Coming on July 14, 2018

Astro-Intuitive Readings with Virginia Whyte

here at Mandala Book Shop!

Intuitive, Artist and Astrologer

Explore your unique gifts and life purpose, gain insight into your career, relationships and spiritual path. This thorough exploration of your chart will give your 5 different reports including an aura portrait, an astrology chart, astro-numerology report, astro-trends projecting into the next 6 months, and an intuited story board. This intensive reading takes about an 1.5 to 2 hours and we do need you to book ahead so that Virginia can prepare your chart and the reports. The cost is $125. Call the store at 519-432-9488 and we'll get you started. Right now, we have one appointment open at 12 p.m.

Virginia also will be offering Aura-Energy Readings. The reading includes a portrait of your energy and the insights it conveys. This is a new way to experience, understand, and appreciate your unique nature and potential with line, form and colour. Each session is about 20 minutes long and the cost is $40. Again, please call the store and we will book an appointment for you with Virginia.

If July 14 isn't suitable for you but you still want to have a reading with Virginia, call us and we'll put you on the list for next time. Virginia will be back again in August, date yet to be determined.

July's Insights from Lisa

Happy July Friends!! Welcome to full-fledged summer and all of its glory. Hurrah! Long summer days and warm summer nights are here. We have a great reading this month that asks us to let go, have some fun and listen to our deepest urges. What else could we ask for during a month that should be dedicated to as much fun and frolic as we can mange :) Enjoy!

#1. Discontent and Boredom: It is only natural to sometimes become bored with our routines and the repetitiveness of day to day life. However, we are not super keen on change because change is hard so we enjoy and cultivate routines that keep change at bay and make us feel safe. Alas, we are not hard wired for tedium and monotonous days. Doing the same dishes over and over, the same laundry, driving the same way to work and having the same conversations over and over are a bit crazy making. I mean yes, chores have to get done, meals made and homework completed because we are grown ups and these things come with adulting as it were. But, these things can also make us cranky and annoyed. Asking the cat to please stop shedding because you don't want to vacuum for the third time this week isn't going to help. We yearn for something else..but what? Well, the universe is asking us to think a little bit about what can we do to shake up some of the boredom in our safe and predictable days and mix it up a bit?? You don't have to sell all your possessions and move to to Bali (unless you want to!) but what can you do to shake off a possible “funk”.

The summer season brings us many opportunities for fun and play. I think most of us could agree that we don't play enough or at least as much as we would like. Play can be anything that brings you joy and lights up your soul. For myself I find that when I am feeling a bit edgy and cranky because I am doing the dishes AGAIN and cleaning the kitchen floor AGAIN, I remind myself of something nice I want to do after as a sort of reward. AND! I also tell myself a million times that is OK to have fun. To not bash myself for wanting to have fun and deviating from my regular routine. I didn't allow fun for a long time because I thought “I have no time! I am busy! I should do this and I should do that! I have silver to polish! (Ha! Just kidding! I don't polish silver but I am a wee bit compulsive about vacuuming) Then one day I read an article about living life without “shoulds” and honestly, it was a game changer for me. Yes, I “should” tidy my closet and I “should clean out the freezer” but I should also not neglect my inner child's need for play. Dust bunnies and dirty socks can be picked up later, tomorrow or even *GASP!* the next day. Picnics, finger-painting, reading, playing Scrabble, macrame (it's making a comeback!), going to the beach, craft supply shopping, learning to play an instrument, making a dream board or vision dream board , creating a tiny garden in the ground or on a balcony, it is all about doing it for FUN. Pure, unabashed, delightful...fun. Our next card helps us with this if we are feeling unsure or guilty and it will help us stay in a place where we can allow for more fun every month, not just in July.

#2. 1st Chakra/Archangel Michael: Our first chakra is the root chakra and it is all about keeping us grounded, feeling safe and feeling like we belong. (If you are unsure about the chakra system ask Sue or Megan bc they have loads of great books about this). When our root chakra is spinning well and balanced we have a wonderful sense of being rooted and grounded. We live in a place of calm, we are centred and have a sense that we are enough. We live our lives based in trust and not in fear. We feel secure and strong in who we are. A great metaphor for being grounded is a mighty Oak tree. The Oak tree grows tall, sturdy and strong. Her roots are very deep. The Oak tree bends and sways going with the flow of the wind but she is also extremely firm and solid. However, being grounded like the mighty Oak can be a challenge. Many days I feel like a ragged dandelion that has grown between the cracks of broken concrete in a Walmart parking lot never mind an Oak tree. The struggle is real as you try and feel grounded and confident in the knowing that is OK to take some time out and have a little fun. Why? Because many of us feel guilty about taking time for ourselves. Part of being grounded is knowing is not just Ok but a very healthy thing to take time out for ourselves.

#3. Inner Trust: Inner trust is an important key to being grounded and giving yourself permission to do the things you want and need to do. So many of us put other people first and we don't take care of ourselves very well. We push aside our dreams and our needs. We don't even allow for a long glorious bubble bath. The universe is asking us here to take some time to listen to that inner voice that has been nagging us. Listen to what it is trying to tell you and be present with yourself. What is trying to light you up from the inside? If you have been yearning or wanting to do something, try something or make something...now is the time to do it. Now is the time to heed your inner voice, intuition and gut promptings. If you have been thinking about doing things differently, trying something new or taking a leap of faith, now is the time. Trust in yourself, your abilities and your own inner wisdom. This could be anything that you have been considering but are not acting on. Driving lessons, taking a course, creating a web site, learning tarot cards, learning how to cook Japanese yakitori, getting into a pen pal group, learning to sew, calligraphy or learning a new language...nothing is off the table if it is what your inner prompting is asking you to do. Trust your inner wisdom as it is thousands of years old and it will never lead you the wrong way. Ego and fear will lead you down a crappy path but inner wisdom will not. This card is asking us to to take some time to think about what our inner voice is yearning for and to trust those inner nudges and light bulb moments. If you struggle to hear what these promptings are one thing you can do is to do something that you always get lost in. It doesn't have to be for a super long period of time if you can't manage it but do something where you kind of get into a “zone” and you lose sense of what is going on around you. For me, it is when I create my art. I will work for hours and I lose all track of time. For you maybe it's gardening, walking, cycling, colouring, cross stitch, knitting or listening to music with headphones and relaxing. Something were you are focused on what you are doing and you get lost in the joy of it. Allow your thoughts to flow freely. What comes up? What are you daydreaming about? It is these moments of zen when we are very much in tune to our inner self and the universe offers up some real gems of guidance. Play, for play is the gateway to letting go but also letting wisdom in :)

#4. Ace of Swords: This card also tells us that it is time to make some shizzle happen! This is a card that is full of fabulous air energy but you will notice that she has both feet plated firmly on the ground. Her stance is solid and unwavering in the mighty winds that swirl around her. She is grounded, centred and ready to put her ideas into action. Aces in the Tarot mean newness, new beginnings, new ideas and fresh starts. The ace of swords asks us to be open to new ideas or a new way of doing things. You may feel a shift in attitude or the way you think about something. Have you been having flashes of inspirations or feeling like “now is the time” or something just “feels” right when it didn't feel right before? Act on those things now! Now is the time. Trust your inner guidance, trust that you can be grounded and trust yourself. Believe in yourself. Give your permission to move forward and do what lights you up from the inside and sets your soul on fire. Your adventure awaits! Big Love, Lisa xo

Cards used in this reading:
1. The Psychic Tarot by John Holland
2. Energy Oracle Cards by Sandra Anne Taylor
3. Scared Rebels by Alana Fairchild
4. Everyday Witch Tarot by Deborah Blake
Gemstones to help you feel ground and centred in your Root Chakra:
Smokey Quartz, Black Tourmaline, Jet, Snowflake Obsidian, Red Jasper, Bloodstone, Hematite,Garnet

Through her unusual background, Joan Halifax developed an understanding of how our greatest challenges can become the most valuable source of our wisdom—and how we can transform our experience of suffering through the power of compassion.

Halifax has identified five psychological territories she calls Edge States—altruism, empathy, integrity, respect, and engagement—that epitomize strength of character and are where great potential resides. It is only when we stand at these edges that we become open to the full range of our human experience and discover who we really are. While each of these states comes with vast potential, they can also be fickle territory. Standing on the high edge of these territories we can have a broader view of life or lose our footing, slide into a mire of suffering, and find ourselves caught in toxic and chaotic waters, where altruism can sometimes become pathological and harmful, empathy can turn into distress, integrity can lead to moral suffering, respect can shift to disrespect, and engagement can result in overwork and burnout. How do we avoid these pitfalls and instead find the life-giving balance between these oppositional forces?

Halifax offers a practical road map for navigating the threshold of change and overcoming fear with courage. Recounting the experiences of caregivers, activists, humanitarians, politicians, parents, and teachers and incorporating the wisdom of Zen traditions, minfulness practices, and Halifax's groundbreaking research on compassion, Standing At The Edge is destined to become a contemporary classic. A powerful guide to finding the freedom we seek for others and ourselves, it is a book that will serves us all.

ISBN: 978-1250101341 * Flatiron Books, 2017 * 280 pages * $34.99

"We all want the freedom of sanity and peace, the undefended inclusiveness of love. We all want refuge in grace."
— Kathleen Dowling Singh

Unbinding is a spacious and sophisticated unfolding of one of Buddhism’s subtlest foundational teachings—the truth of dependent origination—offered in an utterly intimate voice. Kathleen Dowling Singh offers lyrical reflections on timeless truths and contemplative exercises accessible to anyone, opening the door of insight to all. Drawing on the language and teachings of Buddhism, Unbinding invites everyday mystics from all traditions—or none—to encounter the sacred and experience grace firsthand. Singh shows how illusions of ego obscure our true, unbounded nature and trap us in suffering—as she helps the reader move ever more deeply into living from gratitude, wisdom, and love.

"Beautifully written. Unbinding inspires the reader to let go and let be."
— Sharon Salzberg author of Real Love

ISBN: 978-1614294450 * Wisdom Publications, 2017 * 275 pages * $33.95

UNBINDING
The Grace Beyond Self

Kathleen Dowling Singh

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We all yearn for connection, yet often feel trapped by our sense of isolation, anger, envy, and other forms of aversion. Ultimately, our minds get in the way of this yearning, as we spin stories and assumptions around in our heads that keep us feeling alienated from one another. However, in Real Love, bestselling author and meditation teacher Sharon Salzberg will teach you to redefine and open up the limited definitions of "love" and experience it in a more essential way.

This book provides a pathway towards a more sustainable and authentic model of love by offering a creative toolkit of mindfulness exercises, meditation techniques, and interactive applications that will guide readers through the process of stripping away layers of habit to find a truer meaning of love, to "real love."

The book is divided into four sections, each addressing a distinct experience of "real love": love for the self, love for another individual, love for all beings, and love for life itself

Working from the inside out, the first step on the journey is to learn to love yourself; only then will you be able to share your love with the rest of the world. As you work through each layer you will become more present and adapt to things as they actually are. And it is only when we are truly engaged with present experiences that we not only are able to feel more connected to our own core selves, but also to those around us.

ISBN: 978-1250076519 * Flatiron Books, 2018 * 305 pages * $22.50

Everything Is Here to Help You offers an emotionally supportive way to shift out of the inner war of ego, and into the illuminated presence of your soul.

In this book, spiritual teacher and intuitive Matt Kahn redefines the spiritual path for the modern-day seeker, and offers original, innovative ways to resolve fear, unravel judgments, and learn how to view life from a clear, expanded perspective. By redefining our understanding of the spiritual journey from the point of view of the soul, Matt breathes fresh life into all aspects of the healing journey to usher in a revolutionary and loving approach to personal growth.

Each chapter highlights Matt's most cutting-edge teachings and loving wisdom. From teaching you how to unravel blame by exploring the four stages of surrender, to providing step-by-step energy clearings and recited activations to amplify the power of your consciousness, this book offers a clear road map to explore the magic, mysteries, and miracles that reside in every heart.

This book also includes engaging questions to contemplate, as well as energetically encoded mantras to experience our unlimited spiritual potential.

Get ready to explore a deeper reality, daring to view your life through the loving eyes of Source and opening yourself up to life's miracles!

"No matter how anything seems or appears-everything is here to help you become the one you were born to be."

ISBN: 978-1401954956 * Hay House, 2018 * 203 pages * $33.99

EVERYTHING IS HERE TO HELP YOU
A Loving Guide to Your Soul's Evolution

Matt Kahn

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WAKING UP IN WINTER
In Search of What Really Matters
at Midlife

Cheryl Richardson


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Internationally recognized coach and New York Times bestselling author Cheryl Richardson has toured the world empowering others to make lasting change. But when Richardson’s own life no longer worked as it once had, a persistent, inner voice offered unmistakable guidance: it was time to reevaluate her life to uncover what really mattered.

Waking Up In Winter is the candid and revelatory account of how at midlife, Richardson found renewed contentment and purpose through a heroic, inward journey. The unfolding story, told through intimate journal entries, follows Richardson from the first, gentle nudges of change to a thoughtfully reimagined life—a soulful, spring awakening.

With an experienced coach’s intuition and an artist’s eye, Richardson reexamines everything—her marriage, her work, her friendships, and her priorities—gracefully shedding parts of the self that no longer serve along the way.

In the end, she not only discovers what really matters at midlife, she invites readers to join her in the inquiry process by providing thought-provoking questions designed to usher them through their own season of transformation.

Offering up Richardson’s most powerful teaching tool yet—her own life—Waking Up In Winter takes readers on a brave, spiritual adventure that shows us all how to live a more authentic and meaningful life.

ISBN: 978-0062681669 * HarperOne, 2017 * 227 pages * $33.50

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THE ANIMAL ALLIES
AND GEMSTONE GUARDIANS CARDS

Margaret Ann Lembo

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The Divine Feminine Oracle is an invitation to reclaim your power. It's a spiritual tool to hone your intuition. Working with it can be a sacred practice of remembering that you contain your own answers. You can drop into your heart, that cathedral of love inside you, and receive what is needed."

In this exquisite oracle deck, scholar, speaker, and author Meggan Watterson has gathered together the saints, mystics, gurus, and goddesses from the world religions who represent both divine beings and the human women who sought to embody them. Each of these sacred ladies, when called upon, can strengthen your capacity to hear your soul. From the unyielding love of Mary Magdalene to the transformational force of the goddess Kali, you will discover the expansive qualities of the divine feminine within you, so that you can embody with ease and levity the love that you already are.

ISBN: 978-1401953645 * Hay House, Inc. 2018 * 53 Card Deck and Guidebook * $25.99

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THE ANIMAL ALLIES
AND GEMSTONE GUARDIANS CARDS

Margaret Ann Lembo

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PASS THE JELLY
Tales of Ordinary Enlightenment

Gary Crowley

Engaging and fast-moving, Pass the Jelly combines simplicity with depth, and laughter with wisdom, placing it among those rare books that delight and inspire. Gary Crowley has seen through many of the false assumptions human beings carry with them as they encounter life. In this spiritual memoir, he takes us through one unsual day and correlates the entertaining events to some very funny, tender vignettes from his childhood, offering his insights on living along the way.

Crowley expounds on the Pass the Jelly Principle: "People do what they do. That's what they do. And that is it." We are all bound within the chain of cause and effect. Gems like this include his formula for instant compassion, his maxim that "when you pick up the stick of life, you get both ends." He offers rules to live by that will remain with you long after you finish reading this charming book.

ISBN 978-1591810926 * Sentient Publications, 2009 * 199 pages * $18.95

The Conscious Caregiver is here to help. Caregiving expert Linda Abbit draws on her decades of experience to make your caregiving journey one you can navigate confidently, providing direction on everything from managing medical care and finances to ways to handle emotional stress and making time to focus on your own well-being. Using mindfulness techniques, Abbit teaches you how to respond to challenges in a calm and clear way that is beneficial to both you and your loved ones.

With this thoughftul comprehensive guide, you'll learn how to take care of your loved one - and yourself—at the same time.

ISBN: 978-1440597732 * Adams Media, 2017 * 255 pages * $21.99

THE CONSCIOUS CAREGIVER
A Mindful Approach to Caring About
Your Loved One Without Losing Yourself

Linda Abbit

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SIMPLE SELF-CARE FOR THERAPISTS
Restorative Practices to Weave
Through Your Workday

Ashley Davis Bush

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For mental health professionals who must regularly guard against compassion fatigue and secondary traumatization, intentional self-care isn’t just essential; it’s a survival tool. If therapists don’t take proper care of themselves, they can’t do their work effectively.

Taking up an exercise program, going on a vacation, turning to supportive social networks, while helpful remedies to the stresses of the job, are not always feasible and the results are often only short term. Synthesizing the latest thinking in mindfulness, neuroscience, energy medicine, and spiritual disciplines, Simple Self-Care for Therapists offers immediate relief in doable, bite-sized nuggets—easy exercises that can be seamlessly integrated into your current workday routine with little fuss.

Over 60 restorative practices are presented—tools for (1) grounding, (2) energizing, and (3) relaxing—organized as antidotes to the most common pathologies that therapists suffer: vicarious trauma, compassion fatigue, and burnout. Bush, a therapist with over 25 years of experience, walks readers through the descriptions and simple implementation of each practice, with illuminating stories from her own professional experiences.

Whether you’re in a staff meeting, conducting a therapy session, writing a progress report, or attending a workshop, these convenient exercises can be dipped into as needed. A go-to resource of self-care tools, every therapist, no matter their background or approach, now has the ability to prevent stress, avoid internalization, revive their spirit, and restore a sense of well-being.

ISBN: 978-0393708370 * WW Norton, 2015 * 273 pages * $31.95

A day of indulgence at a spa, or at home on the couch, might help us unwind and feel temporarily renewed, but is that all there is to self-care? In An Invitation to Self-Care Tracey Cleantis changes the dialogue and shows why real self-care is more than just routine self-indulgence, it's a lifelong practice that is essential to finding fulfillment and joy.

An Invitation to Self-Care uncovers seven principles for care that are rooted in self-empowerment and self-knowledge. Through personal stories and observations, exercises and quizzes, and interviews with experts and everyday people, Tracey invites you to consider self-care across your relationships, finances, spiritual and profesional life, and more. By accepting who we are, what we need, and how those needs evolve over time, we create space for self-care's transformational magic in our lives. In fact, an authentic self-care practice is the secret to the life you've always wanted.

ISBN: 978-1616496791 * Hazelden Publishing, 2017 * 191 pages * $21.95

AN INVITATION TO SELF-CARE
Why Learning to Nurture Yourself
Is the Key to
the Life You've Always Wanted

Tracey Cleantis, LMFT

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HOLDING SPACE
On Loving, Dying, and Letting Go

Amy Wright Glenn

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As a hospital chaplain, Amy Wright Glenn has been present with those suffering from trauma, disease, and unforeseen accidents and has been witness to the intense grief and powerful insights that so often accompany loss.

In Holding Space, Glenn asks us to embrace the task of being present with what is—through courageous and mindful expressions of compassionate presence—and helps us to accept the fact of our own mortality on a visceral and emotional level, not simply as an intellectual abstraction. Glenn weaves together memoir, philosophical inquiry, and custting-edge research on death and dying to chronicle how we, as individuals and as a culture, approach the journey of loving, dying, and letting go.

ISBN: 978-1941529782 * Parallax Press, 2017 * 255 pages * $22.95

There is no more universal truth in life than death. No matter who you are, it is certain that one day you will die, but the mechanics and understanding of that experience will differ greatly in today’s modern age. Dr. Haider Warraich is a young and brilliant new voice in the conversation about death and dying. Dr. Warraich takes a broader look at how we die today, from the cellular level up to the very definition of death itself.

The most basic aspects of dying—the whys, wheres, whens, and hows—are almost nothing like what they were mere decades ago. Beyond its ecology, epidemiology, and economics, the very ethos of death has changed. Modern Death will provide readers with an enriched understanding of how death differs from the past, what our ancestors got right, and how trends and events have transformed this most final of human experiences.

ISBN: 978-1250160843 * St. Martin's Griffin, 2018 * 324 pages * $24.99

MODERN DEATH
How Medicine Changed the End of Life

Haider Warraich, M.D.

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SHATTERED BY GRIEF
Picking Up the Pieces to
Become WHOLE Again

Claudia Coenen

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Death affects us all, yet it is still the last taboo in our society, and grief is still profoundly misunderstood.

In Grief Works, we hear stories from those who have experienced great love and great loss—and survived. Stories that explain how grief unmasks our greatest fears, strips away our layers of protection, and reveals our innermost selves.

Julia Samuel, a greif psychotherapist, has spent twenty-five years working with the bereaved and understanding the full repercussions of loss. This deeply affecting book is full of psychological insights on how grief, if approached correctly, can heal us. Through elegant, moving stories, we learn how we can stop feeling awkward and uncertain about death, and not shy away from talking honestly with family and friends.

This extraordinary book shows us how to live and learn from great loss.

ISBN: 978-0385690867 * Doubleday Canada, 2017 * 294 pages * $29.95

GRIEF WORKS
Stories of Life, Death and Surviving

Julia Samuel

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