Enliven, Oct.).
The lead title from Atria’s newly launched Enliven imprint presents research on growth after personal trauma and tells how survivors—Maya Angelou and Temple Grandin among them—have persevered.
A Poet of the Invisible World
by Michael Golding
(Picador, Oct.).
Golding teaches spiritual principles through a fable set in 13th-century Persia.
The Toltec Art of Life and Death
by Don Miguel Ruiz and Barbara Emrys
(HarperElixir, Nov.).
Ruiz provides more advanced teachings in the Toltec wisdom he introduced in The Four Agreements (Amber-Allen, 1997), which has sold millions of print units per Nielsen BookScan and became a cultural sensation, boosted by celebrities including Oprah Winfrey and Meg Ryan. Ruiz and Emrys will kick off an eight-city tour when The Toltec Art of Life and Death goes on sale.
Caravan of No Despair
by Mirabai Starr
(Sounds True, Nov.).
In this memoir, Starr (God of Love, Monkfish, 2012) writes that losing her daughter in a car accident was “my most powerful catalyst for transformation, my fiercest and most compassionate teacher.”
by Emma Mildon
(Atria/Beyond Words, Nov.).
Subtitled The Modern Girl’s Guide to the New Age World, Mildon’s irreverent guide answers of-the-moment questions such as “Should I feng shui my smart phone screen?”
Creative Introvert Journal
by Cynthia Scher
(Peter Pauper, Jan. 2016).
An illustrated journal, accompanied by profiles of creative introverts.
The Anatomy of a Calling
by Lissa Rankin
(Rodale, Jan. 2016).
Rankin, a physician, tells her personal story of transformation, to encourage readers to approach life as what Joseph Campbell called “a hero’s journey.”
You Are Not Your Fault and Other Revelations
by Wes “Scoop” Nisker
(Counterpoint/Soft Skull, Mar. 2016).
The broadcast journalist, commentator, and meditation teacher offers a cultural tour through the 1960s and beyond, examining how people find spiritual enlightenment.
Yoga and the Pursuit of Happiness
by Sam Chase
(New Harbinger, Mar. 2016).
A yoga teacher explains how Hindu wisdom and his yoga practice informed his personal transformation.
What Is a Near Death Experience?
(Watkins, Mar. 2016)
by Penny Sartori;
What Is Sound Healing?
(Watkins, Mar. 2016)
by Lyz Cooper; and
What Is Hypnosis?
(Watkins, May 2016)
by Tom Fortis Mayer
The first three books in the What Is series.
Origin
Edited by Maranda Pleasant
(Atria/Enliven, May 2016).
A collection of 42 interviews and profiles from Origin: The Conscious Culture Magazine, edited by Pleasant, the magazine’s founder. Celebrities, musicians, actors, artists, and entrepreneurs—including Robert Plant, Richard Branson, and Alicia Keyes—discuss their lives and work.
Soul Breathing
by Carrie L’Esperance
(Bear & Co., June 2016). Readers learn how variations in the electromagnetic field affect physical, emotional, and spiritual clarity. The author is an artist who is certified in the alternative medicine field of iridology, which holds that patterns, colors, and other characteristics of the iris can offer health information.
A Ceremony Called Life
by Tehya Sky
(Sounds True, July 2016).
Reaching across traditions, the author ruminates on spiritual ideas rather than emphasizing specific practices.
Meditation for the Rest of Us
For those who want the physical, mental, and emotional benefits of meditation without the religious trappings, a number of forthcoming titles take a secular approach to the practice.
by Arnie Kozak
(Wisdom, Sept.).
Inspiration and advice for incorporating mindfulness meditation into daily life.
Shift into Freedom
by Loch Kelly
(Sounds True, Sept.).
The author,who teaches that enlightenment is not just a goal for the elite, outlines what he describes as “a completely new type of meditation.”
Living Mindfully
by Deborah Schoeberlein David
(Wisdom, Nov.).
A basic course in the practice of mindfulness, with step-by-step instructions.
Secular Meditation
by Rick Heller
(New World Library, Nov.).
In this book of instruction, personal stories, and teaching questions, Heller points to the benefits of meditation not only for oneself, but also for the world.
Kindfulness
by Ajahn Brahm
(Wisdom, Feb. 2016).
A slim, gift book–style guide to meditation.
The Power of Love
by Osho
(St. Martin’s Griffin, July 2016).
Osho, a mystic and spiritual teacher, shows how meditation can promote love within oneself and toward others.
To Be Healed
Health success stories and practices with a spiritual dimension are a mainstay of MBS; books on the topic range from the inspirational to the instructional.
by Anodea Judith
(Llewellyn, Sept.).
An illustrated guide to concepts and practices in the Eastern system of energy centers in the body, designed to aid healing.
Yoga Therapy for Stress & Anxiety
by Robert Butera, Erin Byron, and Staffan Elgelid
(Llewellyn, Sept.).
Step-by-step instruction on using yoga practice to achieve emotional and physical balance.
The Healing of Jordan Young
by Tobin Blake
(New World Library, Nov.).
Jordan Young was diagnosed at age 18 with an aggressive form of lymphoma. When several rounds of chemotherapy failed, author Blake, whose daughter had been dating Young for two years, used what the book describes as “methods based on spiritual laws” to promote Young’s healing. Bernie S. Siegel (Love, Medicine & Miracles) contributed the foreword.
A Shaman’s Miraculous Tools for Healing
by Alberto Villoldo, with Anne E. O’Neill
(Hampton Roads, Nov.).
An energy healer recounts 12 stories of people he has healed with techniques learned from shamans of the Amazon and Andes.
50 More Ways to Soothe Yourself Without Food
by Susan Albers
(New Harbinger, Dec.).
A Cleveland Clinic specialist in weight and body issues offers mindfulness techniques for avoiding emotional eating, or eating to suppress or soothe negative emotions.
Miraculous Silence
by Mitra Rahbar
(Tarcher Perigee, Jan. 2016).
Practical instruction for prayer, meditation, and other tools to bring about healing.
Secret Medicines from Your Garden
by Ellen Evert Hopman
(Healing Arts, Mar. 2016).
An herbalist draws on remedies from Native American, Celtic, and Egyptian traditions and provides plant-based medicinal recipes.
Gentle Energy Touch
by Barbara Savin
(Conari, April 2016).
Savin goes beyond hands-on healing techniques to explain chakras and auras, and how energy moves in the body.
Essential Oils Every Day
by Hope Gillerman
(HarperElixir, May 2016).
A basic guide to the ancient art of using concentrated essences of healing plants.
Earth’s Healing Essential Oils
by Vannoy Gentles Fite with Michele Gentles McDaniel
(St. Martin’s Griffin, July 2016).
A collection of more than 450 recipes for healing everyday ailments.
Moving in the Spirit
Traditional Western/Christian thought has often placed the physical and the spiritual in opposition, but the mind-body-spirit worldview rejoins the body and the soul. New books propose practices and activities that feed the spirit while shaping the body.
Mindfulness in Motion
by Tamara Russell
(Watkins, Sept.).
Neuroscientist Russell teaches a form of meditation that combines mindfulness, yoga, Tai Chi, and martial arts.
Dancing Mindfulness
by Jamie Marich
(SkyLight Paths, Nov.).
The author, a dancer and
licensed clinical counselor, provides instruction on mindful movement.
The Nalini Method
by Rupa Mehta
(Seal, Jan. 2016).
This seven-workout program combines yoga, Pilates, strengthening exercises, and barre work to balance emotions while achieving physical fitness.
Yogalosophy for Inner Strength
by Mandy Ingber
(Seal, May 2016).
Ingber’s 12-week program includes exercise routines, meditations, recipes, and rituals.
Our Dolphin Ancestors
by Frank Joseph
(Bear & Co., April 2016).
The book posits a common ancestry for dolphins and humans, and describes how dolphin therapy has helped people with autism, strokes, cancer, and depression.
The Common Body
by Paula Josa-Jones
(Trafalgar Square, June 2016).
Josa-Jones explores the physical and spiritual benefits of horseback riding, encouraging readers to be conscious of breath, movements, and other physical sensations.
We Can Work It Out
A trio of new books bring spirituality to financial and business practices.
Take Your Soul to Work
by Erica Brown
(Simon & Schuster, Dec.).
Offers daily inspirational readings at the intersection of leadership and spirituality.
Feel Free to Prosper
by Marilyn Jenett
(Tarcher Perigee, Jan. 2016).
In a two-week program, the author teaches her spirituality-based techniques for improving personal finances.
Easy Breezy Prosperity
by Emmanuel Dagher
(Rodale, Jan. 2016).
The author shows how to align finances with one’s spiritual core.
On the Home Front
Carefully tended homes and gardens nurture spiritual peace, as the following books show.
Paradise Gardens
by Toby Musgrave
(Frances Lincoln, Sept.).
The author, a horticulturists and garden historian, shows how plants and gardens have been central to world religions and belief systems.
The Mindful Home
by Craig Hassed and Diedre Hassed
(Exisle, Nov.).
A mindfulness teacher and an artist offer instruction on using the senses and a taking mindful approach in order to create a beautiful, peaceful environment.
Be More Tree
by Alice Peck
(Ryland Peters & Small/CICO, April 2016).
A maple tree became a source of inspiration for the author.
Searching the Past, Envisioning the Future
Some authors reach back to ancient civilizations and long-lost worlds for wisdom and guidance, while others map the stars or use other ways to divine what’s coming.
The Man Who Saw the Future
by Catherine Blackledge
(Watkins, Sept.).
A biography of pioneering 17th-century astrologer William Lilly.
Forgotten Origins
Edited by J. Douglas Kenyon
(Atlantis Rising, Oct.).
A collection of 34 articles by researchers and theoreticians of ancient wisdom from Atlantis Rising magazine, which covers forgotten mysteries and unexplained anomalies.
In the Oneness of Time
by William Douglas Horden
(Larson, Nov.).
Horden, a self-described diviner, details how he discovered that he can see the future.
How to Use a Pendulum for Dowsing and Divination
by Ronald L. Bonewitz and Lilian Verner-Bonds
(Red Wheel/Weiser, Jan. 2016).
The authors offer exercises, charts, and maps for use in the practices named in the book’s title.
The Puzzling and the Paranormal
These titles offer lessons from shamans, tricksters, clairvoyants, and others who bridge the divide between this world and the next.
Trickster Magic
by Kirsten Riddle
(Ryland Peters & Small/CICO, Oct.).
A look at figures from Robin Hood and the Pied Piper to the Joker, Captain Jack Sparrow, and Willy Wonka.
Memories from Heaven
by Wayne Dyer and Dee Garnes
(Hay House, Oct.).
The authors propose that infants and toddlers, “who have just recently been wrapped in the arms of the Divine,” can speak about their remembrances from before they were born.
You Don’t Have to Die to Go to Heaven
by Susan Allison
(Red Wheel/Weiser, Dec.).
Allison, a therapist with a doctorate in transpersonal psychology, instructs readers on the use of shamanic trances and spirit travel for exploring the afterlife.
The Book of Mastery
by Paul Selig
(Tarcher Perigee, Jan. 2016).
The first installment in a projected trilogy by Selig, who, according to the publisher, “receives clairaudient dictation from benevolent Guides.”
The World’s Most Haunted Hospitals
by Richard Estep
(Career Press/New Page, Jan. 2016).
Doctors, nurses, and patients tell of paranormal encounters in asylums, hospitals, and other institutions.
Sacred Trickery and the Way of Kindness
by Alejandro Jodorowsky, with Gilles Farcet
(Inner Traditions, Mar. 2016).
Cult filmmaker Jodorowsky
(El Topo; The Holy Mountain) writes about Carlos Castaneda and other shamans he has encountered.
Bloody Mary’s Guide to Hauntings, Horrors, and Dancing with the Dead
by Bloody Mary
(Red Wheel/Weiser, Mar. 2016).
Bloody Mary, a psychic, culls spiritual lessons from her experiences with ghosts and hauntings in New Orleans.
Communing with the Ancestors
by Raven Grimassi
(Red Wheel/Weiser, Mar. 2016).
A guide to contacting ancestral spirits.
The Soul’s Agenda
by Michelle Stevens
(Ryland Peters & Small/CICO, Mar. 2016).
Stevens, a channeler, collects inspiring messages from the beyond.
Loser on Earth, Winner in Heaven
by Gabriel Magma
(Findhorn, April 2016).
A novel about a murdered street musician who goes to heaven, where his guardian angel helps him see his earthly incarnation in a positive light.
The Happy Medium
by Kim Russo
(HarperElixir, May 2016).
Russo, who stars on Lifetime’s The Haunting Of... and Psychic Intervention,
offers guidance for accessing the unseen world.
The Other Door
by George Anderson and Andrew Barone
(Harmony, June 2016).
Anderson, a medium, illuminates his experiences of the hereafter.
Strangers in Our Midst
A number of MBS titles propose that heavenly and otherworldly beings in our midst—sometimes invisible, sometimes simply unrecognized—can influence human endeavors.
Walking Among Us
by David Jacobs
(Disinformation, Sept.).
This investigator of more than 1,000 alien abductions argues that extra terrestrials are integrating themselves into human society, with plans to control us.
How to Talk to an Alien
by Nancy du Tertre
(Career Press/New Page, Oct.).
The author speculates on the ways aliens might be trying to communicate with
humans, and how we can hear them and respond.
Lessons from the Twelve Archangels
by Belinda J. Womack
(Bear & Co., Nov.)
The author offers messages, instructions, and guided visualizations received from heavenly beings, who, she says, love and want to help humans.
Angels
by Marie-Ange Faugerolas
(Tarcher Perigee, Nov.)
Referencing texts from a variety of religious traditions, this handbook offers ways to communicate with divine intercessors, including ceremonies, rituals, visualizations, and meditations.
The Children of Roswell
by Thomas J. Carey and Donald R. Schmitt
(Career Press/New Page, Feb. 2016).
Seven decades’ worth of accounts of contact with aliens, which the authors say were denied and suppressed by the government.
