Resources

Resources

Categories:

Leadership / Coaching / Organizations
"Presence" and Awareness
Spiritual Domain /
Mental Domain / Brainwave Research
Emotional Domain / Emotional Intelligence
Physical Domain / Awareness

As coaches, we often work in several domains - mental, emotional, physical and spiritual - to support our client's growth
and development. Consider this analogy: a symphony would sound shallow if only the violins played, and would sound
deep and muddy if only the bass instruments played. Optimal functioning requires that we have access to and use all of
our capabilities in each of the domains. These books support the theme of how we can develop all of our human
capabilities in order to live a happier, more enlightened life.

This is an exciting time where science is discovering and supporting what the ancient spiritual traditions have always
cultivated. There are thousands of books that are written on each of these topics. I have chosen these resources
because they are all interrelated. I am searching for and prioritizing resources where research is used to support the
findings, and/or the work has been in practice for many years with demonstrated impact. These are books and
resources that I have used or are currently using. I will continue to build this list over time, so check back often!

Resource	Why I Like
Getting Started With Neurofeedback by John N. Demos	This book provides a great foundation to explain what brain waves are and how we function with them. In coaching, we often encourage our clients to pause, journal and meditate. Brainwaves help to explain why these are important activities.
Train Your Mind, Change Your Brain: How a New Science Reveals Our Extraordinary Potential to Transform Ourselves by Sherry Begley	Our brains are ever evolving mechanisms, and this is called neuroplasticity. This book was developed in collaboration with the Dalai Lama, neuroscientists and other professionals. It describes how spiritual traditions are supported by science and research. The book builds the case to change what was at the time scientific dogma: when it comes to our brains, what we have at birth is what we have to work with. This book systematically proves the contrary, and ends with research with Buddhist monks. We can change our brains - not with pills or electrodes, but with focus, attention and intent. I had a hard time putting it down. This is the first of several books, which has been an ongoing dialogue for over 10 years. For more information, check out www.mindandlife.org.
My Stroke of Insight by Jill Bolte Taylor	Jill Bolte Taylor is a neuroscientist who had a stroke in the left side of her brain. Her description of her experience of this event is a fantastic voyage into the functioning of our brains. She explains in detail (and in plain words) the different structures of her brain that were affected and how it impacted her logic, reasoning and her experience of the world.
4 Mind 4 Life	This is a website that is well written and developed by a college student named Drew who either has a fascination with brainwaves or it is his area of study. I came across this site first and found it to be a wealth of information and was very consistent with other information that I was reading. He recommends a NeuroProgrammer - purchase it through his site and you can help pay his bills, too.
NeuroProgrammer 2	I found this program through the 4 Mind 4 Life website (and purchased it through Drew) and have been experimenting with this program. Disclaimer: I am currently on sabbatical and have not only the time but also the freedom to experiment. I don't have a boss that will wonder why I am zoning out at my desk while I crank up my alpha waves. :-) I am also consulting with a friend who is a professional hypno-therapist and is well acquainted with this technology and these techniques. As part of my social experiment, I am reporting my experiences on my blog www.oneyearinthemaking.blogspot.com. Drew also has conducted some experiments and reports his results on his 4 Mind 4 Life blog.
Brainwave Music CDs by Dr. Jeffery Thompson Theta Meditation System: Let Go of Stress, Renew Your Spirit, Gain Insight, and Intuition Gamma Meditation System Awakened Mind System 2.0 Delta Sleep System Healing Mind System Sound Medicine: Music for Brainwave Massage Dr. Jeffery's Neuroacoustic Research Center	Dr. Jeffery Thompson has created nearly 50 CDs that are designed to promote specific brainwave activity. These are the links from Amazon. I have a monthly subscription to Napster with unlimited downloads, and I currently have 48 of his albums on my mp3 player. As you can probably guess, I thoroughly enjoy his music. I often listen to his CDs while I am reading at night before I go to sleep, or as I am falling asleep. I also listen to his music while working and other activities (NOT driving). I have found some interesting results. For example, when I am listening to the Theta CDs on the treadmill, I feel "in the flow" and exercise is effortless. While listening to the Healing Mind music, I felt my body tingle all over. I will continue to experiment and report my experiences on my blog www.oneyearinthemaking.blogspot.com, which is dedicated to reporting my experiences throughout my one year sabbatical.

Mental Domain / Brainwave Research

Leadership / Coaching / Organizations

Resource	Why I Like
Energy Leadership: Transforming Your Workplace and Your Life from the Core by Bruce Schneider	This is an integrative leadership model that provides practical tools for the coach and the leader to use in coaching. The seven levels of leadership (consciousness) are pretty consistent with other models. The book walks through a client engagement and demonstrates the transformations that can be possible.
The Power of Full Engagement: Managing Energy, Not Time, Is the Key to High Performance and Personal Renewal by Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz	This book is comprehensive in that it covers the four domains - mental, emotional, physical and spiritual - although the chapter on spirituality is the best of the four. The second half of the book is the best: it helps you design your own program for putting together your own renewal program

"Presence" and Awareness

Resource	Why I Like
A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose by Eckert Tolle The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment by Eckert Tolle Oprah "A New Earth" series + many supporting materials	What is not to like from Eckert Tolle? It depends. His wisdom is deep and his insights are profound. He has a great way of describing what awareness is and how to develop it. It is one of the seven levels of consciousness that I refer to in other descriptions. I also included the links to the 10 week Oprah series, where millions of people from around the world (literally) studied this book together. They did a fantastic job of making this content and lots of supporting material available to help us deepen our awareness. I did not participate in the original series, and have learned a lot on my own using these resources. And, not everyone is ready to hear and apply his work. That is not a slight against anyone, it simply signals a level of maturity when someone is ready to hear his message. I myself wasn't ready when the Oprah series was broadcast, and quite frankly, couldn't see what the hub bub was all about.
The Power of Flow: Practical Ways to Transform Your Life with Meaningful Coincidence by Charlene Belitz and Meg Lundstrom	Do you ever wonder why some people's lives just seem to always "work"? This book is based upon research that explores the fundamental characteristics of people who live their life in "flow" and synchronicity, and offers practical suggestions on how to create flow in your own life.
Peaceful Warrior (Widescreen) by Dan Millman	The book is very good, I would recommend the movie on this one. This is the story of a college student who learns "presence" from an unlikely wise sage. If you want to learn what the other books are describing, this movie gives you a great "feel" for what awareness looks and feels like.
The Intention Experiment: Using Your Thoughts to Change Your Life and the World by Lynne McTaggert	Spiritual traditions teach us that our focus and our intention are vital components to creating our world. As a person increases their level of awareness and broadens their range of experience and capabilities, you can tap into "synchronicity" and "flow". You can also participate in experiments and report your experiences at www.theintentionexperiment.com

Resource	Why I Like
Heartmath Organization	I love the Heartmath work and have been using it for years. Doc Childre has been doing research for years on the synchronization between the brain and the heart, which he calls coherence. I have been using the emWave PC software for years. Recently I received the emWave personal stress reliever, which is portable and about the size of an mp3 player. To relieve stress, Heartmath teaches us to focus on our heart and become "heart centered". There is a lot of wisdom available to us when we can focus on our hearts. Like the brainwave work, we can train our bodies to shift into slower brainwave patterns and synchronize with our hearts. I love the Heartmath website because not only does it have free tools, it also has available years of research to back up their claims on the effectiveness of their methods.
The Amazing Power of Deliberate Intent: Living the Art of Allowing by Esther and Jerry Hicks	Daniel Goldman in his books on Emotional Intelligence will teach the various areas of our brain and how we can be subject to an "amygdala hijack". In this series of books, we learn "as go our emotions, so goes our life". Like the symphony analogy, feeling the full range of our emotions is part of life and our human experience. In this book, Esther and Jerry Hicks outline ways that we can flow through our emotions and ultimately, increase our "emotional intelligence". When we are in heart coherence, we are more likely to be in the higher spectrum of emotion - joy, passion, peace. This books provides exercises and practical suggestions to manage our emotions and use that to create what we desire in our lives.

Emotional Domain / Emotional Intelligence

Resource

Why I Like

The Schwarzbein Principle: The Truth About
Losing Weight, Being Healthy, and Feeling
Younger by Diane Schwarzbein and Nancy
DeVille

The Schwarzbein Principle, The Program:
Losing Weight the Healthy Way by Diana
Schwarzbein

It may sound funny that I am adding a diet book to this list. This
book is tremendous for explaining in plain language what happens
when we eat. Essentially, this is a "clean" diet and I generally follow
it every day.

The first time I went on this diet within the first week my emotions
evened out. While following this diet, if I would eat something
sweet, 20 minutes later I would see a noticeable mood swing
(usually cranky and irritable). Four weeks into the diet, I had a
blood test and for the first time in my life I had normal cholesterol
levels (and have ever since).

This diet helps you clean out toxins that we often pollute ourselves
with. Let's face it, we put a lot of junk in our bodies. I have found
that the cleaner and clearer my body, the more I become aware of
everything and it is easier to apply all the principles and
suggestions that I site in the other areas. I read and followed the
first book; I added the second book which details out the program. I
have not personally tried this book.

Physical Domain / Awareness

Resource	Why I Like
Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda www.yogananda-srf.org	This autobiography has been sited as one of the 100 Best Spiritual Books of the Twentieth Century, and tells the story of a remarkable man. Hindu teachings have been in practice for thousands of years, and Paramahansa Yogananda brought them to America and founded the Self-Realization Fellowship facility in Encinitas, CA in 1920. I had been to Encinitas several times in the last year, not fully realizing what this center is. My husband and I visited a few weeks ago and fell in love with the gardens there. I have enrolled in their three year self study program of yoga and meditation. Yoga is not just the exercise, but rather, it is a way of life. I look forward to getting started in the program, and in the meantime, have started to read this autobiography.
Energy Anatomy by Caroline Myss	Caroline Myss is a trained medical intuitive, which is a person that can read the energy of someone's body and detect illness. For many years, Caroline Myss worked with Dr. Norman Shear to help him diagnose conditions of patients with complex symptoms. What I like about this lecture series is that she explains the chakras in clear language, and discusses how we can mature through the chakras in our own development. Many of her examples are very similar and parallel to what I have been studying in Adult Development. It also helps explain how we mire in victimhood and how to make choices to reclaim our own power. Her style is blunt and direct, and she also has a great sense of humor.

Spiritual Domain