HIGHLIGHTS From This Issue:

• Reflections and Insights: An Inspired Life is Always Open to Something New

• Have you heard of Inspiration Deficit Disorder?  Jonathan's next book is now available for pre-order on Amazon.com!

• A simple daily breathing meditation that is simple to follow and easy to put into practice.

• Two amazing books for summer reading and a free chapter to explore!

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Reflections and Insights: An Inspired Life is Always Open to Something New.

The hallmark of a growing lively soul is the openness to new ideas, and experiences. The moment you find yourself feeling closed to other worldviews and perspectives you know you are slipping into disconnection from your true self. Hatred, judgment, narrowness, egotism and closed-minded thinking are not a function of the Essential Self. They are not natural to who you are, though with a little wounding and a lot of external influences, many of us become critical of the world around us, comforted only by what is familiar. A resistance to new ideas and perspectives is typically an expression of insecurity and fear.

When you feel challenged by a new point of view, take a deep breath and try to be curious instead of jumping to conclusions. Ask questions and seek to understand the position from a broader perspective.

If you feel like nothing is new or surprising in your life you may want to take a class, go back to school, audit a course, or train in a new subject, craft or skill. Even if you are the best at what you do, learn a new perspective, look at things with a beginner’s mind or try studying something outside your area of knowledge. Exposure to diversity is transformative. Learning should be a life long journey; life is an endless process of learning.

Jonathan’s new book “Inspiration Deficit Disorder: the No Pill Prescription to End High Stress, Bad Habits and Low Energy” is now available to pre-order at a great discount on Amazon.com!

The coming newsletters will feature free excerpts, tips and exercises from the book. Stay tuned as we move two a twice a month newsletter during the summer. Don’t worry, we’ll keep it short, but sweet.

A Breathing Meditation that is easy to learn and simple to do.

This month we have a lovely gift from author and teacher Dennis Lewis. He has many free breathing exercises on his website and I love the way he writes them with simple language and clarity. You can learn more about his work at:

Authentic Breathing Resources

The Center for Harmonious Awakening

Sit quietly for several minutes, either cross-legged on the floor or on a chair (without leaning against the back of the chair). Be sure that your spine is erect yet supple. Your hands should be folded gently together in your lap or palms down on your knees. As you sit, sense your weight being supported by the earth and allow the whole sensation of your body to enter your awareness and come to life.

Now, simply follow your breathing as you inhale and exhale. It is through following our breathing through our sensation that we begin to open to the power of breath. During inhalation, sense the temperature and vibration of the air as it flows from the tip of your nose through your nasal passages, throat, and trachea on its way into your lungs. During exhalation, sense the air going up and out of your lungs through your trachea, throat, and nose. (Do not manipulate your breathing in any way during this practice.)

After at least five minutes, rub your hands together several times, put them over your navel, and sense your belly. How does your breathing respond to the warmth and energy from your hands? As you continue to follow your breathing, can you sense your belly expanding (or wanting to expand) as you inhale and flattening (or wanting to flatten) as you exhale, without losing your awareness of the air as it enters and leaves your lungs?

As you begin to observe more clearly these movements of your breathing, you may start to experience a sense of energy deep in your belly, at the level of about an inch or two below your navel. During inhalation, you may feel this energy filling your entire belly. During exhalation, you may feel the energy becoming more compact and concentrated. Really let yourself experience (and enjoy) this expanding and contracting sense of energy in your belly as your breathing continues.

Continue working in this way with your breathing for another five minutes or more. When you're almost ready to stop, give yourself a couple of minutes to sense the energy, or at least some of the energy, being absorbed into the cells of your belly and back toward your spine. Then bring your attention back to the whole sensation of yourself just sitting there, breathing. Watch, sense, and feel everything that's taking place, including your breathing, until you are ready to stop. See if you can sense yourself as a breathing being.

Two Amazing Books for Summer Reading:

I am thrilled to let you know that the newest version of the groundbreaking classic Women’s Bodies, Women’s Wisdom by Christiane Northrup, M.D., is now available (for preorder before May 25) in bookstores across the United States. Dr. Northrup walks her talk, she’s been a great inspiration to me and her work has changed the lives of countless people – especially women. 

I share in Dr. Northrup’s joy and excitement when I tell you that the revised Women’s Bodies, Women’s Wisdom is now an essential guide for how to truly flourish in a female body, not merely avoid disease. More than simply an update, the newest version of Women’s Bodies, Women’s Wisdom is an entire rewrite! In fact, the new Women’s Bodies, Women’s Wisdom is an owner’s manual designed to teach you everything that can go right with your body.

Scott Blum has done it again! This talented co-founder of DailyOm has launch his next book with incredible success and reviews. The #1 best-selling e-book is now available as an expanded-edition hardcover. Now with two additional chapters, this first printed edition of Summer's Path by DailyOM co-founder Scott Blum presents the remarkable story of Don Newport, an engineer who comes face-to-face with his personal destiny under extraordinary circumstances. After losing his job and his health insurance, Don learns that he has a terminal disease, with only a few months left to live. On his deathbed, he meets Robert, a brazen angel of death who promises to help him with a graceful exit. As Don prepares to say his last goodbyes to his loving wife, Robert attempts to change Don's perspective about his mortality and proposes an exceptionally unique option.

Robert leads Don through an astounding meditation of life and death and reveals various healing and spiritual concepts, including walk-ins, animal communication, embodiment, and soul destiny. On this magical journey of self-realization, Don discovers that it's never too late to learn profound life lessons about ourselves and our loved ones.

Join our member community and receive the first chapter of this fascinating book for free!