When was the last time you read a book? Or, for you non-book readers out there, read any kind of publication at all? Chances are, you’ve been reading since the day you learned to read – and even now you’re reading this! You may even frequent Facebook – catching up on your friends’ Facebook posts, or read news articles and press releases, food labels, magazines, etc. Reading has become a necessary form of communication and a habit many of us share, and justly so! Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body and makes a perfect bedfellow to yoga. So it would be rude of us not to put together a great reading list that every yogi needs to absorb.
1. The Wisdom of Groundhog Day
by Paul Hannam
Using the metaphor of the hit film Groundhog Day, Paul Hannam presents his inspiration blueprint for making meaningful changes in your life.
Paul Hannam has developed a programme based on the hidden, underlying road map to freedom found in the film Groundhog Day. Using research-based techniques, you will learn how to take control of your day, remove the blinkers and actually see and experience the real world around you, which will in turn enable you to let go of the past and achieve new levels of success.
You will learn how to focus on and appreciate the things that truly matter – time, security, mental health and authentic happiness – and discover a life of joy and fulfilment rather than just going through the motions.
The story of the film Groundhog Day is used here as a parable for change. This book is aimed at anyone who is sleepwalking through life, is trapped by routine and needs a major wake-up call. No more cruising on autopilot – make every day amazing.
2. Subliminal
by Leonard Mlodinow
Your preference in politicians, the amount of tip you give the waiter-all our judgments and perceptions-reflect the workings of our mind on two levels, the conscious, of which we are aware, and the unconscious, which is hidden from us. The latter has long been the subject of speculation, but over the past two decades scientific researchers have developed remarkable new tools for probing the hidden, or subliminal, workings of the mind.
The result of this explosion of research is a new science of the unconscious, and a sea change in our understanding of how the mind affects the way we live. These cutting-edge discoveries have revealed that the way we experience life-our perception, behaviour, memory, and social judgment-is largely driven by the mind’s subliminal processes and not by the conscious ones, as we have long believed.
Employing his trademark wit and his lucid, accessible explanations of the most obscure scientific subjects, Leonard Mlodinow takes us on a tour of this research, unraveling the complexities of the subliminal self, increasing our understanding of how the human mind works, and how we interact with friends, strangers, spouses and coworkers. In the process he changes our view of ourselves and the world around us.
3. Daring Greatly
by Brené Brown
Every time we are introduced to someone new, try to be creative or start a difficult conversation, we take a risk. We feel uncertain and exposed. We feel vulnerable. Most of us try to fight those feelings – we strive to appear perfect. In a powerful new vision, Dr. Brené Brown challenges everything we think we know about vulnerability and dispels the widely accepted myth that it’s a weakness. She argues that, in truth, vulnerability is strength, and when we shut ourselves off from vulnerability – from revealing our true selves – we distance ourselves from the experiences that bring purpose and meaning to our lives.
Daring Greatly is the culmination of 12 years of groundbreaking social research across every area of our lives including home, relationships, work and parenting. It is an invitation to be courageous, to show up and let ourselves be seen, even when there are no guarantees. This is vulnerability. This is daring greatly.
4. The Path to Love
by Deepak Chopra
In The Path to Love, Deepak Chopra tells us how we can fulfil our heart’s desire and find the love we want. Dr. Chopra shows us that by bringing spirituality back into love, we can discover a world of depth and meaning that infuses every day with romance and passion.
Drawing on wisdom from many great spiritual traditions, Dr. Chopra reveals how spiritual insights can be used to successfully navigate the seven stages of love: attraction, infatuation, courtship, intimacy, surrender, passion, and ecstasy. Through the stories of others, we come to recognise the blocks we put in the way of our own happiness. And with the help of specific exercises, we learn to overcome those obstacles by increasing the role of spirit in our lives and loves.
The Path to Love is a remarkable melding of Eastern wisdom and Western pragmatism, of ancient knowledge and scientific research, which has become the trademark of Dr. Chopra’s work. Philosophical, inspirational, and ultimately very practical, this is an audiobook that can change lives as it invites spirit to work its wonders on the most complex and richly rewarding terrain of all: the human heart.
5. A New Earth
by Eckhart Tolle
Building on the astonishing success of The Power of Now, Eckhart Tolle presents listeners with an honest look at the current state of humanity: He implores us to see and accept that this state, which is based on an erroneous identification with the egoic mind, is one of dangerous insanity.
Tolle tells us there is good news, however. There is an alternative to this potentially dire situation. Humanity now, perhaps more than in any previous time, has an opportunity to create a new, saner, more loving world. This will involve a radical inner leap from the current egoic consciousness to an entirely new one.
In illuminating the nature of this shift in consciousness, Tolle describes in detail how our current ego-based state of consciousness operates. Then gently, and in very practical terms, he leads us into this new consciousness. We will come to experience who we truly are, which is something infinitely greater than anything we currently think we are, and learn to live and breathe freely.
We’d love to add to this list so tell us some of your favourites….
