Combines cognitive psychology with Zen, Taoist, and Vedic practices to empty the mind • Explains how eliminating external stimulation can alleviate stress and anxiety for a calmer state of mind • Details meditation practices, such as open-awareness meditation, contemplation of Zen koans, and Vipassana meditation, and explores methods of digital detox • Draws on classical yoga, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Taoism as well as cognitive science to explain how and why to fast the mind Stop planning, stop comparing, stop competing, stop thinking, and just breathe deeply for a minute . . . Our undivided attention is something we are rarely able to give for reasons ranging from digital overload to the cultural conditioning of equating busyness with purpose. Just as you might choose a fast from eating to detoxify the body, the best way to overcome this modern mental overload is to periodically fast the mind. Drawing on the spiritual philosophies and meditative practices of classical yoga, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Taoism, Jason Gregory explains how fasting the mind directly impacts your habits and way of being in the world to create peace and calmness in your life as well as allow you to build a firm psychological defense against the increasing bombardment of distractions in our world. Applying psychology and cognitive science to samsara--the cycle of suffering created by our attachment to the impermanent--he explains how overreliance on the rational mind causes imbalances in the autonomic nervous system and suppresses our natural spontaneity, feelings, and intuition. When we are unable to relax the mind deeply, we enter a destabilizing state of stress and anxiety and are unable to liberate the true Self from the impermanence and limitations of the material world. Sharing Zen, Taoist, and Vedic practices to help you empty your mind and gradually restore your natural rhythms, the author shows how to give the mind time to truly relax from stimulation so it can repair itself and come back into equilibrium. He details simple meditation practices that are easy to implement in daily life, such as open-awareness meditation and contemplation of Zen koans, as well as the advanced techniques of Vipassana, a Theravadic Buddhist discipline centered on seclusion from all worldly stimuli. He also offers methods for digital detox and ensuring a good night’s sleep, a major support for healing cognitive impairment and restoring a state of equanimity. By fasting the mind we strip away the distractions and stresses of modern life and return to our original nature as it exists deep within. We become more consciously awake in every moment, allowing us to feel the real beauty of the world and, in turn, to live life more fully, authentically, and peacefully.

Sergei Korsakoff, Alois Alzheimer, James Parkinson, Hans Asperger and other eminent scientists, are all names which have become synonymous with a disease, a syndrome, or an autistic disorder. Although the names of these psychiatrists and neurologists are familiar, we often know little about the individuals themselves and the circumstances surrounding their discoveries. What exactly did they discover, and who were their patients? Douwe Draaisma expertly reconstructs the lives of these and eight other 'names' from the science of mind and brain. Disturbances of the Mind provides a fascinating, illuminating, and at times touching insight into the history of brain research. Thanks to Draaisma's unerring eye and elegant, engaging style, the case histories of Asperger, Bonnet, Capgras, Clérambault, Korsakoff and Gilles de la Tourette syndromes; Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases; the areas of Broca and Brodmann; Jackson's epilepsy; and the Gage matrix are all brought to life and transformed into unforgettable tales.

Numbers held great significance to the ancients, and the number 40 is constant in a variety of spiritual traditions. With 40 Day Mind Fast Soul Feast, you may begin your own 40 day transformational, mystical journey with a wise, experienced guide who has walked the terrain for 30 years as a practitioner and teacher of meditation, affirmative prayer and the Life Visioning Process.

Fasting is not about hunger, and it is certainly not about starving. Fasting is about changing your life so that you can do more with less time. Fasting is about supercharging your body's regeneration systems and looking younger. It's about altering your mind and charting a course forward that results in the ability to convert your newfound discipline and clarity. You may look to fasting for the purpose of losing weight, but you are going to get a lot more. If you are overweight, then your body is telling you something. It is telling you that your body is in distress. It is overworking and it is not burning as much as it should. You need to take heed to its warning. You need to reverse the damage that is being inflicted on the body because of poor nutritional decisions. This book shows you the benefits that you can expect and plots a day to day, play by play of what to do and what to expect when you do a full fast and just get by on water alone. What's more important than the fasting days, and how many you can do, is the pre-fast preparation and the post fast return to food. This book meticulously guides you from one step to the next in preparing days before you fast so that you get the most benefit from it, and it shows you how to break fast so that you don't stress your digestive system after days of fasting.

"Explores how industry has manipulated our most deep-seated survival instincts."—David Perlmutter, MD, Author, #1 New York Times bestseller, Grain Brain and Brain Maker The New York Times–bestselling author of Fat Chance reveals the corporate scheme to sell pleasure, driving the international epidemic of addiction, depression, and chronic disease. While researching the toxic and addictive properties of sugar for his New York Times bestseller Fat Chance, Robert Lustig made an alarming discovery—our pursuit of happiness is being subverted by a culture of addiction and depression from which we may never recover. Dopamine is the “reward” neurotransmitter that tells our brains we want more; yet every substance or behavior that releases dopamine in the extreme leads to addiction. Serotonin is the “contentment” neurotransmitter that tells our brains we don’t need any more; yet its deficiency leads to depression. Ideally, both are in optimal supply. Yet dopamine evolved to overwhelm serotonin—because our ancestors were more likely to survive if they were constantly motivated—with the result that constant desire can chemically destroy our ability to feel happiness, while sending us down the slippery slope to addiction. In the last forty years, government legislation and subsidies have promoted ever-available temptation (sugar, drugs, social media, porn) combined with constant stress (work, home, money, Internet), with the end result of an unprecedented epidemic of addiction, anxiety, depression, and chronic disease. And with the advent of neuromarketing, corporate America has successfully imprisoned us in an endless loop of desire and consumption from which there is no obvious escape. With his customary wit and incisiveness, Lustig not only reveals the science that drives these states of mind, he points his finger directly at the corporations that helped create this mess, and the government actors who facilitated it, and he offers solutions we can all use in the pursuit of happiness, even in the face of overwhelming opposition. Always fearless and provocative, Lustig marshals a call to action, with seminal implications for our health, our well-being, and our culture.

FAST MINDS is an acronym for common symptoms that are often seen in Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Millions of adults have ADHD or some of its traits, but they are under-recognized, under-treated, and often under-supported. This book empowers people with ADHD, or some of its characteristics, to adapt and thrive. By working through the program in this book, you will develop personalized strategies to take control of your life. Forgetful. Achieving below potential. Stuck in a rut. Time challenged. Motivationally challenged. Impulsive. Novelty seeking. Distractible. Scattered. If any or all of these symptoms are making it difficult for you—or someone you know—to live life to the fullest, then the clinically proven, cutting-edge program in this book will help you understand your struggles and challenges. Whether you have been diagnosed with ADHD, think you may have it, or just exhibit many of these traits, FAST MINDS will help you: Figure out what isn’t working in your life, and the keys to fixing it. Build personalized strategies for managing your time, tasks, and relationships. Learn organizational habits that work for you. Stop communicating poorly, making impulsive choices and taking pointless risks. Eliminate negative thinking patterns that waste your mental energy. Create environments that support your challenges. Make the most of both medical and nonmedical resources (medication, coaching, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, mindfulness, support groups, lifestyle change). With inspiring stories of real people who have adapted and thrived using the methods in this book, FAST MINDS will help you create the kind of life you want to live.

A fourteen-day weight loss and fitness program combines the use of the Slim-Fast diet plan with more than seventy-five quickly prepared recipes.