What Wellness Facilitators Around the World are Reading

Written By Natalie Herb

Book recommendations from wellness facilitators around the world from Brazil to Sri Lanka

If you’re looking for a new book to grab your full attention, we’ve got you covered. We asked wellness facilitators across the globe to share the books that have been inspiring them lately. Whether you’re somewhere sunny and looking for your next beach read or curling up to a good book on rainy days, we hope you’ll also find some inspiration in the books shared below!

Jane Kim 📍 Hong Kong

Jane Kim is a Movement & Sound Artist creating spatial experiences for deepening self-inquiry, embodied growth, and creative self-expression.

The Spark in the Machine: How the Science of Acupuncture Explains the Mysteries of Western Medicine | Dr Daniel Keown | 2014

As someone who has had the privilege to live in Eastern and Western parts of the world — and is now studying Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) — this book really resonated with me in the way it explores the bridge between both systems of medicine, rather than treating them as opposites.

The writer, originally trained as a Western doctor before turning to TCM, reflects on how Western Medicine has largely developed through studying the anatomy of dead bodies — dissected, scanned, analysed — while TCM, refined over thousands of years, observes the living body through fascia, meridian channels and the movement of Qi. For me, this book offers a gentle but important critique of the limits of viewing the body purely mechanically, as opposed to a whole, living organism.

As a movement facilitator and student of Taoism, what stayed with me most was the recognition of Qi as the body’s organising life force; how energetic imbalance may exist long before illness fully appears physically. This shifts the perspective of pain too — not simply as something to suppress or remove immediately, but as the body trying to communicate something deeper.

I see this book as an invitation that opens up a thoughtful conversation about how Eastern and Western medicine might learn from one another more than we often allow, and perhaps this way of non-binary, cognitive dissonance could be the way forward for a more harmonious humanity, on a wider scale.

David Dominguez 📍 Zurich, Switzerland

Trained in classical music, meditation, and yogic traditions, David has spent more than 15 years exploring sound and contemplative practices and enjoys sharing what has most deeply shaped his own life.

A World Appears: A Journey into Consciousness | Michael Pollan | 2026

This book explores what we actually know today about the only thing we can truly know for certain: the astonishingly obvious, yet completely elusive and magical thing called consciousness.

It takes you on a fascinating journey through different theories of consciousness, the latest discoveries in neuroscience, and the limitations of our attempts to comprehend a phenomenon that seems to be a hallmark of life itself, and perhaps reaches even further. Along the way, it builds a bridge to the deeper insights of wisdom traditions that illuminate places our thinking minds don’t seem able to reach.

What I really enjoyed about this book is that Michael Pollan lets us tag along on his own quest for understanding and share in his curiosity, doubts, confusion, and awe. Thoughtfully researched, beautifully written, entertaining, and illuminating, this book will leave you feeling more amazed, humbled, and connected to the mystery of conscious experience.

Susann Pallarz 📍 Midigama, Sri Lanka

Susann is a holistic coach for women, a copywriter, a marketing expert, and a Reiki practitioner.

Blue Mind: The Surprising Science That Shows How Being Near, In, On, or Under Water Can Make You Make You Happier, Healthier, More Connected, and Better at What You Do | Dr. Wallace J. Nichols | 2014

After being called to live close to the sea since my studies, the past years finally brought clarity on what that call was really about. Not, as I initially thought, to surf whenever I feel like it, but about a much deeper connection to the sea and its healing powers.

A few years ago I came across Blue Mind, written by marine biologist Dr. Wallace J. Nichols. It became my go-to book for understanding not only the spiritual pull towards the sea but the scientific one too.

We are human beings made up of about 70% water. It is only natural to feel drawn to it. But Nichols goes further: he explains how water makes us happier, more connected, and better at what we do.

I have been living on islands like Sri Lanka and Bali for the past ten years, always surrounded by water, always connected to it in different ways. As someone who is intuitive but equally drawn to the science of things, this book has been my foundation and regular go-to guide for understanding water’s influence on mental health, on the body, and on the difference between living in a flow state and simply pushing through.

If you feel drawn to water but have never quite understood why, this book gives language to something you may have always felt.

As Bruce Lee said, “Empty your mind, be formless, be shapeless - like water. Be water, my friend.”

Lena Brandt 📍 Munich, Germany

Lena is a wild woman at heart, a somatic facilitator, ritual designer, circle keeper and change companion.

In the Absence of the Ordinary: Soul Work for Times of Uncertainty--Essays on grief, change, and sacred transitions | Francis Weller | 2025

I first came across Francis Weller and his work a couple years ago when I was introduced to his book “The Wild Edge of Sorrow” during a time of profound heartbreak. Since then his work and teachings around grief tending & ritual have been a big influence on my own work as a ceremonialist & facilitator.

His newest publication “In the Absence of the Ordinary” has been a cherished companion to me over the past few months when I‘ve been sitting with many fundamental questions in my personal & professional life.

The book contains several essays centering around different topics. From the wisdom of interdependence to gratitude, the art of ritual, the power of place, containment and slowing the f* down to “geologic speed”. Ah, and so much more.

Each essay carries its own wisdom and medicine to guide us through the “Long Dark” — this is what Weller calls these current times we are collectively (& most likely also individually) finding ourselves in. I personally can for sure relate to it.

In an epidemic of loneliness & individualism, Weller reminds us of the greater, wild web of life that we are all an intrinsic part of; we just simply need to become aware of all the relations seen & unseen that already exist (and have existed ever since).

It is a book I will come back to again and again. A treasure I will keep close to my heart (and gift to dear friends).

Briana 📍 Bahia, Brazil

Briana is an international healer, initiator, yoga guide, full-spectrum birthworker & and Reiki Master Teacher.

I read for joy, for answers, and for the sheer thrill of being dropped into another world. So when I was asked to share one book title, I laughed. How could I possibly choose just one? Yes, I’m a spiritual facilitator who devours books with topics ranging from healing and consciousness, to dragons, magic, and, dare I say it… spicy romance. I contain multitudes, doesn’t everybody?

As a woman who proudly reads solely for pleasure (currently on a 139-week reading streak—thank you, Kindle!) I couldn’t narrow it down to a single favorite.

Instead, here are a few titles that I’ve loved lately:

Natalie Herb
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