Books & Other Great Resources!
This is an ever-evolving list of books, TED Talks and other resources to check out to support your growth & perhaps challenge you as well.
HeadSpace
I can't say enough great things about Headspace. You can access Headspace online at www.headspace.com or download the app for your phone or tablet. The first 10 sessions are FREE and can be utilized over and over again. If you enjoy using Headspace, you can subscribe on a monthly, yearly or lifetime basis.
Andy Puddicombe has created this app bringing the benefits of Mindfulness Meditation to the masses. The videos and tutorials are extremely accessible. Headspace provides 10, 15 or 20 minute guided sessions in addition to many other features. You can even buddy with friends to keep yourself accountable. And check out Andy's TED Talk!
The Emotional Life of your Brain
This book is a great guide to understanding the complexities of the emotional brain. Richard Davidson was named “The 100 Most Influential People in the World” in 2006. He has done an impressive amount of research in regards to meditation/mindfulness and the affects on the human brain. He is the founder of The Center for Healthy Minds at UW-Madison. Here is a description of this book from his website:
Dr. Davidson’s latest book offers a new model for understanding our emotions – their origins, their power and their malleability. He has discovered that personality is composed of six basic emotional “styles,” including resilience, self-awareness, and attention. Our emotional fingerprint results from where on the continuum of each style we fall. He explains the brain circuits that underlie each style in order to give us a new model of the emotional brain, one that will even go so far as to affect the way we treat conditions like autism and depression. And, finally, he provides strategies we can use to change our own brains and emotions-if that is what we want to do.
The Willpower Instinct
I think this book is for everyone! It is very easy to read and user friendly. Each chapter is a different topic with a useful summary added at the end. This book is based on Kelly McGonigal's course at Stanford called "The Science of Willpower". By harnessing your willpower, you can affect more change in your life. The neuroscience behind our psychological processes is explained, and you can learn how to trick yourself into making the choices that you ultimately want to make.
Kelly McGonigal also has an excellent TED Talk on making stress your friend.
Daring Greatly
Brené Brown has made vulnerability and shame an easier topic of conversation through her TED Talks. She educates many through her organization called The Daring Way, Courage Works and Brave Leaders, Inc. I recommend all of her books, but I think this one encapsulates her ideas nicely. Living in a world of abundance, taking risks and learning to be courageous are some much needed messages for all.
Brené Brown is a research professor at the University of Houston. She speaks from the heart and uses her own life to exemplify her messages. Lastly, I love this video she made about empathy!
10% HAppier
Dan Harris, a well known journalist and new anchor, was not living a balanced life, so much so that he had a panic attack on live television. This incident lead him on a path of exploration about mindfulness and meditation. In this book, a very honest Dan Harris explained how he became 10% happier. This book does an excellent job of explaining mindfulness and meditation in a thought-provoking and truthful way.
It is also now an app!
Ted Talks
Ted Talks are inspiring, motiving and beyond informational. You can find all of the talks here, but I have also made a list of a few favorites:
Why Some of Us Don't have One True Calling
How To Make Stress Your Friend
The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck
This book is a modern day application of Buddhist Mindfulness. Mark Manson is an entertaining writer and masterful blogger who takes great age-old concepts and explains how they fit into contemporary life. This work speaks to acknowledging that life isn't perfect and positive thinking doesn't triumph all, but learning our limitations and flaws and accepting them. He touches on one of the fundamentals of Buddhism, which is not to avoid pain, but to move through it. “In life, we have a limited amount of fucks to give. So you must choose your fucks wisely.”