My Top Books of 2020 on Spirituality, Healing, and Awakening

I read every single day, usually at night before bed. I love to read, and I especially love reading books that inspire, educate, and transform me. Books that open my mind, expand my consciousness, and awaken me to new ideas and possibilities. Usually I’m reading non-fiction, spiritual or health-related books. But there are a couple of fiction novels on this list although there are deep truths underlying the story. 

Below is a list of my favorite books I read in 2020. These books will add value to your life, they will awaken you, they will open your mind to new concepts, and they will inspire you. These books are in no particular order, as I love them all! However, the first one listed below is my #1 recommendation. It’s one that I will likely re-read annually.  

The Untethered Soul - The Journey Beyond Yourself

This book will transform you on a soul level. Once you read it, you will be changed; you will be awakened. Who are you? When you start to explore this question, you find out how elusive it really is. Are you a physical body? A collection of experiences and memories? A partner to relationships? Each time you consider these aspects of yourself, you realize that there is much more to you than any of these can define. The Untethered Soul, spiritual teacher Michael Singer explores the question of who we are and arrives at the conclusion that our identity is to be found in our consciousness, the fact of our ability to observe ourselves, and the world around us. By tapping into traditions of meditation and mindfulness, Singer shows how the development of consciousness can enable us all to dwell in the present moment and let go of painful thoughts and memories that keep us from achieving happiness and self-realization.

Consciousness Medicine: Indigenous Wisdom, Entheogens, and Expanded States of Consciousness for Healing Healing and Growth

A comprehensive guide to the safe and ethical application of expanded states of consciousness for therapists, healing practitioners, and sincere explorers. Psychedelic medicines also known as entheogens are entering the mainstream. And it’s no wonder: despite having access to the latest wellness trends and advances in technology, we’re no healthier, happier, or more meaningfully connected. Psilocybin mushrooms, ayahuasca, and LSD—as well as other time-tested techniques with the power to shift consciousness such as drumming, meditation, and vision quests—are now being recognized as potent catalysts for change and healing.

Spiritual Liberation - Fulfilling Your Soul’s Potential

Author and Spiritual Leader, Michael Beckwith teaches that inner spiritual work, not religiosity or dogma, liberates us. He draws on a wide spectrum of ancient wisdom teachers such as Jesus the Christ and Gautama the Buddha; contemporary spiritual luminaries Thich Nhat Hanh, Sri Aurobindo, and the Dalai Lama; and Western contributors to the New Thought tradition of spirituality such as Emanuel Swedenborg, Walter Russell, and Dr. Howard Thurman to create a profound new belief synthesis. Beckwith’s foundational teachings bring together insights from a range of spiritual paths to form a coherent practice that is neither Eastern nor Western but truly spiritually global. Regardless of your belief system, you will find it impossible to finish this book without at least a few "Aha!" moments.

Life Visioning - A Transformative Process for Activating Your Unique Gifts and Highest Potential

Why have you been given this singular treasure that is your life—and how will you use it? What is the purpose for the unique blend of gifts, skills, experiences, and perspectives that you alone possess? To support you in answering these questions and living in sync with your inner calling, Michael Bernard Beckwith presents Life Visioning—an essential companion for anyone seeking to accelerate their spiritual evolution. Here he offers his complete Life Visioning Process—transformational technology for applying deep inquiry and spiritual practice to enable the growth, development, and unfoldment of your soul. Join him to learn more about:

• The four stages of consciousness: Victim, Manifester, Channel, and Being—the characteristics of each stage, and how we move through them
• The dance of co-creation—establishing the balance between effort and surrender
• Applying the Life Visioning Process in all of your life structures, including relationships, finances, livelihood, and spiritual practice

The Gaia Codex

You know those books that will forever leave a lasting impression on you? This is one of those. A beautiful book guiding us all to reawaken our cellular memories of deep connection and alignment with Mother Earth, Terra Gaia. The pages are full of promise, hope, and awakening our awareness to create a future of healing for humanity and our planet. It’s a beautiful story with ancient wisdom teachings of the Divine Feminine, our connection to Mother Earth, and humanity’s ultimate potential woven throughout. It’s a wake-up call and a story of deep healing, transformation, and expansion of consciousness for us individually and for the global collective. One of the most timely books to read right now. 

The Gene Keys - Embracing Your Higher Purpose

The Gene Keys teachings are designed as an open system that you can explore in a wide variety of ways. Unlike many teachings, they are a self-teaching transmission that awakens within you, rather than a structure imposed from the outside through a set discipline or teacher. In this sense, the Gene Keys are an adventure that you can tailor to your own life, moving at your own pace and trusting in your intuition and imagination. The Gene Keys are a new codebook of consciousness. To apply them directly to your life, you need to know which codes apply specifically to you and how. Your Profile is calculated from the time, date and place of your birth and can be accessed free online at https://genekeys.com/free-profile/. Once you have your Hologenetic Profile, your journey of contemplation begins in earnest, as it highlights specific Gene Keys that have a powerful bearing on your purpose, your relationships and your prosperity. (NOTE: This book is a reference guide and is great to have in hard copy.)

The Art of Contemplation: Gentle Path to Wholeness and Prosperity

This small but mighty book introduces you to the technique at the core of the Gene Keys, and indeed of all paths towards wisdom. As the opening sentence states: ‘There is no problem in your life that cannot be resolved through the Art of Contemplation’. This book shows you how to bring the magic of contemplation into every corner of your life, resulting in a deep sense of spaciousness, calm and clarity that is so rare in our modern world.

The Celestine Prophecy

This is a fiction mystery book rooted in so much spiritual truth that the world is beginning to wake up to. It reads like a story of high adventure, but has the in-depth effect of a spiritual parable. The Celestine Prophecy will take you on a journey that will lighten your soul, and connect you with a vision and an experience that is already changing the world. This book captures the spiritual awakening that is taking place in the world right now. As more and more people begin to tune into mysterious synchronicities in their life, perceive subtle energies, and begin to realize how connected we are to nature, all beings, and the Divine. This is one book you won’t want to put down. 

Sacred Economics - Money, Gift, and Society in the Age of Transition

I’ve never been interested in economics much less read an entire book on the topic, but this one is mind-blowing!! Sacred Economics traces the history of money from ancient gift economies to modern capitalism, revealing how the money system has contributed to alienation, competition, and scarcity, destroyed community, and necessitated endless growth.

Today, these trends have reached their extreme - but in the wake of their collapse, we may find great opportunities to transition to a more connected, ecological, and sustainable way of being.

Charles Eisenstein is a brilliant thinker and writer. If you’ve never read any of his work, I encourage you to check out some of his free essays on his website. They are deeply thought-provoking and insightful. 

The Power of Vital Force: Fuel Your Energy, Purpose, and Performance with Ancient Secrets of Breath and Meditation

Why do some people thrive while others just get by? What's their secret to peak performance and maximum happiness? The ancient Indian spiritual tradition Vedanta calls it prana, or life force. By any name, it's the fundamental fuel that activates and optimizes all physical, emotional, and cognitive functions, including consciousness, perception, thinking, judgment, and memory.

In modern life, we have forgotten the golden key-the higher our energy, the better our performance in everything we do. Energy naturally impacts mind-set and moves us toward greater happiness, success, and self-awareness. This book gives you back your power with simple tools to take hold of the limitless energy of life itself-more swiftly and easily than you ever thought possible.

Science of Breath: A Practical Guide

Proper breathing helps us achieve physical and mental health and attain higher states of consciousness. Science of Breath describes the anatomy and physiology of breathing, as well as the subtle yogic science of prana. Basic yogic breathing techniques are explained so that we can immediately begin working with this powerful science.

Subtle Aromatherapy

Although the use of essential oils to help physical, mental and emotional problems has been thoroughly investigated and described over the past few decades, this is the first book devoted solely to their use on a subtle or spiritual level. It examines the applications of aromatherapy in personal and spiritual growth, meditation and healing. 

To discover more of my all-time favorite books, click here for the comprehensive list >>