What do a Cuban refugee, an ex-con and a girl with a negative body-image possibly have in common? They each 'find fitness' as a way to survive and live their lives to the fullest, while giving back to those facing similar hardships. 'Soul Trainer' is an explosive collection of inspirational stories, deeply personal struggles and uphill battles against unbelievable odds, where fitness is the only way out. Book Passages: Sometimes it takes fictional characters with real life hardships and challenges, to be able to look deep inside ourselves and relate to what they're going through. Although your own way of life may be very different than the lives portrayed by the three main characters you're about to meet, surprisingly, you'll find yourself embracing the struggles they go through and personal battles they overcome, to dig deep within yourself to make the physical changes you know you need to in your own life.Most people try to change from the 'inside out'. But what about starting from the 'outside in'? What about changing your physical outlook on life? The way your body moves, functions, feels and thinks.While fitness is a choice, it's one of the most impactful and life changing activities you can turn to when you feel as though you have no choices left.So much of who a person is comes down to where they put their passions and what breathes life into their soul.

Finalist for the National Book Award for Nonfiction * New York Times Bestseller * A Huffington Post Notable Nonfiction Book of the Year * One of the Best Books of the Month on Goodreads * Library Journal Best Sci-Tech Book of the Year * An American Library Association Notable Book of the Year “Sy Montgomery’s The Soul of an Octopus does for the creature what Helen Macdonald’s H Is for Hawk did for raptors.” —New Statesman, UK “One of the best science books of the year.” —Science Friday, NPR Another New York Times bestseller from the author of The Good Good Pig, this “fascinating…touching…informative…entertaining” (The Daily Beast) book explores the emotional and physical world of the octopus—a surprisingly complex, intelligent, and spirited creature—and the remarkable connections it makes with humans. In pursuit of the wild, solitary, predatory octopus, popular naturalist Sy Montgomery has practiced true immersion journalism. From New England aquarium tanks to the reefs of French Polynesia and the Gulf of Mexico, she has befriended octopuses with strikingly different personalities—gentle Athena, assertive Octavia, curious Kali, and joyful Karma. Each creature shows her cleverness in myriad ways: escaping enclosures like an orangutan; jetting water to bounce balls; and endlessly tricking companions with multiple “sleights of hand” to get food. Scientists have only recently accepted the intelligence of dogs, birds, and chimpanzees but now are watching octopuses solve problems and are trying to decipher the meaning of the animal’s color-changing techniques. With her “joyful passion for these intelligent and fascinating creatures” (Library Journal Editors’ Spring Pick), Montgomery chronicles the growing appreciation of this mollusk as she tells a unique love story. By turns funny, entertaining, touching, and profound, The Soul of an Octopus reveals what octopuses can teach us about the meeting of two very different minds.

"An inspired, utterly fascinating book….A book for everyone who would like to make the world a better place."—Jane Goodall This unique and fundamentally liberating book shows us that examining our attitudes toward money—earning it, spending it, and giving it away—can offer surprising insight into our lives, our values, and the essence of prosperity. Lynne Twist, a global activist and fundraiser, has raised more than $150 million for charitable causes. Through personal stories and practical advice, she demonstrates how we can replace feelings of scarcity, guilt, and burden with experiences of sufficiency, freedom, and purpose. In this Nautilus Award-winning book, Twist shares from her own life, a journey illuminated by remarkable encounters with the richest and poorest, from the famous (Mother Teresa and the Dalai Lama) to the anonymous but unforgettable heroes of everyday life.

Charlie Williamson is a life-long jock who’s butch enough to cause plenty of raised eyebrows in gym locker rooms. Since flaming out of college on a wave of drugs, alcohol, and depression, she’s worked the same easy, low-stress job at RRiotWear—a women’s fitness clothing startup in Chicago. Then with a promotion on the horizon, Charlie’s boss ropes her into leading a beginner’s marathon group in the RRiotWear facilities. Elizabeth McIntyre runs a boutique tech company. Since graduating from MIT, she’s made herself into the face of women in technology. She has a beautiful apartment she never sees, a string of ex-girlfriends, and a propensity for panic attacks. When her doctor confirms what her best friend has been saying for years—that Elizabeth needs to slow down and make some radical life changes—she signs up for RRiotWear’s marathon program. Despite everything that points to a not-so-perfect fit, the attraction between Charlie and Elizabeth grows week after week, and mile after mile. But with secrets lingering between them, they might find their relationship stumbles before it can even get to the starting line.

This book unifies training in the supernatural, the Holy Spirit, and the Spirit-led life with principles for living healthy and strong emotionally and physically as well. A truly unique training manual.

Bethany Hamilton has become a fitness expert by virtue of being a professional athlete who has excelled—and she's done it while overcoming incredible challenges. Whether you know Bethany or not, whether you surf or not, everyone has challenges, and in Surfer Style, Bethany shares some of her core experiences with body, mind and spirit. Sharing her expertise as an athlete, New You helps young girls develop a healthy lifestyle, understand their changing bodies, gain confidence, and establish a pattern of healthy living starting at a young age. This book includes workouts specially developed for young girls by Bethany’s personal trainer, recipes and information on healthy eating based on “Bethany’s food pyramid,” which follows the Mediterranean diet, and advice on deepening your spiritual health, for a total body wellness book perfect for growing girls. This isn't a book about Bethany, this is a book about wellness, becoming your best “you,” through physical and spiritual balance, because spiritual health is just as important as physical health.

The first book to explore the idea and effect of moral injury on veterans, their families, and their communities Although veterans make up only 7 percent of the U.S. population, they account for an alarming 20 percent of all suicides. And though treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder has undoubtedly alleviated suffering and allowed many service members returning from combat to transition to civilian life, the suicide rate for veterans under thirty has been increasing. Research by Veterans Administration health professionals and veterans’ own experiences now suggest an ancient but unaddressed wound of war may be a factor: moral injury. This deep-seated sense of transgression includes feelings of shame, grief, meaninglessness, and remorse from having violated core moral beliefs. Rita Nakashima Brock and Gabriella Lettini, who both grew up in families deeply affected by war, have been working closely with vets on what moral injury looks like, how vets cope with it, and what can be done to heal the damage inflicted on soldiers’ consciences. In Soul Repair, the authors tell the stories of four veterans of wars from Vietnam to our current conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan—Camillo “Mac” Bica, Herman Keizer Jr., Pamela Lightsey, and Camilo Mejía—who reveal their experiences of moral injury from war and how they have learned to live with it. Brock and Lettini also explore its effect on families and communities, and the community processes that have gradually helped soldiers with their moral injuries. Soul Repair will help veterans, their families, members of their communities, and clergy understand the impact of war on the consciences of healthy people, support the recovery of moral conscience in society, and restore veterans to civilian life. When a society sends people off to war, it must accept responsibility for returning them home to peace.

There is an intriguing correlation between the physical warfare of an infantryman and the spiritual warfare of a follower of Jesus Christ. Both of these combat situations are challenging, intense, and life-altering. Every Christian has been drafted into the army of God and is engaged in battles with spiritual forces. Not very many people, in comparison, have experienced the horrors of earthly combat. The author, Tim Rezac, has experienced both, in a very real and personal sense. As a devoted disciple of Jesus, he had to wrestle with many spiritual and emotional issues during the Vietnam War. This book contains many of those issues, with biblical comparisons and practical applications for victorious Christian living. Some of the chapters may be uncomfortable to read but are necessary for a lucid description of both types of warfare in the real world. This book's primary purpose is twofold: To encourage fellow believers toward spiritual maturity as soldiers in the Lord's army, and to urgently persuade those who have not yet trusted in Jesus Christ as their Savior to do so. May you be eternally blessed as you read and ponder the following pages.