By Mindy Carlson
If there’s one thing we believe about emotional and mental healing, it’s that healing comes in many different forms (and from many different places). Self-healing books are one avenue by which you can find some guidance.
This genre of reading aims to help you improve or ease an aspect of your life causing emotional or mental strain. While treatment is a multi-faceted process, incorporating a few self-healing books can help aid in the journey. So, today we’re highlighting a few of our favorite self-healing books.
Self-healing books to add to your shelf:
The Gifts of Imperfection (Brené Brown)
This book comes from research professor and thought leader Dr. Brené Brown who shares ten guideposts towards wholehearted living — engaging with the world from a place of worthiness. This book (and her own research) delves into everything from vulnerability, to empathy, worthiness, and shame.
The bottom line: I believe that you have to walk through vulnerability to get to courage, therefore…embrace the suck. I try to be grateful every day, and my motto right now is “Courage over comfort.” — Brené Brown (website)
The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom (don Miguel Ruiz)
don Miguel Ruiz was born in rural Mexico and raised by parents who were healers and practitioners of ancient Toltec traditions. The Four Agreements is guided by Toltec wisdom, establishing a code of conduct aimed at removing self-limiting beliefs and embracing that the most important agreements are those we make with ourselves.
The Untethered Soul: The Journey Beyond Yourself (Michael A. Singer)
Author and spiritual teacher Michael A. Singer employs traditions of meditation and mindfulness to guide readers toward living presently and releasing painful thoughts and memories that keep individuals from finding happiness and achieving self-realization. The Untethered Soul guides readers to uncover habitual thoughts, emotions, and fluctuations of inner energy that keep one tethered to unhappiness and restlessness.
Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle (Emily Nagoski and Amelia Nagoski)
This book is for women (or anyone) overwhelmed and exhausted by aspects of their lives yet still feeling as if they’re not doing “enough.” Wellness, in Burnout, is not a state of mind that you can achieve, but a state of action that one habitually practices.
Emily and Amelia Nagoski help readers unravel what wellness “should” look like and find the freedom to move through the cycles of movements that human beings go through — effort to rest, adventure to homecoming, and fluctuating feelings of autonomy. This is an excellent book if you struggle with the idea that wellness is “achieved” and that one can reach a final state of peace in this tumultuous human life.
The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma (Bessel van der Kolk)
The Body Keeps the Score is a very interesting read, especially connecting people who have past traumas in their lives that they are continuously struggling with. This book is distinguished by the author, Bessel van der Kolk, as both an author and a scientific researcher. His work measuring and studying the effect of trauma on brain function, memory, and treatment outcomes make this book a deeply personal, analytical, and highly readable approach to the topic of trauma recovery.
If you’re someone who has experienced personal traumas, this book is a sure way to give readers empowerment while showcasing true instances of human resilience, hope, and the ability to eventually heal from being hurt.
The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life (Mark Manson)
In my life, I have given a fuck about many people and many things. I have also not given a fuck about many people and many things. And those fucks I have not given have made all the difference. — Mark Manson (website)
We’re throwing this book on the list because although it is quite different in tone and context from the other novels on this list, it is still worth a read (and a fun one at that!). Mark Manson takes a stab at positive thinking, arguing that positivity in the face of everything and anything is not sustainable and unrealistic for people.
Human beings are flawed and limited — reaching a fulfilling, grounded life is about identifying and accepting your limitations. This is a great book if you’re feeling overwhelmed or unhappy with your current priorities, and it can really help refocus on the things you have time to actually give a f*ck about.
