.png)
Looking for some solid resources to boost your 2024 wellness motivation or sub in for the standard Netflix binge? Trusted Referral Network's got you covered with the books, pods, plus a sprinkling of other suggestions to help keep your mindset on track throughout the year. Let's do this.
For Starting (or Restarting) a Mindful Media Practice: First This
If you've found yourself simultaneously intrigued yet intimidated by starting a meditation practice, consider First This as the perfect pool to dip your toe into.
Kathryn Nicolai, creator of the acclaimed Nothing Much Happens podcast (another goodie) guides you through a short (we're talking ten minutes here), down-to-earth breath and visualization practice to gently settle or focus your mind. It's yummy.
If you're interested in how real-life leaders and visionaries incorporate meditation and self-compassion into their routines, check out Untangle: Mindfulness for Curious Humans.
For Incorporating Gratitude Into Daily Life: Grateful Living Daily Prompts
We're determined to make gratitude part of our year-round vocabulary instead of just dusting it off with the holiday décor. To that end, we wanted to find some simple ways to encourage a daily gratitude practice, whether through a formal journal process or simply through part of a mindfulness moment to start the day.
These daily gratitude prompts by Grateful Living offer a minimal but profound way to keep introspection and thankfulness in daily rotation.
For a Little Rest and Relaxation: Headspace Guide to Sleep and Sleep Stories
And oldie but a goodie: we're still loving the soothing sights and sounds of Headspace's sleep-centric collaboration with Netflix. We predict that 2024 will be a big year for sleep hygiene, so if your sleep habits have been a little messy, this Headspace guide will help you get right back on track.
On top of that, if you have a Netflix account, you also have access to a set of four super relaxing sleep stories designed to ease you into slumber. We tried and ranked them ourselves—check out our findings here.
For Love, Life, and Relationship Insights: Anything by Esther Perel
If you haven't heard of Esther Perel, she's the Belgian-American psychotherapist who's changing the way we look at sex, love, and long-term relationships. From her award-winning books on domestic partnership, desire, and infidelity to couples' conflict resolution courses to her real-world relationship counseling podcast Where Should We Begin?, Esther Perel asks us to leave our preconceived notions behind and look at love through an updated and highly empathetic lens.
For a Fresh Look at Healthy Habit Change: NicolesNeuroscience
We love to hear modern neuroscientists weigh in on self-development and habit change. Why? Because these fresh perspectives seem to focus more on understanding, accepting, and working with how our brains naturally work, not on outdated shame-based tactics.
Neuroscientist Nicole Vignola not only breaks down habit change by helping us understand ourselves better, but she also focuses on practical tools that help us create lasting positive change in our lives. We're looking forward to scooping up her new book, Rewire: Your Neurotoolkit for Everyday Life, when it hits the stands in June 2024.
For Shaking Up the Routine: The Comfort Crisis and Feral Self-Care
Your #TRN team is perfectly comfortable admitting that sometimes we need to shake things up and ease our restless minds through a little less structure. That's why we're digging these new perspectives on out-of-the-box self-care.
The Comfort Crisis: Embrace Your Discomfort To Reclaim Your Wild, Happy Healthy Self is about growing through new personal challenges. Bonus: Michael Easter, best-selling author of Scarcity Brain, narrates the audiobook himself; we listened to it while we tried out a little rucking adventure.
Feral Self-Care: 100 Ways to Liberate and Celebrate Your Messy, Wild, and Untamed Self is another selection with an audiobook experience that's ready to hit the trail. Feral Self-Care ditches the bubble baths in favor of activities like "dancing in the rain, primal screaming" and "creating a chaotic symphony." We're here for it.
For an Audio Starter Kit: Our TRN Mindfulness Playlist
Check out our hand-picked playlist of guided meditation sessions, plus some of the topics and experts we covered right here.
What are your favorite mindful media picks? Sound off and let us know: jo@trustedreferral.org