1) WIRED TO CONNECT
The Surprising Link Between Brain Science and Strong, Healthy Relationships
Amy Banks, with Leigh Ann Hirschman (Tarcher Perigee)
Relationships happen between individuals, but also between neural pathways in your brain. Left unchecked, old habits and thinking patterns affect the way you interact with your closest friends and partners. Using a system called “C.A.R.E.” that identifies various brain regions, Banks offers a way to investigate those patterns and lay down new tracks that support healthier, happier relationships.
2) GRATITUDE
Oliver Sacks (Knopf)
Few people can claim to have changed the way large numbers of people think about themselves and their fellow humans. Neurologist Oliver Sacks did so repeatedly. By bringing a child’s curiosity to brains that veered from the “norm,” he asked us to think of them not as defective but as unique worlds of perception. This tiny book of four essays, written as he faced death, overflows with joy. It is we who must be grateful.
3) SELF-COMPASSION IN PSYCHOTHERAPY
Mindfulness-Based Practices for Healing and Transformation
Tim Desmond (W.W. Norton)
Self-criticism is pervasive, and harmful. “Researchers have that found self-criticism is one of the biggest predictors of serious mental health problems,” writes Tim Desmond. “Relating with kindness,” as Desmond puts it, helps us shift gears. Desmond’s book integrates self-compassion practices into therapy—for clients and therapists. The book explores the science behind self-compassion and its clinical applications
4) WHY CAN’T I MEDITATE?
How to Get Your Mindfulness Practice Back on Track
Nigel Wellings (Tarcher Penguin)
Even long-time meditators can carry a lot of resistance to actually meditating. Wellings, a psychotherapist and mindfulness teacher, unpacks this conundrum in all its many dimensions, offering practical advice about both the simple and deep-seated obstacles that can keep us from doing something we know is good for us and those around us.
Bonus Reading and Listening:
1) CLEARING EMOTIONAL CLUTTER
Mindfulness Practices for Letting Go of What’s Blocking Your Fulfillment and Transformation, By Donald Altman
2) OPERATION HAPPINESS
The 3-Step Plan to Creating a Life of Lasting Joy, Abundant Energy, and Radical Bliss, By Kristi Ling
3) READY, SET, BREATHE
Practicing Mindfulness with Your Children for Fewer Meltdowns and a More Peaceful Family, By Carla Naumburg
4) UNTANGLE PODCAST
By Gaiam, Available on iTunes
For more books on mindfulness, check out How to Create a Mindful Library.
