15 Captivating Books That Change Your Perspective
If you, like me, are a part of the "I like integrating spirituality in psychology" squad to help make meaning of events in life, then this list is for you.
Feel free to pick and choose the one that calls to you.
1.A New Earth
A New Earth explains the reasons we hang onto the past and obsess with what the future might be. The book blends spirituality and psychology to help keep us in the present. The core of Eckhart's teachings are the transformation of consciousness, which he sees as the next stage of human evolution, and the need to go beyond the ego-based state of consciousness. The in-depth explanation of this idea sets this book apart from the rest.
2.Women Who Run with the Wolves
This book is written by Clarissa P. Estés, who studied psychiatry, got her PhD on Jung, and then traveled the world looking for women's fairy tales. Estés rereads old fairy tales and draws attention to the unwritten history of women. This is a journey into the wild nature of women with various myths and stories, a masterpiece embellished with deep analysis. This book is recommended for those who want to explore their own nature, perhaps especially those who have never wanted to do so before.
3.The Four Agreements
The Four Agreements, which talks about the agreements that you can implement to disqualify your own judgments, helps you avoid thought and behavior patterns that create frustration, blame, hurt feelings, and other negative emotions. This is a book of teachings that really compels people to completely change their whole system of thought.
4.The Fifth Agreement
This is a great book to read after The Four Agreements. The Fifth Agreement explains that what you hear from your environment can settle into your brain and make its way into your belief systems.
5.Nonviolent Communication
Nonviolent Communication is based on the historical principles of nonviolence. There are interesting findings that show how people can judge and label, even when they are trying to praise the other person with good intentions. Rosenberg emphasizes that sometimes the violation of our boundaries is actually related to the fact that we have not yet discovered where our boundaries lie.
To avoid such situations, this book teaches us how to express ourselves clearly and effectively. (And if you want to take what you learned in this book to the next level, you can join Nonviolent Communication Groups.)
6.How to Do the Work
How to Do the Work helps us recognize how adverse experiences in childhood live with us, resulting in whole body dysfunction — activating harmful stress responses that keep us stuck engaging in patterns of codependency, emotional immaturity, and trauma bonds.
Unless addressed, these self-sabotaging behaviors can quickly become cyclical, leaving people feeling unhappy, unfulfilled, and unwell. In this book, Dr. LePera develops a united philosophy of mental, physical, and spiritual health that equips people with the interdisciplinary tools necessary to heal themselves.
7.Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself
Our reactions and approaches to events form different habits no matter how uncomfortable we are. Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself, written by Dr. Joe Dispenza, brings together different fields like quantum physics, neuroscience, brain chemistry, biology, and genetics to help you break certain patterns and show what you are capable of.
8.The Power of Now
The Power of Now is a very valuable book for those who are interested in integrating with their inner body. It is a beginner’s book about the importance of staying in the moment and raising awareness. The thing that impressed me the most about this book is what the writer says about how we can live better by removing the concept of time.
9.Wherever You Go, There You Are
This book is on this list for those looking to start meditating. Dr. Kabat Zinn guides you to mindfulness meditation by exploring principles and practices of mindfulness in this book. The simplicity and sincerity of the language is what distinguishes this book from others.
10.The Mindful Path to Self-Compassion
The first thing that The Mindful Path to Self-Compassion teaches is that resisting pain prolongs the life of pain and turns it into suffering. "Accept your pain and show compassion and understanding to yourself," says Christopher K. Germer. The author emphasizes the importance of raising awareness of the breath, body, and environment, and he offers exercises on these issues.
11.Waking the Tiger
Waking the Tiger is a good resource to get acquainted with the somatic approach. It has a somewhat messy structure, but it tells the essence of the matter. Peter A. Levine says trauma only occurs in pets and humans. He tries to solve these traumas by likening them to the trauma response system that wild animals experience. Levine employs a series of exercises that focus on bodily sensations to lessen the trauma response.
12.It Didn't Start with You
It Didn't Start with You approaches psychological traumas in another way and evaluates its transmission to lower generations by genetic means. An excellent book on hereditary family traumas. In light of the data of both psychology and epigenetics, it answers the question: How do the traumas of our ancestors come out after years and affect our mental health?
13.Attached
Levine and Heller claim that the state of psychological bonding with primary caregivers in the early stages of life affects the experience of close relationships in later life and many other things. Making connection is a need, not something to be afraid of. Attached helps the readers determine their own attachment style and that of people around them, offering a road map for building stronger, more fulfilling connections with people.
14.The Mastery of Love
In The Mastery of Love, Don Miguel Ruiz shares insightful stories to help us recover from emotional wounds and help set us free from assumptions and fear-based beliefs. In this manner, we learn to restore the spirit of playfulness that is vital to loving relationships. The Mastery of Love is not just about love; there is awareness, awakening, and self-respect in every line of this book.
15.The Artist's Way
The Artist’s Way is a great exercise book if you are looking for creative direction in your life, and this book isn’t only for artists. We have so many ways we sabotage our desires, and sometimes we end up never even considering them to be possible. This book helps us discover and hone in on the creative processes that may be laying dormant in our minds.
This is the book that inspired me to write this whole list.
