I am excited to tell you all about a book I recently listened to about MEDITATION. It’s an award-winning New York Times bestseller about the extraordinary things that can happen when we harness the power of both the brain and the heart.

Jim Doty came from humble beginnings, with an alcoholic father and a mother chronically depressed and paralyzed by a stroke. Today he is the director of the Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education (CCARE) at Stanford University, of which the Dalai Lama funded. But growing up his life was pretty tough. Then one day at twelve he wandered into a magic shop looking for a plastic thumb. Instead he met Ruth who would change his life from limited possibilities to one of unlimited possibilities. She taught him a series of exercises to ease his own suffering and manifest his greatest desires. But he had to promise her something. He was to keep his heart open and teach these techniques to others. She gave him his first glimpse of the unique connection between the brain and the heart.

Doty would put Ruth's practices to work with extraordinary results-power and wealth that he could never have imagined. But he neglects Ruth's most important lesson, to keep his heart open which cost him a lot. Part memoir, part science, part inspiration, and part instruction, Into the Magic Shop shows us how we can fundamentally change our lives by first changing our brains and our hearts.

This book inspired me so much that I have now incorporated some of his process into my own meditation routine. If you read it tell me what you think. I would love to hear about it. We could even start a virtual book club!!