Healthy Mind and Spirit eBooks for January

As you come to the end of your first month's worth of resolutions, we at Cosimo would like you to take a step back and recognize the hard work you are doing. Here are a few eBook titles for our readers to exercise the mind and spirit so you can be healthy inside and out!

Everything You Want to Know About TM, Including How to Do It by John White 

Wildly popular in the 1970s and 80s, Transcendental Meditation (TM) continues to be one of the most accessible forms of Eastern spiritual practice in the West. But does it live up to its hype? In this objective exploration of TM, consciousness researcher John White looks at what's billed as "a simple, natural, and effortless mental technique, practiced twenty minutes a day" and takes on its critics as well as its cheerleaders.

Purchase at Kobo.com

Mystic Journey: Getting to the Heart of Your Soul's Story by Robert Atkinson

Mystic Journey uses a multi-faith approach to reveal the path of the soul; this not a solitary quest but rather a superhighway meant for everyone. As we explore the deeper story of our soul, we also discover that we are living a lifelong process of soul-making, leading us ultimately to personal and collective transformation. Getting to the heart of your soul's story is soul-making. Mystic Journey guides readers to: use their life stories to help solidify their identities, live with an eternal perspective in mind, and reclaim their common spiritual heritage.

Purchase at Kobo.com

The Joy of Ritual: Spiritual Recipies to Celebrate Milestones, Ease Transitions, and Make Every Day Sacred by Barbara Biziou

Ritual is a universal language that gives substance and meaning to our lives. People are eager to honor the significant moments in their lives and Barbara Biziou, one of America's foremost ritual experts, teaches us how to restore ritual to its rightful place as food for the soul through practical, easy-to-use ritual recipes that are inspiring and fun.

Purchase at Kobo.com

January Book of the Month: Life Changes: A Guide to the Seven Stages of Personal Growth

To get those "New Year, New You" resolutions started,  pick up our January Book of the Month, Life Changes by Sabina A. Spencer and John D. Adams!

Life Changes: A Guide to the Seven Stages of Personal Growth provides those who are undergoing significant changes in their lives with an easy to follow road map of the normal ups and downs in the adjustment process. The seven stages of any transition process are described with clear advice about what to expect and, more importantly, what can be learned from each stage. Whatever the transition might be —  a new job, marriage or divorce,  or the death of a loved one — the authors point out that people can either "go" through change or they can "grow" through change. It's up to the individual.

The book also provides additional support for people making life changes, as the authors give advice on clarifying life purpose, protecting health, and maintaining balance during and after these major transitions.

About the Authors

Sabina Spencer has a PhD in Global Leadership Studies and, for the last 20 years, has been working in the areas of strategic change and inspirational leadership with some of the world's largest corporations. She runs her own consultancy and travels internationally for clients such as 3M, Exxon, Nike.

John D. Adams, Ph.D. is a professor, speaker, author, consultant, and seminar leader. He has been at the forefront of the Organization Development and Transformation profession for over 35 years. His early articulation of issues facing organizations has provided a guiding light for the evolution of organization and change management consulting. Adams currently serves as the Chair of the Organizational Systems Ph.D. Program at the Saybrook Graduate School (San Francisco), and is a guest faculty member at The Bainbridge Island Graduate Institute in the MBA in Sustainability program. He also served as editor for two seminal works, Transforming Work and Transforming Leadership, both widely held as defining a new role for the Organization Development profession in a rapidly transforming world.

January Classic of the Month: Recipe for a Happy Life

In the spirit of new resolutions and making ourselves better in the new year, Cosimo is thrilled to offer Recipe for a Happy Life by Margaret of Navarre as our Classic of the Month for January.

In the year 1500, Queen Margaret of Navarre wrote her "recipe for a happy life," which includes ingredients such as patience, pastimes, repose and peace, pleasant memory and hope, and love's magic drops. Picking up these themes, Marie West King has selected passages from literature that expand on Queen Margaret's suggestions. Represented are Ralph Waldo Emerson ("A day for toil, an hour for sport"), George Washington ("Labor to keep alive in your breast that little spark of celestial fire, called Conscience"), Plato ("Self conquest is the greatest of victories"), and William Shakespeare ("Love comforteth, like sunshine after rain").

Readers will find that this simple recipe still stands the test of time, even now in 2017. We hope all of you live a happier life in the new year!

January Classic of the Month: Hatha Yoga

In the spirit and new beginnings, Cosimo is proud to present Hatha Yoga: Or, the Yogi Philosophy of Physical Well-Being by Yogi Ramachaka as our first Classic of the Month for 2015.

Followers of the early-20th-century "New Age" philosophy of New Thought believed they could learn the secrets of mind over matter, and one of their most influential teachers (enormously popular writer and editor William Walker Atkinson, writing under the pseudonym Ramacharaka), revealed to them, in this 1904 work, the teachings of Hatha Yoga. 

His lessons cover how what we eat impacts the "life fluid" of the blood, the yogi's approach to food and eating, mastering yogi breathing, rules for relaxation, and much, much more.

While this book is useful all year round, it is especially relevant this month in a time of resolution making for those interested in healthier minds and bodies.
About the Author
American writer William Walker Atkinson (1862-1932) was the editor of the popular magazine New Thought from 1901 to 1905, and editor of the journal Advanced Thought from 1916 to 1919. He authored dozens of New Thought books under numerous pseudonyms, some of which are likely still unknown today, including "Yogi Ramacharaka" and "Theron Q. Dumont." Other titles available from Cosimo are Yogi Ramacharaka's Series of Lessons in Gnani Yoga and Series of Lessons in Raja Yoga, plus many more.

Cosimo is happy to offer Hatha Yoga in both hardcover and paperback formats at leading online bookstores including Barnes & Noble (paperback, hardcover) and Amazon (paperback, hardcover).

Bringing in the New Year with Barbara Biziou

As 2015 begins and January resolutions and new beginnings abound, author Barbara Biziou writes on MindBodyGreen a few easy rituals for everyone to follow as well as how and why these rituals will inspire and encourage you to have a fantastic new year.

In "12 Spiritually Uplifting Rituals To Try," Barbara details a few simple ways to bring playfulness and gratitude into your life. Ideas include creating an inspiration tree, taking time for yourself, and taking a digital detox.

In "12 Rituals To Do In 12 Days To Guarantee 12 Months Of Love & Prosperity," the author explains the importance of the first 12 days of January and how to give thoughtful attention to each day to symbolize the coming year. 

Click on the above video to watch Barbara discus rituals to bring prosperity and love in 2015.


Follow Biziou on Twitter at @barbarabiziou for spiritual reflections and suggestions, or visit her website for more information.


Barbara Biziou is an interfaith minister, motivational speaker, and a life-strategy coach. She is the author of The Joy of Ritual and The Joy of Family Rituals, as well as a Huffington Post blogger, executive consultant, dynamic public speaker, and national TV personality.