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Spirited: A Modern Guide to Ancient Spiritual Wellness & Wisdom
A spiritual wellness guide, Spirited shows you how to find more fulfillment and peace in modern life by applying timeless Buddhist wisdom.
Beneath Candice Kumai’s polished image as a wellness icon, she was tormented by anxiety, competitiveness and deep inner suffering. It wasn’t until she re-embraced the Buddhist principles she’d been taught in childhood that she began to change her life for the better—even making a pilgrimage to her mother’s home country of Japan to study in the mountains with Buddhist monks.
Full of wisdom and raw honesty, Spirited recounts her journey and shares the Buddhist practices that transformed her life so you can, too.
Beneath Candice Kumai’s polished image as a wellness icon, she was tormented by anxiety, competitiveness and deep inner suffering. It wasn’t until she re-embraced the Buddhist principles she’d been taught in childhood that she began to change her life for the better—even making a pilgrimage to her mother’s home country of Japan to study in the mountains with Buddhist monks.
Full of wisdom and raw honesty, Spirited recounts her journey and shares the Buddhist practices that transformed her life so you can, too.
- GenresAudiobook
6 pages, Audible Audio
Published April 27, 2023
About the author
Candice Kumai
13 books64 followersCandice Kumai is an American author and chef. Kumai is based in New York City.
Candice was born in California to a Japanese mother and Polish-American father. Kumai worked as a model when she was a teenager. Later, she trained as a professional chef in Southern California, cooking on the line at several restaurants.
Candice was born in California to a Japanese mother and Polish-American father. Kumai worked as a model when she was a teenager. Later, she trained as a professional chef in Southern California, cooking on the line at several restaurants.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
October 6, 2024
A nice audiobook with some good basics for living a more mindful, centred, and authentic life.
I'm not new to the healing and personal growth space, so I found a lot of the concepts, meditations, etc. a repetition of things learnt from other books.
As someone not familiar with Candice before, I did enjoy learning about her life and her mixed heritage.
I'm not new to the healing and personal growth space, so I found a lot of the concepts, meditations, etc. a repetition of things learnt from other books.
As someone not familiar with Candice before, I did enjoy learning about her life and her mixed heritage.
May 22, 2023
This isn't long ... I listened maybe over 3 days tops. I listened to the bulk of it while repotting plants and so I hope that they benefited from the wisdom and will grow and thrive, lol. I however, won't be revisiting this one for myself.
I think if all of these concepts of meditation, healing and slowing down are brand new to you then this is going to be a wonderful book! I'd give it to a pre-teen to listen to for sure. Maybe a 20-something heading for early burn out most definitely.
But for me, it was fine for background listening while doing other tasks. I didn't quite like Candice (the author) as a narrator even though I love her when she is talking through recipes etc (I came to hear of her when I watched her episode on Selena + Chef and found this book when looking up her cookbooks -- which I hope to add to my cookbook collection).
The bonus breath work and mini meditations were pretty basic -- so not something I will revisit now that I've done each of them once. I think the longest one was 10 minutes -- and I'm used to way longer sits, so ... not bad, just not where I'm at.
So overall -- great beginners book or for a young person in your life. More experienced healers, meditators, etc ... can maybe skip it.
I think if all of these concepts of meditation, healing and slowing down are brand new to you then this is going to be a wonderful book! I'd give it to a pre-teen to listen to for sure. Maybe a 20-something heading for early burn out most definitely.
But for me, it was fine for background listening while doing other tasks. I didn't quite like Candice (the author) as a narrator even though I love her when she is talking through recipes etc (I came to hear of her when I watched her episode on Selena + Chef and found this book when looking up her cookbooks -- which I hope to add to my cookbook collection).
The bonus breath work and mini meditations were pretty basic -- so not something I will revisit now that I've done each of them once. I think the longest one was 10 minutes -- and I'm used to way longer sits, so ... not bad, just not where I'm at.
So overall -- great beginners book or for a young person in your life. More experienced healers, meditators, etc ... can maybe skip it.
September 25, 2023
There are two topics that I am very interested in learning about and I feel that I still know very little: business and the spiritual path. And regarding the second topic, it is difficult to find good books, good teachers, good friends.
The philosophy that I like the most for this path: Buddhism. Although I have also done Hindu, Toltec, Catholic, Sufi and one other practices.
Many of these books introduce us to great teachers that are impossible to follow, perhaps the ones I like the most are the "normal" people who tell us about their practices and progress on the spiritual path.
This is one of those books, based on Japanese Buddhism.
The philosophy that I like the most for this path: Buddhism. Although I have also done Hindu, Toltec, Catholic, Sufi and one other practices.
Many of these books introduce us to great teachers that are impossible to follow, perhaps the ones I like the most are the "normal" people who tell us about their practices and progress on the spiritual path.
This is one of those books, based on Japanese Buddhism.
March 23, 2026
Easy read, great reminders on being more present, living a more peaceful life. Didn’t know anything about the author so it was interesting to hear about her life experiences.
And her cat CC, I really felt that heartfelt love and sadness--my first baby, Charlie, was 20 and I had had him from ages 20-40 too! He traveled by car down the east coast, & across to CA and back to Maine a year later. He came with me to England and had to be in quarantine for many months, then back to Maine 3 years later. He was THE BEST cat ever! Miss him still 18 years later.
And her cat CC, I really felt that heartfelt love and sadness--my first baby, Charlie, was 20 and I had had him from ages 20-40 too! He traveled by car down the east coast, & across to CA and back to Maine a year later. He came with me to England and had to be in quarantine for many months, then back to Maine 3 years later. He was THE BEST cat ever! Miss him still 18 years later.
July 2, 2023
In this book, we see a different side of Candice. We learn her struggles, her hardships, and we get to see a very vulnerable, honest, and authentic Candice. I’ve been following her work for a few years now, and she is truly a treasure in the wellness world. Her voice is like silk, and makes listening to this audiobook feel luxurious! I had a beautiful time learning about her culture, her upbringing, and her incredibly life-giving wellness rituals. I recommend this book to everyone!
June 17, 2023
It got good right after the clean green drinks part. At first it was hard to get into but then I felt the rawness and I loved it. Lots of good advice that actually gave me some inspiration on dark days. Particularly the chapter on finance.
May 16, 2023
3.5⭐️
June 1, 2023
This was a great book. I loved learning about different cultures and religions and discovering all of the similarities that they had with my beliefs.
June 3, 2023
This was a surprisingly good read. I loved the teachings coming from the aspect of Japanese Buddhism. So many things that I really needed to hear right now in this book
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews