My Top Ten inspirational books for your summer reading list
Summer starts this week in the northern hemisphere, and for many folks, it’s a time to settle in for some good summer reading. Coincidentally, I’ve recently have been thinking about how much I love my friends “aka books” — and how often I turn back to them again and again for renewed guidance, hope and inspiration. My books have worn, folded pages, countless sticky notes and pencil underlines (I NEVER use pen in my books). I also rarely read books all the way through in one go, yet when I pick one back up I’m reading and connecting to the exact thing I need. It’s perfect.
So in light of the season, I wanted to share my list of Top Ten inspirational books for your summer reading list that have helped enlighten me, opening up my mind and heart in countless ways. Be warned — I love my books juicy and ripe with food for thought, so reading them may cause unexpected soul opening and increased self-awareness.
You Can Heal Your Life, Louise Hay
You Can Heal Your Life is one the best books to have on hand. Whether you are beginning your journey into self-growth and understanding, or need a life long support tool to help you shift perspective into a healthy mindset for your mind, body and soul, this book is priceless. Louise Hay’s personal story is not only touching, but brings a human element to the process of self-awareness by offering a first hand example of how to identify and heal fears, old mental patterns and alleviate countless physical symptoms caused by those two things. A handy chart of various physical symptoms, causes and suggested affirmations also helps you get a better look at what’s really going on in your mind and how to change the words you say to yourself to start to heal the body. It’s the first book that connected the mind, body spirit trifecta for me in a way that I could really understand, relate to and put into practice in my own life.
The Book of Chakra Healing, Liz Simpson
The Book of Chakra Healing is another great “how-to” book without really being a how-to. It describes the meaning of the seven main chakras and their basic functions in detail and ties together meditations, foods, crystals, yoga poses and other tools as a means of bringing them into balance. It’s one of the first books I bought after becoming a Reiki master, and it’s a great resource for understanding what life and health aspects may be influenced by a blocked or overactive chakra.
I absolutely love animals and I’ve been interested in Shamanism for the last 10 years. Animal Speak offers a Native American perspective on totem animals and shamanistic practices, and provides the meanings of a variety of animals, birds and insects in terms of what messages they may be offering for you. I love digging in a little bit deeper to find out why I may be seeing certain animals more often, and how animals showing up in my life are sharing insightful wisdom to help me shift and create much needed change in my life.
The Four Agreements, Don Miguel Ruiz
This book is a no-brainer. How you see, talk and act in the world absolutely makes an impact, and by following four simple agreements in conduct and self-talk, you can make things in life so much simpler. And in my world, simpler is what I crave. The Four Agreements really cracked open my perspective on not taking things personally and shed light on how I had been doing that for years, only to my own detriment. This book is another great one to revisit, even if you think you have it all figured out.
The Artist’s Way, Julia Cameron
The Artist’s Way is a solid resource for a creative person who has lost their way or someone looking to dig in a bit deeper to their creative skill set. It has great nuggets of insight on the creative process, and poignant quotes and exercises you can go back to again and again to expand to a new level of creative self expression. I’m not a morning person (and only sometimes do the suggested morning pages that are at the core of the work). However, I do agree that keeping a journal and writing daily is a critical tool for anyone looking to move out the garbage and negative thoughts and tap into a freer creative flow.
Unconditional Money: A Magical Journey Into the Heart of Abundance, David Cates
This book is really interesting because it’s a first-person account of how one man learned little nuggets of wisdom about money and abundance by talking with rich, well-balanced people, and chronicles how he applied those insights to his own life. Unconditional Money is very much a first-person story, as Cates talks about learning to keep things simple and his attempts to connect with his true passion as the key to move past financial hurdles and grow into his true abundant self. He shares his mistakes and his wins, and offers tips that I use in my own personal inner work.
Women Who Run with the Wolves, Dr. Clarissa Pinkola Estes
Breathtaking. The first time I picked up Women Who Run with the Wolves was at the recommendation of a few different friends, so then I knew it was time to check it out. The stories shared are old, traditional tales heard by the author from her family, passed down for generations and written in a fairy-tale like format. The cool part is that by using a story form, it was much easier to imagine yourself as the character and let the true wisdom of the story sink in. It’s unlike any book I’ve ever read, and it was deeply influential for me at the beginning of my path to inner knowing. I’ve got lots of underlines in this one.
Inner Guidance and the Four Spiritual Gifts, Howard Wimer
This is such a fun book to use as a tool to look at yourself in a new way. It highlights key steps to guide you in connecting with your true inner guidance and includes tips and questions to help you tune in to clearly see what spiritual gifts are your strongest. We each have all four, but lead with different ones in different situations such as work, family and personal relationships or when we are under stress. When I read Inner Guidance and the Four Spiritual Gifts, I finally started to understand that my sensitivities were not a weakness, but in fact a strength, and I began to connect to my identity as an Empath and healing person.
Loving What Is, Byron Katie
The title of this book says it all. There is no way out of anything but through it, and even though you may not like what you see, it doesn’t mean that it’s bad or unlovable. Katie shares her very personal life story struggling with self-acceptance, and what her journey taught her about truly loving herself. Loving What Is offers four key questions that you can apply to everything in your life in order to transform the energy around it. Once I read this book I realized how my judgmental thinking was clouding my perspective, and in the end, was not productive or supportive for my own self expansion. And using the questions, I have a way to love whatever is happening.
Infinite Possibilities and the Art of Living your Dreams, Mike Dooley
This book is a bit more advanced in terms of quantum field thinking and it’s impact on our reality, but I think it offers a great, clear explanation of how what we think really affects every aspect of our life. Dooley’s insights offer practical, clearly written, down-to-earth ideas and examples that make it easy to relate to the bigger picture quantum level theories he’s attempting to explain. For me, Infinite Possibilities is able to bottom line things in a way I really “get” and goes deep enough to get me feeling inspired. There is nothing more awesome than saying “YES” out loud when reading by yourself, and I do that a lot with this one.
Here are a few extra books that deserve a mention:
Dark Side of the Light Chasers, Debbie Ford
This Time I Dance, Tama J. Kieves
Their first person accounts about how they moved through personal struggles to find their voice and defeat their own inner creative “gremlins” and self judgments is extremely inspiring. Ford’s book offers some practical tips for diving into shadow work that can free up really old ways of being, and Kieves’s personal story resonates with so many of us in very mental careers who are longing to wait for the “right time” to be creative. Both books have greatly influenced my work and how I look at my creative self.
So there you have it. There are my Top Ten go-to books that have been amazing friends and guides during my last decade of self-growth and expansion. I can’t imagine where I would be without them. I have other books in my library, of course, but these are my wisest ones that speak to my own inner learning. I would love to hear suggestions about books that you find helpful or have cracked you open in ways you never imagined, personally and creatively.