RECOMMENDATIONS
From my library...
I'm happy to share with you some amazing books in the categories of PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT, SPIRITUALITY, WELLNESS & NUTRITION. Some are light, easy reads - they will offer clarity and make you feel better. Others can be studied for a long time, and become a foundation for our deep, inner work.
"To open a new book is to enter a new world"
Explore books in the categories of:
- Transformative / mind body science
- Nutrition, wellness, weight
- Spirituality - deep work
- Shamans - nature medicine
- Spirituality - light reads
- Mindset, practical, self-help and inspiration
- Wellness for Women
transformative & mind/body
"Becoming Supernatural. How common people are doing the uncommon" Dr. Joe Dispenza
How everyone of us can have a more mystical life combining the science with the ancient wisdom. In the author's advanced workshops the participants make profound changes in their lives, healing and their brains (which is measured) This book can serve as a guided journey in healing of the body and mind, becoming free from past conditioning, and to manifest in 5 dimension vs the 3rd. #quantumleap #subconscious Great as a paper or an audio book.
"Power up Your Brain" - the neuroscience of enlightenment
David Perlmutter, Alberto Villoldo
A book written by a neuroscientist and a shaman about the brain, the historical changes from the original feminine cultures to the masculine and how it relates to our bodies. It talks about the Mitochondria, the feminine life force, the energy factory of the body and how we can optimize them, and our brain, how to calm the nervous system with a diet, and more. Includes the diet plan.
"The Biology of Belief. Unleashing the Power of Consciousness, Matter & Miracles" Bruce Lipton, PhD
A wonderful audio book on the mind, body, spirit connection / epigenetics. What happens in the body when we think, what parts and chemical pathways of the body and brain participate and influence out thinking? How our thoughts and emotions influence our body on the chemical level? Lipton answers all the questions and then proposes a method to change limiting beliefs: hypnosis.
Disclaimer: this page includes affiliate links
Nutrition, wellness, weight.
"Deep Nutrition. Why your genes need traditional food" - Catherine Shanahan MD
Four pillars of the human diet (not vegetarian) The most important book on nutrition and wellness to have and read over and over - in my opinion.
Full review below.
"Loving yourself to great health. How to live a nutrient-rich life for health, happiness and longevity. " - Louise Hay, Ahlea Khadro, Heather Dane.
A holistic guide to wellness, physical, mental, emotional health. Reading it feels like taking care of ourselves.
For everyone. Includes recipes.
"A Course in Weight Loss" 21 spiritual lessons to surrender your weight forever.
Marianne Williamson takes the wisdom from a Course in Miracles and shines its light on the weight loss process. This book is an invitation to see this process from a body mind spirit perspective. You may say you have no time to mix eating habits with spirituality, but what if this is the most effective and long lasting way? If you are open to it, you may soon feel lighter either because you learned to surrender the struggle to the divine, or because you learned to be kinder to yourself, and stopped overeating (which is an act of violence against yourself).
"The Obesity Code. Unlocking the secrets of weight loss" - Jason Fung
A classic. Methodical, well organized (easy to read) explanation of the diets, keto, hormones, diabetes, weight. Very important for people who help others with weight loss and to understand your own body. Demystifies metabolism, fasting, ect.
"Wired to eat. Turn Off Cravings, Rewire Your Appetite for Weight Loss, and Determine the Foods That Work for You" - Robb Wolf
Biology and disease explained in a light, easy to understand way. Contains recipes. Tips. Actionable steps.
Addresses Paleo misconceptions, keto, diabetes prevention.
"Breaking free from emotional eating" Geneen Roth. - a classic. Light read that can help with deep inner work. Describes our thinking patterns and emotions better than we could. Practical tips, opportunities for self-reflection. May help with fulfillment, boundaries, self-worth.
"Use your brain to change your age. Secrets to look, Feel, and Think Younger every day " - Daniel G. Amen
Disclaimer for the nutrition and other books: The owner of the blog may not agree 100% with all the advice given in the books, or statements expressed by the authors in public. Use the knowledge of your body, conditions, food allergens etc, to follow any recommendations.
Nutrient Dense Kitchen
125 Autoimmune Paleo Recipes for Deep Healing and Vibrant Health - Mickey Trescott
A cookbook focused on giving your body the very best. No fluff in writing, no fillers in recipes. The author was barely functioning physically, when she slowly started changing her diet. She decided to eat a piece of meat, as her last resort and expected to feel bad, being a vegan for many years. To her greatest surprise [...]
WHO IS IT FOR:
Good for the beginners: if you just start learning about food and want to eat healthier right away. CONTENTS: Succinct, well organized nutrition info. + A variety of easy, nourishing recipes that help with autoimmune conditions, but will benefit everyone regardless of health (no grains, no flours, no sugar, no bad oils)
no longer a vegetarian, or omnivore, but: nutritarian
Deep Nutrition: Why Your Genes Need Traditional Food
by Catherine Shanahan MD, Eliza Foss, et al.
You will never look at food the same way again:
- The chapter on sugar explains how it makes us age faster, undermines immunity and what exactly sugar does in the body. Impactful! Knowledge helps to choose better.
- Brain's worst enemy - vegetable fats. How fats affect weight and mental wellbeing.
- Weight chapter that does not talk about calories and Sickness epidemic chapter that demystifies the wrong cholesterol theory.
- Preservation of genetic wealth. Creating beautiful, healthy children
- The Four pillars of the Human Diet and MORE.
"Garden of Eating - A Produce-dominated Diet & Cookbook" - Rachel Albert-Matesz
One of my most frequently used cookbooks. It can serve as the only culinary book. A good balance of theory, culinary techniques for better health and digestion. Educates about healthier eating options. A great number of recipes (also meat recipes.) I personally participated in the holistic cooking classes taught by the author, and many people reported feeling physically better when eating this way. (577 pages. May fall apart)
Spiritual teachings
The Science of Mind
A Course in Miracles
Written in 1926 by a founder of the Religious Science Movement, this metaphysical book teaches where is our place in the large scheme of things. Incredibly empowering, it helps to shatter many limiting beliefs we might have about ourselves, the Divine, and how the world - and the mind- works.
A great book for healers, it describes the conditions for healing with the Mind, various dis-ease states and what could be helpful in each case.
Perfect for daily spiritual reading, as well as group reading.
- Level: BEGINNERS. Anyone can pick up the book and start studying.
- Who is it for? For someone who is looking for regular reading, to add to their spiritual practice. For healers. For anyone who wants deeper connection with the Spirit and to understand where they are in the big scheme of things.
- No teacher, or group reading necessary. Self-explanatory and repetitive to create better understanding.
A Miracle is a shift in perception. Expect it when reading this book. It will change the perception of the world and your relationships. Initially it seems like we are learning a new language and it's an adventure in itself. And then something shifts. You start speaking this "language."
Channeled in the 70's, created as an alternative to the Bible. A spiritual book for these times.
It emphasizes the choice between Love and Fear. It explains the old terms in a new way. If you are resistant to religions, you may still love this book because it is beyond religion. (the few terms like God, Holy Spirit, etc, have a wider meaning) Perfect for daily spiritual reading, as well as group reading.
Assists in DEEP, inner work. Helps with love, self-love, forgiveness, self-forgiveness, self-worth, sense of Oneness. One of the teachers who popularized wisdom from this book is Marianne Williamson.
- Level: ADVANCED (and this is where you start)
- Who is it for? For someone who wants to make it a regular, spiritual practice.
- To be STUDIED preferably in GROUPS (there may be one near you or online)
- The table of contents is descriptive, it is relatively easy to find the topics that interests you. There is no index.
Radiance Sutras
"The Radiance Sutras: 112 Gateways to the Yoga of Wonder and Delight" -Lorin Roche
- What: Easy read or a study material
- For who: beginners
- Style: Poetic
We belong to both worlds: The human and the divine. The fleeting and the eternal. Physical and spiritual.
Full engagement in both is required – a conclusion from all the sacred books I read, including this one.
Many people say they want to go “home” now. They want to "transition" before they do the Work.
Yet doing “the Work” is essential and leads to freedom. It can lead to the point when we no longer long to leave. (read more)
Are you looking to reignite your spiritual practice?
First, WHAT IS IT? It’s not the original Patanjali Sutras but contemporary rendering by teacher, Lorin Roche, PhD
It’s a conversation between Shiva and Shakti, where they explore: “The divinity permeating our body NOW, the alchemical power of Sanskrit, the depths of our connection to all levels of life.”
[Shakti and Shiva are within everyone of us. Shakti – the Creative Power; also, the entire creation and mother of the Universe. Shiva – Pure Consciousness permeating everything.]
I made “The Radiance Sutras. 112 Gateways to the Yoga of Wonder and Delight” a part of my daily practice a few years ago. Every morning and evening I’d read just one page before meditation. It was a ritual in itself: candles, incense, door open to my quiet garden… And after days, weeks and months something clicked. Something fell into place.
One evening, when I was on a phone with a friend and she asked a difficult question, I realized, this book offered a perfect answer. I wrote about it in my previous post.
With no goal other than “just” reading a page a day, I absorbed the teachings about the purpose of life, the importance of full engagement in all experiences, the light and the dark, non attachment, the power and the gifts of full presence. All this – underlined with incredible joy that comes from being alive.
There are some ideas hard to understand with our logical mind. We assimilate them on a different level. That’s what happened with me and The Radiance Sutras:
through the way of effortless confluence…
Related blog "We belong to both worlds, the human and the divine"
Spiritual / advanced
The Anatomy
of the Spirit
Caroline Myss, PhD
Spiritual / advanced
Entering the Castle:
Finding the Inner Path to God and Your Soul's Purpose
Caroline Myss, PhD
Don't rush when you enter the castle. This journey is meant to be taken slow. There is no destination other than yourself and your connection to the Divine.
A book that guides you through yourself, your shadows and your light, through a practice of contemplation, prayer and witnessing yourself.
religion / spirituality
Shamans & Dream Medicine
Change Your Story, Change Your Life: Using Shamanic and Jungian Tools to Achieve Personal Transformation - Carl Greer, PhD, PsyD
Shamanic practices for everyone
A Shaman's Dreamtime: 10 Messages from Spirit You Need to Wake Up & Seize Your Personal Power
Like a good, nourishing meal, this book is packed with wisdom from across several areas of personal growth. The author - a shamans who dreams profound dreams for herself and for people she helps, ties it with her modern knowledge of managing the mind, making it an interesting and captivating read. Unique approach to self-discovery.
Both the beginners and the advanced readers will benefit from this book.
11th Hour shaman. dream medicine and mindset
Mending the Past and Healing the Future with Soul Retrieval - Alberto Villoldo
four winds society
Shamanic Visioning - Sandra Ingerman
I had it as an audiobook and it was a wonderful travel companion. Helps to honor the soul, and heal the heart. Listen or use it for personal transformations. The benefit of the audio book is that the drumming is recorded and you can use it for journeying.
Read by the author.
Human Design
Contemplation practice for people interested in their Human Design. Each of the 64 gene keys (Gates) are described here in depth, from the perspective of the Shadow, the Gift and the Siddhi. Each of them offers a direction, guidance on how to recognize the shadows and how to step into your light and gifts of each gene key.
for the students of HUMAN DESIGN
The Gene Keys:
Embracing Your Higher Purpose - Richard Rudd
Taking the Human Design deeper into personal spiritual practice. For contemplation and spiritual growth. The book describes each of the 64 Gene Keys' shadow, gift, and siddhi (enlightenment). You may find much relief and empowerment that you can evolve beyond the shadows of your design. If you have the shadow you also have a seed of Siddhi - evolved state of each key.
Spiritual, light, poetic, leisure reads
The books below describe people's experiences in regression and life between lives.
They refer to all sort of human experiences and can become a "therapeutic" read.
Mindset, Practical Self-help & Inspiration
- Cal Newport.
Newport describes the challenges of distractions, (possible to handle) myths of focus, work and the types of people who get more done, and don't kill themselves doing it. What focus style would be natural for you? This book goes well with 4000 weeks.
Four Thousand Weeks. Time management for mortals" - by Oliver Burkeman.
Surprising at times. A LOT of references to philosophy. Get's more personal and practical in the end. Opportunity for self-reflection and illumination regarding the time we have left. Perfect as an Audio book
High Performance Habits. How extraordinary people become that way- Brendon Burchard
"Beyond Positive Thinking. A no- nonsense formula for getting the Results you Want" - Dr Robert Anthony
If you like "The Secret"... but this book has the missing ingredient and takes you thru the details of how to manifest.
"The Ultimate Secret of total Self-Confidence" - Dr. Robert Anthony
The first confidence book I read many years ago, that actually worked for me.
