Recommended Reading – Books

Here’s a few of my favourites from the last few years …

The Sleep Book: How to Sleep Well Every Night – Dr Guy Meadows
Dr Guy Meadows (founder of the Sleep School in London) takes a very different approach to sleep and the sleep aids and crutches we often try. Yes, the basics of sleep hygiene need to be in place but the core to good quality sleep is wholeheartedly accepting that you may not sleep and also behaving like a ‘normal sleeper’! Unlike most aspects of our life, sleep just cannot be forced – we could force ourselves to exercise more, work harder and so on but this just does not work with sleep. In fact, the opposite is true, the harder we try the less likely it is to happen. Sleep just needs the right conditions and it will happen quite naturally – acceptance of any fears and concerns around sleep are key to this. This is a fairly quick read and it has significantly helped improve my sleep quality. It’s no quick fix but more a change of habit and approach to sleep .

Mindfulness, a Practical Guide – Mark Williams & Danny Penman
One of the best basic principles of mindfulness books I’ve read broken down into practical steps. Also comes with a very useful audio containing guided meditations. This and ‘The Miracle of Mindfulness’ are the two books I regularly recommend on beginning mindfulness.

The Miracle of Mindfulness – Thich Nhat Hanh
This is my favourite book on mindfulness, beautifully and very concisely explaining the principles whilst showing practical ways to integrate them into daily life, love it!

Molecules of Emotion – Candace B Pert
Written by a neuroscientist, this shows the biomolecular basis for our emotions – the biological link between our body and our emotions and how we can influence this process. They key here is that this book is written for the non-scientist so it’s a very accessible read.

Mindset – Carol Dweck
Psychologist Dweck shows the importance of mindset in achieving our goals or living our lives in the way we choose rather than relying on talents and abilities alone. As with the best books, the principles are clearly laid out and easy to adopt – most of the important content is in the first half of the book so it can be a quick read! Hugely beneficial read for ourselves but also for helping others – particularly children.

The Wealth Chef – Ann Wilson
Many times I’ve thought I understood a subject, so many times I’ve been wrong, this happened again whilst reading this book! Ann Wilson gives real insight to how money flows through our lives and how it really works. This significantly shifted my beliefs on how you get it, how it grows and also how you lose it.

The 4 Hour Working Week – Escape the 9 to 5- Tim Ferriss
The ultimate lesson in lifestyle design. Tim Ferriss doesn’t spend too much time on theory here just on the how he and many others he knows has changed so many aspects of their lives, mainly around ways of making a living. He’s been there and done it and gives us the chance to do the same.

The Primal Blueprint – Mark Sisson
This is an excellent introduction to living more in accordance with what we’re designed for – call it ancestral / primal / paleo etc. Covers most aspects of life, particularly around eating and exercising.

Back in Control – A spine surgeon’s roadmap out of chronic pain – David Hansom MD
A really interesting and practical guide to how chronic pain can develop in the body and what to do about it.