Wake Up To The Joy Of You 52 Meditations And Practices For A Calmer, Happier, Mindful Life

by Agapi Stassinopoulos

Semaine après semaine, tout au long de l'année, partez à la découverte de vous-même et emplissez votre vie de sérénité, de sens, de peps et de joie !Agapi Stassinopoulos est une référence dans la pratique de la méditation. Dans son livre, elle vous propose cinquante-deux méditations, une par semaine de l'année, pour vous réconcilier avec vous-même et retrouver vos bonnes énergies.Avec chaleur et sagesse, s'appuyant à la fois sur son parcours professionnel et sur ses expériences personnelles, Agapi Stassinopoulos vous apprend à explorer ces " domaines conflictuels " de votre vie que sont potentiellement les relations humaines et familiales, l'argent, l'amour-propre, l'anxiété... ; elle vous aide à développer les composants fondamentaux de votre bien-être, à faire confiance à votre créativité et à ouvrir durablement votre coeur.Dans chaque chapitre vous trouverez :- une réflexion sur la vie quotidienne et sur les entraves à la joie ;- un travail personnel sous la forme de points à élucider ;- une proposition de méditation guidée.Gardez ce livre sur votre table de chevet, il sera un compagnon bienveillant qui libérera votre bonté et réveillera votre joie de vivre." Il faut une vie entière pour devenir soi, et il faut à la fois se faire confiance et beaucoup se remettre en question pour trouver le bonheur d'être soi. "

Genres: Nonfiction, Self Help, Spirituality, Personal Development, Mental Health, Meditation, Unfinished

Paperback

About the author

AGAPI STASSINOPOULOS is a best-selling author and speaker who inspires audiences around the world. In her previous book, Unbinding the Heart: A Dose of Greek Wisdom, Generosity, and Unconditional Love, she shares the wisdom from her life’s adventures and experiences. In her new book, Wake Up to the Joy of You: 52 Meditations and Practices for a Calmer, Happier Life, she takes readers on a journey and inspires them to let go of what doesn’t work and instead create the lives they really want. Agapi was trained in London at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and then moved on to receive her master’s degree in psychology from the University of Santa Monica. Her previous books on the Greek archetypes, Gods and Goddesses in Love and Conversations with the Goddesses, were turned into PBS specials. She is currently conducting workshops for Thrive Global, a company founded by her sister, Arianna Huffington, to help change the way we work and live. She divides her time between New York and Los Angeles and was born and raised in Athens, Greece.

FIND HER online at www.WakeUptotheJoyofYou.com

Reviews

[Deb (Readerbuzz) Nance · Rating 4 out of 5]

Have you ever had a friend who shares little secrets of finding happiness with you? One that also is able to somehow reassure you that you will be able to make these small changes? One who, in addition, comes across as having your best interests at heart? That's the feeling I took away from reading this book. It's a lovely little book that doesn't ask you to make huge and dramatic changes but rather to tweak the things you do to make yourself happier. I left the reading of the book feeling like the author was a genuinely concerned friend, and that's a nice feeling.

[Scarlett O.H. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This helped me to feel more positive, I recommend it. I read a couple of the weekly chapters a day when I felt like it. It's reasonably down to earth advise.

[Pages Bursting Hearts · Rating 5 out of 5]

"This is your precious life. Live it. Sing your song. Give it your deepest gratitude. Celebrate your fullness."

I'd give this 10 stars if I could. I loved all 52 chapters completely. I will be buying this book to reference over and over.

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

This little book...I love it.

I requested it through Blogging for Books (in exchange for an honest review!) because nothing else even remotely piqued my interest. I figured, hey, I just took my first step into adult coloring which is said to be a form of meditation...maybe I should try legit meditation. So I requested it.

It took forever to appear on my doorstep, and I actually thought I'd provided the wrong address. But, in the nature of things, it came at the perfect time.

Disclaimer: this is a very spiritual book, and I'm about to throw down some spiritual stuff in this review. Usually my reviews are just about this book, but this is going to get personal.

I believe that the universe/God/whatever you want to call it sends the right message at the right time. Life is full of trials and triumphs, but sometimes those trials -- those moments where your faith is tested -- can be incredibly difficult.

This book showed up on my doorstep in a moment of self-doubt. Now, the book features 52 chapters -- each one has a different theme or message and a guided meditation to ruminate on that message. Rather than go through in order, I decided to flip to a random one. "29. Find Your Confidence and Be Bold" was my chapter that I randomly landed on, and holy shit did I need to read it. It was literally a chapter on embarking on a new journey -- whether it be a new project, relationship or -ahem- job, it talked about self-doubt, self-criticism, and using opportunities to grow, test your limits, and move forward. After skimming through the other chapters, it couldn't have been more perfect in that moment.

Fast forward a few days, the morning of my snowy PT test. My anxiety was through the god damn roof. In the words of Eminem, "Success is my only option, failure's not" because if you fail the test, you're booted out. ANXIETY ANXIETY ANXIETY. While waiting for my ride (my two-wheel drive car has zero chill in the snow), I flipped to another random chapter. This one ("19. The Art of Letting Go") was about breathing. Breathe in. Breathe out. Let go of anxiety. I breathed and I let go, and when they told us we would be doing the test indoors...well, it was awesome. I know I could have also gotten through it had we done it outside, too.

The chapters are two to four pages long and are quick, easy reads. The idea is to do one a week and ruminate on it that week. My only gripe is how long the actual guided meditations are -- I found it extremely difficult to remember a page of guided meditation without reading it (because the idea is to meditate). I think they could have definitely been shorter. It's a great addition to the nightstand, that's for sure!

I rated this one a 4/5.

[Lori · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was a very lucky goodreads giveaway winner of this well done book. Agapi Stassinopoulos."Writes 52 meditations and practices for a calmer and happier life." it is intended to read one meditation a week, but since I won the book, I wanted to read the whole book so I can do a review. Agapi focuses on many different subjects that can be a part of your life. Such as letting go of disappointment, hurt, anger, resentment,worry, living in denial. dealing with negative people etc. She often offers her own life experiences and how she dealt with them. at the end of each small chapter she offers meditating and breathing excercises. Agapi offers some very good advice on living your life with what goes on in it and how to live a calmer life. I tend to keep my copy by my bedside so I can go back, re-read many of the meditations. There is some great advice in this helpful book. Glad I got the chance to read.

[Cheryl Dietr · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am so happy to have received this book. After several years of turmoil, a little over a year ago I began working on me and my own life through 10 minute mediations, therapy and positive thinking. It has helped tremendously. That said, recently I realized I had been slacking on some of this self-care and was embarking on some new ways to doing things....and this book arrived right when I needed it. The stories are lovingly shared with great insight. The meditations are exactly what I need to use to put myself in a good place. I am going through this book slowly and savoring its wisdom.

* I received this book through the Goodreads Giveaway. Thank you Goodreads, Harmony Books and especially Agapi Stassinopoulos.*

[Kristine · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the best meditation book I’ve read all year!! I was introduced to Agapi through a virtual, group meditation at work - it sounded like poetic through the phone...which can be hard to achieve virtually. My practice consisted of reading a passage once or twice a week when I first wake up, then work the exercises (journaling, intention setting, noticing) throughout the week and using the meditations to strengthen my mindfulness teacher training. I found the stories relatable, and have shared pieces of the life lessons in my “Mindful Monday” emails to my team since COVID. I have received a lot positive feedback stating how relevant and useful the lessons are and even have some of them tipping their toes into practicing mindfulness.

[Melissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

An inspiring read full of personal anecdotes and relatable experiences. Thoroughly enjoyed this read as you could open it to any chapter and find helpful gems of advice and simple ways to action change and acceptance. Love that it wasn't full of flowery language and unrealistic practices.

[Kathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book! The author covers so many topics that are relatable to all of us, showing us how to get past things that have held us back or frustrated us, and offering suggestions on how to free ourselves to move on and open ourselves to the lives and joy we deserve.

The book is intended to be read one chapter a week, and focus on that for an entire week. That would be a good way to tackle the subject completely. I, however, found myself wondering what she would say in the next chapter and the next!!! It also has a table of contents so that you can go directly to a subject that you want to work on.

This book has practical advice, and seriously, made me happier just by reading it, whatever chapter it happened to be. I highly recommend it.

Thanks to NetGalley and Crown Publishing for giving me the opportunity to read and review this most helpful book!

[Debbie Hoskins · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's rare that I read a brand new book. But when I typed creativity and spirituality into the library catalog it came up. I was at the bookstore yesterday and it was on display.
I like the structure. A wise quote to begin the chapter. A little musing and reflection of the topic, usually relating the author's experience. A meditation or suggestions for the week ends the chapter. I like the set-up of the book where you do one chapter a week.
I've borrowed it from the library and am reading it in a 9 week period, which makes it more repetitive than if I did it weekly as intended.
The book encourages searching and reflecting about what you think with your head and feel with your heart. She leads this with writing prompts and guided meditations.
The author is sincere, honest, and personal. I gave it 4 stars instead of 5 stars because some of the writing seems to be light in substance and a lot of the ideas are found in other books. She also uses creative visualization and positive thinking. She has some very inspiring examples of how effective this is in her own life. I won't say that I haven't experienced some results from creative visualization and positive thinking, but I have to watch this magic thinking and take it in stride when it doesn't materialize.
As I was finishing the book, I got blood on it and I was the first one to borrow the book. I did my best to clean it up with white-out and stuff.

[Mia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought this book was filled with practical tools to apply to every-day life. Agapi Stassinopoulous must be an old soul. She shares her insights with such wisdom and love; it's like she's lived a thousand lives before. I think this book is good for anyone seeking ways to relax and meditate practically (particularly for those who may have struggled to adopt other forms of meditation) and to also give themselves a break. I think one of the hardest things to do in this life is actually be kind to yourself, and Agapi gives you tools to do just that. I found the book to be very helpful and happily recommend it!

[Pauline · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is an attractive little book and I liked the short chapters plus recommendations for actions which accompanied some of them. However, it was written very much from the author's personal perspective and unfortunately only a minority of the topics resonated with me. I don't think the guided meditation sections worked well in book form either; they might flow better in audio.
All that said, the author's mother sounds absolutely delightful and I would enjoy reading more about her approach to life.

[Aristidis Marousas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute read


Many of the ideas shared by Agapi are what you might consider the standard for self help: life works for you and not against you, live in gratitude, life is a miracle, there isn't anything wrong with you but you are trapped in negative programming, etc.
The author did a nice job distilling these principles across 52 chapters, presumably so that you might revisit one each week or so and focus on the specific lessons more intently.
There were some lovely quotes that spoke to me.
Overall, a cute and welcome read.

[Kellyhiselman · Rating 4 out of 5]

I listened to this on my morning walks - finding each chapter and meditation to be an inspiring pep talk for the day!

[Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

I got this book because I recently started meditating every day and wanted to learn more about meditation. This seemed highly rated so I thought, "Why not?"

There are meditations in this book (one for each of the 52 chapters), but other than that the book is not really about meditation at all. At least, it doesn't really discuss meditation practices. It's more about daily practices and ways of thinking about your life to help improve your overall mental state.

There was a lot of overlap with Buddhist philosophy that reminds me a bit of Pema Chodron teachings, but this book is definitely Agapi's own take on things. I personally believe Agapi's belief system is more useful to more people than Chodron's books. Agapi isn't as focused on becoming okay with suffering. Instead, she focuses a lot more about what you can do to improve your life and the way you feel right now.

The book covered a wide range of topics, from health and happiness to money and manifestation. I don't necessarily agree with everything Agapi says, but I feel like I gained a whole lot of amazing insight, and there are tons of great ideas. The meditations are nice. They're written out, which makes it hard to follow along as a reader (you can't close your eyes and read the meditation at the same time) though I bet Agapi speaks them in the audiobook version.

Here's a quote that sort of summarizes her philosophy: "Being wealthy has to do with being educated, sharing what you have, a thirst for knowledge, learning about the arts, knowing that you have love and friendships and gifts and talents that are unique to you. It’s knowing you can study and develop your attributes so that you can go out into the world and serve other people and learn how to be joyful, happy, and have a meaningful life."

Highly recommended for anyone interested in self-development!

[Effie Pasagiannis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Each chapter is a treasure waiting to be unveiled. Agape's wisdom from a lifetime of experience as well as her own background in psychology and spirituality shines through. Like a best friend, her words, meditation and writing exercises gently nudge the reader to a higher state of being. I have always been skeptical of the efficacy of self-help books, but this goes beyond the self-help realm to something more elevated and universally true. It speaks to our universal sensitivities, disappointments and the eternal flame of hope that we carry within us in spite of all the hurdles life presents. Through the meditations and clever questions, we find our own answers. Agape's book came to me at a time when I needed it the most; a period of healing from something that left me devoid of joy and alienated from my inner truth. Her book was soul medicine, comforting and guiding me along the way of recovery to a place where I am now thriving. I will never forget this one and will definitely be a reference source I can go back to whenever I need a refresher.

[Kimberly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wake Up to the Joy of You is a very helpful little book and would make a fantastic gift. Inside are fifty-two different thoughts to read about and explore, each designed to "guide you on the way back to yourself." Every thought is followed by an activity such as a guided meditation, a journaling exercise, or a further suggested activity. Go beyond comparison, make your ego your ally, and the art of letting go are some examples of the types of thoughts presented. While these are not things that have never been heard before, the way the author instructs us to examine them are. This is not a book that needs to be read or followed in any order. Nor does it need to be spread out over an entire year, although that could certainly be done. Part of the joy is skipping around and discovering those thoughts that speak loudest to you and going at your own pace.
Disclosure: I received a free copy from Harmony Books in exchange for a free and unbiased review.

[Catherine Basu · Rating 5 out of 5]

I purchased this book shortly after the New Year, because I found the idea of waking up to the JOY of me vs. feeling stressed out by a long list of to-dos to be pretty compelling. Having since worked through all the meditations and often using them as part of my daily routine, I'm so glad I purchased this book. It has definitely lived up to its promise. I always feel calmer, happier and more centered after reading a chapter. Highly recommended to anyone looking to feel more present and navigate our always "on" world of technology with more grace and ease.

And if Agapi stops by your town on her book tour? Don't miss meeting her in person! I picked up this book after reading her book, Unbinding the Heart, which I was inspired to read after hearing her speak a few years earlier. Being in the same room as Agapi is an entirely different, inspiring experience and one not to be missed.

[LindaS-AvidForAudio · Rating 1 out of 5]

I am disappointed in the audio version, read by the author. She is not the easiest to understand, and her text is liberal with generalizations. Her speaking pace through the first two meditations was a race against time. There are no pauses anywhere for the listener to reflect on a suggestion before she is off in another direction. I felt more like I was with a hypnotist wannabe, telling me how I will feel and what I will see she just never stopped talking. The use of loud, annoying music as background in the meditations also makes no sense. Between the relentless pace and distracting music, I just gave up on this publication. I am new to meditation, and developing my practice into a daily habit using a limited group of guided recordings from a local practitioner with good results. Unfortunately this author’s presentation style just doesn’t work for me.

[Carrie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a life-changing book for me.

I think the book is meant to be followed once a week for every week of the year.

However, I listened to it on audio, almost daily in the morning after waking and letting my pups outside. I'd get settled in and listen to the "lesson" or topic which was often followed by a guided meditation and/or a journal practice.

As with life, sometimes I was able to focus, other times I wasn't. There were a few practices that didn't leave a mark; but the ones that did, really hit home!

This is one I'll come back to in the future and see if I need reminders or if I've grown and the practices just align with my life. I'd really like to listen to more meditations with this author's insight.

[Patricia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed Wake Up to the Joy of You. Agapi Stassinopoulos shares heartfelt reflections, meditations, and practical guidance for living with more presence and inner peace. Her warm, conversational tone makes the book feel like encouragement from a trusted friend.

One part I especially appreciated was her mention of writing her other book, which I’m now eager to explore. Her stories of Greek life and culture added a beautiful, personal touch—grounding her spiritual wisdom in real experience and tradition.

This is a lovely read for anyone seeking to reconnect with themselves and bring more joy and intention into everyday life.

[Lindsey · Rating 4 out of 5]

This books is 52 different sections that are meant to be read one per week to help you find calm in yourself and gives you a different meditation to follow. It is a really great way to get into meditation and really does help you look into yourself and find a happier place for yourself. I chose to read it all at once and use the meditations that called to me, but I know I will come back to this book often to use different ones. I'm just starting meditating and I found this to be really helpful. I received this book from Blogging for Books for an honest review.

[Liz P · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book could be uplifting for the right audience. I wasn't it I guess. I enjoyed the quotes at the beginning of each chapter. She does talk about herself a lot and I grew tired of the amount of times she mentioned her failed relationships and failed casting calls. Maybe she could've used other life experiences to keep it interesting? I did like reading about her mom. There was a fair amount of helpful tips that I found motivating. I'm a fan of meditation but I just wasn't feeling it with this book.

[Jane Laskey · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book saved me in a dark time. Somehow, whatever page I opened it to was exactly what I needed to read that day. It includes a chapter with essay and meditation for every week of the year, but I gobbled it up like a starving woman, sometimes reading several in a day. Once I was so excited at how eerily on the mark that morning’s meditation was and by what it taught me that I called each of my family members and read it to them. Thank you, Agapi.

[Yulia · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is exactly what the name says, it brings JOY to a reader. I totally swim in “feel good” hormones every time I open a new page. This book calms me down, make me come back to my breath and my senses, and in a very simple language delivers the most precious nuggets of wisdom! I keep this book by my bed, and every time I reread a chapter I feel like I discover something new for myself...

[Cici suciati · Rating 5 out of 5]

It took me a quite while to read this book because in this time of Corona Pandemic, I have a lot of errands to do. But this book couldn’t arrived at more right timing. This book make me feels like I know I always have a friend...in this book. The way Agapi writes feels like a best friend. A best friend who I can always count whenever I feel stuck, anxious even joy 😍

[Heidi Foster · Rating 5 out of 5]

An uplifting reflection on the good in the world all around us. If you need a little assistance in getting your thoughts to go from negative to positive, I think this is an excellent tool to help you get there. I would give this book as a gift and reread it myself. I recommend this to anyone and everyone.

[Adrianna · Rating 3 out of 5]

A great read that once I got into it, I flew through it. I would say that it would be my go to self help book for trying to find my passion as well as relations with other people. It talks about the author's personal stories which although sometimes repetitive across chapters, don't create the feel of reading the same thing over and over again. There's a few great tasks for the reader to do in order to answer some questions. And there's some great meditations which are mentioned in the title. Definitely a recommended read!

[Marlena · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really good book with instructions on how to meditate daily and feel better about yourself. There are some original ideas in it, and few of them ended up helping me during difficult times. Thanks for this book, Agapi!

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book and plan to pick up and look at it again and again. I also enjoy listening to her meditations on audio that go along with the book, they are short and sweet and great when you have just a few moments to relax.