Original content curated by 12min especially for you.

12min Originals

Healthy mind, healthy body. Take some moments of tranquility amid the hustle and bustle of everyday life.

Spirituality & Mindfulness

If you are looking for a quick (but effective) moment of reconnection with your inner self, you will find it in the next few minutes. Press play, breathe and relax!

Meditation

Everybody knows how the Law of Attraction works – positive thoughts bring positive results into a person’s life, while negative thoughts bring negative experiences. But why? In “The Magic of Manifesting,” the introductory book to his Law of Attraction series, Japanese metaphysician Ryuu Shinohara goes a bit deeper and explains the fundamentals one needs to understand in order to apply manifestation effectively. 

The Magic of Manifesting

Get inspired, build great plans, reach your goals, live happier!

Self-Help & Motivation

Watch your thoughts – claims a famous saying – for they become your actions, which, in turn, become your character and destiny. In “Switch On Your Brain,” Dr. Caroline Leaf uses Bible verses and scientific studies to demonstrate that this link between thoughts and destiny isn’t far-fetched. In addition, she gives a 21-day prescription for a detoxed thought life!

Switch On Your Brain

The best microbooks on Emotional Intelligence to make you overcome obstacles in your personal and professional life.

Emotional Intelligence

Have you ever felt like your thoughts were too loud and out of your control? In “Winning the War in Your Mind,” American pastor Craig Groeschel rummages through the Bible to teach you how to quiet and restrain them. “Our lives are always moving in the direction of our strongest thoughts,” he claims. “What we think shapes who we are.”

Winning the War in Your Mind

One of the most grueling tasks in today’s world is letting go of our worries, anxieties, and fears. In this enlightening book, Buddhist monk and peace activist Thich Nhat Hanh teaches us how to find relief from the noise that fills our minds and respond to the wondrous world around us with more awareness and appreciation.

Silence

Love is a topic numerous philosophers have contemplated. However, not many of them offered controversial ideas, such as Osho did in ‘’Love, Freedom, Aloneness.’’ This book gives an expansive definition of love, which includes the notion of freedom from attachment and sexual repression, self-love, and appreciation of aloneness.

Love, Freedom, Aloneness

In “Awareness,” controversial 20th-century-mystic Osho explains that the key to living a fulfilled life is to heighten your awareness. According to Osho, most people spend life in a state akin to sleep—he describes how you can wake up and make the most of your life.

Awareness

Written by Matthew Sockolov, the founding teacher of One Mind Dharma, “Practicing Mindfulness” is a brief introduction to the practice of mindfulness and its benefits, as well as a nicely structured collection of 75 essential mindfulness exercises, each of them broken down into several actionable steps and designed for specific situations or emotions.

Practicing Mindfulness

Test new diets, routines, workout regimens and see what best suits your body and mind

Health & Diet

Margarita Alcantara’s “Chakra Healing” is everything its subtitle claims to be: “a beginner’s guide to self-healing techniques that balance the chakras.” Nicely designed, the book includes exercises, helpful illustrations and a variety of techniques, all packed in accessible “bite-size advice that requires no previous knowledge.” Our microbook gives an overview of them all – the chakras, the methods, the main ideas.

Chakra Healing

Published in 2002, “Power vs. Force” is a highly idiosyncratic work which attempts to unearth “the hidden determinants of human behavior.” In it, “healing psychiatrist” and spiritual teacher David R. Hawkins embarks on a quest to organize our understanding of the nature of pure consciousness, and reveals a method by which one can instantly determine the ideological validity and truth/falsehood of any fact or statement.

Power vs. Force

Personal Development

“You Can Heal Your Life” is one of the classics in New Thought and self-help books. Hay talks about the power of positivity and of realizing the power you hold in your own life. She believes that every thought determines the future.

You Can Heal Your Life

How did we get here? See which ideas shaped the course of history, and how philosophy played a significant role in human evolution.

History & Philosophy

In “Women Who Run With the Wolves,” Jungian psychoanalyst and storyteller Clarissa Pinkola Estés looks at how women can recover their repressed femininity, or Wild Woman. She illustrates how stories and fairy tales can give crucial clues for women on how to truly be themselves.

Women Who Run With the Wolves

Drawing on research conducted at Joe Dispenza’s advanced workshops, “Becoming Supernatural” explores the mystical aspects of existence and goes to great lengths to demonstrate that, by way of meditations and mental rehearsals, humans can change their brain chemistry, actively participate in the reshaping of their futures, and slowly develop more efficient, more balanced and healthier bodies.

Becoming Supernatural

In the words of its author Gary Zukav, “The Seat of the Soul” presents “the largest picture possible – of an entire species transforming from a limited perception and brutal means of evolution into awareness of itself and its world as wondrous, and spiritual growth as its means of evolution.” In the words of Oprah Winfrey, it is the second-best book ever written – after the Bible.

The Seat of the Soul

“The Daily Stoic” provides 366 mediation exercises for every day of the year. While many people associate the word “stoic” with emotionlessness, Stoicism is actually a philosophy that guides you to live an actionable, good life. Struggling with your job or relationships? The Stoics definitely have some pearls of wisdom that can help you navigate life successfully.

The Daily Stoic

In April 2015, the Dalai Lama and the Archbishop of South Africa, Desmond Tutu, spent a week in Dharamsala to celebrate the Dalai Lama’s 80th birthday. Over the course of the week, they discussed the nature of joy and how it is possible for all of us to be happy whilst accepting the suffering and hardships of life.

The Book of Joy

British purpose coach Jay Shetty spent three years living a Vedic monk lifestyle at an ashram in Mumbai, India. “Think Like a Monk” shares everything he learned there. In his own words, the book posits another way of viewing and approaching life – a way of rebellion, detachment, rediscovery, purpose, focus, discipline, and service. The monk way.

Think Like a Monk

Love and friendship are the backbone of happiness, and no one could argue otherwise.

Sex & Relationships

The third book in the bestselling Mindfulness Essentials series, “How to Love” by Zen Buddhist guru Thich Nhat Hahn is a succinct, simple guide to the mysteries and beauties of love. Written in brief, self-sufficient chapters, this pocket-sized gem covers everything from the nature of mutual affection to its essence, from the four elements of love to the six mantras that enhance and deepen it.

How to Love

Nature, other people, the world around us and the universe – these things are not separate from us, but rather connected to us by a flow of energy. To be in harmony with the world around us, we need to access our deeper self – and once we have achieved this harmony, we will be able to make all our dreams come true by influencing the energy around us.

The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success

Upon publication, “The Secret” became a bestselling book and a globally discussed phenomenon. In it, Byrne reveals the secret to receiving everything you ever wished for – it’s as simple as changing your mindset for the better. Join the likes of Leonardo da Vinci and Goethe by learning about The Secret and how to apply it to your own life. A happier, more fulfilling life is already within your grasp!

The Secret

Take a sneak-peek into the private lives of people who left a mark in world history.

Biographies & Memoirs

“Way of the Peaceful Warrior” is a part-fictional, part-autobiographical account of the early life of Dan Millman. Primarily a novel, the book chronicles Millman’s transformation from a talented gymnast into an enlightened, peaceful warrior, under the guidance of a white-haired centenarian nicknamed Socrates. A perennially beloved classic, the novel was adapted into a 2006 Hollywood movie, starring Nick Nolte and Amy Smart.

Way of the Peaceful Warrior

“The Things You Can See Only When You Sow Down” by Haemin Sunim is a curious assortment of brief personal essays and haikulike Buddhist homilies addressing various aspects of life – from friendship and relationships to happiness and life – as well as how mindfulness can help you in each. 

The Things You Can See Only When You Slow Down

The result of countless hours of discussions between the Dalai Lama and American psychologist Howard C. Cutler, “The Art of Happiness” deftly combines the Buddhist understanding of the issues pertaining to mental health and human wellbeing and the current scientific perspective on the same matters. A perennial bestseller, the book is both a wide-ranging analysis of happiness and a self-help guide to attaining it.

The Art of Happiness

“It’s Not Supposed to Be This Way” by Lysa TerKeurst is a deeply personal story of pain and suffering – but also one of redemption and faith. It is, above all, a story of the never-ending pursuit of God – in the midst of struggles and disappointments that may leave anyone shattered and faithless.

It's Not Supposed to Be This Way

“The Next Right Thing” by Emily P. Freeman is an insightful, soulful decision-making guide. Drawing upon personal anecdotes and Christian wisdom, Freeman offers instructions on how to overcome uncertainty and doubt, and actionable pieces of advice on how to get through the small and big moments of life with joy and without regret.

The Next Right Thing

Drawing from a variety of spiritual traditions and the depths of a personally experienced “inner transformation,” “The Power of Now” by Eckhart Tolle is, self-professedly, a guide to spiritual enlightenment. The book advocates severing the ties with your incessantly wandering pain-addicted mind to access the power of the present moment – the only place where life is actually happening.

The Power of Now

Explore the work-ethic of productive people and get a glimpse into the techniques that helped them reach a high level of success.

Productivity & Time Management

In “Life’s Amazing Secrets,” Gaur Gopal Das shares the four principles that form the foundation of a happy life: our personal life, our relationships, our work life, and our social contributions. If we manage to balance the contradictions in these areas and show gratitude for everything life gave us, we already enjoy the benefits of knowing a secret.

Life's Amazing Secrets

"Stillness Is the Key" contains instructions aiming to shed light on the "holy" trinity composed of mind, body and spirit. Holiday maintains that those individuals who managed to rediscover their inner stillness in the face of obstacles and challenges were able to accomplish more even when the odds were stacked heavily against them.

Stillness Is the Key

In an age of fake news and alternative facts, it’s not a bad idea to consult as often as possible the opinions of people with one or two titles attached to their names. At least, in theory, they should help you stay on the safe side of the truth.
Rick Hanson, Ph.D., is an American psychologist summa cum laude graduate from UCLA, a renowned meditation trainer, and a regular speaker at Harvard, Oxford, and Stanford, and at NASA. 
So, we guess it’s not dangerous to say that he should know a thing or two about the topics he writes and speaks about.
And, in “Buddha’s Brain,” he explores the nature (or, as he says, “the practical neuroscience”) of happiness, love, and wisdom – basically the holy trinity of things-you-want-desperately-in-your-life!
Consequently, we can think of many reasons why you should stay with us the next 12 minutes reading on. So, let’s go!


Buddha’s Brain

Understanding the science behind your decision making and behavior is a great asset in the battle to a more fulfilled life.

Psychology

One of the ultimate classics of the New Thought and the Human Potential canon, “Thought Vibration” by William Walker Atkinson was one of the earliest books to postulate that all our lives are governed by the so-called law of attraction, according to which our mind is programmed to translate negative and positive thoughts into like experiences.

Thought Vibration

In “Blink,” bestselling author Malcolm Gladwell examines when and why intuitive thinking is better and more accurate than extensive rational analysis. He sheds some light on the unconscious nature of snap judgments and explores their magical power, as well as their dangerous weaknesses. Finally, he explains how we can control them – and why we must.

Spirituality & Mindfulness

Most Read

The Power of Now

How to Love

The Art of Happiness

Practicing Mindfulness

Winning the War in Your Mind

Newest

Meditation

The Magic of Manifesting

Switch On Your Brain

Winning the War in Your Mind

Silence