Banyen Books ~ Branches of Wisdom

Richard Rudd, founder of the Gene Keys method, shares wisdom and practices from from his newly released book Gene Keys (Special Anniversary Edition).Gene Keys offers a powerful approach to unlocking your untapped potential by awakening the sleeping genius within. Combining Western astrology, the I Ching, and genetic archetypes, these transformative teachings guide you in decoding your Gene Keys Profile and help you turn shadow patterns into creative gifts. Richard Rudd is a teacher, mystic, and award-winning poet, experienced a life-changing spiritual awakening at age 29, which led to his development of the Gene Keys teachings. His studies with renowned spiritual teachers, travels across the world, and deep inner explorations culminated in this profound body of work. In 2019, Richard was named on the Watkins list of The 100 Most Spiritually Influential Living People, solidifying his influence in the field of personal and spiritual growth.

Mirabai Starr and Sr Greta Ronningon discuss Mirabai Starr's new book, Ordinary Mysticism, where she reveals how to discover the sacred in everyday life. In Ordinary Mysticism, Mirabai Starr invites us to embrace mysticism not as a distant or exclusive practice, but as a direct, personal experience of the divine woven into the fabric of our daily routines. Drawing on wisdom from spiritual luminaries like Julian of Norwich and Ram Dass, along with her own journey through love, loss, and healing, Starr offers profound insights, storytelling, and practices to awaken to the magic in ordinary moments. Ordinary Mysticism has received praise from the likes of Anne Lamott, V (formerly Eve Ensler), Mark Nepo, Valarie Kaur, Pete Holmes.Mirabai Starr is an award-winning author, internationally acclaimed speaker, and leading teacher of interspiritual dialogue. In 2020, she was named one of Watkins’ 100 Most Spiritually Influential Living People. Drawing from 20 years of teaching Philosophy and World Religions at the University of New Mexico-Taos, she now travels globally, sharing her insights on contemplative living, writing as a spiritual practice, and the transformative power of grief. Her books include Wild Mercy, Caravan of No Despair, and God of Love. Mirabai’s acclaimed translations of mystics like John of the Cross and Teresa of Ávila offer a fresh, lyrical voice. She lives in northern New Mexico and teaches through her online community, Wild Heart. More at www.mirabaistarr.com.Sister Greta Ronningen is an Episcopal monastic, spiritual teacher, and chaplain. She began her journey in the 1970s at the Ojai Foundation with Dr. (Roshi) Joan Halifax, exploring various Eastern traditions, and later traveled to Nepal, where she took refuge with His Holiness Dudjum Rinpoche. In the 1980s, she co-founded Yoga Works in Santa Monica and Yoga Zone in New York with her husband, a second-generation yoga master of the ISHTA tradition. After 35 years of yoga teaching, she felt drawn to the Christian contemplative path, co-founding the Community of Divine Love in San Gabriel, CA. Greta holds an MA in Spiritual Formation from Claremont School of Theology and serves as a chaplain at Twin Towers Correctional Facility and Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall.

Internationally celebrated Qi Gong master Lee Holden shares wisdom from his latest book, Ready, Set, Slow: How to Improve Your Energy, Health, and Relationships Through the Power of Slow.In this guide, Holden explores the power of slowing down to find balance and peace amidst the chaos of modern life. Drawing from Eastern meditation, martial arts, and Western science, he will introduce The Slow Method—a collection of practical tools to help you regain time, energy, and clarity. Discover techniques for calming the mind, nurturing the body, and deepening relationships as you learn how slowing down can lead to greater productivity, vitality, and inner harmony. Rady, Set, Slow has received praise from Deepak Chopra, James Nestor, Vishen Lakhiani, Mantak Chia and more.Lee Holden is an internationally celebrated Qi Gong master recognized by the International Qi Gong Association. He is the author of 7 Minutes of Magic and a beloved television personality who has been aired in over 50 million households in the US alone. Lee is a licensed Chinese medical doctor and acupuncturist and the cofounder of the Santa Cruz Integrative Medicine and Chi Center.

Deb Dana discusses The Nervous System Workbook: Practical Exercises to Ease Anxiety, Find Safety, and Come Home to Yourself Using Polyvagal Theory.Deb Dana offers tools for understanding and befriending your unique nervous system, providing practical exercises and insights rooted in Polyvagal Theory—a groundbreaking approach that explains how our nervous systems shape our behaviors, emotions, and relationships. Dana presents a layperson-friendly overview of Polyvagal Theory, guiding you through practices and reflections to help you understand, soothe, and train your system, cultivating a sense of safety and well-being.Discover how to manage stress, anxiety, and overwhelm with effective strategies tailored to your body's unique needs. As Dana writes, “There is no right or wrong way—there is the way of your nervous system.” This event is perfect for anyone looking to enhance their mental health and live with greater resilience and connection.Deb Dana, LCSW, is a clinician and consultant specializing in using the lens of Polyvagal Theory to understand and resolve the impact of trauma and create ways of working that honour the role of the autonomic nervous system. She is a founding member of the Polyvagal Institute and lectures internationally. She is the author of several books, including Anchored and Polyvagal Exercises for Safety and Connection.

Richard Freeman and Mary Taylor share authentic wisdom from their new book, Feeling Happy: The Yoga of Body, Heart, and Mind. Richard Freeman and Mary Taylor have both studied yoga for over 50 years. Together they teach workshops and training throughout the world and have authored several influential books. Their new book, Feeling Happy, draws from their decades practising and teaching yoga, meditation, and Buddhism to explore what happiness is and to offer practical steps toward cultivating happiness as a deep, embodied expression of life. Freeman and Taylor offer insights from yoga philosophy and Buddhism as well as accessible practices to help readers develop true happiness, (self)compassion, and equanimity.Richard Freeman has studied Ashtanga, Iyengar, bhakti, and traditional hatha yoga; Western and Eastern philosophy; and Sanskrit, all of which he incorporates into his Ashtanga yoga practice. Richard teaches at his studio, the Yoga Workshop, in Boulder, Colorado, as well as at studios and conferences throughout the world. He is also a frequent contributor to Yoga Journal and his video series, Yoga with Richard Freeman, inspires many people to take up yoga. Mary Taylor is the cofounder, with Richard Freeman, of the Yoga Workshop in Boulder, Colorado, which they started in 1988. Mary travels and teaches Ashtanga yoga throughout the world, both independently and in collaboration with Richard. In addition to teaching, Mary works closely with programs focused on bringing contemplative and yoga practices into the health care system for integrative therapies and self-care, and she is active in Donna Karan’s Urban Zen Foundation.

Rob Wipond, author of Your Consent Is Not Required, discusses the alarming rise of psychiatric coercion—and how we can push for ethical, person-centred alternatives.Asylums may have closed, but their practices persist in troubling ways. More people than ever are being involuntarily committed and forcibly treated. In Your Consent Is Not Required, investigative journalist Rob Wipond exposes how psychiatric incarceration, forced medication, and coercive interventions extend beyond hospitals into homes, schools, prisons, and social services—impacting not only those deemed "dangerous" but also schoolchildren, the elderly, whistleblowers, and marginalized communities. While revealing these hidden injustices, the book also explores humane, consent-based alternatives for supporting people in crisis.Rob Wipond is a freelance investigative journalist who writes about the intersections of psychiatry, civil rights, policing, surveillance, and social change. His work has been nominated for seventeen magazine and journalism awards for reporting on science, medicine, law, business, and community issues.

Toko-pa Turner, award-winning author of Belonging: Remembering Ourselves Home, shares wisdom from her new book, The Dreaming Way: Courting the Wisdom of Dreams.In 'The Dreaming Way', Toko-pa reawakens the ancient art of dreaming as a way to reclaim the wisdom we all carry within. Blending animism, Sufism, and Jungian Psychology, she reveals that the power to interpret and understand our dreams is a natural part of being human—something as accessible as finding meaning in a story or beauty in a work of art. In this evocative and revolutionary new book, she invites us to reconnect with our inner guide and to bring the world of dreams back into everyday life.Toko-pa Turner is an award-winning writer, teacher, and dreamworker who blends the mystical tradition of Sufism with a Jungian approach to dreams. In 2001 she founded the Dream School and speaks internationally on the subject of dreams and belonging. Sometimes called a "midwife of the psyche," Toko-pa’s work focuses on restoring the feminine, reciprocity with nature, honouring grief, ritual, and beauty-making. Her book, Belonging: Remembering Ourselves Home, is the winner of multiple awards, including the 2017 Gold Nautilus Award, and the 2018 Readers' Favourite Gold Award. It was named Finalist in the 2018 Whistler Independent Book Awards, and Finalist for the Montaigne Medal in the 2019 Eric Hoffer Book Awards. Her new book is The Dreaming Way.

Amy Tan, 1 New York Times bestselling author of The Joy Luck Club, discusses her new book, The Backyard Bird Chronicles. Blending birdwatching, nature, and personal reflection, The Backyard Bird Chronicles features Tan’s original sketches and insights on finding peace in the natural world. Amy Tan is the bestselling author of several novels, including The Joy Luck Club and The Bonesetter's Daughter. The Joy Luck Club spent over forty weeks on the New York Times Best Seller list and was adapted into a critically acclaimed film, for which she served as co-producer and co-screenwriter. Her works have earned numerous accolades and have been translated into more than 35 languages. She lectures at prestigious universities internationally, delivered a TED talk on creativity, was featured on Sesame Street, and spoke at the White House. Tan is also an advocate for environmental conservation and serves on the board of the American Bird Conservancy.

Bob McDonald, Canadian icon and host of CBC Radio’s Quirks and Quarks, discusses his book, Just Say Yes: A Memoir. Bob McDonald has been the host of CBC Radio’s Quirks and Quarks since 1992. He is a regular science commentator on CBC News Network and science correspondent for CBC TV’s The National. He has been honoured with the 2001 Michael Smith Award for science promotion from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, as well as the 2002 Sandford Fleming Medal from the Royal Canadian Institute for Science, and the 2005 McNeil Medal for the public awareness of science from the Royal Society of Canada. In November 2011, McDonald was made an Officer of the Order of Canada. He is the recipient of thirteen honorary doctorates . In 2014, asteroid 332324 was officially named bobmcdonald.

Paulina Stevens & Jezmina Von Thiele, cohosts of the Romanistan podcast, join Banyen for a discussion of their book, Secrets of Romani Fortune-Telling: Divining with Tarot, Palmistry, Tea Leaves, and More. Jezmina Von Thiele (they/she) is a writer, educator, performer, and fortune-teller in their mixed Sinti Romani tradition. Their work has been published in Prairie Schooner, The Kenyon Review Online, and Narrative Magazine under the name Jessica Reidy. Jezmina reads tarot, palms, and tea leaves online and at Deadwicks Ethereal Emporium in Portsmouth, NH. They also teach classes on divination, spiritual wellness, and the creative arts, and perform poetry with The Poetry Brothel in Boston. Jezmina cohosts Romanistan, a podcast celebrating Romani culture, and runs the Etsy shop Evil Eye Edit. They are based in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Paulina Stevens grew up in an insular Romani-American family, destined to leave school, marry young, and become a fortune-teller. By age seventeen, her fate was sealed—until she decided to leave it all behind. Paulina is the subject of the podcast Foretold. Hosted by Los Angeles Times reporter Faith Pinho, the podcast follows Paulina as she navigates the consequences of her decision to leave her community and redefine her identity. The cohost of Romanistan, a podcast celebrating Romani culture, Paulina is based in Los Angeles.