{"product_id":"the-path-of-practice-isbn-9780345434845","title":"The Path of Practice","description":"\"We are wellness. We are consciousness. That is our natural state. Disease is an imposter.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAs one of the world's only female experts on the ancient Indian tradition of Ayurvedic medicine, renowned teacher Bri. Maya Tiwari has devoted her heart and soul to sharing the philosophy and methods that saved her from terminal cancer and redirected her life. Now, in The Path of Practice, she offers a short course in healing and living and reveals how she has gone back to the sources of Ayurvedic wisdom to reclaim time-honored, natural, and spiritual techniques for contemporary life. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eDiagnosed with ovarian cancer at twenty-three, Bri. Maya was given two months to live. Her doctors' advice: die painlessly with heavy dosages of morphine. Instead, in the middle of winter, she left her career as a popular fashion designer in New York City and began several months of intensive meditation and holistic nutrition alone in a remote Vermont cabin. By Spring, her health and vitality had been restored. Inspired by dramatic visions and dreams of her family and ancestors, Bri. Maya became a student of one of India's few living masters of the traditional Vedas. Today, healthy in body and spirit, she devotes herself to teaching the wisdom practices of the Vedas to help others heal emotional and spiritual discomfort, dis-ease, and physical illness.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn The Path of Practice, Bri. Maya's gentle, compassionate voice instructs you in living life consciously in the present moment, so that you can recover your natural rhythms and align yourself and your inner cycles with the universe. With particular emphasis on using the primordial feminine healing power of shakti--which everyone possesses--Bri. Maya leads you through the daily practice, or sadhana, of a three-part wellness program that includes nutrition and cooking with whole foods, breath work and meditation, and chanting with healing sounds. Encouraged by the inspirational stories of Bri. Maya's life and those of others who have made these simple but powerful practices an integral part of their lives, you will learn how to take charge of your own health. Through Bri. Maya's unique philosophy and practice of \"cosmic memory,\" you will discover your personal, body wisdom and intuition, your singular mission in the world, and your connection to the divine within you and around you. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFilled with illuminating insights, easy-to-follow recipes, and meditations and exercises that can be adapted to different lifestyles and traditions, The Path of Practice is one of the only holistic programs designed for women by a woman. Imbued with the spiritual strength and centeredness of its remarkable author, here is a practical and profound book you will turn to time and time again for instruction, wisdom, and peace of mind.\"An extraordinary book . . . [that] illuminates the wonderful truth of who we are. . . . As a result, we heal our bodies and our lives on the deepest levels.\"\u003cbr\u003e--CHRISTIANE NORTHRUP, M.D.\u003cbr\u003e   Author of \u003ci\u003eWomen's Bodies, Women's Wisdom\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Bri. Maya Tiwari's \u003ci\u003eThe Path of Practice\u003c\/i\u003e offers great insights into how we all have the power to heal.\"\u003cbr\u003e--DEEPAK CHOPRA\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"\u003ci\u003eThe Path of Practice\u003c\/i\u003e brilliantly brings forth the full orchestra of ancient healing wisdoms and practices into the lives of modern women. A must reading for every woman who wants a definitive guide to self-discovery, wholeness, and healing.\"\u003cbr\u003e--ILANA RUBENFELD\u003cbr\u003e   Author of \u003ci\u003eThe Listening Hand: Self-Healing Through the Rubenfeld Synergy Method of Talk and Touch\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003eBri. Maya Tiwari is an internationally renowned teacher of Ayurveda, a practicing Vedic monk, and the author of Ayurveda: Secrets of Healing and Ayurveda: A Life of Balance. She is building the Wise Earth School, an Ayurvedic, nature-based facility for teaching and healing in Asheville, North Carolina, and founded the Mother Om Mission, a charitable organization that teaches sadhana and Ayurvedic healing to at-risk communities throughout the world. Bri. Maya has been featured on the cover of Yoga Journal and gives numerous lectures every year at yoga and other major conferences. She also writes a regular column for the international newspaper Hinduism Today, which has several million English-speaking readers.I am a Vedic monk--a brahmacharini. Since my initiation in\u003cbr\u003e1992 by my teacher, Swami Dayananda Saraswati, I have\u003cbr\u003ededicated my life to living in accordance with the natural\u003cbr\u003erhythms of the universe; to teaching the wisdom and healing\u003cbr\u003epractices of the Vedas, the holy scriptures of India which\u003cbr\u003edate back to 1500 B.C.E.; and to helping others heal physically\u003cbr\u003eand emotionally. At my center, the Wise Earth School of\u003cbr\u003eAyurveda, in the mountains near Asheville, North Carolina, I\u003cbr\u003eteach the knowledge and practice of sadhana and Ayurvedic\u003cbr\u003ehealing.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBecause of my experiences, I have a great deal of\u003cbr\u003einformation--about breathwork, meditation, sound, yoga,\u003cbr\u003eand wholesome nutrition--that can help people, especially\u003cbr\u003ewomen, live healthy lives, cultivate healing communities,\u003cbr\u003eand help themselves and others heal from physical and emotional\u003cbr\u003eailments. My students include doctors, nurses, yoga instructors,\u003cbr\u003enutritionists, artists, social advocates, inner-city\u003cbr\u003eyouth mentors, and interested laypeople.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWise Earth sadhana teachings are intended for everyone--\u003cbr\u003ewomen, men, and children. Indeed, 35 percent of my students\u003cbr\u003eare men. However, this book has a strong focus on\u003cbr\u003ewomen, because they are the staff-holders of sacred life and\u003cbr\u003enurturance. The aim of The Path of Practice is to evoke, inform,\u003cbr\u003estrengthen, and safeguard the memory of women as\u003cbr\u003eguardians of sacred healing. It is also meant to help men become\u003cbr\u003eawakened to the Mother's primordial healing energy\u003cbr\u003ethat has existed within them from ancient times. Indeed, all\u003cbr\u003ebut a few of the spiritual teachers whose work has informed\u003cbr\u003emy practice are men.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn addition, I conduct the Mother Om Mission, a charitable\u003cbr\u003eorganization whose purpose is to educate at-risk communities\u003cbr\u003eabout sadhana lifeways and to familiarize men and\u003cbr\u003ewomen with the primordial healing power that every human\u003cbr\u003ebeing possesses. I also travel all over the world conducting\u003cbr\u003eworkshops for those interested in learning the path of practice,\u003cbr\u003eor sadhana.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSadhana is a Sanskrit word whose root, sadh, means to\u003cbr\u003ereclaim that which is divine in us, our power to heal, serve,\u003cbr\u003erejoice, and uplift the spirit. Sadhana practices encompass all\u003cbr\u003eour daily activities, from the simple to the sublime--from\u003cbr\u003ecooking a meal to exploring your inner self through meditation.\u003cbr\u003eThe goal of sadhana is to enable you to recover your\u003cbr\u003enatural rhythms and realign your inner life and daily habits\u003cbr\u003ewith the cycles of the universe. When you begin to live and\u003cbr\u003emove with the rhythms of nature, your mind becomes more\u003cbr\u003elucid and more peaceful and your health improves. Your entire\u003cbr\u003elife becomes easier.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAs you begin your journey along the path of practice, you\u003cbr\u003emust make the promise to yourself that you are willing to\u003cbr\u003etake a very clear look at yourself. Allow yourself to recognize\u003cbr\u003ethe various disguises and false faces that you have assumed\u003cbr\u003eover the years. As you come to acknowledge and know each\u003cbr\u003eone, you will also come to see beyond them to your truest\u003cbr\u003eself. As you find out more about yourself and your strengths\u003cbr\u003eand weaknesses, you will also learn about your body, mind,\u003cbr\u003eand spirit, and their innate power. You will awaken to your\u003cbr\u003eown self-healing abilities. Whatever conventional, Western\u003cbr\u003emedical treatments you use, you will always be able to use\u003cbr\u003eyour own natural abilities as well.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOn the path of practice, we adopt the belief that disease happens\u003cbr\u003efrom within, and so must any cure. We decide that any\u003cbr\u003elack of peace or disease or illness becomes an occasion to go\u003cbr\u003edeeper into ourselves, to examine where we must make\u003cbr\u003echanges in order to heal our bodies, feelings, or lives. We accept\u003cbr\u003ethat our ailment is an assignment, and that to complete\u003cbr\u003eit satisfactorily, we must do research into it and into ourselves.\u003cbr\u003eEach of us is unique; no one else can complete our assignment\u003cbr\u003efor us. We can't even depend on the inherent \u003cbr\u003ebeneficence of the universe to save us. The universe will support \u003cbr\u003eus, and will help us by revealing its sacred rhythms. It will \u003cbr\u003ehelp us see where we have gotten off balance and will\u003cbr\u003ealways allow us to realign with it. But we have to do the\u003cbr\u003ework of self-reflection and healing that fits our individual inner\u003cbr\u003elife and outer life. On our individual path on the human\u003cbr\u003ejourney, each of us is meant to learn the truths of our physical,\u003cbr\u003emental, and spiritual lives that are particular to us and\u003cbr\u003eshared by others. These truths unite us to our families, our\u003cbr\u003etribe, the entire human race, and the universe as a whole.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eEarly in life, I discovered for myself that serious illness\u003cbr\u003ecan offer extraordinary opportunities for healing and self-knowledge.\u003cbr\u003eWhen I was twenty-three years old--at the height\u003cbr\u003eof my personal and professional success as a fashion designer\u003cbr\u003ein New York City--I was diagnosed with terminal ovarian\u003cbr\u003ecancer. Driven by my ambition, I had been keeping a fast-paced\u003cbr\u003eschedule of hard work and parties. I was also in flight\u003cbr\u003efrom my traditional East Indian heritage and upbringing. My\u003cbr\u003eillness would eventually force me to realize that all pain is a\u003cbr\u003ereminder that we have strayed from the natural rhythms of\u003cbr\u003elife. Yet before I accepted this truth, I became exhausted\u003cbr\u003efrom years of fighting the cancer with invasive treatments\u003cbr\u003eand surgeries. I gave up the struggle, left my life and friends\u003cbr\u003ein New York, and went deep into the snowy wilderness of\u003cbr\u003eVermont to prepare to die. Instead, over the course of three\u003cbr\u003esolitary winter months, I was presented with the opportunity\u003cbr\u003eto face the changes I had to make in my life. I rested and\u003cbr\u003efasted and dreamed, and I gradually saw where I had deceived\u003cbr\u003emyself; where I had allowed myself to become out of\u003cbr\u003ebalance.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI also wept until it seemed as if I had no more tears to\u003cbr\u003eshed. I kept a journal, writing page after page about my personal\u003cbr\u003eand spiritual history. Having learned meditation as\u003cbr\u003ea child, I remembered how to do it again. In meditation,\u003cbr\u003eprayers, and dream states, I relived the anguish of my ancestors\u003cbr\u003ewho had been uprooted from their native soil of India\u003cbr\u003eand transplanted in a foreign land, Guyana. I had spiritual\u003cbr\u003evisitations from my father, who lived far away, but convinced\u003cbr\u003eme that I must reclaim my life and fulfill my purpose.\u003cbr\u003eI also had visions of the Divine Mother, the infinitely beneficent\u003cbr\u003efeminine energy whom we can all call upon for help,\u003cbr\u003eguidance, and healing. I prayed to recover faith in myself and\u003cbr\u003ein the Divine.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhen the snow began to melt outside my cabin, I reawakened\u003cbr\u003eto the sounds and beauty of nature. I heard deer foraging\u003cbr\u003ein the underbrush of the forest around my cabin. A\u003cbr\u003ebright-red cardinal was singing. The music of spring drew\u003cbr\u003eme out of my seclusion into the sun. It seemed to me at that\u003cbr\u003emoment, and in many moments since, that the cancer had\u003cbr\u003eknocked me down and stripped me of all my defenses so that\u003cbr\u003eI could get out of my own way. It forced me to reclaim my\u003cbr\u003econnection to my ancestors, to the natural rhythms of the\u003cbr\u003euniverse, and to the infinitely loving, healing light of the Divine\u003cbr\u003eMother.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhen I emerged from my retreat and returned to the city,\u003cbr\u003emy doctors were astonished. They told me that they could\u003cbr\u003efind no signs of the cancer in my blood or lymph nodes. Determined\u003cbr\u003eto live a life of good health and serenity, I studied\u003cbr\u003eyoga, Eastern medicine, and natural farming. In the fall of\u003cbr\u003e1986, I met my guru, His Holiness Swami Dayananda\u003cbr\u003eSaraswati, a South Indian monk and scholar. Under Swami\u003cbr\u003eDayananda's guidance, I made an intensive study of Sanskrit\u003cbr\u003eand Vedanta, that portion of the Vedas dealing with self-knowledge.\u003cbr\u003eMy purpose for writing this book, however, is not to convince\u003cbr\u003eyou to become a Vedic monk or spiritual teacher like\u003cbr\u003emyself. Nor do I recommend that you renounce your present\u003cbr\u003elifestyle or discontinue any medical treatments that you may\u003cbr\u003ebe undergoing. What I want to share with you is my realization\u003cbr\u003eof some deep truths of the healing process that came to\u003cbr\u003eme through my own illness and subsequent life course. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe Path of Practice\u003c\/b\u003e is meant to be a guide for all people, especially\u003cbr\u003ewomen. It is a short course in healing and in living. Whether\u003cbr\u003eyou are in good health but want to find a greater sense of balance\u003cbr\u003eand mindfulness, or whether you have been diagnosed\u003cbr\u003ewith an illness--be it chronic or acute--this primer shows\u003cbr\u003eyou how to make gradual changes in the way you conduct\u003cbr\u003eyour daily life so that you will see profound changes both\u003cbr\u003eimmediately and over time. You will be happier, healthier,\u003cbr\u003ecalmer, and more resilient because of these practices. Indeed,\u003cbr\u003eyou will notice that the effects of these practices spread far\u003cbr\u003ebeyond your individual life. Because women have always\u003cbr\u003ebeen the guardians of life's wholesome practices, when we\u003cbr\u003estrengthen our health and spiritual power, we also strengthen\u003cbr\u003ethe health and wisdom of the men, children, and communities\u003cbr\u003earound us.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eABOUT THE AUTHOR\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBri. Maya grew up and was educated in British Guiana (now\u003cbr\u003eGuyana). Born of Eastern Indian parents, whose great-grand-parents\u003cbr\u003ehad emigrated to the Indies as indentured laborers, at\u003cbr\u003efifteen she moved to New York City to become a successful\u003cbr\u003efashion designer. At twenty-three, forced by ovarian cancer to\u003cbr\u003eredirect her life, Bri. Maya left a highly successful career and\u003cbr\u003ereturned to her ancestral India to study the ancient Indian\u003cbr\u003espiritual tradition of Vedanta and Ayurvedic medicine. She is\u003cbr\u003enow an internationally renowned teacher and practitioner of\u003cbr\u003eAyurveda and is the founder of the Wise Earth School, an\u003cbr\u003eAyurvedic, nature-based facility for healing in Asheville,\u003cbr\u003eNorth Carolina, where she lives. Bri. Maya is also the founder\u003cbr\u003eof the Mother Om Mission (M.O.M.), headquartered in\u003cbr\u003eGuyana, South America, with a base in Queens, New York, a\u003cbr\u003echaritable organization the goal of which is to provide Ayur-vedic\u003cbr\u003ehealth care to at-risk communities throughout the world.\u003cbr\u003eBri. Maya gives numerous lectures at major conferences,\u003cbr\u003ewhere she has taught thousands of attendees, and as a spiri-tual\u003cbr\u003eteacher conducts satsangas--the traditional Vedic forum\u003cbr\u003efor the spiritual master to share wisdom and spirituality--\u003cbr\u003ethroughout the world to give solace to the grieving and af-flicted.\u003cbr\u003eAlso a traditional guru and spiritual mother to hundreds,\u003cbr\u003eBri. Maya is called Maya Ma (Mother Maya) by her devotees.\u003cbr\u003eShe has been featured on the cover of Yoga Journal, has made\u003cbr\u003eradio and television appearances, and writes a regular column\u003cbr\u003efor Hinduism Today, an international Hindu newspaper that\u003cbr\u003ehas over a million readers. Bri. Maya returns to India annually\u003cbr\u003efor a three-month silent meditation retreat. She is the author\u003cbr\u003eof Ayurveda: Secrets of Healing (Lotus Light) and Ayurveda: A Life\u003cbr\u003eof Balance (Healing Arts Press).","brand":"Wellspring\/Ballantine","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46302853464293,"sku":"NP9780345434845","price":18.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780345434845.jpg?v=1767740886","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/products\/the-path-of-practice-isbn-9780345434845","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}