hello, higher self: an outsider’s guide to loving yourself in a tough world

For fans of Yung Pueblo and Nicole LePera, this inclusive guide to radical self-love provides a path to joy and acceptance, from podcast host and artist Bunny Michael

Insecurities, inadequacies, self-doubt; we all have them, and never more so than in this age of media saturation and technical voyeurism. Enter Bunny Michael, an interdisciplinary artist whose work picks up where Alex Elle, Brené Brown, and Julia Cameron leave off.

Bunny knows what it is firsthand to be an outsider: from trying to find their footing in an art world dictated by social media followers, to coming to terms with their queer identity, to dealing with the societal traumas they’ve inherited as a person of color in a society that privileges whiteness. It was at a real low point that Bunny first got in touch with their higher self--and ever since has been helping their followers do the same through their art and inspiring Instagram presence.

Building from Bunny’s viral memes, Hello Higher Self Is a self-care manifesto, calling on readers to radically shift their perspectives from the Learned Hierarchal Beliefs (LHBs) we’ve all internalized to the self-acceptance we were born into, aka our Higher Selves. This book shines a light into eighteen areas of life where LHBs often lurk--from creativity, to work, to relationships, to race, to sexual pleasure. Bunny’s mix of meditative advice, written exercises, and personal examples make for a jaw-dropping read.

＂Hello Higher Self offers the dose of radical self-compassion we all need and serves as a potent reminder that we are enough. Bunny Michael offers us a powerful invitation to dismantle the harmful beliefs society imposes on us and embrace our true and lasting worth. This is a must read.＂--Yung Pueblo, New York Times bestselling author of Inward, Clarity & Connection, and The Way Forward

Bunny Michael is a multi-disciplinary queer Mexican/Samoan artist and influencer who has inspired an audience of 230k Instagram followers to discover their Higher Self. What began as a viral meme series on Instagram has now expanded to a multi-platform experience. Bunny’s new podcast, XO Higher Self, charted in the top 100 Apple Podcasts in Self Improvement, and they are currently producing, writing and starring in an upcoming web series, What Would Higher Self Do? Bunny has been a featured guest on popular podcasts including The Mind Rolling Podcast (part of Ram Dass’ Be Here Now Network) and The Spiritually Sassy Show (hosted by Sah D’Simone). Bunny was also chosen by Instagram to take part in their Creators Program and partnered with the social media platform’s Anti Bullying Guide, Mental Health Awareness Month Campaign, and Voting Registration Initiative. In 2018 Bunny landed a role on HBO’s hit show High Maintenance, and was the host of Broadly Hotline, a digital series on Vice where Bunny interviewed celebrities such as Joey King and Queer Eye’s Karamo Brown on self-care and mental health. Bunny’s work has also been featured in The New York Times, Huffpo, Paper Magazine, Dazed & Confused, and ID.