Tag: listicle

Mental Health Matters: Embrace Self-Care With These Audiobook and Podcast Listens

May 16, 2024

May is Mental Health Awareness month, a time to recognize those living with mental health concerns and reduce the stigma many experience. Mental health struggles impact everyone to some degree, and methods of self-care can vary. To that end, here are some recommendations from Spotify’s editors of audiobooks and podcasts focused on mental health, well-being, and self-care:

Audiobooks:

The Mountain is You

Brianna Wiest

Narrated by Stacey Glemboski

For centuries, the mountain has been used as a metaphor for the big challenges humans face, especially those that seem impossible to overcome. To scale our own personal mountains, we must do the deep internal work of excavating trauma, building resilience, and adjusting how we show up for the climb. In the end, it is not the mountain we master, but ourselves.

In The Mountain is You: Transforming Self-Sabotage into Self-Mastery, Brianna Wiest explores the reasons people often resist efforts to evolve and explains why extracting crucial insights from our most damaging habits can help us build emotional intelligence, better understand our brains and bodies, and release past experiences at a cellular level. Wiest’s book walks through the ways in which learning to act as our highest-potential future selves can help us step out of our own way. 

Permission to Come Home

Jenny Wang

Narrated by Jenny Wang

As Asian Americans investigate the personal and societal effects of longstanding cultural narratives suggesting they take up as little space as possible, Permission to Come Home takes readers on an empowering journey of Asian Americans’ reclaiming liberty over their mental health. More than 18 million people of Asian descent live in the United States today; however, they are the racial group least likely to seek out mental health services.

Calling on her personal narrative as a Taiwanese American, her insights as a clinician, and evidence-based tools, Dr. Jenny T. Wang explores a range of life areas that call for attention, offering readers permission to question, feel, rage, say no, take up space, play, fail, and grieve. She suggests a return closer to home, a place of acceptance, belonging, healing, and freedom. For Asian Americans and the diaspora, this book is a necessary roadmap for the journey to wholeness. 

Check out the full Listens for the Mind playlist here:

The Art of Living

Thich Nhat Hanh

Narrated by Edoardo Ballerini, Gabra Zackman

 Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh—one of the world’s most revered spiritual leaders—explores an “art of living” in mindfulness that seeks to help readers answer some of life’s deepest questions and move toward experiencing greater happiness and freedom.

Combining the essence of the Buddha’s teachings and the author’s own poignant, timeless, and clarifying prose, The Art of Living explains seven transformative meditations that open up new perspectives on our lives, our relationships, and our interconnectedness with the world around us. Drawing on intimate examples from his own life, Thich Nhat Hanh demonstrates how these seven meditations can free us to live a happier, more peaceful, and more active life.

Decolonizing Wellness

Dalia Kinsey

Narrated by LaNecia Edmonds

A lack of BIPOC and LGBTQ+ representation in the fields of health and nutrition has a demonstrably negative impact on people with those identities. In Decolonizing Wellness, registered dietitian and nutritionist Dalia Kinsey explores how the body-positivity movement emphasizes cisgender, heteronormative, and Eurocentric standards of beauty and ignores the intersectional challenges of anti-Blackness, colorism, homophobia, transphobia, and generational trauma when it comes to wellness and self-care.

A roadmap to body acceptance and self-care for queer people of color in particular, the book encourages readers to embrace “food freedom”: viewing food as a source of pleasure instead of shame. It’s filled with practical eating practices, journal prompts, affirmations, and mindfulness tools and is a guide to throwing out food rules in exchange for internal cues. Readers learn how to adopt a self-love-based approach to eating and make mealtime into a time for celebration and healing.

Check out the full Wellness Essentials playlist here:

Mindful Mr. Sloth

Katy Hudson

Narrated by Erin Ruth Walker

Sasha has one speed: fast. She loves to do lots of things all at once, as fast as possible. Mr. Sloth has one speed: slow. He loves to do things one at a time at a nice, easy pace. Can Mr. Sloth’s mindful ways teach Sasha to slow down and enjoy life? Bestselling author Katy Hudson gently weaves a mindfulness theme into this unlikely friendship tale between an energetic girl and a sloth, encouraging children to stop, breathe, and be present in every moment.

Hattie Harmony: Opening Night

Robbie Arnett, Elizabeth Olsen

Narrated by Robbie Arnett, Elizabeth Olsen

In this sequel to the number-one New York Times bestselling Hattie Harmony: Worry Detective, Hattie shares new tools for managing anxiety, just in time for opening night of the school play. That night, there are plenty of nerves to go around! It’s a good thing Hattie Harmony is ready to help her friends soothe their worries with everything in her trusted tool belt. Will Hattie be able to settle the preshow jitters before curtain call? The authors—acclaimed actress Elizabeth Olsen and esteemed musician and writer Robbie Arnett—narrate this relatable tale that introduces the youngest reader to the importance of self-care.

Check out the full Kids’ Mental Health playlist here:

Podcasts:

The Liz Moody Podcast

Hosted by bestselling author and longtime journalist Liz Moody, this research-backed wellness podcast is all about helping you live your healthiest, happiest life. Each week, Liz sits down with some of the world’s best functional doctors, researchers, authors, journalists, and various other leaders in their fields to tackle the hacks, tips, and tricks that make a healthier life easier. Topics include what to eat to fight disease, how to take control of your finances, tips for fighting anxiety and depression, productivity and career advice, advice for making friends as an adult, the best skincare routines, healthy cooking secrets, and so much more. 

Oversharing

Relationship enthusiast Jordana Abraham teams up with her sister, licensed clinical therapist Dr. Naomi Bernstein, to answer your questions and try to get to the bottom of the things that bother us most. Think of Jordana and Dr. Naomi as your BFF and your therapist sitting side by side at the brunch table trying to help you get through your problems. Each week they respond to listener emails and tackle difficult ethical questions.

 Balanced Black Girl

Les Alfred founded the Balanced Black Girl podcast and blog in 2018, dedicated to helping you feel your best. Tune in for approachable health, self-care, personal development, and well-being advice from the perspective of Black women in wellness. Balanced Black Girl extends a bridge for folks to easily connect with experts, gurus, and a mindful community. 

Ten Percent Happier with Dan Harris

When journalist Dan Harris had a panic attack on live national television, it led him to try something he otherwise never would have considered: meditation. Harris went on to write the bestselling book 10% Happier, and on the same-titled podcast, he interviews eminent meditation teachers, top scientists, and even the occasional celebrity. He covers subjects that range from enlightenment and psychedelics to productivity and relationships to science-based techniques for addressing anxiety.

Raising Good Humans

Most parents have probably wished, at one time or another, that someone would whisper some realistic and trustworthy support into their ears. That’s just what Dr. Aliza Pressman, developmental psychologist, parent educator, assistant clinical professor, and cofounder of both Mount Sinai Parenting Center and SeedlingsGroup, is here for. She’s a mom who’s trying to raise two good humans. In each episode, Dr. Pressman speaks with experts and parents to share the most effective approaches and tools and talk about the important bigger picture of raising good humans. 

 Real Pod

Victoria Garrick Browne, Forbes 30 Under 30 and TEDxTalk speaker, is known for her refreshing vulnerability and relatable candor. She hosts Real Pod, the podcast that dives into the heart-to-heart conversations we’re all craving. She has inspired millions to embrace their authentic selves and feel confident doing it. Are you ready to look at yourself, your relationships, and your life in a new way?

Check out the full Self-care podcasts section on Spotify here. 

9 Audiobooks To Start You on Your Literary Journey

September 29, 2023

Spotify Premium Audiobooks Start Your Literary Journey. Personal walking into the distance with a dog

With elaborate storytelling, immersive worlds, and an enthusiastic fandom hyping it up, getting into a new book can be an exciting and fun moment. And with the rich, vivid narration of audiobooks (some even with a full cast), you can sink ever deeper into that experience. But with so many audiobooks and so little time, knowing where to start can be tricky.

From high-fantasy adventures and gripping thrillers to works from masters of horror and science, here are nine audiobooks to start you on your literary listening.

The Fifth Season

Written by N. K. Jemisin

Narrated by Robin Miles

The first book in the highly acclaimed Broken Earth Trilogy, N. K. Jemisin’s The Fifth Season takes readers to the Stillness, a land long familiar with catastrophe, where the power of the Earth is wielded as a weapon. 

Three terrible things happen in a single day. Essun, a woman living an ordinary life in a small town, comes home to find that her husband has brutally murdered their son and kidnapped their daughter. Meanwhile, the mighty empire Sanze collapses, and most of its citizens are murdered to serve a madman’s vengeance. And worst of all, across the heart of the vast continent known as the Stillness, a great red rift has been torn into the heart of the earth, spewing enough ash to darken the sky for years or even centuries.

Now Essun must pursue the wreckage of her family through a deadly, dying land. Essun doesn’t care if the world falls apart around her. She’ll break it herself, if she must, to save her daughter.

Starry Messenger: Cosmic Perspectives on Civilization

Written and narrated by Neil deGrasse Tyson

Bringing his cosmic perspective to civilization on Earth, Neil deGrasse Tyson’s Starry Messenger shines new light on the crucial fault lines of our time—war, politics, religion, truth, beauty, gender, and race—in a way that stimulates a deeper sense of unity for us all.

In a time when our political and cultural views feel more polarized than ever, Tyson provides a much-needed antidote to what divides us, while making a passionate case for the twin chariots of enlightenment: a cosmic perspective and the rationality of science.

With crystalline prose, Starry Messenger walks us through a scientific palette that sees and paints the world differently. From insights on resolving global conflict to reminders of how precious it is to be alive, Tyson reveals an array of brilliant and beautiful truths that apply to us all, informed and enlightened by knowledge of our place in the universe.

The Fellowship of the Ring

Written by J.R.R. Tolkien

Narrated by Andy Serkis

J.R.R. Tolkien’s beloved Lord of the Rings trilogy comes to life in this unabridged recording, with its first installment, The Fellowship of The Ring, narrated by acclaimed actor, director, and author Andy Serkis, who played the creature Gollum in Peter Jackson’s film adaptation.

In a quiet village in the Shire, young Frodo Baggins is about to receive a gift that will change his life forever.

Thought to be lost centuries ago, the One Ring, an object of terrifying power once used by the Dark Lord Sauron to enslave Middle-earth, has been found. Now darkness is rising, and Frodo must travel deep into the Dark Lord’s realm of Mordor to the one place the Ring can be destroyed: Mount Doom.

And so starts an incredible journey through Middle-earth that will test Frodo’s courage, his friendships, and his heart. But the Ring corrupts all who bear it. Can Frodo destroy it, or will it destroy him?

The Hate U Give

Written by Angie Thomas

Narrated by Bahni Turpin

Inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement, Angie Thomas‘ searing debut about an ordinary girl in extraordinary circumstances addresses issues of racism and police violence with intelligence, heart, and unflinching honesty. 

The Hate U Give introduces us to 16-year-old Starr Carter as she moves between two worlds: the poor neighborhood where she lives and the fancy suburban prep school she attends. The uneasy balance between these worlds is shattered when Starr witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood best friend, Khalil, at the hands of a police officer. Khalil was unarmed.

Soon afterward, his death becomes a national headline. Some are calling him a thug, maybe even a drug dealer and a gangbanger. Protesters are taking to the streets in Khalil’s name. But what everyone wants to know is: What really went down that night? And the only person alive who can answer that is Starr.

But what Starr does or doesn’t say could upend her community and even endanger her life.

Demon in the Wood

Written by Leigh Bardugo

Narrated by Ben Barnes, Benjamin Valic, Cassandra Morris, Eason Rytter, James Fouhey, Mary McCartney, Matt Leisy, Salli Saffioti, Sean Gormley, and Tom Bromhead

In Leigh Bardugo’s Demon in the Wood, discover the origin story of one of the most memorable characters in the Shadow and Bone trilogy in this fully cast, first-ever Grishaverse graphic audiobook.

Before he led Ravka’s Second Army, before he created the Fold, and long before he became the Darkling, he was just a lonely boy burdened by an extraordinary power.

Eryk and his mother, Lena, have spent their lives on the run. But they will never find a safe haven. They are not only Grisha—they are the deadliest and rarest of their kind. Feared by those who wish to destroy them and hunted by those who would exploit their gifts, they must hide their true abilities wherever they go. But sometimes deadly secrets have a way of revealing themselves.

The Alchemist

Written by Paulo Coehlo

Narrated by Jeremy Irons

With more than 2 million copies sold worldwide, Paulo Coelho‘s The Alchemist tells the magical story of Santiago, an Andalusian shepherd boy who yearns to travel in search of a worldly treasure as extravagant as any ever found.

The narrative of the treasures Santiago does find along the way teaches us about the essential wisdom of listening to our hearts, learning to read the omens strewn along life’s path, and above all, following our dreams.

Pet Sematary

Written by Stephen King

Narrated by Michael C. Hall

Pet Sematary is the bone-chilling classic from master of horror Stephen King that brings with it the lesson that sometimes dead is better.

When Dr. Louis Creed takes a new job and moves his family to the idyllic rural town of Ludlow, Maine, the new beginning seems just a little too good to be true. But despite Ludlow’s tranquility, there’s an undercurrent of danger that lingers from the graveyard in the woods near Creed’s home, where generations of children have buried their beloved pets.

Behind the “pet sematary,” there is another burial ground, one that lures people to it with seductive promises…and ungodly temptations. 

Then She Was Gone: A Novel

Written by Lisa Jewell

Narrated by Helen Duff

From New York Times bestselling author Lisa Jewell, Then She Was Gone is a chilling novel that delves into the lingering aftermath of a young girl’s disappearance.

Fifteen-year-old Ellie Mack was the perfect daughter. She was beloved by her parents, friends, and teachers. She and her boyfriend made a teenaged golden couple. She was days away from summer vacation with her whole life ahead of her. 

And then she was gone. 

Now, 10 years since her daughter disappeared, seven years since her marriage ended, and only months since the last clue in Ellie’s case was unearthed, her mother, Laurel Mack, is trying to put her life back together. So when she meets an unexpectedly charming man in a cafe, she is surprised at how quickly their flirtation develops into something deeper. Before she knows it, she’s meeting Floyd’s daughters—and his youngest, Poppy, takes her breath away. Looking at her is like looking at Ellie. 

And now, the unanswered questions she has tried so hard to put to rest haunt her anew . . . as well as some new ones about Floyd and Poppy.

The Lion’s Game

Written by Nelson DeMille

Narrated by Scott Brick

Filled with unrelenting suspense and surprising plot twists at every turn, The Lion’s Game is a heartstopping race against time and one of Nelson DeMille‘s most riveting thrillers.

Detective John Corey now faces his toughest assignment yet: the pursuit and capture of the world’s most dangerous terrorist—a man known as “The Lion” who has baffled a federal task force and shows no signs of stopping in his quest for revenge against the American pilots who bombed Libya and killed his family. 

Eligible Spotify Premium users in the U.K. and Australia can now look forward to 15 hours of audiobook listening per month on any audiobook marked “Included in Premium.” Learn all about it. 

11 Podcasts Sobre Bienestar para Inspirar la Mejor Versión de Tí Mismo

April 18, 2019

Sentirte bien no siempre es fácil. El estrés puede golpearte desde cualquier ángulo: el trabajo, una relación, o simple ansiedad existencial. Pero un amable recordatorio o recomendación de uno o más podcasts de bienestar puede ayudarte a mantener una perspectiva optimista. Ya sea que busques consejos de psicólogos, coaches de vida o yoguis, conoce cinco recomendaciones de podcasts en español que inspiran el amor propio.

Se Regalan Dudas

Este podcast conducido por Lety Sahagún y Ashley Frangie, con sede en México, se plantea el objetivo de cuestionarlo todo: ¿Por qué creemos lo que creemos? ¿Qué alternativas hay? ¿De dónde venimos y hacia dónde vamos? A través de una serie de discusiones, examinan las dudas que todos tenemos y discuten cómo abordarlas de una manera que nos permita mejorar.

¡Con amor, carajo!

En su podcast, la neuropsicóloga mexicana y coach de vida Lorena Aguirre trata de manera genuina e intrigante temas serios y trascendentales que van desde la educación emocional hasta las relaciones interpersonales saludables y positivas. Piensa en este podcast como “autoayuda para aquellos que odian la autoayuda”.

Entiende tu Mente

Entiende tu mente en 20 minutos, gracias a los creadores españoles Molo Cebrián, Luis Muino y Mónica González. A través de cada episodio, poco a poco, puedes comenzar a reconstruir la psicología oculta detrás de por qué haces lo que haces. Únete a su club para obtener acceso a más de sus recomendaciones y enseñanzas.

Entrenamiento para la mente

¿Quieres meditar, relajarte y encontrar un momento de calma en medio del caos? Esta serie del coach de vida argentino Nico Iglesias tiene audios de meditación para ayudarte a entrenar tu mente. Transforma tu experiencia del mundo de “hacer” al plano de “ser”.

Medita Podcast

La guía de meditación y coach de bienestar colombiana Mar utiliza la meditación como una herramienta para liberar el estrés y alcanzar la mejor versión de sí misma. A través de su podcast, entrena a otros a hacer lo mismo todos los días. Aprende meditaciones para ayudarte a vivir más en el presente, sentirte más relajado y experimentar la felicidad.

Poder Emprendedora 

Un podcast de entrevistas con expertos de emprendimiento en bienestar para inspirar a la audiencia tener un mejor balance entre vida personal y trabajo.

Pensar de Nuevo

¿Qué es lo que nos hace humanos? El neurocientífico Facundo Manes nos invita a pensar sobre nosotros mismos y entender cómo somos; a potenciar las posibilidades de planificar nuestro futuro y encontrar las claves que nos permitan vivir mejor.

99% con Mia Astral

99% es un podcast en el que hablaremos de la realidad de una manera diferente. Día a día te compartiré mis reflexiones más personales para que demos un salto de consciencia, dejemos atrás los viejos condicionamientos, conectemos con nuestro gran poder personal y miremos de cerca el origen de lo que vemos manifestado. Soy María Pineda, astróloga, life coach y escritora, y aunque probablemente me conozcas de las redes sociales como Mia Astral, te invito a que me acompañes en este espacio un poco más íntimo para analizar el otro lado de lo que experimentamos en el 1% de nuestra existencia.

El Podcast de Marian Rojas Estapé

Marian Rojas Estapé, médico y psiquiatra, nos trae unos episodios de podcast donde comprendernos mejor a nosotros mismos. Te cuenta y explica temas concretos de la mente, del comportamiento o del mundo emocional. Conoceremos la oxitocina y el cortisol. Tendremos claves para identificar a las personas vitaminas que nos rodean, Marian nos hablará de muchos temas sobre nuestra salud mental y nos enseñará a vivir con más armonía a través del conocimiento de nuestro Cuerpo.

Aprende a meditar

Aprende a Meditar es un podcast que te ayuda a acelerar tu despertar espiritual integrando el hábito de meditación a tu vida. Utilizamos la tecnología de Meditación Kundalini para alinearnos a nuestro más alto destino. La intención principal de este podcast es enseñarte a meditar y ayudarte a que el camino hacia la evolución de tu alma sea mucho más ligero.

Dormicast/Despercast

En este podcast que sale dos veces por día tendremos una meditación diaria para despertar y una meditación para irte a dormir. Conducido por Rosario Vicencio, creadora del podcast: “Sí Medito”.