Each month, a ton of new spiritual and self-help books hit the market. It’s easy to get overwhelmed or miss out on some new releases.
We created Elevated Existence Monthly Book Picks to help our readers narrow down their search, and make sure they don’t miss some great options!
The books for this month were chosen by our editor’s as their picks for December 2016. They are listed below in alphabetical order. Click on each title to go directly to Amazon and find out more about the book.
“Chicken Soup for the Soul: Curvy & Confident — 101 Stories about Loving Yourself and Your Body,” by Amy Newmark, Emme and Natasha Stoynoff
This new collection of 101 stories celebrated different body types women have and how to be curvy and confident. Supermodel EMME, the world’s first curvy supermodel shares her story and introduces other women who have learned to be fit, happy and confident about their bodies.
“The Intuitive Dance: Building, Protecting and Clearing Your Energy,” by Atherton Drenth
Offering practical exercises and easy-to-follow techniques, this book is aimed at helping you dance with your ego and find inner calm. Atherton Drenth, a certified medical intuitive and holistic energy practitioner will share how to determine your intuitive type, center and ground your energy, rest fully when you sleep, cut energy cords and more.
“Jump: Take the Leap of Faith to Achieve Your Life of Abundance,” by Steve Harvey
Bestselling Steve Harvey’s message is simple: You need to Jump like your life depends on it — because it does if you truly want a life of peace and abundance. He shares seven vulnerable seasons of his own life including being homeless and living out of his car, flunking out of college, a second failed marriage and owing the IRS $20 million. He teaches his core principles, including identifying the lesson and blessing in all life brings your way; placing past mistakes in the rearview mirror and creating a fresh life story; letting go of people weighting us down and more.
“The Kindness Challenge: Thirty Days to Improve Any Relationship,” by Shaunti Feldhahn
Do you want to improve one of your relationships in the next 30 days? Author Shaunti Feldhahn shows you how based on years of research into the power of kindness. Learn three simple acts to make all the difference in any relationship, the seven ways you may be unkind and not realize it, eight types of kindness, 10 obstacles that get in the way of giving praise, and more to transform your relationships in only one month.
“Life on Earth: Understanding Who We Are, How We Got Here, and What May Lie Ahead,” by Mike Dooley
Taking the form of a journal, author Mike Dooley asks questions about life that are on his mind and let’s the answers come from his higher self. He takes on topics, including why and how to see through the “illusions” of life on earth; how to make sense of natural disasters and manmade tragedies, wealth, relationships and past lives; and the ultimate reason for life on earth and elsewhere.
“Making Life Easy: A Simple Guide to a Divinely Inspired Life,” by Christiane Northrup M.D.
Bestselling author Dr. Christiane Northrup explores the essential truth that has guided her ever since medical school — our minds, bodies and souls are profoundly intertwined. In this book, you will earn to untie the knots of blame and guilt that harm your health; use sexual energy consciously to increase vitality; balance your microbiome through healthy eating; communicate directly with the Divine and more.
“Manifesting Made Easy: How to Harness the Law of Attraction to Get What You Want,” by Jen Mazer
Many of us have hidden stumbling blocks preventing us from achieving the abundance we deserve. Known as the Queen of Manifestation, transformation coach and author Jen Mazer takes you through a step-by-step approach to manifesting the things you desire, from understanding what you want to mapping out ways to make it a reality. It incudes exercises prompts, success stories and more.
“Mind Body Baby: How to Overcome Stress and Enhance your Fertility with CBT, Mindfulness and Good Nutrition,” by Ann Bracken
Top fertility specialist Ann Bracken offers proven, successful guidance on how to enhance and improve the outcome of fertility, using mindfulness-based stress reduction techniques, and step-by-step exercises to improve the chance of conceiving. It also includes a chapter on nutrition from renowned nutritionist Dr. Marilyn Glenville.
“The Mindful Twenty-Something: Life Skills to Handle Stress . . . and Everything Else,” by Holly Rogers
Co-founder of the extremely popular Koru Mindfulness program developed at Duke University offers a unique and evidence-based approach to help make decisions with more clarity and confidence. The mindfulness program — in use at numerous college campuses, including Harvard, Yale and Princeton, show significant benefits for sleep, perceived stress and self-compassion, and Holly Rogers shares this to help all young adults deal with stress.
“The Science of Positivity: Stop Negative Thought Patterns by Changing Your Brain Chemistry,” by Loretta Graziano Breuning
Learn how cynical thought habits are formed and how to rewire yourself to go beyond them from neurochemical expert Loretta Graziano Breuning. This includes simple, practical actions you can take to shift your thinking to a new way, causing your brain to reward optimism with the release of happy chemicals. In just minutes a day for six-weeks, you will build new pathways to see the world in new ways.
“Wake Up to the Joy of You: 52 Meditations and Practices for a Calmer, Happier Life,” by Agapi Stassinopoulos
Make 2017 your year of self-discovery as Agapi Stassinopoulos walks you 52 weeks of meditations to let go of what isn’t working and open up to what does. Learn about self-care, including meditation, health and making time for yourself, and confront roadblocks, such as pouring your energy into other people or living in denial. It addresses relationships, money, self-esteem, anxiety and your childhood, and helps to connect to the spirit inside of you.
“The Year of Yes Journal,” by Shonda Rhimes
A companion to Shonda Rhimes’ success book “The Year of Yes,” this journal allos you to chronicle your own year of “yes” and is broken out by month and day, with each month offering a theme, such as “Yes to Help,” and “Yes to Doing.” It’s bound with a gold-foiled stamped, blue case, and includes prompts for reflection and a six-month mark check-in, as well as one at the end of the year.