Awarded the 2016 Nautilus Gold Medal for Parenting and Family! Spirit Rock founder, author, and teacher James Baraz’s Awakening Joy offers his large and devoted readership a program to gain contentment and happiness by cultivating the seeds of joy within. Here he joins with Michele Lilyanna, a classroom teacher for 25 years, to offer caregivers and children ways to find joy in each day together. This unique offering nourishes both adults and kids. James shares the practices for the adults—parents, caregivers, and teachers. Michele offers her own experiences as a parent and as a teacher, showing how the themes work with kids, followed by the tried and true lessons that she's used herself in the classroom and at home. Packed with practices and activities that James and Michele have gathered over their many years of working with thousands of adults and children in retreats, workshops, and the classroom, Awakening Joy for Kids is imbued with compassion and delight. Part of Parallax Press' growing curriculum for parents and educators designed to cultivate joy and mindfulness in children.

Baraz helps readers discover a path to the happiness that's right in front of them, offering a step-by-step program that will reorient their minds away from dissatisfaction and toward the contentment and delight that is abundantly available.

The lives we lead, particularly in the Western world, are technologically overburdened and spiritually impoverished. Our children can tell us the various merits of different operating systems for electronic devices, but are rarely in touch with how different emotions are experienced in the body, or how it feels to bring kindness to a moment of difficulty. They are bombarded almost constantly with information at a rate that mankind even 50 years ago would have struggled to begin to comprehend, and mental illness is at an all-time high. Research indicates that one of every four adolescents will have an episode of major depression during high school, with the average age of onset being 14 years of age. The human race is at a tipping point, and we have no sane choice but to begin to awaken the capacities within us that have too-long lain dormant. We can choose to lead a child towards awakening, and thus awaken ourselves.

Engaging students in artmaking, Lily Yeh transforms a derelict Beijing factory into a vibrant beautiful school for migrant workers' children.

We all want children to be happy and grow into productive, fulfilled adults, and according to parenting expert Maureen Healy, the secret to that success is in providing a foundation of inner confidence. With twenty years of experience as a spiritual teacher and child development expert, Healy knows that confidence is never "out there" but is something to be cultivated from inside.Healy literally traveled the world in search of the best practices in raising inwardly strong children and the connection between inner confidence and lasting happiness. In Growing Happy Kids, she draws on her Buddhist training, her background in child psychology, and the latest scientific research. The result is her insightful model for creating inner confidence and cultivating a sense of emotional strength that lays the foundation for children's happiest lives.Anyone who touches the life of a child--parents, teachers, school administrators, grandparents, clinicians--will gain wise ideas and practical suggestions for nurturing a child's sense of confidence and ultimately, happiness.

Discover the revolutionary way to harness the brain's capacity to heal itself Supported by the latest brain research, The Anat Baniel Method uses simple, gentle movements and focus to help any child, who has been diagnosed with autism, Asperger's Syndrome, ADHD, Cerebral Palsy or other developmental disorders. In this supportive and hands-on book, Anat Baniel guides parents through the nine essentials of the method, each one designed to harness the brain's capacity to heal itself -- with remarkable and sometimes immediate results. By shifting the focus to connecting rather than "fixing," this powerful yet simple method helps both children and parents to de- stress, focus, and grow. Most of all, the it helps all children maximize their potential, no matter what their diagnosis.

A new edition of the #1 NYT’s bestseller by Mark Nepo, who has been called “one of the finest spiritual guides of our time” and “a consummate storyteller.” Philosopher-poet and cancer survivor Mark Nepo opens a new season of freedom and joy—an escape from deadening, asleep-at-the wheel sameness—that is both profound and clarifying. His spiritual daybook is a summons to reclaim aliveness, liberate the self, take each day one at a time, and savor the beauty offered by life's unfolding. Reading his poetic prose is like being given second sight, exposing the reader to life's multiple dimensions, each one drawn with awe and affection. The Book of Awakening is the result of Nepo’s journey of the soul and will inspire others to embark on their own. He speaks of spirit and friendship, urging readers to stay vital and in love with this life, no matter the hardships. Encompassing many traditions and voices, Nepo's words offer insight on pain, wonder, and love. Each entry is accompanied by an exercise that will surprise and delight the reader in its mind-waking ability.