A collection alongside the programme
The Foundation's publications and recordings connected residential education with reading and listening. Its resource collection covered meditation, food, personal reflection and illness-related subjects. The range reflected the organisation's interests during its operating years.
Some items were closely connected with the Foundation's programme language. Others came from a wider collection of spiritual, contemplative and lifestyle writing. The fact that the Foundation listed a title established its place in that collection, rather than an endorsement of every statement it contained.
The collection also changed over time. Books, CDs, DVDs and magazines offered different forms of material, and the site arranged them into subject categories. This reference described that historical role without continuing a retail service.
Titles associated with the Foundation's origins
The historical catalogue included You Can Conquer Cancer, The Dragon's Blessing, Peace of Mind and Meditation Pure & Simple. These were the titles as the Foundation listed them.
The first of those titles also appeared in the Foundation's account of its beginnings. Here it was recorded only as a historical publication title.
The Foundation history described the founder and organisational facts relevant to that story: the 1975 diagnosis and amputation, the 1981 support group and the 1983 non-profit foundation.
Meditation books and recordings
Meditation was a substantial category in the collection. Listed titles included Miracle of Mindfulness, Walking Meditation, Full Catastrophe Living, Coming to Our Senses and The Power of Now.
The catalogue also included The Meditation Sanctuary as an audio recording. Other meditation-related works appeared in more than one format. The range showed how reading and listening accompanied the Foundation's interest in personal practice and teaching.
The meditation reference described the programme itself. A list of publications was a different kind of material from the Foundation's MBSM curriculum, even when the subjects overlapped.
Food and the kitchen collection
The Foundation's food publications included Eat Well : Be Well. The cookbook appeared alongside a recipe collection that named porridge, salad dressing, tofu cutlets, pumpkin risotto and almond and fruit truffles.
Food writing gave another form to the approach encountered at the Living Centre table. Practical preparation, ingredients and meals were prominent subjects. The kitchen reference described that food culture and retained two historical recipe examples.
Other diet-related titles in the collection included The China Study and Cancer Recovery Eating Plan. Those titles were recorded as catalogue entries only. Their inclusion was not a personalised eating plan or a summary of a medical protocol.
Illness-related and wider reading
The multiple sclerosis collection included Overcoming Multiple Sclerosis, The Multiple Sclerosis Diet Book and My Health Organiser. The programme of the same name was described separately in the MS programme history.
The wider catalogue also listed Gerson Therapy Handbook, Autobiography of a Yogi and Tibetan Book of Living & Dying. They illustrated the breadth of the collection. Only the titles were recorded here, with no account of how to carry out a therapy and no endorsement.
A historical catalogue could contain claims and viewpoints that required different kinds of assessment. The research reference distinguished the existence of a publication from evidence about an educational or clinical question.
Magazines and articles
The Foundation's magazines used the names Healthy Living and Living Well. Their subjects included meditation, food, gardening and general-interest discussions. Articles later appeared within the website's subject categories.
This magazine strand offered a view of the Foundation beyond its retreat descriptions. It brought together practical kitchen pieces, reflections on attention and articles concerned with research. The articles index gathered that range by subject.
The Foundation ceased operations in 2021. Its publications and recordings remained part of the historical account of what it taught, discussed and listed during its years of activity.