The scope and depth of mind-body-spirit writing today are greater than ever. Publishers see new works by scholars and practitioners that draw from ancient wells of wisdom and tap contemporary science. Many forthcoming titles speak to an audience deeply invested in holistic well-being and self-care that seeks to develop skills for self-discovery, cultivate a sense of intuition, heal from trauma, and look ahead with hope.
Today’s readers are much more knowledgeable about MBS subjects than in the early heyday of new age titles in the 1960s and ’70s, says North Atlantic Books publisher Tim McKee, who adds that authors need to have authentic connections with traditions, wisdom, and even political perspectives. “We see an interest in books that stress a postcolonialist view—one not dominated by Western materialistic culture or by interpreting the world in terms of a traditional view of gender.” He points to Kindred Creation: Parables and Paradigms for Freedom—Black Worldmaking to Reclaim Our Heritage and Humanity (Dec.) by social activist Aida Miriam Davis. The book, McKee says, addresses “how we might design our world if we listened to Black people, to Africans, to women.”
Llewellyn acquiring editor Heather Greene also sees more diversification and scholarly interest in MBS topics. Readers, she says, want to know an author has looked deeply into historic folk and culturally based practices and experiences. One book she cites as an example is Alpine Witchery: Austrian Folk Magic, Lore & Spellcraft (Nov.), by Austrian-born author Christian Brunner, who sourced stories and spells by delving into the documents from the 16th-century Austrian witch trials. And at Running Press, journalist Sophie Saint Thomas looks at the ties between the persecution of witches and abortion and reproductive healthcare in Reproductive Rites: The Real-Life Witches and Witch Hunts in the Centuries-Long Fight for Abortion (Oct.).
“People in occult circles, in witchcraft circles, in magic circles, are looking for deeper and more advanced practices,” says Jon Graham, acquisitions editor at Inner Traditions. “So they could take what they’ve already learned and build on it, and can actually make real changes in their life and in the world around them.” On Inner Traditions’ spring list is Buddhist psychotherapist Miles Neale’s Return with Elixir: Four Maps for the Soul’s Pilgrimage Through Death and Rebirth (Apr.), which offers advice for what the author calls “reclaiming the soul” and draws from mythology, psychology, alchemy, and astrology.
“People are feeling traumatized these days, and magic is a way of giving people a sense of control over things that are otherwise out of their control,” Graham says. “If you can use your consciousness to adjust how you look at things, so doors open in your mind, then you’re already freer, you’re more empowered as an individual.”
Balm in Gilead
Guides to physical and spiritual healing also abound in current MBS publishing.
“One trend in mindfulness and meditation is the focus on the body and embodied practices,” says Greene, pointing to books on yoga, somatic therapy, and meditation. The Llewellyn 2025 list includes four titles addressing healing strategies for trauma, such as Chakras, the Vagus Nerve, and Your Soul: Journeying to Wellness Through Subtle Energy and Your Nervous System (Apr.), by trauma therapist and reiki master C.J. Llewelyn. In The Healers: Physicians, Spiritualists, and Shamans in the Search for Holistic Health (Rowman & Littlefield, Mar.), physician and professor of surgery Thomas Helling argues that science is not enough to truly heal and calls for a spiritual peace for all of humankind.
“I have seen an uptick in spiritual work growing out of personal tragedy and intense frustration with the way things are,” says Georgia Hughes, editorial director at New World Library. She sees many writers urging readers to “learn to follow their own inner guidance” and “offering the tools to do that.” For example, she points to The Intuition Bible: How and Why to Tap into Your Inner Wisdom (out now) by psychologist Happy Ali, who recovered from a near-death experience and learned to heal himself and his family with spiritual practices and to find peace despite challenging events.
Of course, some MBS readers might even pray, according to Running Press editorial director Shannon Fabricant. She cites The Uncommon Book of Prayer: A Guide to Co-creating with the Universe (out now) by spiritual wellness coach Heidi Smith, which “decouples the idea of prayer from any specific religious tradition, and instead introduces prayer as a really powerful, personal spiritual tool.” To whom are readers praying? “It could be the universe, it could be Mother Earth,” Fabricant says. “It could be a specific god or a pantheon of gods. The book emphasizes that the work of crafting a prayer can be a kind of ritual that in itself creates a lot of positive energy in the world, but also within the self.”
Or readers can just do it all: delve into tarot, mantras, crystals, affirmations, herbal baths, mindful movement, advice from the spirits, and more. That’s the advice of Katie Huang, founder of the astrological lifestyle brand Love by Luna, in her book Cosmic Self-Care: Spiritual Rituals for Modern Mystics (Leaping Hare, out now).
Trials to transformation
For readers looking to become one with the divine, philosopher Simon Critchley points to lessons from renowned religious mystics in Mysticism (New York Review Books, Oct.). In this book, God is optional, and one can find the extraordinary in the ordinary aspects of life.
God is not optional for some publishers that consider spirituality their territory, too. Convergent offers readers The Tears of Things: Prophetic Wisdom for an Age of Outrage (Mar. 2025) by Franciscan friar Richard Rohr, who is known for teaching a contemplative Christian path to spiritual transformation. IVP promises what it calls “trauma-informed guidance to restore your soul” in Sacred Attachment: Escaping Spiritual Exhaustion and Trusting in Divine Love (Jan. 2025) by counselor and spiritual director Michael John Cusick. And clinical psychologist Hillary McBride addresses PTSD in Holy Hurt: Understanding Spiritual Trauma and the Process of Healing (Brazos, Apr. 2025).
Under the generally secular MBS umbrella, spirit guides, exemplars, holders of ancient secrets, and evildoers are everywhere. Psychic teacher Samantha Fey looks skyward in Heavenly Alliance: Call on Your Spirit Guides, Ancestors, and Angels to Manifest the Life You Want (Hampton Roads, out now). Saints, Angels & Demons: An A-to-Z Guide to the Holy and the Damned (Black Dog & Leventhal, Oct.) by spirituality writer Gary Jansen and artist Katie Ponder traces the lives and influence of 400 famed and notorious characters. And Icelandic author and filmmaker Hrund Gunnsteinsdóttir explores intuition in Innsaei: Heal, Revive, and Reset with the Icelandic Art of Intuition (HarperOne, May 2025).
Closed eyes, open mind
Two Llewellyn titles look to the power of dreams. Dream Magick: Change Your Reality Through the Liminal World of Sleep (Nov.) by pagan and tarot master Robin Corak melds witchcraft and dreamwork to teach readers to converse with ancestors, connect with higher selves, and envision their futures. Theresa Cheung wants you to trust your inner oracle in Dreaming of Your Future: Unlock the Precognitive Secrets of Your Mind (May 2025). “Dreams are today’s answers to tomorrow’s questions,” she writes in the book.
You Have the Magic: Harness the Power of Your Mind to Transform Your Reality by Haley Hoffman Smith (Running Press, May 2025) makes a case for what the author describes as “neuroscience-
supported practices for rewiring our brains and subconscious minds” to achieve the transformation of dreams. Along a similar spiritual self-help path, physician and podcaster Ragnan Chatterjee teaches mindfulness practices in Make Change that Lasts: 9 Simple Ways to Break Free from the Habits that Hold You Back (BenBella, Dec.). Aligned Abundance (Watkins, Apr. 2025) by a life coach and podcaster Emma Mumford is billed by the publisher as a guide for readers to “manifest their deepest desires with ease” by trusting in the “law of attraction.”
For people who doubt that transformation could really be that simple, there’s Living in Wisdom: A Path to Embodying Your Authentic Self, Embracing Grief, and Developing Self-Mastery, (Balance, Apr. 2025) by well-being educator Devi Brown, who has lived through her own grief and struggles. And Shambhala offers a guidebook for an audience not frequently served with Until My Memory Fails Me (June 2025) by retired Buddhist chaplain Sharon Lukert. The book, according to the publisher, offers “mindfulness practices for those facing cognitive decline, inspired by the author’s personal journey.”
Look to the ancients
There is always an audience for the centuries-old wisdom found in Chinese and Buddhist philosophies. Physician Tom Davies addresses the fears of suffering and the quest for happiness in Self-Obsession, due from Watkins next May, which, Watkins acquiring editor Ella Chappell says, draws from Western psychology, Buddhism, and Taoism. Shambhala’s long list of Buddhist titles includes a range of viewpoints. Down to Earth Dharma (Nov.) by meditation teacher Rebecca Bradshaw presents teachings and practices from a feminine paradigm, while Tibetan Buddhism teacher Jetsun Khandro Rinpoche shows how to nurture one’s inner light in How Not to Miss the Point (June 2025).
Scholar Margaret Pearson gives the I Ching “an authentic gender-neutral translation” in The Original I Ching (Apr. 2025), while Wisdom Publishing offers deep dives into Buddhism with such titles as Mountain Dharma: An Ocean of Definitive Meaning (Apr. 2025). Cyrus Stearns’s translation of 14th-century Tibetan philosopher Dölpopa Sherab Gyaltsen makes his teachings on the nature of reality accessible to modern readers.
The infusion in forthcoming books of serious scholarship and the exploration of spiritual wisdom from cultures worldwide is driven by demand today, according to Green at Llewellyn. In the first waves of popularity for MBS titles on yoga, tarot, witchcraft, and meditation, she says, “people were excited to practice. It was all new. It was fresh. Now, decades later, those people and their descendants are looking for more.”
Read more from our Mind Body and Spirit feature:
Intuition Meets Hard Science: PW Talks with Siddharth Ramakrishnan
Neuroscientist and biology professor Siddharth Ramakrishnan analyzes the brain to offer a scientific explanation of intuition in ‘Neuroscience of Tarot: From Imagery to Intuition to Prediction.
A rundown of new and forthcoming books that examine witches and witchcraft.
Classic Tarot and playful oracle decks are more popular than ever.
Finding Freedom One Breath at a Time: PW Talks with Jasmine Marie
PW talks with the author of ‘Black Girls Breathing’ about how mindful breathing and other practices can help heal chronic stress and generational trauma.
The Astrology of Style, Sex, and Self-Discovery
New titles aim to help readers to steer their lives by the stars and planets.
New Books Breathe New Life into Breathwork
A crop of new titles examine breathing and breathwork, drawing on yoga and holistic healing practices.
