Books published by North Atlantic Books,U.S.

Through the lenses of Shokotan Karate and biomedicine, sensei and biomedical scientist Alex W. Tong shows readers how body, mind, and spirit can be developed through martial arts practice.Through the practice of martial arts, a person can realize their full potential--not only in body, but in mind and spirit. The Science and Philosophy of Martial Arts shows readers how. Author, sensei, and biomedical scientist Alex W. Tong delves into the physical, mental, and spiritual components of martial arts and integrates contemporary sports psychology, kinesiology, and neuroscience into a nuanced and illuminating understanding of what martial arts practice can be. Structured into three sections, Tong discusses: • The Mind: The dao of martial arts, mental tranquility, contemporary neuroscience, and warming up the brain • The Body: Posture and stance, breathing in martial arts, and the physics of mastery and effort • The Spirit: Soul, spirit, and moving zen; nature and manifestations of the spirit Each section includes observations on martial arts origins, physiology, and tangible results on martial arts training. Blending traditional and contemporary approaches, knowledge, and research, The Science and Philosophy of Martial Arts builds a vision of practice that elevates physical performance, awareness, decisiveness, and strength of spirit.

For patients, care providers, and anyone who has faced a traumatic or life-changing health event: a research-backed guide to reframing your story and reclaiming your life through personal narrative.Our healthcare system isn't set up to meet the emotional needs of patients. Doctors can give you a life-changing diagnosis, but they're not equipped to help you deal with the inner fallout: the confusion, anxiety, trauma, and dread that comes after "I have some bad news." But storytelling your way through a medical crisis by digging into, intentionally crafting and ultimately sharing your narrative, can help you come to terms with a difficult diagnosis, find and create new ways to thrive, and reclaim your agency amid fear, change, and uncertainty. When Harvard-trained physician Dr. Annie Brewster was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2001, she realized firsthand that the medical system to which she'd devoted her entire career was failing patients. The experience was dehumanizing. Her doctors weren't listening. And the confusion, fear, and shame she felt around her diagnosis was preventing her from finding healing, claiming her story, and living her fullest, richest life. Here, Dr. Brewster and journalist Rachel Zimmerman share their own healing stories--and act as expert guides to help you move forward, reframe your story, and take back your life. With exercises, reflections, writing prompts, and stories from other real patients, Brewster and Zimmerman provide concrete ways to: • Process the difficult emotions inherent to a life-changing diagnosis • Move beyond being the hero of your own story to become the author of your own story • Craft your narrative and share it in whatever medium you choose: music, audio, art, or other ways of storytelling • Integrate a traumatic health event into a new, evolving identity • Harness applied storytelling techniques to strengthen connections between you and your loved ones (and even your care providers) • Cultivate resilience and move forward amid uncertainty and fear

The countercultural healer's guide for building a sustainable and values-driven practice: work toward your purpose, grow your client base, and thrive with integrity in an unjust capitalist system. The time for healing-and the time to be a healer-is now.Therapist Laura Mae Northrup navigates the complexities of being a healer today-and shows how you can stay true to your calling in a world built from systems that were designed to extract, oppress, and exploit.Addressing fundamental tensions that arise for practicing healers working in a late-stage capitalist culture, Northrup shares how to: • Maintain your ethical framework even while prioritizing financial stability • Market and brand your practice authentically, without resorting to fear-based tactics • Recognize the unconscious biases and unexamined motivations you unintentionally bring to work • Honor your limits within a culture that valorizes overwork and perpetuates burnout • Prioritize your emotional needs and spiritual goals-and honor their place in your healing practice Structured in accessible, to-the-point chapters with practical writing and reflection prompts, Northrup offers an authentic, spiritually grounded approach to healership, going much deeper than the promise of a million-dollar practice or a minimum-effort game plan.Written for healers of all modalities-including radical therapists, functional practitioners, reiki workers, bodyworkers, and healers who have been sidelined, underfunded, underresearched, or delegitimized within a Western capitalist framework-this book offers a nuanced, political, and social-justice informed guide to building the practice you want-and thriving as the healer you were born to be.

For fans of Everything Is F*cked and Against Purity: Living Ethically in Compromised Times, a book about facing the multiple crises of modernity--and hospicing modernity--with maturity, humility, and integrity.This book is not easy: it contains no quick-fix plan for a better, brighter tomorrow, and gives no ready-made answers. Instead, Vanessa Machado de Oliveira presents us with a challenge: to grow up, step up, and show up for ourselves, our communities, and the living Earth, and to interrupt the modern behavior patterns that are killing the planet we're part of. Driven by expansion, colonialism, and resource extraction and propelled by neoliberalism and rabid consumption, our world is profoundly out of balance. We take more than we give; we inoculate ourselves in positive self-regard while continuing to make harmful choices; we wreak irreparable havoc on the ecosystems, habitats, and beings with whom we share our planet. But instead of drowning in hopelessness, how can we learn to face our reality with humility and accountability? Machado de Oliveira breaks down archetypes of cognitive dissonance--the do-gooder who does "good enough," then retreats to business as usual; the incognito capitalist who, at first glance, may seem like a radical change-maker--and asks us to dig deeper and exist differently. She explains how our habits, behaviors, and belief systems hold us back...and why it's time now to gradually disinvest. Including exercises used with teachers, NGO practitioners, and global changemakers, she offers us thought experiments that ask us to: • Reimagine how we learn, unlearn, and respond to crisis• Better assess our surroundings and interact with difference, uncertainty, complexity, and failure• Expand our capacity to hold personal and collective space for difficult and painful things• Understand the "5 modern-colonial e's": Entitlements, Exceptionalism, Exaltation, Emancipation, and Enmeshment in low-intensity struggle activism• Interrupt our satisfaction with modern-colonial desires that cause harm• Create space for change driven neither by desperate hope nor a fear of desolate hopelessness For fans of adrienne maree brown, Sherri Mitchell, and Arundhati Roy, Hospicing Modernity challenges our assumptions and dares to ask more of us, for the sake of us all.

The go-to guide to understand and unpack shame: what it is, why we feel it, and how to undo the lies it tells us about ourselves.Are you ready to get Discomfortable? This is a book about shame: what it is, why we have it, and how we can break its hold on our happiness. We all know shame: it's that feeling that tells us that somehow, who we are is inherently wrong. It's more than embarrassment or regret: it shakes us to the core. And most of all, it tells us that we need to be, feel, and act differently in order to be seen, loved, and accepted.Author and "shame-ed" coach AJ Bond takes us through his own shame breakthrough, sharing how he went from I'd rather die than be gay to uncovering and reclaiming his inherent wholeness and worth. With unexpected humor, warmth, and candid personal stories, Bond shows readers: Why shame shows up--the trauma, fixed mindsets, and messaging that give it a footholdHow shame tricks you into believing there's something wrong with you, even when you're perfectly rightThe evolutionary reasons we humans developed a sense of shame (and why it doesn't serve us today)How to manage and deprogram shame through connection, gratitude, and empowered choiceHow we can re-parent ourselves, be fully seen, and feel fully lovedBond shines a light on this feeling that doesn't want to be seen, heard, or named--and invites us to bring our own shame into the open and release it to reclaim and reframe our lives in a powerful new way.

Written and illustrated by Omileye Achikeobi-Lewis, My Heart Flies Open is an inclusive, empowering, and uplifting picture book for girls of color about yoga, meditation, and coming home to self-love. All children will be charmed by this book.In every situation I can blossom. Breathing in and breathing out, I know...I AM PEACEFUL.Beautifully and brightly illustrated, My Heart Flies Open takes readers on a yoga journey of mindful reflection, self-discovery, and self-love. Starting with Easy Pose ("I AM LOVE") and moving through Mountain Pose ("I AM STILLNESS"), Triangle Pose ("I AM ME"), and more, My Heart Flies Open guides young readers through a grounding sequence of 15 yoga poses and affirmations. More than just another yoga or mindfulness book, My Heart Flies Open transports young readers to a magical world where they learn to overcome negative emotions and move dynamically through their feelings--shining bright and connecting to the peace, laughter, love, grounding, and spirit that live inside all along. With every yoga pose, each breath in, and each breath out, My Heart Flies Open brings young readers home to themselves: they are life, love, joy, and kindness; bold, fierce, peaceful, and whole. Written for children, and especially girls of color, ages 4 - 8.

The White Fragility for transracial adoption--practical tools for nurturing identity, unlearning white saviorism, and fixing the mistakes you don''t even know you''re making.If you''re the white parent of a transracially or internationally adopted child, you may have been told that if you try your best and work your hardest, good intentions and a whole lot of love will be enough to give your child the security, attachment, and nurturing family life they need to thrive.The only problem? It''s not true. What White Parents Should Know About Transracial Adoption breaks down the dynamics that frequently fly under the radar of the whitewashed, happily-ever-after adoption stories we hear so often.Written by Melissa Guida-Richards--a transracial, transnational, and late-discovery adoptee--this book unpacks the mistakes you don''t even know you''re making and gives you the real-life tools to be the best parent you can be, to the child you love more than anything.From original research, personal stories, and interviews with parents and adoptees, you''ll learn:What parents wish they''d known before they adopted--and what kids wish their adoptive parents had done differentlyWhat white privilege, white saviorism, and toxic positivity are...and how they show up, even when you don''t mean itHow your child might feel and experience the world differently than youAll about microaggressions, labeling, and implicit biasHow to help your child connect with their cultural heritage through language, food, music, and clothingThe 5 stages of grief for adoptive parentsHow to start tough conversations, work with defensiveness, and process guilt

A holistic method for practicing hot yoga that offers a new series of postures based on a modern understanding of anatomy and movement.Hot Yoga for Human Beings is a bold new book for ritualized hot yoga practice that is built on a 21st century understanding of bodily movement, a love of the natural world, hard work, and a whole lot of sweat! It also shines light on the vital though often-ignored questions at the very heart of every yoga practice: Why should we do it in the first place? And how does such an ancient system fit into our modern world? Author, practitioner, and teacher Kyle Ferguson has created a new sequence of forty hot yoga postures that reflects contemporary medical science and embraces evolution, both biological and technological. The poses described in this book are accompanied by photos, illustrations, and instructions, as well as a deep exploration into their anatomical and philosophical foundations. Ferguson challenges the long-held belief that all yoga poses are good for all people. He also opens up a vital conversation regarding the principles of embodiment and interconnectedness in yoga. More than just a practice guide, Hot Yoga for Human Beings is an investigation of ideas. It encourages a new exploration of the social nature of human beings, emphasizes the harmony between physical design and mental process, and explores the philosophy of embodiment and the spiritual value of practice.

Tapping into the political power of magic and astrology for social, community, and personal transformation.In a cross-cultural approach to understanding astrology as a magical language, Alice Sparkly Kat unmasks the political power of astrology, showing how it can be channeled as a force for collective healing and liberation.Too often, magic and astrology are divorced from their potency and cultural contexts: co-opted by neoliberalism, used as a force of oppression, or distilled beyond recognition into applications that belie their individual and collective power. By looking at the symbolic and etymological histories of the sun, moon, Saturn, Venus, Mercury, Mars, and Jupiter, we can trace and understand the politics of magic--and challenge our own practices, interrogate our truths, and reshape our institutions to build better frameworks for communities of care.Fearless, radical, and fresh, Sparkly Kat's Postcolonial Astrology ushers in a new wave of astrology revival, refusing to apologize for its magickism and connecting its power to the spirituality and politics we need now. Intersectional, inclusive, and geared towards queer and POC communities, it uses our historical and collective constructs of the planets, sun, and moon to re-chart our subconscious history, redefine the body in the world, and assert our politics of the personal, in astrology and all things.

The definitive guide to the medicinal plant knowledge of Ashkenazi herbal healers--from the Middle Ages to the 20th century.Until now, the herbal traditions of the Ashkenazi people have remained unexplored and shrouded in mystery. Ashkenazi Herbalism rediscovers the forgotten legacy of the Jewish medicinal plant healers who thrived in Eastern Europe''s Pale of Settlement, from their beginnings in the Middle Ages through the modern era.Including the first materia medica of 26 plants and herbs essential to Ashkenazi folk medicine, Ashkenazi Herbalism sheds light on the preparations, medicinal profiles, and applications of a rich but previously unknown herbal tradition--one hidden by language barriers, obscured by cultural misunderstandings, and nearly lost to history. Written for new and established practitioners, it offers illustrations, provides information on comparative medicinal practices, and illuminates the important historical and cultural contexts that gave rise to Eastern European Jewish herbalism.Part I introduces a brief history of the Ashkenazim and provides an overview of traditional medicine among Eastern European Jews. Part II offers a comparative overview of healing customs among Jews of the Pale of Settlement, their many native plants, and the remedies applied by local healers to treat a range of illnesses. This materia medica names each plant in Yiddish, English, Latin, and other relevant languages, and the book also details a brief history of medicine; the roles of the ba''alei shem, feldshers, opshprekherins, midwives, and brewers; and the remedy books used by Jewish healers.

An illustrated guide to the core design principles of the body’s musculoskeletal system—for kinesiologists, movement therapists, yoga teachers, dancers, and bodyworkers of all kindsWhat does knowledge of anatomical structure have to do with preventing everyday muscular aches, pains, and injuries? According to Dr. Theodore Dimon, everything!Our bodies are designed to work holistically, supported by an intelligently organized system of muscles, bones, and connective tissue. So when we target problem spots by stretching, relaxing, or strengthening individual muscles, we bypass the dynamic, interconnected network that enables healthy functioning and injury prevention. Understanding how this system works in action is the key.In this groundbreaking guide, Dr. Dimon describes the basic principles that govern our bodies’ musculoskeletal architecture and provides practical exercises to activate specific muscle groups and demonstrate our bodies’ efficient holistic function. Readers will learn about dynamic design and the body in action, including: How the musculoskeletal system works as a wholeThe relationship between proprioception and muscle lengthAbout maximizing spinal, shoulder, hip, arm, and leg stability and healthThe important role of breath and breathingAbout posture and musculoskeletal support With more than 300 illustrations, this is an ideal resource for students and practitioners of kinesiology, bodywork, movement, sport kinesiology, dance, and all readers searching for a dynamic guide to the human body.

Meet Sippy, the world''s last plastic strawSippy, a plastic straw who was used once and then discarded, worries what will happen to him when he realizes he can''t be recycled. As he flies, floats, and flutters around the planet, he meets animals who are struggling with the plastic problem. He chats with a raccoon with a six-pack ring around his neck, a cardinal whose nest is made entirely of junk, turtles who confuse grocery bags with food, a hermit crab forced to live in a plastic cap, and a startled duck who runs around with a chip bag on her head. Finally, Sippy is swallowed by a hungry whale who is dining on ocean trash! Just when all hope seems lost, he skyrockets to freedom and calls out "Together we can fix this! Let''s clean our world--let''s try!"Parents and teachers of children 7 to 10 years old can use Sippy''s colorful adventure--based on real examples of animals in our environment--to raise awareness about the impacts of plastics on nature and to teach children about alternatives to single-use plastics.

An intersectional guide to building resilience and reclaiming joyWith so much information available on how to build resilience--from meditation, exercise, and time in nature, to the latest neuroscience-backed studies--have you ever wondered what''s holding you back? If you commit to self-care but find yourself exhausted, unhappy, or anxious, do you wonder what''s missing?The fact is, we are all navigating an exhausting, disconnecting, do-more-buy-more culture that disproportionately harms those with marginalized identities and leads us to believe that our thriving depends solely on individual effort. Mainstream wellness culture doesn''t account for the ways that social oppression and economic injustice intersect to make resilience diffi cult for many of us to access in the first place. So, where do we begin? In this warm and accessible guide, Pakistani American therapist Anjuli Sherin provides a healing path to make thriving possible for everyone. Through compelling client stories and reflective exercises, she offers a culturally informed, body -centered model that shows us how cultivating self-nurturance, healthy boundaries, pleasure, and a soulful connection to the natural world can give us the generative energy needed to heal individual and collective trauma and shape our world from an inner magic called joyous resilience.

The Concise Book of Yoga Anatomy is the definitive guide to the study of yoga anatomy--a perfect companion book for any yoga teacher or practitioner seeking to understand the biomechanics of the body as it applies to yoga practice. The book is visually designed in quick reference format to offer useful information about the main skeletal muscles that are central to yoga, with asanas to demonstrate the particular muscles and muscle groups. Over 230 full color illustrations detail each muscle's origin, insertion, and action in order to clearly reveal how the muscles come into play in the movements and postures of yoga. Knowledge of yoga anatomy is paramount to the ability to teach or practice with no injury to oneself or others. With this foundation in place, it is possible to focus on the spiritual element of yoga as well as the physical. Yoga is a union of the two, so where appropriate, the more profound side of the practice is mentioned as it relates to the body. The Concise Book of Yoga Anatomy illustrates the form and function of the muscles first, then interlays the muscles into the yoga posture for full understanding in a clear and integrated way, explaining the technique of the asanas, as well as other important aspects of yoga: pranayamas, the bandhas, and chakras. Table of Contents About This Book 1 Anatomical Orientation 2 Muscles of Respiration 3 Muscles of the Face and Neck 4 Muscles of the Spine 5 The Deep Core and Pelvic Floor 6 Muscles of the Shoulder and Upper Arm 7 Muscles of the Forearm and Hand 8 Muscles of the Hip 9 Muscles of the Knee 10 Muscles of the Ankle/Foot Resources General Index Index of Muscles

Trigger points-tender, painful knots that develop in muscles and tissues-are a common cause of chronic pain. With more than a quarter of all Americans suffering from various types of daily chronic pain, it's estimated that these hyper-irritated hardened masses are the primary cause of pain 75 percent of the time. Sustained self-treatment is by far the most effective trigger point therapy. Pain Relief with Trigger Point Self-Help helps you understand and then treat your condition, leading to rapid, effective, and lasting pain relief. With full-color photos and illustrations throughout, it explains the physiology of trigger points and teaches you how to: • Locate your trigger points and understand "referred pain"• Prevent trigger points from forming by making simple lifestyle changes, practicing proper body mechanics, and addressing nutritional deficiencies • Treat trigger points by applying pressure and doing simple stretches• Understand common pain conditions for each area of the body Written for anyone wishing to successfully treat his or her own pain, the book is also an invaluable reference for any health-care provider whose patients suffer from either chronic or acute pain.

A never-before-seen volume of poetry by the preeminent poet laureate Herman Hesse--a beautiful companion to Seasons of the Soul and the author's better-known prose work.Organized into four parts--spring, summer, autumn, and winter--The Seasons of Life relates the transitions in nature to the organic progressions of human life from birth through death. From the mundane to the sublime, the spiritual to the political, and private feeling to expressed opinion, Hesse touches on the range of human experience, inviting the reader to consider both the beauty and what Hesse called the "adversities of life."Beloved by readers as a wise and open friend, Hesse offers in this never-before-translated volume an honest portrayal of a whole life: its lessons and mysteries, its glories and despairs. The poet's voice--so treasured in his novels among a worldwide English-speaking audience--can now be enjoyed through this new translation in the follow-up to Seasons of the Soul.