Reading as Meditation

I read daily. It aligns me, it brings me peace. It helps me retrieve my power and gather my thoughts...or should I say, gather my thoughts and then set them aside for a while. 

Either way, reading is a beautiful thing. It is, in many ways, a meditation. At least, I choose books that make my reading hours feel just that - invigorating, inspiring, empowering, refreshing - truly golden. 

People read for different reasons. Some seek knowledge, others pass the time and some, like me, read to gather inspiration. I love reading because it allows me to spend time with beautiful inspiring people who share their books on Audible, making it possible for me to step into their world for a few hours. I cherish these encounters, and many of them have profoundly shaped my life.

One of the recent was I May Be Wrong by the former Swedish economist-turned-Buddhist monk, Bjørn Natthiko Lindeblad. What a beautiful ode to Life! The feeling this book gave me reminded me of how I felt reading The Importance of Living by Lin Yutang at fourteen. i had  pulled it from the local library shelf almost accidentally - or rather, because I had already read everything else in that section that interested me. I didn't expect much, but I ended up devouring that brilliant piece of writing day and night. Lindeblad's book had the similar effect on me - it spoke to my core. 

I love how we can find soulmates through writings - how we can experience life through someone else's story. Even if they live on the other side of the world, even if their reality is nothing like our own - something in the way they share their journey can move us so deeply, striking a chord that feels profoundly familiar. Even if we haven't lived their experiences, somehow, we recognize them. Somehow, they feel so known 

Perhaps we have met before, in some other lifetime.

Perhaps we are from the same soul family. 

Perhaps we live on the same frequency.

I don't know what it is, but it is beautiful, expansive, and generous - to walk alongside someone, even briefly, on a road that calls to you, a road that has something to tell you and teach you.

I am so grateful for that book and for my reading hours. This time make me a better person, a more passionate creator. Yeah, reading brings me peace. It aligns me. Precisely that. This is why I read and why I love reading so much. 

Thank you Natthiko, and thank you to all the authors whose books have ever inspired me. 

Here is a short list of my latest favourites:

• I May Be Wrong by Bjørn Natthiko Lindeblad
• The Hero with a Thousand Faces  by Joseph Campbell
• The Creative Act: A Way of Being by Rick Rubin
• Atlas of the Heart by Brene Brown   
• The Heartbeat of Trees by Peter Wohlleben

What are the best books you have read recently and would suggest any time?

I wish you an inspiring and smooth week ahead!✨

_________________________________________

May peace be with you.

♡  Hele