The Lifeflow Members Library
A one stop shop
Do you know a one stop shop where you can unpack the startling dream you had last night, find a yoga exercise to help relieve your back pain, study how your emotions arise, explore astronomy, find the lyrics of that old Beatles song that keeps running through your mind and read the true story of the first European woman to travel to Tibet?
Can I hear the word Internet? Well yes, of course online resources are wonderful, but have you ever experienced the satisfaction of holding the source of this information lovingly in your own hands, whilst being able to flick back and forth between the pages, finding yourself surprised and excited when you discover even more about a subject or person than you had ever expected.
Well, that one stop shop might very well be the Lifeflow Members Library. Having borrowing rights and access to this amazing collection is one of the benefits of Lifeflow Membership. Many people who have explored our Library have commented on the wonderful collection and you may find that it is quite different from what you expect.
Not only containing books about the topics that are frequently discussed in our classes and retreats, like meditation, relaxation, neuroscience, and emotions, our Library pretty much covers the whole range of human knowledge.
This blog will highlight some of the gems in a collection that has been built up over more than 40 years.
You may have heard that the essence of the way meditation is taught at Lifeflow is based on the discoveries about the mind and body stemming largely from the Buddhist tradition and that we can still experience today.
If you are interested in exploring this area in depth you will discover that our collection is outstanding.
It includes works by and about both contemporary Western teachers and the great Eastern teachers from the present and past including the Dalai Lama, Chogyam Trungpa, Namgyal Rinpoche, Jack Kornfield, Pema Chodron, the Karmapas, Thich Nhat Hanh, Milarepa, Naropa and Marpa, to name just a few.
It includes works by and about both contemporary Western teachers and the great Eastern teachers from the present and past including the Dalai Lama, Chogyam Trungpa, Namgyal Rinpoche, Jack Kornfield, Pema Chodron, the Karmapas, Thich Nhat Hanh, Milarepa, Naropa and Marpa, to name just a few. The collection also includes outstanding books about many other living wisdom traditions including mythology, Zen, Christianity, Hinduism, Judaism, Mysticism, Sufism, Taoism and many more.
Our growing Yoga collection contains the works of both traditional Eastern and contemporary Western teachers including BKS Iyengar (who taught Lifeflow teacher Margaret Strathearn in India), Satyananda, Desikachar and Donna Farhi. And if yoga is not your style the library has a great selection on Tai Chi, Kum Nye (movement meditations) and other disciplines.
We also have a great selection of books by and about both Western and Eastern philosophers and psychologists including Jung, Freud, Plato, Socrates, St John of the Cross, and Bertrand Russell. We have many wonderful art, architecture and music books including, yes, the lyrics of all the Beatle’s songs.
Spending time in nature has always been important at Lifeflow so it’s not surprising that the collection includes books about Australian birds, animals, and plants as well as health and wellbeing. The literature section includes poetry, novels, and the complete works of William Shakespeare.
Our Recommended Reading Section is bursting with books on the latest research about the connection between meditation and neuroscience, our emotional life, dreams, sleep, relationships, sexuality, and memory, including an excellent range of topics that are explored in our classes and retreats.
The New Bookshelf located near the window contains all our recent purchases and gifts, including the exciting “Women who run with the wolves” as discussed by Ingrid Lienert in her talk last year.
A new Reference Collection is being developed to include recently published and lavishly illustrated books about the Tibetan teachers who brought the teachings to the West in the second half of the 20th Century.
If you would like to take a tour of the Lifeflow Library, please ask your teacher or arrange a visit Emma at the front desk.
Lifeflow Teacher and Members Librarian
