May the Woo Be With You: My Top Spiritual Favs
Hello my loves! It has been A MINUTE! I have been working really hard on new music these last few months and at the same time working really hard on myself. 2018 was a year of HUGE personal growth for me and when sharing my story I always get the same comments/questions. “Send me that book you were telling me about!” or “Wait what podcast was that again?” or “What is your secret, you seem so happy!” So I thought a great way to start out 2019 would be creating a resource for you guys on my current list of favorite books/podcasts/practices/habits, all the things! Ok lets dive in!
The Game of Life and How to Play It by Florence Scovel Shinn. If you guys have been following me for a while you know this is THE book that started it all for me. I think God knew what he was doing when he sent me this book (through my total inspiration of a sister Susan). As a Christian and a lover of Jesus, even though I was raised by a hippy and have always felt extremely pulled to the metaphysical side of things, my relationship with the church left me pretty fearful of anything spiritual that wasn’t the Bible. I’ll expand on this all in another post but the great thing about the Game of Life is that it’s biblically based. Florence Scovel Shinn or “Flo Sco” as we call her, writes of the teachings of Jesus and backs up so many of her lessons with Bible verses. If you’ve been raised in the church and want to live a more positive and fulfilled life this is the place to dip a toe in! And if you weren’t this is still a great place to start and also, bonus for you, you probably don’t have a lot of the guilt and shame church kid issues so many of us have to work through so yay! This book will teach you how to reframe negative thought patterns and gives you tons of examples and tips on how to be happier, healthier and wealthier! I’ve linked the Complete Works for Women cause there’s only 4 books so you might as well just get them all in one! If you a dude here’s your version: Flo Sco for guys.
After reading the Game of Life it was ON! I devoured anything I could get my hands on about manifestation and positive thinking. And although I read some interesting things, I’m a “yes but how” kinda gal and I needed some more instruction on practical ways to implement these new teachings into my life. I stumbled onto Secrets of Success by Sandra Anne Taylor in a bookstore back home and it was exactly what I needed. This book is rich with exercises, journaling practices and so many ways to put these teachings into practice. Big recommend here!
And since it’s by the same author I’m gonna leave this sweet little read recommend: If you’re specifically looking to call love into your life check out The Secrets of Attraction. It’ll give you all the romantic feels!
Ok this next book shook me to my core. TO MY CORE. The Untethered Soul by Michael Singer, is a deep dive into consciousness. If you’ve ever heard people say things like “You are not your thoughts, you are not your body, you are a soul…” that’s a huge part of what you’ll learn here. This book is all about separating yourself from, well… basically everything, with the hope of not only gaining this beautiful energy that we can all access but also experiencing union with the Divine, with God. After Game of Life this was the book that I immediately bought like 20 copies of and started giving them to everyone I know. And to be honest, this book is where I realized that this journey, which I started in full disclosure, to be more successful and to make more money was going to lead to SO MUCH MORE. If I had to only pick one book/podcast from this whole blog to urge you to read, it would be this one. DOOOOO it.
And if we’re talking about The Untethered Soul I have to mention the The Surrender Experiment. Also by Michael Singer, this is his story about how his life was dramatically changed (and what an inspiring life!) and why he is sharing these amazing teachings.
This next book, The Autobiography of a Yogi, is the autobiography of Paramahansa Yogananda and is a much more thorough look into meditation, Kriya Yoga and how Yogananda was instrumental in bridging Eastern and Western philosophies. This is one that had been recommended to me SO many times and now I totally get it. Truly fascinating.
Okeeee can’t have a woo woo list without talking about….. CRYSTALS! I’m adding this next book because I get so many questions about the whole crystal phenomenon. Crystals, first of all, are awesome because they are part of mother nature and are beautiful to look at. And if that’s as deep as it goes for you, then cool! A lot of people believe that crystals hold energy and can help you work through lots of life’s issues. In my opinion, everything is energy and anything that inspires me, makes me feel good and doesn’t cause suffering is cool shit. They also make me feel more grounded and connected to my ancestors. (Which in this crazy techy world I can really appreciate.) So yeah, I’m into the crystals. If you’re like huh… where do I even start with that life? Check out Crystal Muse by Heather Askinosie and Timmi Jandro.
The last book on my list, The Alchemist by Brazilian author Paulo Coelho is actually the last book I read at current. This is an allegorical novel, a beautiful story that brought me to tears many times. If you are looking for an easy read that will teach you many of these spiritual lessons but in a lighthearted inspirational way then I highly suggest this book.
Alright! Onto the podcast vibes. Soooo much good stuff here. As someone who constantly wants to be learning and growing, podcasts have changed everything for me. It used to be all true crime all the time for me (still dig) but now I’m much more likely to be tuning in to one of these goodies:
Alright numero uno podcast for biohacking (bio whhhhatttt ??!!) and general wellness and spirituality would probably be The Life Stylist with Luke Storey. Luke talks about a huge range of topics all so very fascinating. He always has the best guests and I have learned SO SO much from this show. Take a scroll through his episodes and just start with whatever peaks your interest, I guarantee you will learn a ton.
Next up is the Highest Self Podcast with Sahara Rose! This has been the number one podcast on iTunes for Religion/Spirituality and I totally get why. Sahara has been called "Medicine for the Millennials." by Deepak Chopra… Ummm cool endorsement dude. She has amazing guests and breaks things down in a very easily understood and digestable way. It’s like spirituality for the cool kids… or something. You get it.
This next podcast is a real favorite of mine. Pretty sure I actually just wanna be friends with this girl in real life. The Melissa Ambrosini Show is a great resource for all things health, spirituality and general wellness. She’s just a beautiful positive light of a lady and I learn so much from her. Also she’s from Australia so she gets bonus points cause cool accent bro. *Side note: her husband’s podcast is pretty good too: check it here.
I’m also going to mention Oprah’s Super Soul Podcast. I’ve only listened to one episode but she just started a new series on Eckhart Tolle’s “A New Earth” co-hosted by THE actual Eckhart Tolle and that is freaking DOPE but I guess she is Oprah so why am I surprised? 😹 I’m currently reading “A New Earth” and it’s crazy good so this is very exciting.
Alright that wraps up the Podcast portion. There are so many that I love but these are my favorites. I promise to come back and add when I find other great stuff!
A couple bonus entries for ya! Kinda a given but a HUGE part of my practice is journaling my affirmations everyday so you gotta get you a good journal. Literally anything will do but I’m partial to these fun decomposition books. And lastly, couldn’t live without my Headspace App. I do additional meditations separate to this and I don’t always use the guided one but I love being able to track the time and for some reason it keeps me motivated. However, if you are new to meditation THIS IS THE PLACE TO START! Ha, can you tell I’m passionate about this? 💜💜
Alright! If you are still reading a) you rock and b) I’m so excited cause hopefully you’re excited about giving some of this a try! I am 100% happier and healthier than just one year ago when I started this journey. Wild that something that I started to make more money (which totally works by the way my pocket book is way less stressed than it used to be) has taken me on a ride to spiritual health and wealth. I am only just beginning and there is SO much to learn but I’m excited to keep walking side by side with all of you! You are my absolute favorite and I love you btw. 😘
Leave me a comment and tell me where you guys are gonna start!
All my 💖, (and light!)
Ruthie
