Thomas F. Crum

'Journey to Center teaches the invaluable principle of self-reflection, putting you on the inner path to peace. An insightful and intriguing work.'-Dr. Stephen R. Covey, Author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

'In the twelve years I have known Tom Crum, he has consistently made his life a masterpiece in the art of being fully alive. His new book, Journey to Center, is a compelling and enlightening guide to this art, and it promises to help all of us take it the next level.'-Antohiney Robbins, author of Awaken the Giant Within

'What a delightful book! Journey to Center has a vital message, but the message never gets in the way of the fun. And a big part of the fun is gettng to know the adventurous, highspirited, and wonderfully candid author. I savored this wise and enchanting book from cover to cover.'-George Leonard, author of Mastery and The Ultimate Athlete

In The Magic of Conflict Thomas Crum taught thousands ofpeople how to turn stress into success. Now, in Journey to Center, Crum combines his expertise in Aikido, peak performance coaching, and relationship training to teach the vital techniques for achieving a more relaxed, energized, and balanced life.

Using anecdotes from his own journeys and from the extraordinary people he's met around the world, Thomas Crum introduces the principle of centering, a skill for unifying body, mind, and spirit. Centering enhances performance in sports-from the quality of your golf game to skiing particulary difficult terrain-results in greater productivity and power at the office, and allows you to let go of stress and insecurities in order to enjoy harmonious relationships. With specific exercises and detailed information on applying centering to all areas of life, Journey to Center provides a step-by-step guide to this unique skill for improving yourself and your life.

Centering is available to all of us. Journey to Center teaches this vital skill for adding value to your world. Through centering, you will learn to turn a life of work into a work of art. It will allow you to become connected, aware, alive.

Thomas Crum is an internationally known author, seminar leader, ski professional, and martial artist. He is the cofounder and president of Aiki Works. Crum lives in Aspen, Colorado.

Contents

Introduction
Part I: Aha!
Center of the storm
Coloring outside the lines
Letting go
Leg it be
Hero
The briar patch
Part II: Uh-oh!
Back in the USA
The big draw
Downhill magic
It's about time
Part III: Ah, Yes!
Slings and arrows
Centered relationship
Almost gone
Gone
The warrior spirit
Afterword… (more)

from cover

'The minutes you take reading The Magic Conflict will be some of the best itme you have ever spent. Moving toward inner peace...'-Kenneth Blanchard, coauthor of The One-Minuet Manager

The Magic of Conflict presents Aiki-a uniquely effective New Age stress-reduction strategy. Based on Aikido, a Japanese martial art and mind-body discipline, this proven program has already helped thousands of people.

Here at last is an antidote to the intense personal and professional pressures of modern society: a set of simple techniques-including meditation, breathing exercises, openness, and play. Illustrated with evocative, instructive photographs and real-life experiences, the Aikil method helps the reader master conflicts and turn frustration into fulfillment. From overcoming apathy to understanding how conflict can be an opportunity for choice and change, Aiki turns mind-body integration principles into powerful tools. In The Magic of Conflict, struggle becomes success, stress becomes harmony, and life at every level-home, office, personal, political-becomes a work of art.

'An invaluable source of wisdom.'-Larry Wilson, author of Changing the Game

'A Rrre book that improves your life as you read it.'-Amory Lovins and Hunter Lovins, authors of Brittle Power

'Opens a whole new world of possibilities and potentials.'-Richard Lamm, Professor of Government, Dartmouth College

Contents

Foreword by John Denver
Introduction
One-The Challenge
1. The Extraordinary State
2. The Nature of Conflict
3. Conflict/Contest
Two-The Aiki Approach
4. Choose to Be Centered
5. Accept Your Connectedness
6. The Power of Discovery
7. Be Willing to Understand
8. Be Willing Change
9. Choose to Cocreate
Three-Fight, Flee, or Flow
10. Don't Sweat the Small Stuff
11. No Boundaries
Four-Taking it to the Streets
12. Putting It to Work
13. Masters of Aiki
Epilogue: Beyond the Gold
Notes… (more)

Does life have you feeling anxious, tense, on edge? Three Deep Breaths provides a welcome antidote: a simple technique that can be practiced just about anywhere-whole ou're driving to an appointment, commuting to work, walking to a meeting, or sitting at our desk. And it will have a profound effect on every aspect of your life.

Thomaas Crum illustrates how it works through the story of Angus, who is struggling to break negative habits that lead to anger, exhaustion, and poor performance. We follow Angus as he learns to use the Three Deep Breaths to maintain clarity and purpose in the midst of seeming chaos and turn negative energy to more positive purposes. The quality of our lives depends not on whether we have stress but on how we respond to it. All it takes to change your life is Three Deep Breaths-which you can do in an instant, anywhere , at any time.

'Three Deep Breaths is an incredibly unique and effective approach to dealing with stress-if used correctly, it could add years to your life.'-Stephen R. Covey, author of the bestselling The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People and the 8th Habit: From Effectiveness to Greatness

'I'm a big Tom Crum fan. His wisdom is timeless. Read Three Deep Breaths. It will change your life-guaranteed.'-Ken Blanchard, coauthor of the bestselling The One Minute Manager and Leading at a Higher Level

'In Thomas Crum's wonderful story you may discover what you felt has been missing...until now.'-Dr. Spencer Johnson, author of the bestselling Who Moved My Cheese? and The Precious Present

Thomas Crum is a popular corporate speaker and is the president of Aiki Works, Inc. His clients include Sony, Disney, Nestle, the United States Government, General Electric, Amgen, and many others. Thomas is also an aikido expert and uses many of the techniques and knowledge from this sophisticated art in his work.

Contents

Foreword by Mark Victor Hansen
Acknowledgments
The wrinkle
The lift
The first breath
Centering
A master teacher in disguise
The second breath
Possibility
The third breath
The mystery
The journal
Practice, practice, practice
Afterword
About the author… (more)