As we attempt to understand the psychology of success and become successful ourselves, studying the habits of successful people is not enough. To create real self transformation, we must dissolve the obstacles to success buried within us. To reclaim our power and regain control of our lives, we must uncover the old safety strategies and patterns that still run our lives so that we can heal and transform them.

Review from Drew: This is the book that I think of when I hear the phrase “don’t judge a book by its cover.” It looks like any self-help book that your dad might get you to read on outside, but inside it is fucking brilliant - the best psychology book that I have ever read. Kessler mixes human development psychology with energetics in such a powerful, Truthful way that I think this should be required reading for anyone on a spiritual healing journey.  

The basic premise is that most humans will go into one of 5 survival patterns when they are distressed: leaving, merging, enduring, aggressive or rigid. Which pattern you go into is coded into you by things you did / did not receive during the early stages of your development. The book will help you diagnose yourself and give you real strategies for how to break out of that pattern in order to spend more time with your real self.

A modern handbook for the journey, Soulcraft is not an imitation of indigenous ways, but a contemporary nature-based approach born from wilderness experience, the traditions of Western culture, and the cross-cultural heritage of all humanity. Filled with stories, poems, and guidelines, Soulcraft introduces over 40 practices that facilitate the descent to soul, including dreamwork, wilderness vision fasts, talking across the species boundaries, council, self-designed ceremony, nature-based shadow work, and the arts of romance, being lost, and storytelling.

Review from Drew: Soulcraft is perhaps my favorite book I’ve ever read, and certainly the most impactful. It served as a sort of jet fuel for me during my first year of spiritual seeking - I remember slowing myself down to make it last longer, and always seemed to open to just the right page to receive the wisdom I needed at that moment. Bill Plotkin is a true living elder, and I highly recommend his books and his programs at the Animas Valley Institute to anyone seeking a nature-based path to healing their wounds and discovering their purpose.

There is something about you brighter than the sun and more mysterious than the night sky.

Review from Drew: Adyashanti is another one of those living spiritual elders, who I believe to be a true enlightened being. This book is a collection of his dharma talks that he has given at retreat sessions throughout the years. It’s one of those books that you more feel than comprehend - sometimes at the end of a chapter I’m not quite sure what I read but I feel this glowing in my heart and this closeness to Spirit that always signifies Truth when I feel it.

Combining magic, mysticism, wisdom, and wonder into an inspiring tale of self-discovery, The Alchemist has become a modern classic, selling millions of copies around the world and transforming the lives of countless readers across generations.

Review from Drew: I might catch some hate for this one but I loved The Alchemist, especially for the time in which I read it, right near the beginning of my spiritual journey. Sometimes, so much more can be said it short, simple fiction than in any nonfiction format.