Looking for a book recommendation

Q&A
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Hi everyone,

I hope you all had a lovely day yesterday, whether it was spent celebrating, contemplating, meditating or was simply just another day for you.

Yesterday was emptional for us with it being the first christmas without my brother. He had a place at at the dinner table and his photo sat on the table at the spot where he would normally be. My mum also poured him a glass of wine for him to enjoy. It got very emotional for all of is but we got through it.

I was suprised at my mum doing this as she is not a very spiritual person. It was later on that she said she is wanting to embark on her spirtual journey and also dive further into meditation but doesnt know where to start. Therefore, I was wondering if anyone could recommend any books that I could buy for my mum to helpnkockstart her spiritual journey?

We decided not to exchange gifts this year so this would be a post-Christmas present from me to her.

Tha k you in advance

Blessed be

Alan

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It is so kind of you to help your mother embark on her spiritual journey! She is lucky to have you to both confide in and support her as she learns :blush:

If she’s interested in astrology, she’s in luck! The best beginner’s guide to astrology by a very talented author will be coming soon- I will highly recommend it when it is ready! (:wink: :two_hearts: )

In terms of general books, there’s a list of good starter pagan books here (note that they have a Wiccan focus, which may or may not be where is currently looking)- some of these are deemed spiritual “classics” and are where many start their spiritual journey, especially for those interested in magickal practices.

When it comes to meditation, it can be hard to read along with text in a book as you try to meditate, especially for beginners. I would recommend trying guided meditations in either video or audio format. There are a few on Spells8, including a beginner course. I’ll link there here:

Additionally, YouTube is full of wonderful meditations of various topics! I’m sure she would find some that would be interesting :person_in_lotus_position: :sparkles:

Wishing you and your mother all the best as she explores resources and embarks on her spiritual journey!

Much love and many blessings :sparkles:

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Something a little different, maybe an app subscription for a year? Calm might be a good one and has some nice guided meditations on there. Who wouldn’t want more calm in their life?

That’s so brave of your mom to ask for support and guidance in her new spiritual journey. And I wish you healing and care in experiencing the holidays without your brother. :heart:

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I mean… not to toot my own horn or anything… :sweat_smile: I have a guided meditation audiobook that has some meditation information and many different guided meditations in it :heart:

→ Embracing Peace: Guided Meditations for the Spiritual by Megan Black

As far as other books, I’m not sure if I have any that are meditation-specific, but I agree with @BlueAngelite’s suggestion of an app. I’ve heard good things about Calm. Insight Timer is also a good app for meditation and mindfulness. They have a lot of free meditations and talks/classes available on there. It might be worth checking out, too!

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I really like their meditations. They seem to have one for everything! They have all different lengths of time. Average seems to be about 10 minutes.

@Susurrus made a great post on meditation! Very helpful!

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@BryWisteria thanknyou so much for the wonderful booklist. It certainly gave me some inspiritation to help out my mum. I will also help her to find some guided mediatation. She has tried meditation but found it difficult. She kept getting frustrated that her mind wandered. I tried to explain that this was ok as long as she acknowledged it and focused back ln her breath. It is just going to take time and patience.

@BlueAngelite thanks for that. I have and use the calm app. I don’t know how I didnt think of that! I have sent my mum a guest pass to let her try it out.

@MeganB aww thats amazing. I may also purchase this for myself! Thank you so much. I also have the insight Timer app so will point mum in its direction. Thank you.

@Sivonnah thanks for that. Short ones around 10mins maybe best for her as she gets ised to it. I think.she was trying to do meditations that were too long. I will also have a look through the post you suggested. Many thanks!

Thank you to everyone for your suggestions. It is much appreciated and will go a long way to helping my mum oit as she embarks on her spiritual journey.

Blessed be

Alan

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I hope you enjoy it if you do! I have some guided meditations on Insight Timer for free, and some on my channel. There are also the Spells8 meditations, and I think it’s @Amethyst that has some guided meditations she enjoys on YouTube!

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Meditation sure can be tricky at first, but it sounds like she’s giving it an honest try. I have no doubt that it will become easier and feel more natural for her the more she practices. It’s a skill like any other, and we get better at it with time! She is lucky that she has such a patient and kind guide to help her as she learns :blush:

Wishing her all the best- blessed meditations and spiritual explorations! :star2:

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I like Great Meditations and Daily Meditations on YouTube. Both put out new content almost daily. Short and sweet, ten-minute-long meditations are great to learn with!

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Oh as @BlueAngelite mentioned the Calm app may be a good one. I do remember that when I initially started on my practice then joined Spells8, meditation was something I struggled with greatly. I do remember that I had a subscription to Headspace and they had sort of courses. I struggled with any type of being able to meditate and had gone through their lessons for beginners with anxiety. I also did the meditation courses as @BryWisteria mentioned too.

One I started my therapy and made some wonderful decisions, including REALLY participating… I remember my therapist very early on also suggesting a meditation practice, which I already did from being here, but this was a bit different and at times I still struggled with being able to actually sit through a meditation and get anything out of it. (I was in a period of starting over, again, for who knows what number of times I was on :laughing:) One thing she shared with me to help me restart and to help my daughter start… was this one:

→ One Moment Meditation the video itself is 5 minutes long, but the actual meditation is 1 minute. It’s a way to start meditation small then work from there.

Another amazing resource for meditations of any topic, length of time, or even soundscapes I mean the list goes on, is:

Insight Timer it has 210,000+ FREE tracks:

Beginner, meditation :woman_in_lotus_position: breathwork, sleep :zzz: yoga, music :musical_note: progressive muscle relaxation, along with every interest or topic you can probably think :thought_balloon: of:

Stress, anxiety, manifestation, parenting, fear, relationships, grief, confidence, chakras, tarot, astrology, spirituality, depression, pain, addiction, trauma, burnout, exhaustion, resilience, productivity, creativity, forgiveness, gratitude, boundaries, love, women’s health, men’s health, beauty, aging, purpose, values, traditions, moon phase… Okay so there’s 205+ topics on there so I’ll stop listing them now, and that’s just the free version :exploding_head:

BONUS!!! Our own @MeganB & @SilverBear have meditations on the app also It’s an amazing app & I have used it many times over for so many things.

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Wow thanks for the tip on Insight Timer. I was actually looking for a meditation app that had more free stuff and this is definitely fitting the bill! I’m about to join a free yoga class on it right now! Thanks.

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Oh, you’re welcome! :hugs: I love :heart: it, I’m glad you like it too! :revolving_hearts:

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