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.
I created Elevated Existence Monthly Book Picks to help narrow down your search, and make sure you don’t miss some great options!
Here are the picks for May 2018. They are listed below in alphabetical order. Click on each title to go directly to Amazon and find out more about the book.
“Apple Cider Vinegar Handbook: Recipes for Natural Living,” by Amy Leigh Mercree
Apple cider vinegar is a useful addition to the pantry and a tasty ingredient in cooking, but it can do more than just add flavor. It holds the potential to cure an upset stomach, treat a sore throat, aid weight loss, and more — proving apple cider vinegar is one of today’s handiest all-natural remedies. Author Amy Leigh Mercree shows why this inexpensive liquid is a must-have in your home and how to use it to achieve optimum health with an easy-to-use, illustrated guide that is complete with recipes.
“30-Day Meditation Challenge: Exercises, Resources and Journaling Prompts for a Better Life,” by Emma Silverman and Nicole Stumpf
In Emma Silverman’s newest book, she teams up with her yoga teacher, Nicole Stumpf, to make meditation accessible, interesting and fun. Exploring meditation traditions from around the world, Silverman and Stumpf invite readers to try 30 different meditations and then record their experiences after the practice. This book combines thousand-year-old meditation traditions with the newer phenomenon of prompted journaling. This book will help readers explore what the buzz about meditation is all about, and why so many scientific studies point to its amazing benefits.
“Choose Wonder Over Worry: Move Beyond Fear and Doubt to Unlock Your Full Potential,” by Amber Rae
Why do we hold back from pursuing what matters most? Why do we listen to the voice inside our head that tells us we’re not good enough, smart enough, or talented enough? How can we move beyond the fear and doubt that prevents us from creating a life that reflects who we truly are?
This new book by inspirational speaker and artist Amber Rae is your official invitation to face your fears, navigate your discomfort, and rewrite the “worry myths” in your mind that keep you from being your best and truest self.
Rae will connect you with your voice of worry and wonder, teaches you to listen to your emotions rather than silence them, and encourages you to seize your dreams. Through a thoughtful blend of vulnerability, soulfulness, and science, Rae guides you in expressing the fullness of who you are and the gifts you’re here to give.
“The Empath Experience: What to Do When You Feel Everything,” by Sydney Campos
Learn to lead an empowered life with this supportive and positive guide for those who are discovering their empath abilities and looking for information to help in understanding their gift, as well as how to embrace it and thrive in everyday life.
In The Empath Experience, you’ll find detailed information on what it means to be an empath and the different ways this gift can influence your life in positive ways. There is also supportive advice on how to embrace the positive aspects of this special talent, get in touch with and understand your emotions, and tips and techniques to help you feel your best — even when someone else may be feeling their worst.
“Essential Oils Handbook: Recipes for Natural Living,” by Amy Leigh Mercree
Essential oils have wide-ranging healing powers, and this handbook by medical intuitive Amy Leigh Mercree explains how we can take full advantage of these natural wonders. It covers all the different grades of oil, which ones are safest, and how and when to use them. There are also expert recipes for combining oils and specific advice on ways they can alleviate allergies, coughs and colds; aid with weight loss and digestion; help with skin disorders, wrinkles, and acne; relieve insomnia and headaches; balance hormones; and even act as a bug repellent. If you are excited by natural healing, this book is for you.
“Getting Back to Happy: Change Your Thoughts, Change Your Reality, and Turn Your Trials Into Triumphs,” by Marc and Angel Chernoff
Marc and Angel Chernoff have become go-to voices in the area of personal development, reaching tens of thousands of fans each day with their fresh and relatable insights. This book reveals their strategies for changing thought patterns and daily habits to bounce back from tough times. Sharing never-before-published stories and advice, the book shows how to harness the power of daily rituals, mindfulness, self-care, and more to overcome whatever life throws our way–in order to become our best selves.
“Happier Now: How to Stop Chasing Perfection and Embrace Everyday Moments (Even the Difficult Ones)” by Nataly Kogan
This isn’t a book about positive thinking, silver linings, or always being happy. This is a book about living fully in good times and bad, and enjoying life more because of it. Nationally recognized happiness expert, Nataly Kogan, teaches readers how to stop searching for some elusive “big happy” in the future and start finding more joy in everyday moments. Drawing from science, Eastern traditions, her experience as a refugee, and her own failing search to find lasting happiness through career success, Kogan shares simple practices to help readers live happier and have greater resilience when times get tough. Readers will learn how to experience more joy and meaning, boost their “emotional immune system,” and embrace difficult times with compassion and stability.
“Note to Self: Inspiring Words from Inspiring People,” by Gayle King
Gayle King shares her favorite inspiring letters from the popular CBS This Morning segment Note to Self, in which twenty-first century luminaries pen advice and encouragement to the young people they once were.
What do Congressman John Lewis, Dr. Ruth, Kesha, and Kermit the Frog wish they could tell their younger selves? What about a gay NFL player or the most successful female racecar driver? In Note to Self, CBS This Morning cohost Gayle King shares some of the most memorable letters from the broadcast’s popular segment of the same name. With essays from such varied figures as Oprah, Vice President Joe Biden, Chelsea Handler, and Maya Angelou — as well as poignant words from a Newtown father and a military widow — this book is a reflection on the joys and challenges of growing up.
“The Power of Your Potential: How to Break Through Your Limits,” by John C. Maxwell
Many of us hold ourselves back because we firmly believe our abilities are finite. But what if our supposed limitations are just an illusion? Bestselling author, John Maxwell, identifies and examines the 17 key capacities each of us possesses. Some we are born with, such as how we think or how we naturally relate to other people. The rest are choices, often unconscious, including our attitude or personal disciplines. All are expandable.
Maxwell gives clear and actionable advice on what we can do to improve in each of these areas. From learning to manage your emotions and increase your energy, to conquering procrastination and becoming more comfortable with taking risks, you will surpass your own expectations to become a better you than you ever thought possible.
“Practical Meditation for Beginners: 10 Days to a Happier, Calmer You,” by Benjamin W. Decker
From Zen and Vipassana to walking meditations and body scans, the simple practices outlined in this book by experienced meditation teacher, Benjamin W. Decker, make it easy to build an ongoing meditation routine that is best for each person. Readers will experience a clear 10-day program for learning 10 different meditation techniques ― one for each day of the program. The book also offers step-by-step instructions, writing prompts, and daily structure.
“A Tribe Called Bliss: Break Through Superficial Friendships, Create Real Connections, Reach Your Higher Potential,” by Lori Harder
Lori Harder is a self-love expert with over 6 million listeners on her Earn Your Happy podcast. In A Tribe Called Bliss she shares the exact structure she used to build her own tribe and grow from the anxiety-ridden, unhealthy, introverted underachiever she was to the confident woman who takes risks and leaps out of her comfort zone, with a foreword from #1 New York Times bestselling author Gabrielle Bernstein.
The benefits of a having a tribe are undeniable. Women who have strong social circles are living longer, happier, healthier lives in comparison to those who lack connections and are mentally and physically exhausting themselves trying to quench external desires in isolation. In this book, Harder bridges the gap between inspiration and action, providing a lasting resource for positive change and a guidebook for establishing a support tribe. It includes lessons and contextual self-work exercises on how to develop the kind of awareness of the present moment that is the key to a lifetime of blissful happiness.
“The Wisdom of Shamans: What the Ancient Masters Can Teach Us About Love and Life,” by don Jose Ruiz
For generation after generation, Toltec shamans have passed down their wisdom through teaching stories. The purpose of these stories is to implant a seed of knowledge in the mind of the listener, where it can ultimately sprout and blossom into a new and better way of life.
In this new book, Toltec shaman and master storyteller don Jose Ruiz shares some of the most popular stories from his family’s oral tradition, and offers corresponding lessons that illustrate the larger ideas within each story. He begins by explaining that contrary to the stereotypical image of “witchdoctor,” the ancient shamans were men and women who fulfilled several roles within their communities: philosopher, spiritual guide, medical doctor, psychologist, and friend.
According to Ruiz, their teachings are not primitive or reserved for a chosen few initiates, but are instead a powerful series of lessons on love and life that are available us all. He has included exercises, meditations, and shamanic rituals in an effort to help readers experience the personal transformation these stories offer.