Our Greatest Natural Resources

Just posted this article about using our strengths on Ode Magazine's exchange site. We can each create greater joy in our lives and new possibilities for our world by using our strengths more each day.

Contemplative Practices in Action

I'm excited about our new book, Contemplative Practices in Action, published with Tom Plante and my colleagues in Santa Clara's Spirituality and Health Institute. Featuring a foreword by Huston Smith, the book describes contemplative traditions from East and West--including Buddhist, Christian, Jewish, Hindu, and Islamic approaches--offering history, current research, and step-by-step instructions for each. We have chapters on the 8-Point Program of Passage Meditation, Centering Prayer, Mindfulness Stress Management, Mantram Meditation, Energizing Meditation, Yoga, and Zen as well as discussions of how a regular contemplative practice can help people deal with job loss, stress, bereavement, chronic pain, psychological disorders, and the challenges of daily life.