We’re having good friends over for dinner in a few weeks and my friend and I are discussing what to serve: I’m thinking Italian and I tell him that I want to try my hand at making homemade pasta. A few minutes later, after proposing and rejecting various menu items, I close my eyes to organize my thoughts and it happens — I see my hands as clear as day making pasta in front of me. In reality, one hand is holding a cup of coffee and the other is resting on my lap — but in my minds-eye I can feel the smooth dough against my fingers as I roll little orrechiete “ears” over my thumb….

Mindfulness meditation has been described in many ways in recent years, but I still find that one of the definitions by Jon Kabat-Zinn, the founder of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction, is very helpful. He says that mindfulness is “paying attention on purpose in the present moment, non-judgmentally. He added in an interview on YouTube…“as if your life depended on it.”

I am many things, but I am not a Buddhist. Still, every so often the secret Buddhist in my soul demands to be fed: lighting a little incense, placing a flower in a bowl like an offering, sweeping a spider out the door (instead of squishing it), or taking a day trip to the Chuang Yen Monastery in Carmel, NY.

At the end of a period of meditation, I slowly opened my eyes and saw my friend Everett, who had passed away three years earlier, standing in front of me.  Everett seemed so present – so alive – in that moment, and his vital presence remained as I came into full consciousness. Realizing what I was seeing, I was overcome by a whole range of emotions, the most intense of these being feelings of love and joy at being once again in the presence of my beloved friend.

Ready, Set, Slow – How to Improve Your Energy, Health, and Relationships Through the Power of Slow is truly inspirational. The author, Qi Gong master Lee Holden, makes a strong case for his methods, and the transformational benefits that come from incorporating these changes into our lives. From the book we read: “There’s too much at stake not to slow down. By slowing down, you’ll gain time, energy, focus, and clarity.” The idea that slowing down can lead to more productivity may sound too good to be true, but research confirms it does this and more―if only we can figure out a way to apply it in our everyday lives.

Teresa Hale began teaching Meditation and Yoga over 40 years ago. Her exploration in this field led to the creation of The Hale Clinic – the world’s leading complementary health center, where she continued to deepen her understanding and practice of Meditation and Yoga. Teresa has had direct experience of how Meditation can be applied to a whole range of situations including Health, Creativity, Mental Ability, Reduction of Stress, the Workplace and Scientific Research. She also has a deep interest in the Philosophical and Spiritual aspects of Meditation.

Three Minutes a Day is one of the best meditation books to come along in years. Author Richard Dixey has written a real how-to manual for anyone who wants to start meditating. Not only that, he outlines in clear, simple terms how the reader can gain all the wisdom and benefits of a meditative practice with just a few minutes daily investment of time. Repeat that three minutes every day for several weeks, and before you know it you are a meditator, capable of achieving clarity, growth, and insight.

Science is all about precision, controlled studies, and measurable, repeatable results. So for years researchers resisted working on alternative practices such as meditation, dismissing the few studies done as “fuzzy science,” “subjective,” or “impossible to duplicate.” But as research methods have advanced, so has the accuracy of the latest research. There is ample evidence now that stress leads to increased risk of health problems and that meditation reduces stress. What’s new are the studies showing how stress is related to aging and telomere length.

Bentov says: “I am attempting in this book to build a model of the universe that will satisfy the need for a comprehensive picture of ‘what our existence is all about.’ In other words, a holistic model that encompasses not only the physical, observable universe that is our immediate environment and the distant universe observed by our astronomers but also other ‘realities’ as well.”