Tag: vulnerability

Your Health in Action: 5 Wellness Books Worth Reading

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As a writer, I constantly try to prioritize reading as a part of my daily life. (Some years, I’m more successful than others!) From fiction and poetry to nonfiction and memoirs, I try to vary my genres as much as possible to broaden my perspective and inspire my own creativity. Of course, because wellness is a huge focus for me and my blog, I often gravitate toward personal development books and podcasts.

For tonight’s edition of Your Health in Action, I wanted to share a few favorite wellness and personal development books worth exploring! As always, please feel free to share your suggestions in the comments below. I’m constantly looking for my next great read. 🙂

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which means I may receive a small compensation.

Your Health in Action: 5 Wellness Books Worth Reading | WellnessAndWanderlust.net

1. The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin
Okay, let’s be real: unless this is the first time you’ve stumbled upon my blog, you had to suspect this book was going to be on the list! For those who are unfamiliar with The Happiness Project, author Gretchen Rubin incorporates scientific research on happiness to undergo a year-long experiment to live a happier life. Each month takes on a different theme, such as boosting energy, focusing on her marriage, learning something new, etc. The book provides practical, easy-to-implement tips for readers, as Gretchen shares what worked for her. Inspired by her work, I ended up creating my own happiness project for 2019. (You can read about my progress for the month of January here.) Be sure to check out Gretchen’s podcast as well!

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2. Food Freedom Forever by Melissa Hartwig
As a fan of The Whole30, I was especially excited when co-creator Melissa Hartwig released Food Freedom Forever. This book focuses on what to do after you’ve tackled the intense elimination diet. How do you let go of your bad habits and baggage around food? Melissa provides a lot of well-researched tips for habit change and creating a healthier relationship with food and body-image. My copy has about a million Post-It notes inside, and is back at the top of my list for required reading in 2019.

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3. The Universe Has Your Back by Gabrielle Bernstein
If you believe in the law of attraction, The Universe Has Your Back is for you. Gabby Bernstein’s book on transforming fear to faith is worth exploring if you’re experiencing any major obstacles in your life right now. The book also provides several meditative practices to help you listen to your intuition and learn to trust yourself, while quieting those negative voices.

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4. The Idiot’s Guide to Ayurveda by Sahara Rose
Ayurveda is an ancient system of Eastern medicine and the sister science to yoga. Thanks to Sahara Rose’s book The Idiot’s Guide to Ayurveda, non-practitioners like me can learn all about Ayurveda and how we can incorporate it into our daily lives. You’ll be able to identify your mind-body type (or “dosha”) and learn the best foods, routines, and other practices to achieve mind-body balance.

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5. Rising Strong by Brené Brown
Brené Brown is a renowned social worker known for her research on shame and vulnerability (check out her TED Talk!), and as someone who struggles with opening up about her feelings, I was excited to finally pick up one of her books. Rising Strong focuses on resiliency, coming back from a perceived failure, and changing the narratives we tell ourselves. If you’re struggling to reset after a fall, I highly recommend this book!

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What personal development books do you recommend for 2019? Share your favorites in the comments below!

Putting Faith in Walls: A Lesson in Strength and Vulnerability

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“You know the difference between strength and imperviousness, right? Well, a substance that is impervious to damage doesn’t need to be strong. When you and I met, I was an impervious substance. Now I’m a strong substance.” – Bones

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Whether or not we choose to admit it, every single one of us has put up a metaphorical wall at one point or another. When we separate ourselves from difficult situations and keep others at arm’s length, we use these “walls” to protect ourselves from the world around us. By not allowing anything to hurt us, we are (as Dr. Brennan of Bones might suggest) impervious to damage.

With the threat of possible failure in mind, a lot of people choose to never step out of their comfort zones or try new things. After all, why would anyone logically want to enter a relationship if they were aware of the risk of heartbreak that comes with it? Likewise, why apply for the job you want without a 100 percent guarantee that you will get it?

All too often, we believe that by avoiding any possible situation that could lead to disappointment, we are doing ourselves a favor — in essence, we think that we are “maintaining our strength.” Little do we realize, however, that being strong does not mean lacking vulnerability. (Tweet this!)

Our strength lies in the unexpected disappointments, the harsh rejections, the complicated and messy breakups, and the way we handle them all. We become strong when we cope with the challenges that life presents us, usually when we open ourselves up and accept that we cannot control the outcome of every situation.

As Ray Lamontagne sings in his song Be Here Now, “Don’t put your trust in walls ’cause walls will only crush you when they fall.” To me, this means that the walls you put up now will not protect you forever. Eventually, we will all struggle with something, but if we have never truly opened ourselves up to failure before, we haven’t already built up that strength that allows us to overcome our circumstances. In this case, without our impervious shells, we are unable to fend for ourselves.

It is easy for us to put our trust in walls and distance ourselves from the world. However, my dear readers, this week I would like to challenge you to take a small leap of faith in just one area of your life. Feel free to share your thoughts and experiences in the comments section below!