Is there a book that healed you in some way? Got you through a tough time? Taught you something important? Or opened your eyes to something that changed you life for the better?
“Do not let anything that happens in life be important enough that you’re willing to close your heart over it.” – The Untethered Soul by Michael A. Singer – this was one of the books that really opened my world to spirituality and the heart in a simple and profound way. It taught me about thoughts, the mind, and the way to freedom through feeling and digging deep. I have read it a few times and each time felt like a different experience, healing me in different ways. Whenever I see a copy at a used book store, I buy one and give it to someone! I can’t recommend it enough.
“Like all explorers, we are drawn to discover what’s waiting out there without knowing yet if we have the courage to face it…Fear is a natural reaction to moving closer to the truth…So the next time you encounter fear, consider yourself lucky. This is where the courage comes in.” – When Things Fall Apart by Pema Chodron. As cliché as it may sound, this book changed my life. It taught me that my obsessive efforts to avoid pain and suffering and my attachment to and relentless search for some “perfect” state was causing me greater suffering. It taught me that instead, I should approach my pain and suffering with a curiosity and a gentleness, and relax into the chaos of life. Only then could I truly begin to heal.
Die Wise – A Manifesto for Sanity and Soul by Stephen Jenkinson. Just got this book on a recommendation by Alexandra and Arwen of Red Tent End Of Life Doulas. It’s not easy reading, no quick fix for death and dying. Just started to read it, powerful stuff teaching us the skills of dying for the end of a life lived deeply and well. And Toko-pa Turners Belonging. Remembering ourselves home through dream work. A beautiful book with some goosebump wisdom. Dreamwork is something I’m just becoming aware of, another way to access our inner knowing our subconscious wisdom.
The Courage to Heal by Ellen Bass & Laura Davies = stated in subtitle, it helped guide me in healing my sexual abuse as a child. The Way of The Superior Man by David Deida was very enlightening and validating around the masculine and feminine
Perhaps a little dated now, but Marianne Williamson’s A Woman’s Worth was perfect for the moment in my life that I read it.
The Big Leap by Gay Hendrix and Playing Big by Tara Mohr. Both made me see how I hold myself back in life, how I stay in my comfort zone and allow my inner fear/critic to keep me playing small in the world. Both of these books are a huge part of how I am able to do what I have been doing for the last three years in my business, leading my circle being one of those things! The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho brought MAGIC into my life, and the belief and faith in the unseen. Just amazing books. Oh, and Women Who Run with the Wolves by Clarissa Pinkola Estes, this book I am still reading as I read a chapter and let it percolate in my psyche for sometimes six months before I move on. This book has also been life changing as it has firmly planted my spirit in my Wild Woman.
The Surrender Experiment by Michael A. Singer came into my life after a visualization on surrendering to the flow of divine plans. It taught me the power of saying yes and getting out of my own way. It taught me to stop struggling to walk upstream and to pick up my feet and go with the flow. Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert is a beautiful manual on how to live a creative life in all areas. I feel like Gilbert gave me the permission and inspiration that I was seeking to find and cultivate creativity in every aspect of life. Light Is The New Black by Rebecca Campbell is really bite sized chapters of inspiration. It helped me own my own being fully and to listen to my inner calling. Oh and Jesus Calling by Sarah Young! This is a daily devoational book. Even though I don’t open it daily, When I do I always get the wisdom and reassurance that I need. It’s filled with love and comfort.
The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. This book brings things of everyday life into a much different perspective (taking that of a child in an adult world) This book helps to remind me to see magic and love all around me. The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. This book also reminds us to seek the magic in the daily pieces of our lives, to connect with nature, and tune in to our “Personal legend” When we know what we want, the entire universe conspires to bring it to us. Both are pure magic.
The book Your Soul’s Plan by Robert Schwartz. Honestly this book saved my life back in 2007 after my daughter had walked on from this life. I was not wanting to be on this Earth without my daughter Laura here in body. I read this book and was able to gain a new perspective on death and dying. It was huge Medicine for me!
The Dear Queen Journey: A Path to Self-Love by Sylvester McNutt III. This book was a huge part of why I am still on this earth today.
Siddharta by Herman Hesse. It brought me a totally different perspective of the world!
So many that come to mind . . . but first to the list was The Invitation by Oriah. Experiencing healing through an author’s voice was incredibly helpful to me in my life.
There are two that came to mind right away; The Yamas & Niyamas: Exploring Yoga’s Ethical Practice by Deborah Adele and Women Who Run With the Wolves by Clarissa Pinkola Estés. In a world of dry and brittle toast, these books are like a fine buffet…These two books have been an incredible deep part of my healing journey and have truly “fed” my soul back to life in more ways than one. With wild love, Please – Please read these two books! You will not regret it!
Daughters of Copper Woman by Anne Cameron. This book is a retelling of northwest coast Native myths that were entrusted to the author after she spent much time with the Indigenous peoples of the West Coast, which is my home. Being of Indigenous ancestry myself and supporting Aboriginal children within my home environment, this book was a sacred journey of understanding the social and spiritual power of women within the tribal network.
When Women Were Birds by Terry Tempest Williams taught me so much about letting go of expectations, tuning into the small joys of life and EMPATHY.
Anatomy of the Spirit by Caroline Myss PhD
I am Here: Opening the Windows of Life and Beauty by Georgi Y Johnson. Love this one!!!! I read a little everyday!
Your Turn!
We want to hear from you in the comments! Is there a book you want to HOWL about? A dear voice that helped you, healed you in some way? Please share! You never know how your suggestion could help someone turn a corner and see something new.
On the Horizon
Join an international, intergeneration group of weird and wonderful wild-hearted Women in our online Cave (which lives on an app)!
We meet weekly in Circles, Workshops, Practices to keep our wild spirits lit!
Upcoming Weekly Gatherings:
Join us for an hour-long New Moon Meditation Adventure on May 7th!
Online, from anywhere.
Using a dynamic meditation journey, we will tune into the New Moon, to your own Inner Guidance, synced up with wild-hearted women from around the world. This offering will include music, storytelling, meditation, journaling prompts & intention-setting.
Can’t make it live? No worries. All participants will receive a copy of the recording with 24 hours of the session.
We have Wild Woman Project-trained Circle facilitators is 26 countries, and 44 out of the 50 United States.
Amanda is the Director of Communications & Creative Development for The Wild Woman Project, as well as: Wild Woman Project Circle Leader, a member of the Love Crew at the annual WILD WOMAN FEST, and a Mentor for The Wild Woman Project Circle Leader Training Program. She holds a B.A. in Theatre from California State University, Fullerton where she intensively studied Movement for the Stage. A self described Mystic, Artist, Witch, People Person, Beverage Aficionado from Los Angeles California; She is particularly passionate about the space where Art, Activism, and Spirit collide.
Healing Anger: The Power of Patience from a Buddhist Perspective
HH the 14th Dalai Lama
The only book I’ve read cover to cover twice…
It’s amazing how much better you feel physically and emotionally after letting go of anger!
This probably sounds an odd choice but the book that changed my life is Great Expectations by Charles Dickens. Miss Havisham was jilted at the altar and her life stopped. She spent the rest of her life wearing her wedding dress, with her wedding feast rotting on the table. She couldn’t move on from being hurt by a man.
I swore I’d never do that. I wouldn’t idolise a man to the extent that if he jilted me, I’d stay stuck there forever. So guess what? When my beloved boyfriend jilted me after a serious relationship, I didn’t let it ruin my life. I stayed open minded and met someone else, fairly quickly. I wasn’t going to idolise the new boyfriend so took it slowly and casually.
Now we’ve been married for 25 years, so learning from Miss Havisham led to a happy ending, which I didn’t expect when I was a young girl.
Love it! Yes, this image stuck with me all my life. What a great writer Dickens was!
Moore, Thomas. The Re-Enchantment of Everyday Life. New York: HarperCollins, 1996, 1st ed. I so filled the margins and front and end pages with my penned-in comments in agreement and offering personal examples that the book now weighs more. Suddenly, I found someone who shared my spirituality and its diverse expressions. I return to this book, always enchanted.
Cooper, David. A [Rabbi]. God Is A Verb: Kabbalah and the Practice of Mystical Judaism. New York: River Head Books, 1997, Introduced me to the concept of the Divine as the active process in my life, as my life, “God-ing,” — rather than God as a separate and impersonal deity. Mysticism became accessible, my “Expanded Awareness,” a component of my spirituality, rather an the latest trend.
‘Calling spirits with posture trance’ by Susan G Josephson,PhD
My guide and teacher for the last couple years, I have experienced the power of these hand postures! Her new book is her experiences with hosting shamanic trance for the last 35 years.
Side note- Mary Magdalene gospels (dead sea scrolls)’are a must if you haven’t read!
Dear Precious, Courageous Women, A book that really helped me at a very raw time of my life is and oldie but goodie: Dance of Anger by Harriett Lerner. This book gave me insight into what I was really angry with my best friend about. It helped me to be honest with myself in acknowledging I missed the friendship we once had prior to a very traumatic event in my life. It also helped me to see that all relationships are a dance. At the time, I really couldn’t see what dance I was doing and whose beat I was dancing to. When I changed my dance I came to understand that my partner wasn’t always ready to embrace a new dance.. Love this book and sending lots of love to all, Carol (Qudsiya)
Yes, I read this. It was super helpful! I ended up buying every copy I ran across and passing them out to friends and students.
xo
The Wizard of Us by Jean Houston
The Wizard has a great read for you!
“Women Who Run With the Wolves” by Clarissa Pinkola Estes caused a seismic shift!
“The Way of Rest” by Jeff Foster has been an amazing resource for me. This book came into my life at the exact moment I needed it during an exhausting, soul crushing year with intense chronic pain and SHAME about having chronic pain. After all, as a healer, I was supposed to be able to heal myself, as I often heard and believed from the various other healers I went to for help. Jeff’s book reminded me that pain is a teacher, to be revered and held in love, and is never sent as a punishment or a sign of failure. His words gave me hope in a time when I didn’t know if I could make it through the day and still has things to teach me now that I no longer have chronic pain.
So thankful for all of these recommendations! So many books, so little time 😀
Brene Brown’s ‘The Gifts of Imperfection’ was hugely transformative and healing for me as my marriage was crumbling. Since reading it years ago, I really feel as if vulnerability and authenticity – two concepts I REALLY needed to embrace, have opened me up to so much more happiness in life.
Rupi Kaur’s poetry books ‘Milk and Honey and The Sun and Her Flowers’ still to this day bring tears to my eyes and are especially healing to those of us who have gone through difficult break ups. Cannot recommend her work highly enough.
Pixie Lighthorse’s ‘Boundaries and Protection’ is immensely important advice for healthy relationships. The work she is doing is sorely needed.
Barbara Hand Clow’s ‘Astrology and the Rising of the Kundalini’ is a book that speaks to what may seem like major life crises, but are actually huge opportunities for growth (one of these being the ‘midlife crisis’ which she corresponds to our Uranus Oppositions, which occurs around age 40 for all of us. She also discusses Saturn Returns). I love how she navigates the reader to empowerment through these experiences instead of fear/resistance.
Finally, Sharon Blackie’s ‘If Women Rose Rooted’ – which I am still reading – is so beautifully written. She talks about rooting ourselves into our unique places in the world in order to reawaken our power, a path she coins the ‘eco-heroine’s journey.’
Thank you,
I was just telling everyone I need a good book to read and now I have one hundred LOL. I’ve read the following books that I am reminded of here and there within this work of cultivating our wild selves. I’ll list the one’s I haven’t already read.
*The Dovekeepers-Alice Hoffmen.- It was such a fun and powerful read. It is a dramatization of the Siege of Masada by troops of the roman empire. The characters she writes will stay with me forever. (I never watched the movie because it would have ruined it. In my head it would have been done more like the movie 300, just reading it was visually amazing to imagine)
*The Witch of Portebello-Paulo Coelho-I can’t recommend this enough. It was fun and powerful. Athena was such a real, yet mystical character. The Hara philosophy of the power in your belly was a major theme through dance
*Did anyone say Eat, Pray Love yet? Elizabeth Gilbert- Umm.. We all know it’s good. Helped me quite a bit when it came out.
*