Finding Meaning and Connection Through Spiritual Media

In today’s fast-paced world, it can be easy to lose sight of what really matters. With all the distractions and noise, many of us feel disconnected—from others, from nature, and even from our own inner truths. That’s why now, more than ever, it’s important to intentionally carve out time for activities that nurture our spirits. One great way to do this is by engaging with spiritual media.

Spiritual books, movies, and TV shows can provide inspiration, foster reflection, and help us feel more aligned with our highest selves. While the term “spiritual media” covers a wide range of genres and perspectives, they generally share some key qualities. These works encourage viewers to look within, promote values like love and compassion, and explore timeless questions about existence.

Consuming this type of media—when we approach it with open hearts and minds—can be a form of meditation. We get transported to different worlds and view life from different angles. Stories and characters become mirrors for our own journeys. Let’s explore some great spiritual entertainment that’s uplifting, thought-provoking, and even downright magical.

Transcendent Books

Transporting tales full of insight, mystical messages, and encouragement for the soul.

The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

This iconic novel tells the story of Santiago, an Andalusian shepherd on a quest to find worldly treasure. His journey takes him from Spain to the Egyptian pyramids in search of his destiny. Along the way, Santiago meets an alchemist who teaches him to listen to his heart and intuitively follow his dreams. The Alchemist reminds us to pursue our passions, stay persistent in the face of challenges, and recognize the magical interconnectedness of all things.

Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse

This 1922 novel fictionalizes the life of Buddha from birth to enlightenment. The protagonist Siddhartha embarks on his own spiritual journey, learning from ascetics, joining the Samanas, rejecting material wealth, and ultimately finding bliss through meditation by the river. Siddhartha encourages us to forge our own paths, savor the present, embrace contrasts like joy and sorrow, and achieve inner peace through non-attachment.

The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle

The main thesis of Tolle’s self-help classic is that dwelling excessively on the past or future causes suffering. True enlightenment comes from living fully in the present moment. Tolle shares teachings and meditations to help readers transcend limited thinking and egoic consciousness. The Power of Now provides guidance for tapping into the sacredness of the here and now.

Women Who Run With the Wolves by Clarissa Pinkola Estés

In this bestseller, Estés uses myths, stories, and Jungian psychology to celebrate the “Wild Woman” archetype that dwells within every woman. She explores how re-connecting with one’s instincts and intuition—like a wolf in the wilderness—can empower creativity, self-knowledge, and fulfillment. Women Who Run With the Wolves validates women’s dreams while providing wisdom for self-actualization.

Creative Quest by Questlove

Subtitled “My Journey from Prince to the #1 Musical Memoir in the Country,” Questlove takes us on a wide-ranging tour of his creative inspirations. He chronicles his evolution from youthful dreams of being a musician to ultimately achieving success with The Roots and other projects. Creative Quest is part memoir, part philosophical musing on the nature of creativity. Most of all, it encourages living authentically and following one’s creative calling.

Movies for the Soul

Cinematic stories that nourish, expand perspectives, and touch the human spirit.

Dead Poets Society

Robin Williams delivers an inspiring performance as John Keating, an English teacher who awakens passion in his students for poetry and life itself. Keating encourages the young men at a 1950s prep school to seize the day, think for themselves, and revel in poetry’s ability to connect us to eternal truths. Dead Poets Society is a moving ode to fully living.

Spirited Away

This whimsical coming-of-age tale from Hayao Miyazaki follows Chihiro, a 10-year-old girl lost in a magical spirit world. To survive and return home, Chihiro takes a job in a bathhouse for gods and spirits. There she learns skills, makes friends, and grows into a brave, caring young woman. Overflowing with imagination, Spirited Away explores maturation, responsibility, love, and environmentalism.

Peaceful Warrior

Based on Dan Millman’s semi-autobiographical book Way of the Peaceful Warrior, the film tells the story of Dan—a talented gymnast with a restless spirit. After an injury, he meets a mystical mentor nicknamed “Socrates” who guides him on a spiritual journey. Dan learns to live in the moment, nourish his soul, open his heart, and integrate his mind and body. Peaceful Warrior encourages us to access inner peace.

Mr. Jones

This indie gem stars Richard Gere as Mr. Jones, a mysterious man living alone in the woods who befriends a struggling journalist. They form an unlikely connection as the reporter tries to uncover his new friend’s past while embracing the teachings about living compassionately that Mr. Jones imparts. This profound story tackles love, mental health, and finding meaning.

Waking Life

Director Richard Linklater’s rotoscope-animated dreamscape explores enlightenment through a young protagonist navigating a succession of conversations about philosophy and spirituality. Topics include lucid dreaming, free will, consciousness, existentialism, and more. Waking Life is a hypnotic meditation on life’s biggest questions.

Nourishing Shows

Serial and episodic TV with uplifting themes and thoughtful perspectives.

The Good Place

Starring Kristen Bell and Ted Danson, this original sitcom follows Eleanor, a flawed woman who dies and mistakenly ends up in “The Good Place”—heaven essentially. How she and her friends try to earn the right to stay makes for hilarious, heartfelt, and surprisingly profound TV. The show contemplates ethics, moral philosophy, redemption, love, and what it means to be a good person.

Jane the Virgin

This Peabody award-winning show deftly blends telenovela melodrama, romance, comedy, and magic realism. It centers on Jane Villanueva, a devout Catholic virgin who becomes pregnant through accidental artificial insemination. Beyond the hijinks, Jane the Virgin is grounded in family, compassion, and positive Latino representation. The show celebrates life in all its messy glory.

Call the Midwife

This BBC period drama follows young midwives practicing maternal care in impoverished East London during the 1950s and 60s. Beyond depictions of their challenging work delivering babies, the show explores poverty, immigration issues, disease outbreaks, and societal change. At its heart, Call the Midwife is a celebration of the human spirit overcoming adversity through care for one’s community.

After Life

In this bittersweet dramedy, Ricky Gervais plays Tony, a man reeling from his wife’s death from cancer. Tony contemplates ending things but instead resolves to say and do whatever he wants, consequence-free. Through his grappling with grief, depression, memory, and nihilism, After Life is an incredibly humanistic, philosophical take on coping with loss and finding reasons to keep living.

My Love from the Star

A smash hit South Korean TV drama, this sci-fi romance stars Jun Ji-hyun as superstar actress Cheon Song-yi and Kim Soo-hyun as Do Min-joon—an alien who landed on Earth 400 years ago during the Joseon Dynasty. Neighbors and unlikely soulmates, Song-yi and Min-joon fall in love while he faces returning to his planet. My Love from the Star is a quirky, heartfelt story of connection across space and time.

The beauty of media like books, movies, and shows with spiritual themes is that it’s so readily available to enjoy. We can read an inspiring memoir, stream a consciousness-shifting film, or watch a heart-expanding show whenever we need nourishment or encouragement. Engaging with stories on screen or page that promote things like self-discovery, living consciously, finding inner peace, loving wholeheartedly, connecting to nature, or any other uplifting messages can be an easy way to feed our spirits.

So next time you’re looking for entertainment options, consider selecting something spiritual. Open your mind to new perspectives. Let stories move you and maybe even change you. Immerse yourself in rich worlds that promote embodiment, compassion, mindfulness, and truth. There are so many amazing works out there waiting to speak to your soul—we just have to carve out quality time to receive their gifts with openness.