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tools for mental health and well-being
a trusted collection of simple and empowering self-care tools to nourish your body, mind & spirit
Books
To Inspire You
Nutrition Essentials for Mental Health:
A Complete Guide to the Food-Mood Connection
By Leslie Korn, Ph.D.
WHY WE LOVE THESE BOOKS:
Leslie Korn comes highly recommended as one of the top pioneers and experts in the field of eating well for mental health; these books highlight the powerful role that nutrition can play in energy, anxiety, depression, and optimal emotional well-being!
The Good mood Kitchen:
Simple Recipes and Nutrition Tips for
emotional balance
By Leslie Korn, Ph.D.
The Mindful Geek:
Secular Meditation For Smart Skeptics
By Michael W. Taft
WHY WE LOVE IT:
In this book, Michael Taft makes mindfulness and meditation accessible, interesting, and humorous to all, especially those who are interested in secular mindfulness and meditation. A successful mix of personal stories, psychological and neuroscientific research, a how-to instructional guide, and encouragement, he expertly outlines ways to gain the benefits of mindfulness as a powerful tool for improving your life.
Mindfulness Books By Jon Kabat-Zinn
WHY WE LOVE THESE: Jon Kabat-Zinn offers an excellent variety of mindfulness books for everyone! Mindfulness For Beginners is great for beginners with many short chapters introducing readers to the practice of mindfulness, why it is important, how to understand and practice it, and its value for a happier existence. Arriving At Your Own Door is a series of 108 short one-page reflections on mindfulness-related topics that you can easily read and try to incorporate daily. Mindfulness For All: The Wisdom To Transform The World is an inspirational read for understanding how mindfulness can be a vital tool for coming together as a global human community, despite our many differences.
The Mindfulness Revolution
Edited By Barry Boyce
WHY WE LOVE IT:
Excellent compilation of short essays on the daily practice of mindfulness from top leaders in the field across many disciplines. It's a collection of the best writing on what mindfulness is, why we should practice it, and how to apply it in daily life. The book includes an in-depth discussion by the editor about how mindfulness is being utilized in a range of professional fields to improve effectiveness and performance, and enhance well-being — from health care to education, from performing arts to business. Great secular introduction to mindfulness for beginners as well those with more advanced mindfulness knowledge.
Self-Compassion:
The Proven Power Of Being Kind To Yourself
By Kristin Neff, Ph.D.
WHY WE LOVE IT:
Mindful self-compassion is one of those potentially transformational life skills that can serve as a foundation for bringing grounded presence, healing, and renewal during challenging times. Research on self-compassion tells us that practicing daily self-compassion can lead to increased life satisfaction, and decreased stress, anxiety, and depression. Filled with personal stories along with scientific research and practical applications, this book brings mindful self-compassion to life. Along with the science,
Kristin shares her personal and professional journey into the world of self-compassion, which was eminently relatable and valuable. This book is an excellent companion to Kristin's free guided audio meditations.
Stay Woke: A Meditation Guide For The Rest Of Us
By Justin Michael Williams
"If you can worry, you can meditate."
-- Justin Michael Williams
WHY WE LOVE IT:
Justin brings a beautifully authentic voice to the world of mindfulness and meditation. He makes meditation wonderfully accessible to everyone, including those who experience their mind's constant worrying when they try and sit still, feel they are too busy to meditate, or never believed meditation was for them. A combination of personal stories, deep support, inspiration, and practical applications, this book is a gem.
Radical Compassion: Learning To Love Yourself And Your World With The Practice Of Rain
By Tara Brach, Ph.D.
WHY WE LOVE IT:
We love Tara's new book Radical Compassion. This book integrates much of her past teachings on mindfulness, self-compassion, and dealing with life's emotional challenges in a simple, structured, and yet profound way. We cannot say enough about the healing and transformative power of the guided meditative practice of RAIN as outlined in this book, which stands for "Recognize what is happening, Allow life to be just as it is, Investigate with a gentle, curious attention, and Nurture with loving presence." RAIN is a synthesis of Tara's decades of wise teachings as a psychologist and a meditation teacher. This guided meditative practice serves as a practical roadmap for skillful ways of
responding when in the grip of difficult emotions and suffering. Through the use of RAIN, painful emotions such as anger, worry, overwhelm, guilt, loss, shame, self-doubt have a structured, safe place to go so that they may be felt and held in the present moment, opening up the possibility of an emotional shift into love, forgiveness, joy, and wisdom. The personal stories of Tara and her students, along with an extended discussion of the concepts behind RAIN, make this book an excellent resource to complement her guided audio RAIN meditations. Many of Tara's students have found the RAIN meditation to be the most powerful guided meditation they have experienced, as it nourishes our inner resources and opens us up to profound new possibilities for responding with awareness, compassion, and love to our deep pain, our inner world, our relationships, and the extended global community.
The Inner Work of Racial Justice:
Healing Ourselves and Transforming Our Communities Through Mindfulness
By Rhonda V. Magee, J.D.
WHY WE LOVE IT:
Rhonda is amazing. She articulately and eloquently describes how all of ALL of us, no matter our color, can mindfully address the divisiveness and pain of racial injustice and nurture collective healing. Do not miss this powerful book.
My Grandmother's Hands: Racialized Trauma and the Pathway to Mending Our Hearts and Bodies
By Resmaa Menakem, M.S.W.
WHY WE LOVE IT:
My Grandmother's Hands is a powerful presentation of the historical and present-day trauma embedded in all of our bodies -- black, white, blue -- and the pathway to healing both individually and collectively. Starting from a personal perspective, Resmaa brings us on a journey where we discover that each of us, regardless of our skin color, has likely experienced the multi-generational transmission of racialized trauma, although it may appear differently for each of us. He then kindly and expertly guides us through the beginnings of a healing journey, where we
begin to notice the fight-flight-freeze constriction in our bodies and start to take steps to heal the constriction and make way for openness and freedom in our physical bodies and our emotional lives. It's a groundbreaking book that we love, and passionately believe EVERYONE should read as an essential step towards healing ourselves and our world.
Energy Medicine: Balancing Your Body's Energies For Optimal Health, Joy, And Vitality
By Donna Eden With David Feinstein, Ph.D.
WHY WE LOVE IT:
Donna and David have been practicing and teaching about energy medicine for over 4 decades, and their expertise and deep caring about the subject matter shine through in this excellent, comprehensive resource book. Anyone interested in the background and exercises related to using simple tools to balance their stuck energy and heal their bodies will want this book on their shelves. We love to go to it as a reference guide when we have questions about exercises for a variety of
physical and emotional health conditions. Donna and David also present their recommendation and tips for practicing their simple, 5- minute Daily Energy Routine, which is a series of easy movements that balance and promote a natural flow of your energy systems for optimal health and vitality.