Barre with Justine

Every night before going to sleep, I slip into bed to dive into a book. It drives my husband crazy because he knows I never get enough sleep, but I just can’t sleep without reading first! Occasionally I’m reading a novel (like a Riley Sager thriller) but usually its a book about health and wellness. A few books stood out to me this year and I’d love to share them with you in this post, with a request to please comment with any wellness books you enjoyed this year!

Total Body Beautiful by Andrea Orbeck, Desi Bartlett, and Nicole Stuart

Written by a fitness instructor, yoga instructor, and Pilates instructor (and an endorsement from Kate Hudson!), this book is aimed at women 35+, providing workouts and advice about creating a strong and healthy body. I loved the different yoga flows and combinations that are in the book and found many new ideas for movement patterns to use in yoga classes. It’s nice to have a more traditional exercise book with clear instructions and authors who have the knowledge and experience to support their recommendations.

Built to Move by Kelly and Juliet Starrett

I definitely feel the focus in fitness in recent years has been about feeling better in our bodies as opposed to looking a certain way. In this book, I love the focus on better quality of life through movement, with exercises that ensure we can do the things we love as we get older. The authors have an impressive list of clients including professional athletes, sports teams (e.g. the All Blacks), and the military. Their focus on functional movements is the best part of this book, with their list of 10 “essential habits” such getting up an down off the floor, squatting, and balancing. After working more closely with older adults this past year, I’ve come to realize how challenging many of these movement patterns are for seniors but just how important they are to practice. A great read!

Gua Sha and Crystal Massage by Julie Civiello Polier

I had to include a book about beauty and this one is so helpful for learning more about gua sha and the acupressure points in the face. The author is an aesthetician who incorporates gua sha and reflexology into her practice and, in this book, she details the history and techniques of gua sha for the face. I love the detailed diagrams of the lymphatic system, the meridians of the body, and the illustrations of the various methods. She includes routines, information about the tools for gua sha, and recommendations for issues such as acne, wrinkles, and jaw tension.

Fun note: this book is where I learned that broken crystals can be buried in the garden! (One of my beautiful rose quartz gua sha tools smashed on the bathroom floor last year…)

How Not to Age by Dr Michael Greger

This is a fresh new read from Michael Greger, a plant-based Doctor who is dedicated to sharing the science-backed benefits of a plant-based diet on his website nutritionsfacts.org and his short videos. This book is over 600 pages long and features many, many scientific articles that Greger breaks down.

Being me, I immediately jumped to the chapter on “Preserving your skin” and devoured every detail! Essentially, his tips include:

• Eating plenty of green and orange vegetables for a natural glow
• Consistently wearing sunscreen
• Drinking green tea and cocoa
• Include almonds, soy & flax
• Avoid saturated fat (meat, butter, etc)

Greger does an amazing job of collecting and summarizing the research in a way that is entertaining and easy to understand. I listened to a podcast where Greger noted that HIS biggest takeaways from writing the book were eating more strawberries and including wheat germ in his diet (for spermitine – a food component I had never heard of but which has lots of promise for hair and skin through autophagy). Some easy things to add in to a healthy diet!

Plant- Based Beauty by Jess Arnaudin

Whether you are already into natural beauty or you are just dipping your toes into this lovely new world, this book is a beautiful read!

Arnaudin (another aesthetician turned plant beauty guru) introduces the wide range of natural beauty ingredients, lifestyle recommendations, recipes for homemade products and rituals for each season. She gives advice on gua sha massage, essential oils, and stress relief.

This book is also aesthetically beautiful with its illustrations and design.

Hope you enjoyed these book ideas – let me know if there’s any books that you found this year!