Top 30 Books to Accelerate a Spiritual Journey

Many people appreciate a guide for their own awakening or spiritual journey.  While every path is unique, it is reassuring to know that many books exist to empower you to allow a new world to appear through your own eyes and subtle senses. 

There’s a big difference between people that read loads of books, and people who integrate spirituality into their lives. Being Spiritual is about living with mindfulness, kindness, compassion, forgiveness, and engaging in practices that help you listen deeply and live in greater harmony. Otherwise, you simply add to a mental knowledge base.  Living through the head cannot open the heart, change your energy vibration or transform your life from inside out.

So, empower yourself. Choose one or more of these books below—as they all offer timless wisdom.  Make a point of reflecting on the food for the senses.  Some include journal exercise or you can buy accompanying workbooks.  Read passages slowly.  Breathe deeply.  Allow yourself some quality time and watch what arises within you.  As you find authors whose words resonate with you, find other books and online talks or events that enable you to grow further.  After all, this is a choose-your-own-adventure and you are the protagonist.

In Transform Your Life: 730 inspirations, I offer glimpses of individuals who have directly or indirectly helped me see myself and the world differently. The following is a list of 30 books to help you awaken, appreciate life differently and accelerate your spiritual journey.  Some of these are included in recommendations for further reading in my new Mastering Time book. I invite comments from readers about books that help expand their perception and change their lives. 

1. Whatever Arises, Love That by Matt Kahn

2. The Leap: The Psychology of Spiritual Awakening  by Steve Taylor & Eckhart Tolle

3. The Untethered Soul by Michael A. Singer

4. The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

5. Proof of Heaven by Dr. Eben Alexander

6. Hero by Rhonda Byrne

7. What God Said: the 25 Core Messages of Convesations with God that will change your life and the world by Neale Donald Walsch

8.  Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda

9.  A Return to Love by Marianne Williamson

10. The Celestine Prophecy by James Redfield

11. Awaken Your Third Eye by Susan Shumsky

12. Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert

13. The Empath's Survival Guide: Life Strategies for Sensitive People by Judith Orloff 

14. Mini Habits (Smaller Habits, Bigger Results) by Stephen Guise

15. Defy Gravity by Caroline Myss

16. A Course in Miracles by Helen Schucman (Foundation for Inner Peace)

17. Being Mortal  by Atul Gawande

18. The Essence of the Upanishads by Eknath Easwaran

19. The Power of Now & A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle

20. Energy Medicine by Donna Eden

21. Be Love Now (& Be Here Now) by Ram Dass

22. The Healing Self by Deepak Chopra and Rudolph Tanzi

23.  The Serpent of Light Beyond 2012 by Drunvalo Mechizedeck

24. Journeys in to the Heart by Drunvalo Mechizedeck and Daniel Mittel

25. Isira (Autobiography) and Awakening You by Isira

26. The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz

27. The Mastery of Self by Don Miguel Ruiz Jr.

28. The Miracle of Mindfulness by Thich Nhat Hanh

29. Gifts of Imperfection & Daring Greatly by Brene Brown

30. Altruism by Matthieu Ricard

Dr. Judith Orloff & Interview on Emotional Freedom

Dr. Judith Orloff is an intuitive healer and unconventional psychiatrist. After learningof her life story and resonating deeply with her journey and writing, I took to her audio Professional Development Course called Becoming an Intuitive Healer. This prompted me to explore more of her alternative health initiatives.

This e-interview is part of a virtual book tour for her latest book called Emotional Freedom. As you consider whether to use this tool on your journey to wholeness, view how this dialogue prompts you to transform attitudes. Rediscover new levels of joy;

Many people are awaking to new ways of seeing and experiencing. How does this relate to Emotional Freedom?

As an Assistant Clinical Professor at UCLA, I work in a mainstream medical system wherethe spiritual/ intuitive aspects of emotions aren’t understood and are not always accepted. During my UCLA psychiatric training, we treated depression and anxiety, as biochemical imbalances requiring medication. I’d meet with patients for fifteen minutes every few weeks, write a prescription, then send them home. This initially seemed the logical thing for me to do.

As part of a family of 3 generations of physicans myself, I gain insight into perspectives on health and well-being. Which vital lessons have you learned from your evolving experience?

I never saw medications as the whole solution, but I saw many patients experience at least partial “symptom relief,” an undeniable relief of suffering. During more than two decades of medical practice, I learned emotional freedom involves much, much more.

Some people speak of the modern era as an Intuitive Age. How do you view this affecting current and future medicine?

We are the keepers of our own healing. We are keepers of an intuitive intelligence so powerful it can tell us how to heal. The time has come for each of us to claim it again. Never forget: It is your right to heal. It is your right to look inside yourself for the answers.

Another way of looking at modern society is that it empowers each person to restore resoucefulness. What would you add?

Each person is free to detach from beliefs that are no longer appropriate. You clean the junk out and your vibration shifts to different levels of consciousness. Emotion is energy. You can learn to channel energy more effectively.

What do you hope to achieve through your latest book?

I encourage people to validate and liberate their intuition. In my book, I discuss four major components of emotions that shape your health and mood: biology, subtle energy, psychology, and spirituality. We must appreciate that we are spiritual beings having a human experience. It’s impossible to grasp how we tick emotionally without a cosmic perspective; everything about us, including our biology, is an expression of the divine. Seeing emotions as a training ground for the soul—a path to spiritual awakening--frames every victory over fear, anxiety, and resentment as a way to develop your spiritual muscles and love more.

Some people are highly-sensitive to energy vibrations. How do you know if this is you?

The trademark of empaths is that they know where you’re coming from. Some can do this without taking on people’s feelings. However, for better or worse, others, like myself and many of my patients, can become angst-sucking sponges. This often overrides the sublime capacity to absorb positive emotions and all that is beautiful. If empaths are around peace and love, their bodies assimilate these and flourish. Negativity, though, often feels assaultive, exhausting. Thus, they’re particularly easy marks for emotional vampires, whose fear or rage can ravage empaths.

What determines whether fears are authentic?

It can be especially tricky to ascertain which fears are authentic, helpful intuitions. As empaths tend to absorb other people’s emotions, they may pick up fear and think it’s their own. To avoid this, always ask yourself, “Is the fear mine or someone else’s?” One dependable way to find out is to distance yourself from the source. Move at least twenty feet. If you experience relief, it’s likely you perceive another’s fear.

How do you know if you perpetuate your own fear?

As you reach that mental place where you are prepared to take responsibility for your thoughts and feelings, then you realize fear begins and ends in the mind. If you don't make it your business to overcome fear, you better believe it'll try to overcome you. Most people are subservient to this emotion though they may not know it. I define fear as the emotional response to danger, perceived or real.

Many people are controlled by negative emotions. How does one grow “emotionally free?”

Emotional freedom means increasing your ability to love. This requires you learn to cultivate positive emotions and compassionately observe and transform negative ones.

How does one stop absorbing other people’s negative emotions?

In "Emotional Freedom" my approach to transforming fear has two stages. First, take stock of what makes you afraid and distinguish irrational fears from legitimate intuitions. Second, take appropriate steps to heed protective fears and transform the others with courage. At times you may foresee real danger, but more frequently unproductive fears clobber you. As a rule, train the self to question fears tied to low self-esteem.

What kinds of tools do you offer your readers to help them help themselves?

A first step towards achieving emotional freedom is to know where you currently stand. I offer “The Emotional Freedom Test” in my book. This self-assessment tool covers a range of positive and negative emotions and invites readers to be more aware of how they typically respond to a variety of emotionally charged situations. Only by raising awareness is one consciously be equipped to make positive change.

Thank you Dr. Orloff, for sharing insight with the Dreambuilders Australia Blog community.

I encourage readers to check out her other bestsellers; Positive Energy, Intuitive Healing, and Second Sight. Dr. Orloff synthesizes the pearls of traditional medicine with cutting edge knowledge of intuition and energy medicine. She truly believes that the future of medicine involves integrating all this wisdom to achieve emotional freedom and total wellness. For further insights, see www.drjudithorloff.com

***To purchase “Emotional Freedom” with 100 free gifts from noted transformational leaders such as Dr. Christiane Northrup, Dr. Michael Beckwith, Dr. Bruce Lipton, Shirley Maclaine and more go to: http://www.drjudithorloff.com/emotional-freedom-promotion/