Resources

Self-study toolkit

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Books & Websites

I joyfully share with you the classic books that have most influenced me over the years and also the websites I find myself returning to over and over.

Mind/Body Psychology

• The Road Less Traveled: A New Psychology of Love, Traditional Values, and Spiritual Growth
  by M. Scott Peck
  A very old book packed with wisdom for our times. It was eye-opening for me when I first read it.

  The Road Less Traveled, Sacrament of the Present Moment, and the Prophet by Kahlil Gibran are the only books I have read multiple times in my life!

• The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma
  by Bessel A. Van der Kolk
  A psychiatrist shares what he has learned about trauma and stress, the way they imprint in the body, and how the damage can be healed.

• Full Catastrophe Living: Using the Wisdom of Your Body and Mind to Face Stress, Pain, and Illness (2nd ed)
  by Jon Kabat-Zinn
  A comprehensive presentation by the founder of modern mindfulness/stress reduction.

Spiritual

• Sacrament of the Present Moment
  by Jean-Pierre de Caussade (new translation by Kitty Muggeridge)
  A slim treasure written in the 1700’s by a Jesuit priest, best prayed rather than read, transformational for me.

• Devotional Classics, Selected Readings for Individuals and Groups
  by Richard J. Foster and James B. Smith
  This book offers so much wisdom.

• Intimacy with God: Introduction to Centering Prayer
  by Thomas Keating
  In this book and the one below, Father Keating explores contemplative prayer and the psychology and spirituality of the true self/false self.

• Open Mind, Open Heart (2nd ed.)
  by Thomas Keating, a classic about Centering Prayer.

• Emotionally Healthy Spirituality
  Peter Scazzero
  I highly recommend this book, which I discuss in greater detail in the first

  New Feature: Book Share

Lifestyle Medicine

• Disease Proof: The Remarkable Truth About What Makes Us Well
  by David L. Katz
  A doctor writes about eating and health.

• Eat, Drink, and Be Healthy
  by Walter C. Willet
  A comprehensive and readable guide to healthy eating.

• NOTE: The epidemiology findings in The Blue Zones by Dan Buettner and in the China Study by T. Colin Campbell are dramatic and cannot fail to make you think about your own lifestyle. Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity by Petter Attia is highly reviewed, but I’ve not read it.

Websites

• Contemplative Prayer ContemplativeOutreach.org offers a vast library of information, teaching, prayers, video, and programs about all kinds of Contemplative Prayer, emphasizing Centering Prayer and the teaching of Fr. Thomas Keating.

• Center for Action and Contemplation, Fr. Richard Rohr. Learn more about the wisdom of the Christian contemplative tradition and its emergence in service to the healing of our world.

• Healthy Eating, Harvard School of Public Health
  Provides detailed guidance, in a simple format, to help you make the best eating choices.

• Books of the Bible, easily accessible.

Sincerely,

Donna