Mental Resilience: The Power of Clarity: How to Develop the Focus of a Warrior and the Peace of a Monk [With CD] » (REV)

Do you frequently feel stressed, overwhelmed, depressed, anxious? Do your thoughts sometimes have too much control over you? What if you could focus your mind and find peace in any situation?

We all face challenges — complex decisions, difficult personalities, constant demands on our time — but we don’t have to be at their mercy. By developing the skills outlined in this book, which create what author Kamal Sarma calls mental resilience, we become able to meet these challenges with clarity. Both warriors and monks have for centuries made training their minds, developing mental resilience, a key priority. Through this training, they are able to silence incessant mental chatter and live a life of awareness, peace, and focus. Kamal draws upon his roles as a former student of Eastern spiritual practices and a successful Western corporate advisor to present a step-by-step guide to developing mental resilience. Through a progressive program and a guided-practice CD, Kamal provides models and metaphors that will help you clear your mind of repetitive, unhelpful thoughts and improve your ability to make decisions. You will learn how to reduce stress, maintain clarity in any situation, and discover an abiding calm within.

Deborah Bigelow

Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. - School Library Journal

Management consultant and former monk Sarma aims to help readers reduce stress, gain focus, and maintain clarity. Calling his approach to meditation "mental resilience training," he discusses everything related to its theory, practice, and application as well as provides step-by-step instructions for correctly executing postures, attaining deep calm, and acquiring insight. Sarma's presentation of meditation will appeal both to businesspeople (to whom he's been teaching these techniques for ten-odd years) as well as to those who would like to engage in the practice without the mysticism component. Recommended for all libraries.

Introduction: From Monastery to Management     1
Theory
Meditation - Why Bother?     17
Common Misconceptions about Meditation     33
Meditation Metaphors and Models     39
A Model of the Mind     47
Practice
Getting Started     61
The Stages of Meditation     71
Developing a Relaxed State of Mind     77
Becoming Deeply Calm     87
Developing Emotional Tranquility     103
Developing Insight     125
Cultivating Wisdom     145
Bringing It All Together     157
Gratitude     171
Notes     175
Index     181
About the Author     193