If you’re on a quest for spiritual enlightenment, then the right book can illuminate the path to your personal ascension. A wisdom-infused spiritual book is the modern witch’s most coveted tool alongside healing crystals, tarot cards, and herbs. You can transcend its magic in your life, too.

While spiritual books might have been sitting at the back of bookstores for quite a while, in the last 20 years sales have spiked as “the commingling of secularism and spirituality is bound to be a defining element of the millennial zeitgeist”.

But why are spiritual books so enticing? Because they have the potency to transform your life through helping you open “the doors of perception”, as the pioneer in alternative spirituality Aldous Huxley would say in his 1954 eponymous book.

The gemstone jeweller Angelic Diamonds presents you with the three most powerful spiritual books and their Goodreads ratings that can change your life for the better.

The book that will change your beliefs

The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom by Don Miguel Ruiz – 4.16/5

If you’re looking for a book that will transform your life grassroots, look no further. The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz has revolutionised people’s mindsets, from regular readers to leading spiritual teachers. Lee Harris, a healer and energy teacher, said in an interview for Gaia’s show Buzzsaw that the one book that started his path of harnessing his healing abilities is The Four Agreements. “It was such a lightbulb moment to me. I read it and I knew it was true, and I also knew I couldn’t reach it. I see why I’m not these things yet, but I see that this is the direction I need to go in,” shared Lee Harris.

But why grassroots? Because the book makes us recognise the limiting beliefs that are imposed both by society and ourselves. Its core message is: wake up from the dream of society and create your own dream filled with joy, happiness, and freedom.

Although there are many books that aim to help us unpack the layers of limiting beliefs we store, The Four Agreements transcends the ancient Toltec wisdom. It’s both a practical guide and a treasured hindsight. In Oprah Winfrey’s own words, this book, “simple yet so powerful, has made a tremendous difference in how I think and act in every encounter”. Are you ready to create your own dream?

A practical guide to mindfulness

The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment by Eckhart Tolle – 4.13/5

It’s highly likely that you’ve stumbled upon this title recently. Published in 1997, The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolleentered mainstream media only a few years ago as an echo to the rising new age spiritual movement. In the UK alone, over one million copies of the book have been sold, with 2018 marking the highest yearly sales of 100,000 copies in the UK.

The book has greatly appealed to celebrities and spiritual teachers who have quoted it. In a review of Oprah Winfrey’s super-soulful reads, the talk show host says: “Meg Ryan and Ellen DeGeneres gave me copies of this book, and it’s gotten me through more crises than I can count.”

Eckhart Tolle swiftly demystifies the meaning behind “living in the now” in his manual to mindfulness. The core message of the book is as clear as Tole’s inspirational writing: living in the now will take you on the path to happiness and spiritual enlightenment. It’s time to stop reminiscing over the past and living in the future, because the present holds the truest joy one can experience. Be here, now.

Your guide to collective ascension

A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose by Eckhart Tolle – 4.09

It seems that the world can’t get enough of Eckhart Tolle because his follow-up book A New Earth,published in 2005, has received as much appraisal as his first best-seller.  

This time, the author takes us on a narrated journey to the debris of our biggest enemy – our ego. It’s at the core of all of humanity’s suffering and the connoisseur of a dysfunctional society. By leaving our personal and collective ego at the door, we can enter a world full of joy and loving-kindness – a new earth.

Little did Eckhart Tolle know that his book will help shape the concept of our ascension to the 5D world, what we call the new earth. The book helps us transcend our ego so that we can step into the vibrational frequency of love together. In that sense, A New Earth is a tool not only for personal transformation but also for a collective ascension.

If you haven’t got your copy yet, hurry up and let the magic of these powerful spiritual books unfold right in front of you!

Sources

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/386482.The_Four_Agreements

https://www.gaia.com/video/overcoming-challenges-ascension-lee-harris

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6708.The_Power_of_Now

https://www.oprah.com/book/the-power-of-now_2?editors_pick_id=49177

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/76334.A_New_Earth?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=WhO60fkDGW&rank=1

During a typical year, students can spend up to 10 months at university. Many students live away from home, which means paying rent and bills to keep a roof over their head while they study.

Due to the pandemic, 2020 has been less about working hard to play hard, and more about staying indoors and concentrating on assignments. With colder weather already setting in – and winter lasting from 21 December 2020 to 20 March 2021 – students face the reality of trying to stay warm for prolonged periods of time indoors.

Although lots of people will be heading home for Christmas between 3 December and 9 December, some students may stay at university, and the Government is already looking at getting people back on campuses in January by introducing mass testing.  

Today we cover how to heat a student home without the reliance on central heating – which comes at a cost.

Keep window and doors closed

One of the easiest ways to keep heat indoors is by ensuring windows and doors stay closed. Cutting off draughts that would normally flow through the house is a simple tip to be more resourceful with the heat already inside.

This will help you cut down on heating bills by only having the heating on at certain times and keeping that heat in rooms like the living room or bedroom.

Cling film insulation

If you’re feeling a draught in the house, it may be caused by small pockets of air coming from cracks around the windows. In true student spirit, there’s a clever hack that can help create added insulation. Fitting an airtight layer of cling film over a single-glazed window will trap air and help stop heat escaping – making your house warmer in the process.

Cling film for windows is widely available online and is a cheap way for your windows to feel more like double glazing.

Use a portable heater

Sometimes it’s more economical to keep one warm room if other space in the property isn’t occupied. This could be to heat a bedroom up while the living room is empty, or vice versa.

One way to do this is via indoor portable gas heaters. They can be moved from room-to-room and can be turned on and off whenever necessary. Fitting nicely into the corner of the room, they won’t clutter up the place either.

Ready, steady, cook

Bring new meaning to “it feels like an oven in here”, by cooking regularly, you can use the heat from the oven to warm up the kitchen and other rooms close by. Look to cook things slowly that will keep the oven warm for longer instead of heading straight for the takeaway menu.

Leaving the oven open after using it can also create a warm flow of air.

Invest in radiator reflectors

If you feel like it’s time to turn the radiators on to get some warmth into the house, then make sure you invest in radiator reflectors. They help to cut energy bills and can help reduce heat flow to the wall behind the radiator by up to 45 per cent, pushing heat back into the room.

Wrap up warm

While all these tips have been around generating and reserving heat as much as possible, one of the quickest ways to warm up is by wearing extra layers. Sticking a jumper on over a t-shirt or wearing extra thick socks will insulate your body more and make you feel more comfortable during colder months.

When you go to sleep, look at using an extra duvet or invest in a nice, thick winter duvet that will make you feel less of a chill before nodding off.

That completes our list of how to heat a student home during winter term time. The end of 2020 will be feeling of relief for students, but with January just around the corner, the winter months are still ahead. It’s important that students can stay warm during prolonged periods of isolation and staying indoors.

Sources

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/higher-education-reopening-buildings-and-campuses/student-movement-and-plans-for-the-end-of-autumn-2020-term

https://www.flogas.co.uk/shop/category/portable-gas-heaters

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/bills-and-utilities/gas-electric/five-cheap-quirky-gadgets-could-help-cut-energy-bills/

A recent UK-led survey suggests competing manufacturers of the Tencel brand of apparel and fibres should beware of its environmental credentials.

The poll conducted by Alexandra Workwear asked British and Irish respondents what compels them to purchase the clothing they choose. The results should shoppers aren’t swayed by established brands so much as those that align with their values – a result that is good news for eco brands like Tencel.

Brand loyalty? Shoppers say ‘no’

The Alexandra ethical workwear survey results show Irish and British shoppers don’t feel a loyalty to brands they’ve previously worn but instead have other priorities.

When asked to list their primary deciding factor for choosing clothes, only 3.9% selected  ‘Brand Loyalty. Instead, shoppers are more often swayed by ‘Comfort’ (32.7%), ‘Price’ (29.5%), ‘Quality’ (19.7%) and ‘Environmental Impact’ (7.1%).

Therefore, a brand’s newcomer status to the clothing market shouldn’t be seen as a barrier to its success so long as they create products that target at least one of the top four shopper demands. 

Tencel is getting it right

Results from the Alexandra survey seem good news for Tencel clothing because concern about a product’s environmental impact now comfortably sits within shoppers’ top four deciding factors.

As one of the world’s latest and fastest-growing sustainable clothing and natural fibre manufacturers, it seems Tencel has identified a gap in the market that shoppers are willing to let a new brand fill.

The Tencel material fibres are created from a mixture of eucalyptus and beech tree wood pulp. The trees used are grown in sustainably managed forests that are certified to FDC standards. Furthermore, few chemicals are used in the materials’ manufacturing processes, and 98% of all the wastewater created is recycled rather than being dumped into the environment.

Tencel’s environmental approach is the core point to the brand’s existence – an ethos that will strike a chord with the UK and Irish consumers who are demonstrably unswayed by loyalty to existing brands.

• The Home Edit is the highest earning cleanfluencer handle on Instagram right now, earning around £10,546.76 per Instagram post
• Mrs Hinch is the second-highest earning, making around £8,008.58 per Instagram post, followed by Marie Kondo (~£7,726.36 per post)
• Mrs Hinch is the highest earning Brit in the top 10, followed by Lynsey Crombie (Queen of Clean). She is also the highest earning solo cleanfluencer.
• The data finds post frequency has no bearing on how much cleanfluencers earn, but follower counts and ‘likes’ per post does

New research by Gtech, the cordless cleaning experts, has found that today’s top cleanfluencers can stand to make anything from £2k to a cool £10k for every Instagram post they publish.

The Home Edit’s founders, Clea Shearer and Joanna Teplin, together are the highest earning cleanfluencers, earning upwards of £10k per post. If each post they have ever created were costed up at their current asking price, their lifetime earnings would fetch over £38m (estimated £38,590,594.84).

When compared against other top influencers, The Home Edit makes 32 per cent (around £2,500) more per post than Mrs Hinch, their closest rival. That being said, Mrs Hinch makes 4 per cent (around £300) more per post than Marie Kondo, who is the third most popular cleanfluencer.

While The Home Edit’s organisation and tidying website only started in 2015, their eponymous Netflix show in 2020 was the business move that catapulted the pair into five-figure infamy.

Over this short window of time, The Home Edit has accrued the highest number of followers of any other cleanfluencer handle with 5.5 million followers (1.4 million more than Mrs Hinch and 1.5 million more than Marie Kondo).

Gtech’s research also finds a clear correlation between no. of Instagram followers and expected earnings per post, in that those with more followers can stand to earn more per post. Using the data, it calculates that for every two new followers, cleanfluencers can request around an extra £1 per post.

Interestingly, having more followers does not correlate with increased frequency of Insta posts. In fact, many Instagram users deem fewer posts as more credible than if the cleanfluencer were to constantly post.

Data accurate as of 9^th September 2021                            *Data ordered by most average likes

Mrs Hinch, for example, has posted the least on Instagram out of all the cleanfluencers in the top 10 list. To date, her 4.1 million followers have only seen 282 posts from her handle. However, when she does post, she receives the highest number of likes when compared against all other cleanfluencers (which will help with her bargaining power to request £8k per post).

The same pattern can be seen with The Home Edit and Marie Kondo, where likes far surpass frequency of posts. Again, this seems to be the trick to asking for large sums of money per Instagram post: establish loyal followers who will interact with frequently to every announcement.

Do It on a Dime (Kathryn Snearly) receives similar engagement from her 257,051 Instagram followers, albeit in a mid-tier position (she receives around £740 per post). Could she be the next big cleanfluencer to watch out for?

A Gtech spokesperson commented:

“Cleanfluencers are a huge market on Instagram right now – and rightly so! We have all become more house proud since Covid, so why wouldn’t you want to learn how to make your chores more manageable by following a few helpful cleanfluencers who make it fun?

“Likewise, here at Gtech we’re always keen to learn how to make Brits’ cleaning lives’ easier. Our cordless vacuums, for instance, take the stress out of what can be quite a tiresome task, leaving more ‘feet up’ time without scrimping on cleanliness.” 

For further insights from the Gtech team, visit the Gtech blog.

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