Dec 26

Dec 26 The top 10 Best Spirituality Books of the “twenty-tens”

Hey dear one,

In honor of my final blog post of the decade, I am interrupting our regularly scheduled weekly programming.

Instead of a video episode of Urban Shamanism, I am sharing with you my top 10 favorite paradigm-changing reads of the last ten years.

(Cus I’m a total book nerd. To be fair, I am also in love with memoirs and fiction, but to keep the list succinct, I’ve only included books in the spirituality and personal growth genres.)

Quick caveat: These books may not have been published in the last decade, but I have personally read them in the last decade, and they played a huge role in my own evolution and transformation at some point in the last 10 years.

So here they are, in no particular life-changing order…

The Untethered Soul by Michael A. Singer - I’ve read this book four times, and each time it delivers a different message. But essentially, it puts the loud and distracting voice of the ego into perspective (it’s eye-opening, I promise) and gives practical tools for not getting attached to our emotional reactions, so that we can relax with what is.
Conversations with God by Neale Donald Walsch - Reading this book is like an instant sigh of relief. It reminds you of Who You Really Are as Spirit. It’s like a big warm hug from your heart, helping you to re-align with higher wisdom no matter how ‘off the rails’ your day has gone.
Living with Joy by Sanaya Roman – This book helped me to know - like, know - that everything is, was, and always will be a-ok, and that we do not have to suffer to grow. We can affirm growth through joy instead of pain. This book produces insta warm-fuzzies and reminds us that life is always on our side and that the universe is endlessly conspiring on our behalf. It’s soul-soothingly beautiful.
Ask and It Is Given by Esther and Jerry Hicks - This is the ultimate book on manifesting. I felt energy coursing through me from page 1, and I knew that I would never look at my personal power in the same limited way again. I loved the ‘scripting’ exercise at the end of the book and felt a shift in my life after doing it. If you haven’t met the work of Abraham yet (as channeled through Esther Hicks), you must!
A Return to Love by Marianne Williamson - This classic, based on the work of A Course In Miracles, reminds us that only love is real. I felt the potential of my inner greatness when reading this book and was overcome with softness, surrender, and true forgiveness.
Awaken The Inner Shaman by Jose Stevens - This book is all about the power within each of us for working with the energetic realms. We all have an inner shaman, an inner healer, and this book helps you find it (and gives practical exercises for invoking it).
The War of Art by Steven Pressfield - An absolute must-read for anyone looking to birth anything new into the world, whether a business or a book or any other creative baby. This book was instrumental for me when embarking on my calling in the creation of Urban Shamanism, despite the (totally normal but otherwise debilitating) fear and resistance that comes up along the way. Very honorable mention in this same genre: Turning Pro (also by Steven Pressfield), which completely up-levels the way in which you show up for your work, especially if its in the entrepreneurial or creative realm.
Self Observation by Red Hawk - Admittedly, this one took me a couple tries to get into, but once I got there, it was like ‘whoa’. This book turned my experience of the ego-self on its head, reminding me that fear is just a sacred reminder to come back to love. And that my only real work is in committing to my divine self (at any ego cost) through the gentle disciplines the author teaches.
The Game of Life And How To Play It by Florence Scovel Shinn - This little-known prosperity book is an absolute gem; it definitely catalyzed a shift in my life. It’s poetic and powerful. If you want to call avalanches of abundance into your life, read this.
The Presence Process by Michael Brown - I read it years ago, and this inspired book still informs my internal process to this day. It presents a novel way of viewing ‘upsets’ in your life as the perfect material for your healing (what he calls ‘integration’). It puts you in the seat of power and makes you a master of not being afraid of your own emotions, and his concepts around ‘containment’ - not creating new karma - as we work our inner process are the epitome of self-responsibility. His way of playing with words as he writes allows the message to stick with you for years to come when you need it most.

And because I couldn’t totally narrow it down to just 10, here are a few more honorable mentions:

I Am The Word by Paul Selig - This book invites your highest self to step forward, take the wheel, and drive. Another channeled book, this one purports to be working on your energy field while you read it. It acknowledges the Source in each of us, and the unlimited creative power of that Source energy, as it raises your frequency and vibration.
Awakening to the Dream by Leo Hartong and Tony Parsons - This book scrambled my mind in its utter simplicity. It reminds us that there really is nowhere to go and nothing to do other than ‘wake up’. And that this awakening is already intrinsic to our present moment. It frees us from the endless seeking.
Bringers of the Dawn by Barbara Marciniak - This book opened me up to the idea that there are other advanced beings in our universe besides us operating at a higher level of consciousness, and it includes heart-opening lessons from those beings that are a balm to the soul.
Letting Go by David R. Hawkins M.D. Ph.D - Ok, this one is a little head-y, as in, if you are a Scholar soul archetype you are going to love this. It is based on the frequencies of emotions (which in itself is an innovative concept), and it teaches that the secret to letting go of negativity is in the allowing of it: it’s ok if it is, it’s ok if it isn’t.

It’s my prayer that sharing this list will contribute to the current cosmic shift of which we are all a part. I hope that our reading of these books allows for a more enlightened, evolved, conscious, loving, and awakened world.

Now here’s your weekly Inner Shaman practice:

Pick a book and read it. :)

Then, let me know in the comments below:

What did you think of it?

Happy Reading,
Steffie

PS - Do you have any faves I haven't included on my list? Please share your faves below!