Welcome to this month’s Aspire Magazine Top 10 Inspirational Books list! You’ll discover inspirational and empowering books, written by women and for women, each dedicated to sharing a universal message of love, hope and self-empowerment. Through their wisdom-filled books, these visionary female authors are illuminating the path for women on the journey of healing and self-discovery. Add these transformational books to your inspired living resource library.
Life in Five Senses: How Exploring the Senses Got Me Out of My Head and Into the World by Gretchen Rubin
The #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Happiness Project discovers a surprising path to a life of more energy, creativity, luck, and love: by tuning in to the five senses. In this journey of self-experimentation, Rubin explores the mysteries and joys of the five senses as a path to a happier, more mindful life. Drawing on cutting-edge science, philosophy, literature, and her own efforts to practice what she learns, she investigates the profound power of tuning in to the physical world. In the rush of daily life, she finds, our five senses offer us an immediate, sustainable way to cheer up, calm down, and engage the world around us—as well as a way to glimpse the soul and touch the transcendent. Life in Five Senses is an absorbing, layered story of discovery filled with profound insights and practical suggestions about how to heighten our senses and use our powers of perception to live fuller, richer lives—and, ultimately, how to move through the world with more vitality and love.
Sensitive: The Hidden Power of the Highly Sensitive Person in a Loud, Fast, Too-Much World by Jenn Granneman and Andre Sólo
A paradigm-shifting look at a long-undervalued yet hugely beneficial personality trait, from the creators of the world’s largest community for highly sensitive people. “Don’t be so sensitive!” Everyone has a sensitive side, but nearly 1 in 3 people have the genes to be more sensitive than others—both physically and emotionally. These are the people who pause before speaking and think before acting; they tune into subtle details and make connections that others miss. They tend to be intelligent, big-hearted, and wonderfully creative; they are wired to go deep, yet society tells them to hide the very sensitivity that makes them this way. These are the world’s “highly sensitive people,” and Sensitive is the book that champions them.
Sensitive teaches us how to unlock the potential in this undervalued strength and leverage it across the most important areas of our lives: in friendships and relationships, the workplace, leadership, and parenting. A powerfully validating, destigmatizing, and practical book, Sensitive plants a gently fluttering flag in the ground for sensitive people everywhere. This inspiring book has the power to change—once and for all—how we see sensitive people, and how they see themselves.
That Sucked. Now What?: How to Embrace the Joy in Chaos and Find Magic in the Mess by Dr. Neeta Bhushan
You know those awful, terrible, sucker-punch moments in life? The ones that knock you down, burn you up, or make you cringe so hard you wish it was all a bad dream? Probably–because we all do. These epic, messy, oh-no-oh-crap moments of chaos are just part of life–yet, as Dr. Neeta Bhushan shows us, they're also beautiful opportunities for change. That Sucked, Now What? is a real-talk guide to personal growth that draws on and embraces the suck–and helps you break through to lasting, audacious resilience. You'll learn why it's so hard to get back up when stuff goes down, how four core components of your life shape your individual Bounce Factor, and how to navigate the five stages of the Fly Forward framework through Falling, Igniting, Rising, Magnifying, and on to Thriving. Along the way, Neeta shares successes and failures of her own, from the wonderful to the WTF, in an indispensable book to pull off the shelf whenever life serves up a setback, no matter the size.
The Parenting Map: Step-by-Step Solutions to Consciously Create the Ultimate Parent-Child Relationship by Dr. Shefali Tsabary
A revolutionary new parenting method by the New York Times bestselling author of The Conscious Parent and The Awakened Family. Every parent is capable of raising happy, healthy, and emotionally grounded children. Despite this, too many of us struggle along the journey. With over two decades experience working directly with parents, acclaimed clinical psychologist and bestselling author Dr. Shefali offers a profoundly practical and groundbreaking parenting solution that helps parents actualize their deepest desires for their children. This step-by-step guide disrupts toxic inherited patterns and replaces them with authentic connections that allow us to see and respond to our children for who they are and who they can become. This is the evidence-based manual that every parent has been searching for. Complete with paradigm shifting wisdom, illuminating client stories, and detailed practices, The Parenting Map guides the way to empowering our children while transforming ourselves.
Real Self-Care: A Transformative Program for Redefining Wellness (Crystals, Cleanses, and Bubble Baths Not Included) by Pooja Lakshmin
From women’s mental health specialist and New York Times contributor Pooja Lakshmin, MD, comes a long-overdue reckoning with the contradictions of the wellness industry and a paradigm-shifting program for practicing real self-care that will empower, uplift, and maybe even start a revolution. In Real Self-Care, Pooja Lakshmin, MD helps readers understand what a real practice of caring for yourself could—and does—look like. Using case studies from her practice, clinical research, and the down-to-earth style that she's become known for, Lakshmin provides a step-by-step program for real and sustainable change and solace. Packed with actionable strategies to deal with common problems, Real Self-Care is a complete roadmap for women to set boundaries and move past guilt, treat themselves with compassion, get closer to themselves, and assert their power. The result—having ownership over one’s own life— is nothing less than a personal and social revolution.
Radiant Wildheart: A Guide to Awaken Your Inner Artist and Live Your Creative Mission by Shereen Sun
Identify your creative mission and fulfill your purpose, guided by an inspiring road map of enthusiastic pep talks, artistic exercises, writing prompts, and a unique archetypal framework. As a bold and unique individual, you arrived on this planet with a sacred, Creative Mission—a reason for being that was whispered into your ear before you were born. But when negative forces seem to stifle you, how do you find the clarity, confidence, and resilience to share your gifts with the world? Everyone has the power to become a revolutionary artist. In this guide to unapologetic self-expression and liberation, Shereen Sun, founder of Radiant Wildheart, supports you in finding the deep personal healing that can be found from walking your Divine Purpose Path. When you awaken your inner artist and give them the space to flourish, your wildest, most authentic life can’t help but manifest. Are you ready to give your inner artist space to play?
Relighting the Cauldron Embracing Nature Spirituality in Our Modern World by Wendy Van Allen
Mother Earth’s cauldron flame has gone out as the climate crisis and resulting social chaos have worsened. But it’s not too late. Rev. Wendy Van Allen confronts this problem and its origins, focusing on the spiritual disconnect between ourselves and our natural world. With the help of ten other voices from diverse, nature-centered practices, she helps you discover your spiritual center, better recognize humanity’s interdependence with itself and other species, and live in harmony with the environment. Learn to celebrate your ancestors, seek spirit guidance, journey to the astral plane, implement energy healing techniques, and lead a sustainable lifestyle. Enhancing your physical and spiritual connection to the earth can help create more awakened humanity, relight Mother Earth’s cauldron, and save the planet.
Microjoys: Finding Hope (Especially) When Life Is Not Okay by Cyndie Spiegel
Microjoys are a practice of uncovering joy and finding hope at any moment. They are accessible to everyone, despite all else. When we hone the ability to look for them, they are always available. Microjoys are the hidden wisdom, long-ago memories, subtle treasures, and ordinary delights that surround us. Cyndie Spiegel first began taking note of microjoys during the most difficult year of her life—when she experienced back-to-back unprecedented and devastating losses—and she found that these fleeting moments of hope helped her move through each day with a semblance of comfort and a lot more joy. Through beautifully written narrative essays and prompts, Cyndie shares the microjoys that have kept her going through tough times and shows us how we can learn to see the microjoys in our own lives. Microjoys don’t change the truth of loss or make grief any more convenient, but they allow us to temporarily touch joy, keeping us buoyed and moving forward, one moment at a time.
Lightly: How to Live a Simple, Serene, and Stress-free Life by Francine Jay
Do you ever feel like life is weighing you down? Like the stuff in your home, the to-dos in your schedule, the worries in your heart are too much? Make "lightly" your mantra, one lovely little word to live by, and transform your life.
There's no shortage of decluttering books on the market, but Lightly is different. It goes beyond decluttering - far beyond - to uplift your thoughts, your actions, every moment and aspect of your life. Lightly is like a recipe book for minimalism, designed so you can dip into it anytime for advice and inspiration. Hand-drawn quotes and illustrations make for a beautiful book to keep by your sofa or bedside. With this book, Francine Jay makes minimalism more doable and delightful than ever. In just minutes a day you can cast off the weight, and glide through life more lightly and gracefully.
Your Fully Charged Life: A Radically Simple Approach to Having Endless Energy and Filling Every Day with Yay by Meaghan B Murphy
A high-energy guide to living with presence, optimism, and joy--one yay at a time! Ever wish you were one of those upbeat, positive people who embrace every day with a can-do mindset that motivates others and simply makes life more fun? Longtime magazine editor Meaghan B Murphy is one of those high-energy people--and she's here to share her secrets for finding more yay every day. Your Fully Charged Life is Murphy's practical guide to bringing your best self to every moment, even when the pressures of daily life leave you feeling overwhelmed, exhausted, and wallowing in negative thoughts (and a pint of your favorite gelato). Spanning health, work, family time, and more, this book reveals small changes in outlook and habits that yield big results, without ever sacrificing who you are. Going beyond platitudes and shallow Insta-inspiration, this inspiring and empowering book provides a blueprint for feeling less stressed and genuinely making the most of your every day.
