Resources
Books, tools, and apps I have read or used and genuinely recommend. Short honest notes on each. Links marked with an asterisk (*) are affiliate links - see the full Affiliate Disclaimer.
Affiliate disclosure: Some links on this page are affiliate links. If you purchase through them, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. I only list things I have personally read or used.
Books on Meditation
The Miracle of Mindfulness - Thich Nhat Hanh
The clearest introduction to mindfulness practice I have read. Written as a series of letters to a friend, it is practical, specific, and free of the performance that plagues much modern mindfulness writing. The dishwashing chapter alone is worth the price.
View on Amazon *Wherever You Go, There You Are - Jon Kabat-Zinn
Short chapters, readable in any order. Kabat-Zinn writes about mindfulness without the clinical distance that makes some of his longer work harder to stay with. This is the one I return to most often.
View on Amazon *When Things Fall Apart - Pema Chodron
Not a beginner's manual but one of the most honest books about using practice to face difficulty. Read it when life is hard, not when things are smooth. It lands differently in those circumstances.
View on Amazon *Books on Habit and Behavior
Atomic Habits - James Clear
The practical complement to spiritual practice. The section on identity-based habits is directly relevant to the work on this site. Understanding how behavior shapes identity (not the reverse) changes how you approach practice.
View on Amazon *Emotional Agility - Susan David
Grounded in psychology rather than spiritual practice, but directly relevant to anyone working with difficult emotions in practice. The distinction between being hooked by emotions and having emotions is practically useful.
View on Amazon *Books on the Second Half of Life
Finding Meaning in the Second Half of Life - James Hollis
A Jungian psychologist writes about the specific psychological and spiritual tasks of midlife and beyond. Dense in places but worth the effort. The chapter on what the soul wants is the clearest account I have read of what genuine spiritual longing actually is.
View on Amazon *Journaling Tools
Leuchtturm1917 A5 Dotted Notebook
The notebook I have used for several years. The dotted grid works well for both structured journaling and freewriting. Numbered pages and an index at the front are more useful than they sound for anyone who journals regularly and wants to find specific entries later.
View on Amazon *Free Resources from Devotism
The Quiet Hour - 7-Day Practice Guide
One specific practice each day for seven days. The shortest possible path from reading about practice to actually doing it. Free, no purchase required.
Get it freeThe Honest Manifestation Journal - 21 Prompts
Twenty-one journaling prompts for grounded manifestation practice. Designed to surface what you actually want rather than what you think you should want. Free, no purchase required.
Get it free