Fans pick 100 books like Conscious Calm

This book simply blew me away. I sat down to speed-read through it when researching my coma book and became instantly hooked and took my time.

Dr. van Lommel takes us on a journey of discovery into the mysterious world of consciousness and its multiple levels and turns current understanding on its head. I loved the way the author steered me with ease into the realms of neuroscience and quantum mechanics without leaving me scratching my head.

This is so much more than a book about consciousness. This is a fantastic read for anyone wanting to know who we really are.

I loved this book for the sheer joy of reading it.

The Flip is when the penny drops, and you suddenly see the world in a whole new light. This is an exploration, a quest, and a call to arms for a bridge to be built between the humanities and the sciences and a serious exploration of the non-physical realms to begin.

This is also a hopeful book that makes me think I might just be living in an age when change is possible. I felt compelled to tell friends and family about this one, frequently stopping and reading passages out loud for either the sheer joy of Jeff's chosen words or the clarity of his thoughts. Be warned: this book may induce "Flips" in readers.

Hold on tight! If we ever wanted proof of other dimensions and the reality of otherworldly entities, this is a must-read, assuming one accepts eyewitness accounts of realities way beyond the understanding of modern science. No space ships required just the ability to tap into other levels of consciousness, in this case with N, N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT), the active ingredient in the Amazonian mystic brew ayahuasca.

Strassman's account of his groundbreaking trials left me stunned and wishing others would pick up where he left off. Forget Star Trek and Doctor Who; other realities are much closer to hand.

Okay, this one isn't about Consciousness, although it does form a key part of the story. But this is such a beautiful read, especially so for anyone touched by critical illness, that I couldn't not mention it in a list of inspirational books.

This isn't a medical book, as such. It's ultimately about us as people, about compassion and love. It's a journey of exploration and awakening from the stark realization that by employing a standard medical procedure, the young Dr. Ely was actually harming patients and likely killing others.

Compassion just pours off the pages. I'm left haunted by a number of the stories he tells of patients who were done such serious harm, with only the best of intentions, and of his quest to bring a new humanity to critical care medicine. Wonderfully uplifting.

Groundbreaking in the mid-90s, this down-to-earth study of emotional sensitivity provided education about my empathetic gifts and strong emotions in general. Before reading this book and others, I, like many empaths, had viewed it as something of a curse. Instead, I understand now that empathy is biological, social, and directly linked to the evolution of species. This no-frills book helped me gain this wisdom for life!

This book isn’t written specifically for empaths, which is something I actually appreciate. Besides, it was written before “empath” became a mainstream term. This book is actually where we get the term HSP: Highly Sensitive Person. One of my biggest takeaways from this book was learning that not every emotionally sensitive person is an empath! That was a shocker, but it entirely makes sense. Although perhaps not as “warm” as the other books on my list, the information presented here is pertinent, relevant, and… show more.

This is the best book I’ve ever found for guiding clients with step-by-step instructions and practices for developing a somatic capacity for resilience in the face of stress. This is the book I would want to write if I were writing the perfect book to give to clients to support their healing. It’s like handing clients the keys to their own healing process. I love it so much I agreed to write the foreword!

And…it’s perfectly structured. I know that’s not the usual reason for loving a book, but as an educator I can say that the learning structure is so perfect that it makes the content accessible and understandable for clients who struggle with learning from written material. 

In 2016, after my Mum passed away suddenly from lung cancer, I was in desperate need of a reset in my life. Fortunately for me, that’s when I came across this book.

The thing that’s so wonderful about it is that it’s a really simple system, which encourages you to start your day by spending time on just six easy activities - which you can remember by using the acronym S.A.V.E.R.S. What I found when I started doing The Miracle Morning every day was that it helped me to knock so much of my anxiety on the head that it then allowed me to be creative every day.

I can’t recommend this book highly enough. There’s a really vibrant community on Facebook where people share hints and tips on how to keep their practice going long-term and share their successes!

I have always been self-motivated, but this book gave me the tools to turn up the dial from a 7 to a 10.

In this book, I learned to apply the SAVERS system every morning (Silence, affirmation, visualization, exercise, reading, and scribing), and I have been doing it for years now. I wrote my book by heeding this advice and waking up at 4 am for months in order to write before working out and heading to the office. Every morning, including today, I read excerpts from at least 20 books, review my annual goals, study a foreign language, exercise, and more. One of the things I have learned about this framework since building it into my life is that it is much easier to hang new habits you want to start onto this system.

Once you implement this, you never have to start from scratch again. I have been… show more.

It’s hard for me to explain just how important this book has been in Western culture. Part autobiography, part meditation manual, this book is what popularized the modern mindfulness movement, beginning with Jon’s first forays into teaching ‘secularized’ mindfulness practices in the basement of a medical school building in the late 1970s.

Rather than staying in that basement, Jon’s combination of scientific training, deep commitment to understanding the mechanisms of the mental joy and suffering, and passion for helping others came together to create one of the first and most influential Western meditation training programs: Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction. This program has been the foundation for decades of scientific research as western culture as come to appreciate the importance of training ourselves for mental health and wellness.

This book is the story of that program, it takes you firsthand through the rationale and practices that have helped so many people, acting… show more.

I read this book in a particularly trying period in my life, when it just seemed like everything was going wrong. The title caught my eye because I sure did feel overloaded! Joyce helped me identify the worries in my life and offered practical, effective advice and scriptural wisdom I needed. I still grab it when I feel overwhelmed, and it helps me to manage stress. We all get stressed—from work, relationship challenges, financial trouble, or an overabundance of information. But Joyce shares inspiring insights from the Bible, and shows me how God’s strength can help me triumph over stress to achieve the joyful, peaceful life that God intends!