The end of the year is a stressful time for many reasons: travel, work deadlines, and holiday plans can stretch our brains to the limit! Here are some books available at CCPL to help take a moment for yourself. Relax with some meditation, light yoga, or a craft, and spend some time on self-care this December.
Book Recommendations
The “More or Less” Definitive Guide to Self-Care by Anna Borges
An A to Z mental health-centric handbook that distills the “self-care internet” to four distinctive realms of self-care: physical, mental, social, and spiritual.
Real Self-Care: A Transformative Program for Redefining Wellness by Pooja Lakshmin, MD
In Real Self-Care, Lakshmin helps readers understand what a real practice of caring for yourself could — and does — look like. Using case studies from her practice, clinical research, and the down-to-earth style that she’s become known for, Lakshmin provides a step-by-step program for real and sustainable change and solace. Packed with actionable strategies to deal with common problems, Real Self-Care is a complete roadmap for women to set boundaries and move past guilt, treat themselves with compassion, get closer to themselves, and assert their power. The result — having ownership over one’s own life — is nothing less than a personal and social revolution.
Unplug: A Simple Guide to Meditation for Busy Skeptics and Modern Soul Seekers by Suze Yalof Schwartz with Debra Goldstein
Unplug is a revolutionary book that shows the overwhelmed and overworked type-A person how and why to unplug in order to recharge. Unplug offers a no-nonsense approach to meditation, sharing the incredible benefits you’ll experience, the proof and science to back up how meditation works, and tools and techniques to include meditation into daily life.
Meditation for Fidgety Skeptics: A 10% Happier How-To Book by Dan Harris and Jeff Warren, with Carlye Adler
Every Body Yoga: Let Go of Fear, Get on the Mat, Love Your Body by Jessamyn Stanley
Every Body Yoga is a book of inspiration for beginners of all shapes and sizes: If Jessamyn could transcend these emotional and physical barriers, so can we. It’s a book for readers already doing yoga, looking to refresh their practice or find new ways to stay motivated. It’s a how-to book: Here are easy-to-follow directions to 50 basic yoga poses and 10 sequences to practice at home, all photographed in full color.
Yoga for Beginners is the essential guide to getting started with yoga. With a friendly voice and step-by-step instructions, this book offers everything you need to start enjoying yoga’s calming and strengthening effects on your life. Take a deep breath. Yoga for Beginners will do the rest.
Self-Care Cross-Stitch: 40 Uplifting & Irreverent Patterns by Stephanie Rohr
Crafters will love this snarky book with its 40 witty cross-stitch patterns that focus on promoting a healthy, self-affirming relationship with yourself. An illustrated basics section provides beginners with information on materials, tools, techniques, and framing finished pieces.
Knitting for Radical Self-Care: A Modern Guide by Brandi Cheyenne Harper
There is no such thing as being kind-of a knitter. The wobbly scarves and that oversized sweater you tried to shrink all count too. In her debut book, Knitting for Radical Self-Care, Harper offers tips and suggestions for carving out time for creativity, alongside beautiful patterns to try yourself. The book includes ten original patterns inspired by revolutionary women of color, and Harper will speak to these women and their immense impact on her life and our world. The patterns include detailed instructions, alongside her original prose, all designed to inspire.
