1. O's Little Book of Calm & Comfort
Joy and frustration simultaneously exist in everyone's life — meditation offers people a way to help harmonize that internal dichotomy. This meditation book from the editors at O, The Oprah Magazine, is a collection of essays that grounds the abstract nature of meditation with stories of the pleasures and setbacks that are all part of the human experience. It also includes an enlightening conversation between Oprah and Buddhist monk Pema Chödrön about rebuilding and thriving after going through a personal tragedy. This book is an enjoyable quick read, and it's small enough to carry with you, for flipping back open to a favorite essay at any time.
2. The Book of Joy: Lasting Happiness in a Changing World
The Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu may be two of the wisest men alive, but their wisdom is gleaned through lives of constant introspection and reckoning with the profound suffering in the world today. This book follows them during the course of Tutu's weeklong visit to the Dalai Lama's home in 2015, in which they discuss what pure, true joy means to every life (even in the face of immense hardship), and also the mental obstacles that can prevent even the most capable people from attaining it.
3. The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom
The Four Agreements is a book about the ancient teachings passed down from the Toltec peoples of Mexico, which have endured in their relevance to living a full, good life today. The agreements outlined in the book sound extremely simplistic (one of them is "do your best"), but author and spiritual teacher Don Miguel Ruiz breaks these large, vague concepts into specific ways that readers can start to instill positive changes in their day-to-day.
4. Declutter Your Mind: How to Stop Worrying, Relieve Anxiety, and Eliminate Negative Thinking
Our inner voice helps us navigate tricky decisions and work out what we want to say before it comes out of our mouths, but when it turns into a panicked monologue, it can severely impact our quality of life. For anyone who feels too riddled with anxiety and worried thoughts to sit down and meditate, Declutter Your Mind is a wonderful tool to help you remove distractions, cut down on the mental chatter, and reclaim that space for calm contemplation.
5. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values
If you prefer reading novels to philosophy texts, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance is a wonderful place to start on the journey to mindfulness. Touted for its pacing, narrative voice, and easily digestible concepts, this story of a father and son on a motorcycle trip serves as a metaphor for the underlying questions about the purpose and true nature of humanity.
6. Get Some Headspace: How Mindfulness Can Change Your Life in Ten Minutes a Day
Meditation, though powerful, is not all that complicated to execute. Andy Puddicombe, founder of the Headspace app (and former Buddhist monk), argues that 10 minutes a day of quiet, focused breathing can make a world of difference in a busy life. This meditation book breaks it down into very simple concepts, using analogies and stories to illustrate the point.
7. When Breath Becomes Air
